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Comey provokes social media stir after hoping for ‘more ethical leadership’ in 2018

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Comey edits – and more FBI alleged bias – revealed

Newly released documents reveal that then-FBI Director James Comey’s draft statement on the Hillary Clinton email probe was edited in a way that watered down the agency’s findings. #Tucker

Former FBI Director James Comey caused a stir on social media by calling for “more ethical leadership” in 2018, even as his time at the helm of the bureau has come under intense scrutiny over the last year.

“Here’s hoping 2018 brings more ethical leadership, focused on the truth and lasting values,” Comey wrote in an apparent swipe at President Trump, who fired him last year. “Happy New Year, everybody.”

Here’s hoping 2018 brings more ethical leadership, focused on the truth and lasting values. Happy New Year, everybody.

— James Comey (@Comey) December 31, 2017

Comey’s tweet had more than 30,000 retweets on Monday morning – and thousands of responses accusing him of lacking self-awareness amid the firestorm surrounding the bureau he once led.

“Here is hoping 2018 the U.S. will have a clean, politically, FBI…that will actually do their jobs,” one user, David Weissman, remarked.

Here is hoping 2018 the U.S. will have a clean, politically, FBI. 1 that will actually do their jobs. https://t.co/JRJQjT3CFO

— David Weissman (@davidmweissman) January 1, 2018

Another replied: “Lordy, how could you type that with a straight face?”

Lordy, how could you type that with a straight face? https://t.co/Yr2zciO48S

— Tom (@Tomvegas1) January 1, 2018

The Department of Justice’s Inspector General is conducting a review of the bureau’s investigation — under Comey’s watch — into former Secretary of State’s Hillary Clinton email servers.

Over the last year, it was revealed Comey began drafting his July 2016 exoneration statement before key witnesses in the Clinton email investigation had been interviewed.

FILE - In this June 8, 2017 file photo, former FBI director James Comey speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Internal employee surveys show that fired Comey was highly respected and trusted within the bureau during his nearly four-year tenure. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Trump’s attorneys have also pounced on Comey for admitting to orchestrating the leaking of his memos about his interactions with the president to the New York Times in the hopes it would lead to a special counsel investigation.  (Associated Press)

The inspector general review also is looking into whether FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe – whose wife has strong ties to the Democratic Party – should not have been involved in the investigation.

Other top FBI officials, who worked under Comey and were involved in the Russia investigation, have also come under scrutiny for anti-Trump messages.

Lawmakers have been alarmed by recently revealed texts from FBI official Peter Strzok, who called Trump an “idiot” and who referenced an “insurance policy” against a Trump presidency.

Strzok had been assigned to Robert Mueller’s special counsel probe, but has since been reassigned.

Trump’s attorneys have also pounced on Comey for admitting to orchestrating the leaking of his memos about his interactions with the president to the New York Times in the hopes it would lead to a special counsel investigation.

This content was originally published here.

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One example came previously this month, when Trump’s campaign launched an ad comparing Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, which closed with the line: “At least Bernie remembers his positions.” https://twitter.com/parscale/status/1247928262036258816 The attacks are an early demonstration of how Trump will utilize the full Republican politician Celebration apparatus to run a scorched-earth campaign based upon personal insults and unwarranted insinuations– a heightened variation of his playbook from 2016, when Trump and his allies, without proof, called into question Hillary Clinton’s health. They have actually become a daily occurrence from Trump’s campaign, assistants and Republican allies throughout every medium possible– on social media, in campaign e-mail blasts and videos and on Trump-aligned media companies like Fox News. Biden’s advisers and Democratic allies mention that Trump is guilty of many of the same verbal tics he is attacking Biden over, and often lies and embraces conspiracy theories. As one Biden ally put it: “Has Trump taken his own guidance and downed a gallon of bleach yet?” The attacks weaponize Biden’s propensity to stumble over words, utilize the wrong word or interrupt himself in the middle of long answers by stating, “anyhow,” and altering course. To fans of a former vice president who in December 2018 called himself a “gaffe maker,” those long-time spoken tics have always belonged to Biden’s public persona. They are made more forgivable to his advocates by Biden’s openness about conquering a stutter. Aside from periodic jousts amongst assistants on Twitter, Biden’s project has mostly neglected the Trump project’s attacks. Biden-world’s view is that the political and media landscape has actually shifted because 2016, when every Trump attack on a rival was treated as novel and took command of the project narrative on social media and cable news. His consultants pointed to Trump’s stopped working efforts to guide the political discussion in the 2017 Virginia governor’s race, when he and his GOP allies cautioned of the MS-13 gang, in addition to the 2018 midterms, when Trump’s message concentrated on caravans of refugees approaching the US-Mexico border. ” The misapprehension that whatever Trump wishes to speak about is inherently efficient and that he gets to act as the media’s at-large task editor has actually been closed,” a Biden consultant said. 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Posted May 3, 2020