Quote:
Originally Posted by nik-
Testifying in front of Congress = leaking.
Who knew?
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No, it was leaking the memo to the press that was leaking. There's a point to be made about that. It's not illegal to give unclassified information to the press. There are ethical questions here though I think are worthy of being explored.
Like 1) why didn't he simply give this information to a democratic Senator on the intelligence it judiciary committee? And 2) why not give it to the press himself?
I think the reason he didn't go to the Senate with it is exactly what he stated in the hearing: to ensure the appointment of a special counsel. If he simply gives the memo to a democratic Senator, the Republicans may never get Comey to testify and simply rebut the accusations through the press and that's it. If he gives out to a republican Senator, it doesn't see the light of day.
The reason he didn't go to the press himself is that it had to look as though he was taking the firing gracefully and he was not simply acting in spite. He couldn't make it look to the public as though he was bitter and give the Republicans ammo to use against him. This was all choreographed to ensure maximum pressure on judiciary to appoint special counsel.
Comey is nothing of not thoroughly strategic in his public disclosure. When he first testified about the Ashcroft affair when he defied president Bush in what was a bombshell hearing, he secretly planted the question with Chuck Schumer and practiced his answer over and over to reach maximum effect. You can bet there were planted questions and rehearsed answers on this hearing too.
In the end, I think what he did was quite sneaky, but with the seriousness of the charge, warranted. You can see similar thinking and parallel in the Clinton email handling where he didn't know if he could trust the judiciary.
An aside question: With all we now know if Comey's adept strategic actions and Chess like moves, Mueller's relationship with Comey, and Rosenstein's reputation, do we believe the appointment of Meuller was simply a last minute decision by Rosenstein?