By Steve Hunley

 

Lady Justice is one of the more important symbols Americans have in this country and, in my opinion, one of the most ingeniously designed.  The blindfold worn by Lady Justice is for objectivity, meting out justice without favor or fear; the scales she holds is to indicate balance or fairness and to weigh evidence.  Lady Justice also holds a sword, which means justice should be swift.  When Michael Horowitz, Inspector General of the FBI, released his report it confirmed a good many things millions of Americans already suspected.  It also revealed some things the mainstream media is working hard to ignore.  For instance, the IG’s report confirmed that classified information contained in Hillary Clinton’s emails had been compromised by foreign intelligence services.  When former FBI Director James Comey spoke to those facts, he just lied.  From reading the IG’s report, the FBI knew for a fact hostile parties had accessed the classified information contained in Clinton’s emails.  The IG’s report quoted the infamous Peter Strzok as saying, “It is more accurate to say we know foreign actors obtained access to some of her emails (including at least one Secret one) via compromises of the private email accounts of some of her staffers.”  As has rarely been pointed out, these facts were strangely left out of the final draft of Comey’s 2016 statement.  Nor will we ever likely know the extent of any damage done to the United States by those foreign intrusions because under James Comey, the FBI deliberately chose not to follow up leads relating to compromised classified information.  Once again, the IG points out “Strzok further stated that the FBI’s ‘purpose and mission’ was not to pursue ‘spilled’ information to the ends of the earth.”  No indeed, the only thing people like Peter Strzok and Lisa Page were likely to chase to the ends of the earth was Donald Trump.

The IG’s report amply confirmed James Comey absolutely deserved to be fired by President Trump.  The IG mildly labeled Comey “insubordinate” and documented instances were Comey usurped the authority of the Attorney General and assumed authority he did not have as Director of the FBI.  Comey can piously claim a “higher loyalty,” but it does not excuse what appears to me to be a direct violation of the law from one who had taken an oath to uphold the law.  Congressman Trey Gowdy stated it succinctly: “We see Jim Comey and Jim Comey alone deciding which DOJ policies to follow and which to ignore.”  Instead,” Gowdy added, “he appointed himself FBI director, attorney general, special counsel, lead investigator and the general arbiter of what is good and right in the world according to him.”

Michael Horowitz is a respected former U. S. Attorney, yet his stated belief he cannot find any evidence of political bias may be the most shocking statement contained in his report.  Horowitz tries to neatly sidestep the issue by saying he cannot second guess the FBI folks, yet the evidence of political bias is so ripe it would cause a skunk to faint from the odor.  It is an indisputable fact the FBI used a self-imposed electoral calendar on itself to close the Clinton investigation.  The tens of thousands of emails and text messages sent between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page could be easily understood by a five year-old.  Page hysterically asking her lover Strzok, “Trump couldn’t possibly be elected president, could he?”  Strzok’s arrogant answer, stating, “No, we won’t allow that to happen,” speaks volumes.  Yet both Strzok and Page were initially part of the Mueller investigation.  It would be difficult to find two people more politically biased than Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.  The exchanged texts and emails between Strzok and Page obviously point to the fact decisions made inside the FBI were both biased and improper.

Congressman Gowdy was exactly right when he told Michael Horowitz there were agents inside the FBI who had predetermined and prejudged the outcome of the Hillary Clinton case, just as they did with the Russia investigation even before it began.  Once again Trey Gowdy summarized it nicely, noting “prejudging the outcome of an investigation before it ends, and prejudging the outcome of an investigation before it begins” is the “textbook definition of bias.”

Horowitz, when pressed by Congressman Gowdy, admitted the behavior as evidenced by the text messages exchanged by Page and Strzok was “completely antithetical to the core values of the department.”  Horowitz had little choice but to admit both Page and Strzok exhibited biased behavior, but begged off saying he could find no evidence that same bias affected the decisions of prosecutors.  Nor were Strzok and Page the only FBI agents who exhibited this gross behavior.  At least two other unnamed agents made the IG’s report.  Clearly, the bias was there and it was egregious.

If we still abide by the American standard of having an iota of reasonable doubt before convicting anyone, the IG’s report has raised more doubts than it answers questions.