James Comey's Clinton Email Announcement Leaves Voters In The Dark

WASHINGTON Three days have passed since FBI Director James Comey made the unprecedented decision to insert the bureau into the 2016 presidential campaign. Theres just over a week left until Election Day. Yet voters trying to determine the potential impact of a newly uncovered trove of emails that may or may not implicate Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton have virtually nothing to go on other than reports sourced to anonymous law enforcement officials with differing agendas.

Comey told bureau employees on Friday that he felt obligated to send his now-famous letter to Congress out of an abundance of caution. Comeys three-paragraph missive stated the bureau had not yet determined whether or not this material may be significant, meaning that the news that has tossed the presidential campaign into chaos may ultimately have no impact on the investigation whatsoever. (Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid wants Comey to release information on the investigation the FBI may or may not be pursuing into the Donald Trump campaigns potential connections to the Russian government, a request Comey is unlikely to fulfill.)

And so, with eight days until the election, the world waits on the word of James Comey. Theres been no indication so far that hell say much more before Election Day.

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In the meantime, voters are left to decipher news stories mostly based on anonymous sources inside the FBI and the Department of Justice. The sources have widely varying agendas. There are the Clinton-supporting political appointees inside the DOJ who think Comeys decision was inappropriate and broke with tradition; there are the Comey defenders within the FBI who are seeking to protect his reputation as an independent-minded investigator; and there are the law enforcement officials inside the bureau who still believe Clinton should have been prosecuted or further investigated.

While initial polling has shown little impact on Clintons substantial lead over Trump, that could change as Comeys letter continues to dominate the news cycle. Voters who are on the fence or still undecided in one of the longest and most divisive presidential campaigns in modern history seem unlikely to delve into the nuances of the FBIs investigative process, so the basic narrative that Clinton is under federal investigation will likely be the one that sticks in their mind.

Thats left Clinton in the awkward position of condemning the actions of the man whose 10-year stint as FBI director could last until 2023, near the end of a theoretical second Clinton term. Comeys move left her with little choice but to portray the FBI director as simply a political actor seeking to bring down her campaign.

A selective reading of Comeys biography makes it pretty easy to paint him as a partisan trying to take down Clinton. He was a registered Republican for most of his adult life , he served as the No. 2 official in the Justice Department during the George W. Bush administration, and he donated to John McCains presidential campaign in 2008 and Mitt Romneys campaign in 2012. While he disappointed conservatives when he announced in July that the FBI would not recommend charges against Clinton, he didnt leave Republicans totally empty-handed. He took the unusual step of publicly condemning Clintons behavior as extremely careless and suggesting that a lower-ranking employee who engaged in similar conduct would have possibly been subject to disciplinary action.

Furthermore, Comey testified about the decision before Congress, and the bureau has dripped out troves of internal documents on the Clinton investigation over the course of the campaign.