James Comey’s suspicious ‘Hail Mary’ to FISA

OPINION:

James Comey, in what some are seeing as an eye-widening surprise, others as cause to give this man back his street cred, has come forward on national television to pronounce himself “wrong,” Inspector General Michael Horowitz “right,” and the accusations of FBI-FISA shenanigans as “fair.”

But this is neither surprise nor reason to return Comey’s candor with trust. Once again, the guy is strategizing. He’s giving a calculated response to a situation that presents him no easy wins, only opportunity to shoot for the long game.

He’s giving an inch so the truth-tellers in the bunch won’t go for the mile.

He’s simply trying to get ahead of the narrative on the crumbling FISA courts so he can keep up Boy Scout appearances when the you-know-what starts to hit the FISA fan in the Senate, in the media, in U.S. Attorney John Durham’s criminal inquiry. And he’s trying to wave a little magic wand to save a failing, unconstitutional system.

Honestly, what else could Comey be expected to say when confronted with 17 “errors or omissions” committed by the FBI during the course of obtaining the warrants? He threw a “Hail Mary” to FISA, for probably personal and political reasons.

As Attorney General William Barr said: “The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken. It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory. Nevertheless, the investigation and surveillance was pushed forward for the duration of the campaign and deep into President Trump’s administration.”

It was a botched FISA surveillance job, pure and simple.

“FBI officials misled the FISA court, omitted critical exculpatory facts from their filings, ad suppressed or ignored information,” Barr said.

It doesn’t get any worse than that.

And frankly, this is why the FISA courts don’t belong in an America with a Constitution that contains a Fourth Amendment, a Fifth Amendment and a 14th Amendment.

But rather than throw out the baby with the bathwater, Comey offered this: “I was overconfident in the procedures that the FBI and Justice have built over 20 years. I thought they were robust enough.”

Apparently, not.

And now, the questions remain: How many other botched FISAs are out there? How many other FBI agents are implicated in the botched jobs? And here’s one for the cynics-slash-realists of the crowd: Are these FISA judges as above-board as we’re to believe — as, for instance, we were to believe the FISA-lying FBI officials were?

Comey may go on TV and pretend to be giving something while only speaking the obvious.

But for the politically aware — and yes, it’s politically aware, because that’s what America’s law enforcement and intelligence communities have become — the red flag his televised face raises includes text that goes like this: Who’s Comey protecting or trying to shield and save now?

Comey, thy name is suspicion.

The American people should never forget that.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.