His testimony this week was a reminder of everything that enrages Trump voters.
The political elite remain puzzled—and in agony—over how Donald Trump could
still be in the race. A bullying debater! A purveyor of mistruths! A would-be
autocrat! How has our country come to this?
This
obvious truth will be missed by the left and the media, which continue to
comfort themselves with the fiction that Mr. Trump won in 2016 by preying on
the weak and ill-informed. The opposite is true. The businessman was propelled
to office on the fury of those who had seen too much. They’d watched for
decades as an insulated elected class—Democrat and Republican alike—broke
promises, failed to solve problems, and blamed it on the system.
These
voters had watched the swamp take over—IRS targeters, self-righteous
prosecutors, zealous regulators—armed with stunning powers and a mentality that
they were entitled to make the rules, to tell the little people what was best
for them. Voters fumed over the double standard. Hillary Clinton deleted government
emails with abandon, while a 77-year-old Navy veteran went to prison for
building a pond in contravention of “navigable water” rules.
Mr.
Comey personifies what enrages those Americans. His testimony this week was a
vivid reminder that the election won’t hinge only on the issues as defined by
the media elite. Tuesday’s brawl was mostly about the virus, the economy,
violence in the streets, the Supreme Court. But November’s vote for many
Americans will be a choice between an administration that believes we the
people should run Washington, and those who believe the swamp should rule the
masses. Mr. Biden wouldn’t challenge the mandarins; he’d unleash them.
Chairman
Lindsey Graham hauled the former FBI director in front of the Senate Judiciary
Committee ostensibly to answer for stunning new details in the bureau’s
Trump-Russia probe. But the hearing more broadly resurrected the breathtaking
arrogance of the swamp. This was the crew that in 2016—based on the thinnest of
tips—launched a counterintelligence investigation into a presidential campaign,
complete with secret surveillance warrants and informants. Mr. Comey triggered
the public release of the collusion accusations. He secretly kept memos of his
conversations with a president, for future leverage. He leaked them, to provoke
a special counsel and two years of hell.
FBI
agent Peter Strzok in 2018 lectured Congress that the bureau had too many
“safeguards” and “procedures” ever to allow “improper” behavior. Yet this past
week provided evidence the FBI leaders blew through red light after red light.
We already knew they based the probe on a dossier that came from a rival
campaign. We knew the bureau was warned early on that the dossier was potential
Russian disinformation. And now we know it discovered that the man who was the
dossier’s primary source had been under FBI investigation as a suspected agent
for Moscow. The bureau hid all of this from the surveillance court. It even
doctored an email to conceal exculpatory information.
Mr.
Comey highlighted the double standard again on Wednesday, as he danced around
accountability. The probe’s biggest problem was that it was run at the top with
no checks or oversight. Yet according to Mr. Comey, the top didn’t include the
FBI director. “I can’t recall.” “I don’t remember learning anything.” “I don’t
recall being informed of that.” “That’s about all I can recall.” “I don’t
know.” “That doesn’t ring a bell.” So responded Mr. Comey for hours. His claims
of obliviousness contrast with recent documents showing widespread concern in
the FBI about the probe’s problems, with agents and analysts fretting about
future “tough questions” and rushing to purchase professional liability
insurance.
Mr.
Biden has yet to be asked on the campaign trail if he approves of this FBI behavior,
including its misrepresentations to a surveillance court. Or what he thinks of
Mr. Comey, who has been excoriated in three inspector general reports. Or of
former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, fired for leaking and for lying to
investigators. But Biden’s failure to voluntarily weigh in on such a
consequential scandal may be viewed by voters as evidence that Mr. Biden is
fine with it. And why wouldn’t he be? This all took place in Barack Obama’s and
Joe Biden’s Washington.
Those
eight years featured plenty of other swamp monsters, and don’t underestimate
the number of Americans who fear a return to that world. Lois Lerner harassing
conservative nonprofits. Supervisors at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives loosing guns in Fast and Furious. The Environmental
Protection Agency minions who burned companies with ever-changing rules. The
Bureau of Land Management harassment of ranchers and farmers. Energy Department
officials steering stimulus payouts to Solyndra and other projects of Obama
donors.
No
one knows who will win this election. But the Comey testimony warns against
thinking this battle will swing on candidate personalities alone. No matter how
much the elite media wills it so.