Republican former US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Monday slammed the FBI director’s recent actions in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server.
He called Comey’s actions an “error in judgment” and said he is “somewhat perplexed about what the director was trying to accomplish here.”
Gonzales said Comey’s letter Friday informing lawmakers that the FBI is reviewing new emails potentially related to its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state breaks from long-standing Justice Department practice. The protocol is not to comment on investigations and to stay silent on politically sensitive matters less than 60 days from an election.
“You don’t comment on investigations because commenting on the investigation may jeopardize the investigation. And that’s the box that he’s put himself in, because people are now calling for more information — for release of the emails,” Gonzales told CNN’s John Berman and Kate Bolduan on “At This Hour.”
He was the third former attorney general to recently and publicly criticize Comey.
Gonzales, who served in the George W. Bush administration, said Comey wouldn’t have been misleading voters by withholding the news until after November 8.
“If you delay the announcement, hopefully it’s not going to jeopardize an investigation, it’s not going to jeopardize the pursuit of justice, and voters will have the opportunity to vote on Election Day without information that may in fact be incomplete or untrue,” he said.
Comey was the deputy attorney general under Gonzales — making him the second-highest ranking figure in the Justice Department during the latter half of Bush’s presidency.
Gonzales cast Comey as someone who won’t budge once he’s made a decision.
“He is a person that, you know, he does what he thinks is right and then he doesn’t deviate from that position despite the pressure. And he may be wrong,” Gonzales said.
“My experience is, is that once he takes a position, he digs in, and he’s just not going to move from it, whether he’s wrong or not, and whatever political pressure may be put to bear on him. He’s just not going to move from it. And you know, there is virtue in that, but there is also some danger in that.”
Eric Holder
Former Attorney General Eric Holder also criticized Comey’s decision Monday. Writing in The Washington Post on Monday, Holder called Comey’s decision “incorrect.”
Obama’s first attorney general said Comey’s letter to Congress announcing a review of the new emails was “a stunning breach” of law enforcement protocol and one that carried “potentially severe implications” during a presidential campaign.
“I served with Jim Comey, and I know him well. This is a very difficult piece for me to write. He is a man of integrity and honor. I respect him. But good men make mistakes. In this instance, he has committed a serious error with potentially severe implications,” Holder wrote.
“It is incumbent upon him — or the leadership of the department — to dispel the uncertainty he has created before Election Day. It is up to the director to correct his mistake — not for the sake of a political candidate or campaign but in order to protect our system of justice and best serve the American people.”
The former Attorney General wrote that Comey’s letter “violated long-standing Justice Department policies and tradition” not to comment publicly about politically sensitive investigations within 60 days of an election.
“It ran counter to guidance that I put in place four years ago laying out the proper way to conduct investigations during an election season. That guidance, which reinforced established policy, is still in effect and applies to the entire Justice Department — including the FBI,” he wrote.
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SOURCE: CNN, David Wright and Eric Bradner