Sanders: 'Would Not Be Bad Thing for the American People' if FBI Director Comey Steps Down

[Donkees]

Sen. Bernie Sanders said it "would not be a bad thing for the American people" if FBI Director James Comey steps down.

Asked by ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview on "This Week" if Comey should leave his post, Sanders responded, "I think he should take a hard look at what he has done and I think it would not be a bad thing for the American people if he did step down."

The Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General announced Thursday that it will launch a review of the actions taken by the FBI and the Department of Justice as a whole ahead of November's election in connection to the Hillary Clinton email investigation. The Justice Department watchdog will specifically look at whether Comey's press conference and notifications to Congress about the investigation before the election were appropriate under the department's guidelines.

"I think that Comey acted in an outrageous way during the campaign," Sanders said. "No one can say that this was decisive, or this is what elected Trump, but clearly his behavior during the campaign in terms of what he said during the week or two before the election was unacceptable."

Sanders added, "It is interesting that [Comey] is not doing investigations about the possible, possible tie-in between Trump's campaign and the Russians."

The FBI Director in a closed-door intelligence briefing for members of Congress refused to confirm or deny whether his agency is investigating possible contacts or connections between the Trump campaign and Russia, sources told ABC News.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sanders-bad-thing-american-people-fbi-director-steps/story?id=44777444

[madokie]

1. comey needs to be thrown out on his ass

not even given a chance to resign

[tecelote]

2. Yes.

Hasn't he done enough?

[dalton99a]

3. No consequences for his unethical and illegal acts

means no justice.

[Chasstev365]

9. I agree!

Comey clearly violated the Hatch Act, but a strong case can be made that he aided a foreign government in influencing our election which, by definition, is treason.

Stepping down is not enough!

[Dustlawyer]

4. Obama needs to ask for his resignation and if Comey won't resign,

he needs to fire his ass!!!

[FailureToCommunicate]

5. Step down? Sorry, but treason deserves punishment.

[agincourt]

6. I think the whole FBI needs a housecleaning

I know it will never happen, but I think half the organization is a political apparatus to get republicans elected. I think they would have tried to kneecap any Democrat or independent that would have run in the last election. If Bernie would have won the nomination they probably would have released some coldwar era vileness to fix it for Trump.

[lapucelle]

7. Wouldn't Trump get to name Comey's replacement?

Could he name Rudy Guiliani?

This move should have been made long ago, before Comey did the ultimate damage with his late October surprise. If anything, replacing Comey and allowing Trump to name his successor now will almost certainly hinder the Russian election connection investigation.

It's too bad that our "day late and a dollar short" media didn't investigate more fully Harry Reid's October complaints before the election.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/harry-reid-letter-fbi-james-comey-clinton-emails-trump-russia-ties-hatch-act/

[Akamai]

8. One reason to keep him is because he is not a trump appointee.

I think someone Rudy Giuliani wanted to appoint would be outrageously awful.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

10. How did Comey not know about this white supremacist group?

I admit that I didn't know about them either, but I'm not in the FBI.

http://www.businessinsider.com/james-comey-donald-trump-white-genocide-2016-7

Clay also asked if Comey was familiar with the "Daily Stormer," a white supremacist website that promotes "the hashtag #WhiteGenocide to protest what they believe is an effort to eliminate the white race."

"I am not," Comey said.

Clay continued, asking Comey if he's concerned whether someone who promotes such ideas on social media could become violent.

Comey insisted that he doesn't know enough about the specifics of the "white genocide" hashtag to voice an opinion, but added the FBI is "always concerned" when someone "goes beyond protected speech."

"One of my biggest concerns is that certain public figures are promoting these groups even further," Clay said. "As you may know, one of our most vocal candidates for president retweeted @WhiteGenocideTM. Three weeks later he did it again, and two days later he retweeted a different user whose image also included 'White Genocide' — and that's not all of them."

"Do those actions make it easier for those racist groups to recruit even more supporters?" he then asked.

Comey said he couldn't give a good answer on the subject.

[tableturner]

11. Comey's actions were vile, but Trump's pick for his replacement would likely be worse.

This statement is not a reflection of confidence in Comey. Instead it is a reflection of my belief that Trump's pick as a replacement would likely be worse, and probably MUCH worse! It is not a good situation, but I believe keeping Comey would probably be better than the alternative.

[TNNurse]

12. I want Comey tried and sent to

Guantanamo. The only reason I am glad it did not get closed.

[Cryptoad]

13. How do all these people say they ,,,,,

feel the way they do about Trump then turn around and attend his inauguration????

[StevieM]

14. We most definitely can say that it was decisive and it absolutely elected Trump. (eom)

[dembotoz]

15. to be replaced with what how about palin or bachman