Former US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Guy Lewis had harsh words for disgraced former FBI director James Comey for his reaction to the Department of Justice inspector general’s report, saying his friend “is taking a victory lap way too soon.”
Putting his own spin on events, Comey wrote an op-ed suggesting he was vindicated, tweeting the piece along with the caption: “So it was all lies. No treason. No spying on the campaign. No tapping Trumps wires. It was just good people trying to protect America.”
Lewis appeared on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” to respond to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announcing early Tuesday articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, alleging abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The former US attorney called it a “very disturbing” moment.
“We’ve just witnessed a break the glass moment. Very disturbing, very dangerous,” Lewis said. “Two crimes that, frankly, based on my careful review of the evidence and the law, simply don’t exist. As a prosecutor who has done this for a long time, it is very disturbing to me. I hate to see this.”
Fox News host Bill Hemmer noted that Republicans are talking about possible abuse of power at the top levels of the FBI, as a result of the IG report, which acknowledged “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in the bureau’s FISA warrant process.
Lewis predicted “fireworks” Wednesday at a hearing by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, that will feature DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
“I’m a big fan of the FBI, I love them, know Mike Horowitz, but I think they missed the mark here,” Lewis said, adding that the warrant used to spy on former Trump adviser Carter Page “wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.”
He also noted that U.S. Attorney Durham, who is conducting a criminal investigation of the whole matter will be doing a much more thorough probe, while Horowitz is an internal reviewer “operating with one hand tied behind his back.”
Durham has subpoena power and Lewis cautioned about a rush to judgment because “there is a lot more evidence to come.”
When the conversation turned to Comey and his Washington Post op-ed, Lewis was clear that the fired bureau director isn’t out of the woods yet.
“With all due respect to Jim, who is a friend, he is taking a victory lap way too soon here,” Lewis said. “To look at the report again and to know that the top brass of the FBI was exchanging emails just saying the most horrible things about the president and about the investigation, and the bias that existed as a result of that I’m, frankly, disappointed that we’re at this point.”
In the op-ed, Comey downplayed 17 instances of wrong-doing a human mistakes — to include the case of an email being doctored to hide that Page was a CIA source to paint him as a potential Russian asset.
“These weren’t just simple mistakes. These are misstatements. Misleading the judges. Creating information, not including accurate information,” Lewis pointed out. “I have litigated as a federal prosecutor hundreds of warrants. This warrant wouldn’t stand up in any federal court. It would be thrown out and any evidence you obtained as a result of the warrant would be thrown out. No question.”
A social media user had a message for Comey, coming in a response to a tweet from him claiming falsely, according to Fox News, that a scheduled appearance on “Fox & Friends” was abruptly cancelled by the network after the IG report was released.
“Your friend Guy Lewis from DOJ is ripping you up one side and down the other in an interview with Bill Hemmer as we speak. He says he knows it will end your friendship but he has to tell the truth. He tried to signal to you as delicately as he could you suffer from delusion,” the tweet read.
Your friend Guy Lewis from DOJ is ripping you up one side and down the other in an interview with Bill Hemmer as we speak.
He says he knows it will end your friendship but he has to tell the truth.
He tried to signal to you as delicately as he could you suffer from delusion. https://t.co/klzvmXzyi8
— EconChick/IntelChick (@MikayesFiona) December 10, 2019
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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