Readers React: James Comey’s bizarre fixation on transparency at the FBI

To the editor: It is correct for people to take ex-FBI Director James B. Comey to task for branding Hillary Clinton as “extremely careless” in her handling of classified information when he could have, and should have, simply followed Justice Department guidelines and announced the close of the FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s use of a private mail server and then walked away. (“James Comey is dignifying Trump’s mudslinging and making the nation worse off,” Readers React, April 19, and “Comey’s no angel, but unlike Trump, he’s not a threat to the republic,” Opinion, April 16)

When asked to defend that and other questionable acts, including his decision to announce the reopening of the Clinton investigation less than two weeks before the 2016 election, Comey likes to cite his desire to provide the public with maximum transparency.

To which I say, if you’re the head of the FBI and your main concern is providing the public with full transparency, maybe you’re in the wrong line of work.

Vince Waldron, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Things are a lot different today when it comes to the response to an attack on the morality of the president.

Back in the 1970s, Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox called Jimmy Carter “dishonest,” and the president’s response (delivered by press secretary Jody Powell) was: “Being called a liar by Lester Maddox is like being called ugly by a frog.”

Today, when Comey writes about President Trump acting like a mob boss, the president suggests in a tweet that Comey should be jailed.

Long ago, we got a dignified and clever response, but this time we got something that sounds like a confirmation.

Tim Estle, West Hills

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To the editor: Comey, Robert S. Mueller III, Rod Rosenstein, Jeff Sessions, Trump, Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, Barack Obama — will there be enough buses under which to throw all these people?

Ermanno Signorelli, Mar Vista

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