Readers React: James Comey is dignifying Trump’s mudslinging and making the nation worse off

To the editor: Law professor Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney and Justice Department official, may be right in his assessment that ex-FBI Director James B. Comey’s sins don’t measure up to President Trump’s. But he’s missing a larger point. (“Comey’s no angel, but unlike Trump, he’s not a threat to the republic,” Opinion, April 16)

Comey, like so many Trump detractors, makes the unpardonable sin of getting down in the mud with the president. Trump takes on all opponents in the same manner, most responding in the same manner, thus reducing them to playing his game of mudslinging.

Aside from people who pay attention only to the basic dishonesty and complete lack of character of Donald Trump or simply believe in the Republican Party, most people remain disinterested and likely will not be persuaded that Trump’s behavior is anything other than politics as usual.

Trump’s possible criminal behavior is not the issue; what’s important is that he is leading the nation’s political discourse in a way that may irreparably damage our democracy.

Greg Ryan, Woodland Hills

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To the editor: Litman states that we will never know if Comey’s assertion during the 2016 campaign, that Hillary Clinton’s use of her own email server to send classified information was “extremely careless,” threw the election to Trump.

As a person who has worked in a law firm for the past 25 years, I cannot imagine any of our attorneys ever sending work-related emails from a personal server, which would not have the proper protection and monitoring. The communications within a law firm are highly sensitive, confidential and privileged, just as Clinton’s communications were as secretary of State.

When Clinton’s email problem was first reported, I thought it was a stupid, reckless thing for her to have done. It did not affect me when Comey later came out and confirmed what I had already known — that Clinton had been careless.

By then, I had already decided for whom I was going to vote for president (neither Trump nor Clinton). I believe many other voters already had made up their minds by then too.

Shari O’Connell, Santa Monica

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