If Director James Comey set out to politicize the FBI, ruin his own reputation, make enemies on both sides of the aisle and give Donald Trump supporters whiplash, he succeeded. Unfortunately, his efforts in dealing with newly discovered emails were presumably intended to avoid political trouble for himself and keep the FBI's image pristine. In the latest plot twist Comey now informs Congress that there is nothing of consequence in the new stash of emails.

The Post reports:

"FBI Director James Comey said Sunday that after reviewing newly discovered Hillary Clinton emails, his agency had again determined that the Democratic presidential candidate should face no criminal charges for her email practices, clearing a distraction that had dogged the final days of Clinton's campaign and providing perhaps the last twist of the wild 2016 election year. ...

"Investigators reviewing the material found that the emails were either duplicates of correspondence they had reviewed earlier or personal e-mails that did not pertain to State Department business, a government official said. The official said Comey's letter was not an 'interim report' but rather represented a conclusion of the investigation."

So why send the infamous, vague letter 11 days before Election Day before reviewing the emails to find out if there was anything to report? You've got me, but he can explain it to congressional oversight committees after the election — if President Barack Obama does not fire him first, which he surely should. There is no logical reason why he could not have conducted his speedy investigation and then reported the findings to Congress.

The Clinton campaign's reaction was restrained under the circumstances. ("We were always confident nothing would cause the July decision to be revisited. Now Director Comey has confirmed it," Brian Fallon tweeted.)

Comey's tenure as the Trump-era GOP's hero comes to an abrupt end. Praising Comey only hours before, Trump is already claiming the system is "fixed." He intoned, "She's protected by a rigged system." If so, it is causing her more trouble than it's worth.

If nothing else, the episode nicely demonstrates how predictably hypocritical Trumpkins are — concerned only with getting their way and devoid of any real concern about fairness and transparency.

In the end this entire episode may not matter. If Clinton wins the presidency this "Never mind!" interlude will go down as one more bizarre development in the weirdest presidential election ever. The Comey misadventure nevertheless should prove that the FBI requires new leadership and a thorough housecleaning to sweep out any officials who feel compelled to put their thumb on the scale of a democratic election. Perhaps he will spare everyone the trouble and quit.

Trump, we have said, gives a spot-on imitation of a South American caudillo. His call to lock up his opponent, his stated determination to change libel laws to punish the press, his insistence that the military will obey orders to commit war crimes and his admiration of thuggish regimes have raised alarm bells since his campaign began. Now imagine the FBI, the NSA, the IRS, the Justice Department and other instruments of federal power under his control. He and his cheerleaders in Congress have already induced Comey to besmirch the FBI's image. Trump would finish off the reputation of the rest of these entities as he used them (we have no doubt) to punish enemies and reward friends. Voters should keep that in mind as they go to the polls to elect the next chief executive and commander in chief.

Washington Post

Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Post, offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective.