As it stands today, former FBI Director James Comey may just provide the key testimony that points the Trump regime toward the exit. That’s fine. But it shouldn’t be forgotten how we came to this point in the story.

From his ludicrous, finger-wagging press gaggle in announcing Clinton’s innocence, to his ham-fisted intrusion into the final act of the election, Comey has felt compelled to insert Jim Comey, straight-shooter, into every moment. As a result he’s caused serious harm to the FBI, to the election, and to the nation.

That’s me. Quoting me. In a reminder that no one, but no one, provided more fire-free smoke to the 2016 election than James #$@% Comey.

Why did Comey behave in a way that broke the rules of his own department as he rode his high horse directly across the bodies of Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch, and Barack Obama? Because, according to The Washington Post, he was fooled by fake news put out by, you guessed it, the Russians.

The Russian document mentioned a supposed email describing how then-Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch had privately assured someone in the Clinton campaign that the email investigation would not push too deeply into the matter — a conversation that if made public would cast doubt on the inquiry’s integrity. Current and former officials have said that document played a significant role in the July decision by then-FBI Director James B. Comey to announce on his own, without Justice Department involvement, that the investigation was over. That public announcement — in which he criticized Clinton and made extensive comments about the evidence — set in motion a chain of other FBI moves that Democrats now say helped Trump win the presidential election.

The Russian document was real enough. The email that it mentioned between Lynch and Clinton? Never existed.