Special prosecutor in the Russian collusion case, Robert Mueller, a former FBI director is indisputably close friends with another former FBI director, James Comey.
The two have been friends for 15 years and Comey, under sworn recent testimony, admitted that he deviously leaked government property — memos he took of his conversations with President Donald Trump while working for the government as FBI director — to a private citizen (Columbia law professor Dan Richman), a close friend of his who then leaked the government memos to the press.
President Trump’s attorney, Jay Sekulow, the head of the American Center for Law and Justice, has argued that Comey broke the law by leaking, writing in an op-ed that, “In my view, Comey broke the law: 18 U.S.C. § 641 provides that it is a federal crime to, without authority, convey a record of the United States, in this case an FBI record he admits under oath he leaked after being fired.”
According to Comey’s testimony, the purpose of the leaking of privileged conversations with the President was that he wanted to manipulate the environment in such a way that a special prosecutor would be named. And the person who was consequently named as special prosecutor? None other that his best buddy, Robert Mueller, of course.
Now, since President Trump fired James Comey and since, based on his testimony, he clearly has a grudge against Trump (Why didn’t he take notes of his conversations with Loretta Lynch, Barack Obama, or Hillary Clinton?), wouldn’t it be humanly impossible for Robert Mueller to be objective in regards to Comey? Isn’t this a conflict of interest? Of course, it is.
Flashback to 2006, and we can see that Robert Mueller did recuse himself while serving as FBI director because a friend was too close to the case. As the New York Times reported on January 26, 2006:
“The F.B.I. director will not play a role in the inquiry into Decker College, the Kentucky school once run by William F. Weld, because the director and Mr. Weld, a Republican candidate for governor, are friends and former colleagues, an F.B.I. spokesman said yesterday. The New York Post reported the decision by Robert Mueller, the director, yesterday. The New York Democratic Party had asked that Mr. Mueller recuse himself, according to a party spokesman. Mr. Weld has not been accused of any wrongdoing involving Decker, which declared bankruptcy last fall amid allegations of fraud.”
Which begs the question that inquiring minds demand to know:
Since Robert Mueller recused himself in an earlier case involving a friend and a former colleague because of a conflict of interest, why not recuse himself now over friend and former colleague James Comey?