Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mike Barnicle rehashed last year’s development of the FBI’s probe into Hillary Clinton’s use of an unauthorized email server in the wake of an inspector general’ inquiry into FBI Director James Comey’s handling of the probe.
At the end of the segment, Scarborough declared it would be in the best interest for Comey to step down as FBI director.
Partial transcript as follows:
SCARBOROUGH: Mike this is just botched up in every way possible. I remember back in July us complaining that Comey seemed to be tipping the scales in Hillary Clinton’s favor with the timing of, you know, Fourth of July weekend, allowing Cheryl Mills and other principals to sit in on her testimony.
Things you just don’t do. But he did it. And then he doesn’t indict her despite the fact that 55-56 percent of Americans think she you be indicted. As you say more importantly, a lot of the professionals in New York – then he holds this bizarre press conference, which I think we said at the time, you either indict or you don’t indict. He tried to visit both ways, tried to do that again 11 days out. Seems like this is a guy tortured by the fact that he didn’t indict her.
BARNICLE: And he was also way out over his skis in terms of the pronouncements in the July press conference. It’s one thing to say we found nothing to proceed with further. But his editorial comments in that press conference about her sloppiness and no responsible prosecutor would have indicted her. Well, he’s the head of the FBI. He’s not a prosecutor. He’s not the U.S. attorney. He’s not the attorney general. That was just the beginning of it. Now what we have —
RATTNER: Remember, the attorney general is effectively recused.
BARNICLE: Because plane flight. Sitting on the plane.
SCARBOROUGH: Which by the way, that — we can’t underline that fact enough. I believe Donald Trump is president of the United States because Loretta Lynch met with Bill Clinton own that plane, recused herself and Comey was running the whole show.
BARNICLE: That took her out of the line of authority in term of the FBI director. But now what we have, unfortunately, for everything, for the incoming administration, for the country, you have a never-ending story. This is just going to go — there are going to be hearings, more hearings, multiple hearings. The Comey inspector general thing is going to drag on.
SCARBOROUGH: I agree with The Wall Street Journal. It’s in the best of the country to step down.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.