Wall Street Journal: Comey should resign

The Wall Street Journal says President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration should fire James Comey if the FBI director does not resign.

“The best service Mr. Comey can render his country now is to resign,” its editors wrote Thursday. “Failing that, [Sen.] Jeff Sessions [R-Ala.] should invite him for a meeting after he is confirmed as Attorney General and ask him to resign.”

“If Mr. Comey declines, Donald Trump can and should fire him in the best interests of the nation’s most important law enforcement agency.”

{mosads}The editorial board said there is bipartisan dissatisfaction with Comey after last year’s presidential race.

“It’s no secret that the United States is a house divided in 2017, and that Americans of different political persuasions agree on little when it comes to Washington,” the said. “But there’s one tall exception to this state of affairs, and his name is James B. Comey.”

“But if the FBI director has demonstrated anything in the last year, it’s that he has lost the trust of nearly everyone in Washington, along with every American who believes the FBI must maintain its reputation as a politically impartial federal agency.”

The Justice Department’s inspector general on Thursday announced it would investigate the FBI’s conduct leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

The probe was inspired by requests from numerous chairmen and ranking members of congressional oversight committees.

The investigation will probe what impact, if any, public disclosures about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server had on voters before Election Day.

Clinton’s campaign has blamed Comey and the FBI for her loss to Trump in November.

Critics say Comey broke FBI precedent by publicly commenting on the bureau’s probe of Clinton’s handling of classified information as secretary of State.