Office of the Inspector General Reportedly Recommends Charges Against James Comey

In news that seems to have been overshadowed by the spectacular, meme-filled Democratic primary debates -- and the media’s lack of coverage -- things continue to get worse for former FBI Director, dime-store philosopher, and perpetual starer into the distance, James Comey.

According to The Washington Examiner on Wednesday, the Office of the Inspector General, under the purview of IG Michael Horowitz, recommended charges against Comey for violating “classified information protection laws.” 

The recommendations come in the wake of revelations that Comey, by his own admission, “leaked [classified information] to a friend specifically to be published by the media.” Comey’s defense, however, is that the information was not only given the lowest level of classification status, but that the FBI only decided to render the information as classified after he had already leaked the material.

Reportedly, the DOJ has declined to prosecute Comey, with one source saying the agency didn’t want to “make its first case against the Russia investigators with such thin margins and look petty and vindictive."

But Comey isn’t through the woods quite yet. According to Jerry Dunleavy and Daniel Chaitin at the Washington Examiner:

Comey is also a possible target of Horowitz's separate investigation into alleged Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse. He signed three of the four FISA applications targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page before being fired by Trump. Horowitz's report is expected to be released after Labor Day.

As the “investigation of the investigators” continues to unfold, only time will tell Comey’s fate. What seems to be quite clear as of now, however, is that the embattled Comey isn’t the paragon of governmental ethics he likes to believe he is.