I blame James Comey for Trump.

[mr715]

More than Putin. More than Bernie Sanders. More than Jill Stein.

More than "Uncommitted". More than 'the debate'. More than Joe Rogan.


Had James Comey kept his sanctimonious mouth shut, like FBI directors are supposed to, Sec. Clinton would've gotten the 13 additional votes she would've needed to win WI, PA, and MI.

And maybe elsewhere.

Mr. Comey will remain wealthy and vaunted as a martyr for democracy when in fact he is the man most responsible for its downfall.

The audacity that he pokes the bear with his stoopid social media posts... Maybe he's just an ass.

[bif]

1. Yep!

[lostincalifornia]

2. And that is why I could care less if the monster in the WH goes after him.

[mr715]

3. Something about reaping and sowing...

But also having your cake and eating it too.

[lostincalifornia]

7. Yup

[canetoad]

4. You really need

To read this 2017 article from Seth Abramson.

The Domestic Conspiracy That Gave Trump The Election Is In Plain Sight
Information presently public and available confirms that Erik Prince, Rudy Giuliani, and Donald Trump conspired to intimidate FBI Director James Comey into interfering in, and thus directly affecting, the 2016 presidential election. This conspiracy was made possible with the assistance of officers in the New York Police Department and agents within the New York field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. All of the major actors in the conspiracy have already confessed to its particulars either in word or in deed; moreover, all of the major actors have publicly exhibited consciousness of guilt after the fact. This assessment has already been the subject of articles in news outlets on both sides of the political spectrum, but has not yet received substantial investigation by major media.

While a full summary of the Prince-Giuliani-Trump conspiracy would require a longer discourse, the actions of these men, along with multiple still-anonymous actors, can be summarized in five paragraphs. It will be for journalists with more resources than this writer to follow up on these leads—and, moreover, to see how this domestic conspiracy dovetails with the Trump-Russia controversy, though this too is briefly addressed below.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-domestic-conspiracy-that-gave-trump-the-election_b_587ed24fe4b0b110fe11dbf9

[AZJonnie]

14. Yup. Comey had little choice but to do what he did.

In addition to the scoundrels spoken about in this article, I put MUCH more of the blame on the M$M who blew up this absolutely routine letter to Congress from Comey into the biggest story since fucking Watergate. The FBI DID NOT "reopen the Clinton investigation" like the media loudly proclaimed in every headline.

The investigation was considered closed, but the GQP-led Congress demanded a standing order from the FBI that if any additional evidence was being looking at, they would be looped in. Comey's letter was routine and congressionally required, and he DID NOT say "we're formally re-opening the investigation".

The media blowing it completely out of proportion was MUCH more the problem. Additionally, Clinton should've spent more time shoring up her support in the "Blue Wall States", which turned out to NOT be that.

Blaming it on Comey is a cop-out, IMHO. But I know this opinion is unpopular, so, flame away, friends

[StevieM]

20. In WI, MI, PA and OH, she spent more money in advertising, and had a larger ground operation, than Obama had in 2012.

She hardly ignored those states. She also held more rallies in Pennsylvania than any other state, in a first-place tie with Ohio and Florida, which were widely considered battleground throughout that race. And contrary to post-election reporting, she did hold a couple of rallies in Michigan.

In any event, where candidates held their rallies was not what determined whether they won a given state. And nobody accused her of ignoring these states during the election, even though this information was obviously public knowledge.

[canetoad]

21. No flames from me

That's the reason I've hung onto that bookmark for all those years. I believe Comey really had no choice and yes, the media blew it out of all proportion.

[Johonny]

5. I blame the American voters

They really are the only ones to blame.

[mr715]

6. I hear you - but it is bad electoral strategy to blame voters.

So, while I agree with you, I also blame the shepherds leading the sheep to the slaughterhouse.

[RandomNumbers]

8. Maybe, but none of the above get a pass.

Particularly those who were supposedly on the same side as us.

(but to your point, Comey really should spend more time looking in the mirror at his own complicity)

[mr715]

9. And less time provocatively arranging seashells at his beach home, or whatever.

Completely agree we need to mind our allies. But we also need to remember our (historical) enemies.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. Comey concedes he may have been responsible for Trump's election

I also blame Comey for trump's election.

Comey concedes he may have been responsible for Trump's election
www.axios.com/2019/04/02/c...

— Vincent Wanders Aimlessly (@vwaimlessly.bsky.social) 2025-09-26T17:40:29.552Z

https://www.axios.com/2019/04/02/comey-concedes-responsible-trump-election-hillary-clinton

In a Tuesday interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, former FBI Director James Comey conceded that his decision to announce in October 2016 that the FBI was reopening an investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server may have helped Trump win the election, but defended it as "the least terrible option."

Amanpour: "Do you ever think that you might be responsible for the election of President Trump? Does that keep you up at night?"

Comey: "Sure. And I hope someday somebody proves that we were irrelevant. ... I hope we had no impact. I hope it's proven that it was irrelevant. But all it does is increase the pain. It doesn't change how I think about the decision. My view and the view of my team was: I cannot conceal from the American people that the investigation we told them, and fought to tell them, is done, is done, is done — is not done, and the result could change."

[spooky3]

28. So he really did NOT concede the point--his last sentence

Suggests he doesn’t realize what he did was wrong.

I blame him but the blame also must be shared with nonvoters, Trump voters, Rupert Murdoch and friends, the NYT and other “sanewashers”, etc.

[QueerDuck]

11. Those... yes... but not in that order.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. Here are the two letters from Comey that got trump elected

I was training some attorneys who were going to do voter protection at a downtown law firm when the first letter came out. One of my firm's associates was taking this course and was making a funny face during my class. Later I was shocked to hear what Comey did in that it was a DOJ cardinal rule that you take no steps close to an election.

Link to tweet

These letters got trump elected in 2016

[spooky3]

29. Particularly not when he said nothing about Trump's truly being

Under investigation at that same time.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. Comey's press conferences on the Clinton email non-scandal violated DOJ policy.

Comey was an asshole and attacked Hillary Clinton when he announced that there would be no charges on the email issue. Under DOJ rules, when the decision not to proceed is made, there is NO announcement. Comey was an asshole and held a press conference where he attacked Clinton.

This press conference was so offensive and against DOJ policy that the DOJ inspector general called Comey out.

The DOJ's inspector general agreed that Comey "violated long-standing Department practice and protocol by, among other things, criticizing Clinton’s uncharged conduct," and that Comey "usurped the authority of the Attorney General." https://oig.justice.gov/node/640

[RustyWheels]

15. I Blame Bill Clinton

If Bill Clinton hadn’t boarded AG Loretta Lynch’s plane - “just to say ‘hi’, and chat about family & friends”, while Hillary was under investigation for her emails, then Lynch would not have recused herself, leaving Comey in charge.

Without that, Lynch would never have allowed Comey to go public with the biased statements regarding the FBI’s findings.

🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[mr715]

16. There were many times in 2008 and 2016

That I thought Bill Clinton was hurting then Sen. and eventually Sec. Clinton's chances.

[mucifer]

27. How about prosecutors in the State of NY for allowing decades of illegal activity. Also, Mereck Garland

for dropping the ball.

[SocialDemocrat61]

17. There are many to blame

Comey, Stein, Susan Sarandon, George Clooney, Jon Stewart and every republican. None get a pass.

[StevieM]

18. Comey's repeated interventions were more important to the result of that election than all other factors combined.

If not for his repeated interference, she also would have won Arizona, Florida and North Carolina.

Also, for the record, Gary Johnson probably took more votes away from Hillary than Jill Stein did.

[mr715]

19. Gary Johnson can't count how many fingers he has without using his toes.

[luv2fly]

22. I blame Trump's dad

For not having a condom when he needed one.

[mr715]

23. Fair.

[LessAspin]

24. Michael Bay

I agree with Comey and I don't think you can discount this Michael Bay movie given how much Benghazi was dominating the headlines at the time..

Benghazi (2016) by Michael Bay

With the Super Bowl ad for Trump by Michael Bay it's worth recalling that Bay released his Benghazi movie in the middle of the 2016 Presidential campaign.

I always found the timing of that interesting in spite of Michael Bay assuring us that was just a coincidence.

Nothing political at all

https://www.democraticunderground.com/127011599

[Locutusofborg]

25. I blame 77,303,568 Voters

and 312 Electors for Trump. Most of them don't know who James Comey is.

[FullySupportDems]

26. In the end, I think I blame money. Just throwing it out there.

Money in politics. Citizens United, nail in our coffin. Imho money makes people do things they'd never do for anything else. You can "hire" someone to do just about anything. And I'll always wonder about Comey.