Adam Serwer’s analysis of James Comey’s role in the 2016 election zeroes in on some of the former FBI director’s major flaws and contradictions, arguing that Comey clearly broke FBI protocol by his actions, appears not to fully recognize his mistakes, and ultimately chose his own peculiar sense of personal honor over the duties of his office. But Serwer makes another point that needs broader airing: Comey’s decision-making process in relation to the Clinton and Trump investigations, at least in terms of his public disclosures around these, was arguably structured by the atmosphere of intimidation and criticism in which the GOP had forced the FBI to operate during the previous years. As Serwer says:
The FBI is petrified of criticism from its conservative detractors, and is relatively indifferent to its liberal critics. Comey may have known that the Republican outrage over not disclosing the reopened Clinton investigation would dwarf whatever frustration Democrats might express at the opposite course of action, had he kept it under wraps as Justice Department guidelines obligated him to do. Indeed, despite the role Comey’s decision played in helping Trump win the White House, Republicans have spent the Trump administration demanding political purges of the FBI and prosecutions of the president’s critics and rivals. While Republicans bear the responsibility for attempting to politicize federal law enforcement, the Democrats’ feeble acquiescence to this dynamic has only enabled them.
A Republican effort to game the FBI during the Obama years paid off big time when it counted, and the anti-democratic tendencies inherent in this attitude have now blossomed into full, sickening bloom, as the GOP presses the boundaries around using the FBI as a tool for political revenge. But Serwer’s line about Democratic acquiescence to this process is crucial to understanding the situation we’re in. For years, Republicans have been playing by a different set of rules than the Democrats: rules that prioritize power over democracy. In failing to adequately challenge this pressure, the Democrats have crippled their own ability to win elections and exert power in government, but have also failed to defend our political system. This seems less the result of incompetence or strategy, although the Democrats have done poorly on both fronts, and more of a basic failure to understand the fundamentally anti-democratic direction of the modern GOP.
But as I’ve repeatedly argued, there’s no mistaking the Republican tilt toward authoritarianism now. Among other things, returning balance to the system will require a full reversal of the Trump-era politicization of the Justice Department. Our current situation is perilous, but Democrats should fight for a system of impartial justice that most Americans agree with; it’s their responsibility to highlight this issue and argue for its central importance to our democracy.
The GOP is assaulting our national institutions and democratic norms on many fronts, but subverting the Justice Department to political ends may be their single most dangerous maneuver. When issues of crime and punishment depend on who holds political power, then we're well on our way to an authoritarian nightmare replete with intimidation and violence.
Obviously, our situation will be much more dangerous should the Democrats fail to recognize the stakes and the primacy of restoring traditional boundaries between politics and law enforcement. One danger is that some Democrats might be tempted to use such tactics should they return to power: to embark on a cycle of revenge using the toolbox the GOP has engineered. Needless to say, this would be the end of the Democratic Party as we know it. Such dark possibilities are yet another reason why Democrats need to be absolutely clear right now about resisting this move towards politicized law enforcement, and about their plans to return the FBI and Justice Department to a position of impartiality and trust.
