FBI Director James Comey’s unprecedented interference in the electoral process is a shocking dereliction of duty that needs to be investigated by the appropriate authorities and condemned by elected leaders and legal experts—but what it must not do is distract us from our primary, and historic task. In seven days, we can elect a feminist woman President and change the face of the United States Senate.
Women voters in particular are outraged by the sexist double standard Comey has applied to Secretary Clinton. But we are heeding Michelle Obama’s stirring words—“when they go low, we go high.” Let the GOP sink to new lows this week. We aren’t letting them set the tone for this election’s closing argument.
Senator Harry Reid is right that Director Comey needs to account for fact that Comey refused to go public with the FBI’s information about close ties between Donald Trump and the Russian government, while rushing to publicize “the slightest innuendo related to Secretary Clinton … in the most negative light possible.” Comey may well be in violation of the federal Hatch Act, which specifically prohibits federal employees from using their official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.
NOW is calling for an immediate and impartial investigation into Comey’s actions, and we stand with leaders like Sen. Reid who are asking tough questions and demanding straight answers.
But as for us, we have work to do, and not a lot of time left to do it. NOW activists are on the ground in key states like Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. We are working to elect Hillary Clinton and send women’s rights champions to the Senate and House who will help her achieve her progressive feminist agenda. And we are working with our allies to push back on the vile and patently illegal voter suppression campaign being waged by the Republican Party, the Trump campaign, and their super PAC allies.
NOW and its allies are rising above the unfounded character attacks on Secretary Clinton, the endless lies and distortions about her record, and the smears from those who just can’t stand it that the U.S. is on the verge of electing its first woman president — a woman, moreover, who is an unapologetic feminist and proud to champion women’s equality in all walks of life.
James Comey, Donald Trump, Jason Chaffetz and the rest of the GOP attack machine may have a new set of talking points, but they don’t have a shred of evidence to support their campaign of character assassination and conspiracy. They also don’t have our votes.
When they go low, we go vote!