When the news that the FBI had reopened its investigation of Hillary Clinton prior to the election without telling Congress or the public leaked, the GOP predictably went berserk. Trump and all of the talking heads on Fox News argued daily, even hourly that Clinton was not a legitimate president and should be driven out of office by all means necessary–not completely excluding violence.
Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan saw an opportunity and agreed. In spite of Clinton’s genuine efforts to work with them, they essentially shut down Congress, other than to conduct bogus investigations and hold hearings on impeachment. No Clinton nominees were confirmed. The government shut down. Finally, Congress refused to lift the debt ceiling, the government defaulted, and interest rates skyrocketed. When Clinton fought back by trying to conduct business as usual, litigation ensued. Violent demonstrations were taking place all over the country. It was the worst constitutional crisis since the Civil War.
All of this could easily have happened if Comey had gone by the book and kept his mouth shut. It’s easy now to criticize him for failing to be even-handed, but it is a mistake to downplay or disregard his concerns for the health of the system, because they were completely legitimate, given the character of the leaders of the GOP, the demands of Fox News, and the attitudes of the Reactionaries.