Justice is on the line

Unnamed “senior” Justice Department officials we now know urged FBI Director James Comey

not to inform Congress — and by implication the American people — that the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server had been re-opened because it was too close to the election.

Did those “senior” officials include Attorney General Loretta Lynch herself — the same Loretta Lynch who met privately with Bill Clinton on the tarmac days before Comey announced the completion of his probe in July? The same Loretta Lynch who is being mentioned as a likely holdover in the post under a future Clinton administration?

Of course, Lynch might have issued a directive forbidding Comey from releasing any information on the case. But when the FBI director says he has an

to inform Congress then Lynch would be treading on dangerous ground — or risking a “Saturday Night Massacre” scenario like the one that brought down the Nixon administration, with Comey or other FBI officials resigning to salvage their own reputations.

And to judge from some splendid reporting in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, there are plenty of frustrated FBI investigators already venting about their contentious relationship with a Justice Department unwilling to pursue a no-holds barred investigation of the Clinton Foundation as well.

The Journal, quoting FBI sources, said the foundation investigation began more than a year ago and focused on possible influence peddling and potential financial crimes. The probe initially involved four field offices but later was refocused to include only New York and Little Rock, Ark. The Justice Department was reportedly none too happy that the investigation was still going on as of August.

The only thing that is certain during this incredibly uncertain election is that should Hillary Clinton win the White House next week she will be dogged for the next four years by one investigation after another. And James Comey’s term runs till 2023.