An idea: Wait for Mueller to finish

Here’s what the Justice Departments report by its inspector general says about the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email use.

Five FBI officials involved in the investigation evidenced clear bias against presidential candidate Donald Trump, among them Peter Strzok’s breathtakingly stupid statement to another official that “we’ll stop” him from becoming president.

The five didn’t influence the conclusions reached, which were “reasonable” and not the result of bias against Trump. In fact, Strzok had advocated a more aggressive investigation of Clinton.

FBI director James Comey acted in violation of

FBI and Justice Department policies and norms in publicly rebuking candidate Clinton in announcing the FBI’s conclusions about her email use. And again, when, 11 days before the election, he let it be known that the investigation had been reopened because of previously unexamined emails, only to conclude days later — too late — that they did not warrant altering the conclusion not to prosecute. Boiled down, then, this report points to the fact that what were arguably the most impactful actions in the investigation — Comey meddling in the election by going public with criticism of a major party’s presidential nominee and then reopening the investigation — were ones that

In other words, while all of us should expect that investigators keep their biases to themselves, these apparently weren’t acted upon, according to the inspector general. And, if this report points to evidence of deep-state skullduggery, Clinton, not Trump, has the biggest beef.

The president and his supporters, however, are not reading the report this way. They are cherrypicking the report to discredit the FBI and the Justice Department. The reason is clear: to prejudice public opinion against Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of possible Russian collusion by the Trump campaign in the election and obstruction of justice.

Mueller reportedly wants to complete his report by the end of summer. And the Trump camp is preemptively attacking what it fears the conclusions are.

But, here’s an idea. Instead of drawing premature conclusions about the Mueller investigation from a report about it, we wait for report. Then, everyone can dispassionately review the evidence and reach our own conclusions about whether there was wrongdoing, whether criminal prosecution or impeachment are warranted and whether there is a plot against Trump.

Patience. We know, in these fevered times, that’s a lot to ask.