A scandal machine

Four months ago, the Hillary Clinton campaign was a big fan of FBI Director James Comey. Today? Not so much. He’s now apparently a high-ranking executive in the vast, right-wing conspiracy.

When the FBI chief announced back in July that he wouldn’t seek an indictment of Mrs. Clinton over her use of a personal email server, a spokesman said the campaign was “pleased.” Mr. Comey was “well respected” and had been confirmed by the Senate almost unanimously, Clinton fans pointed out. Nancy Pelosi called him a “great man.”

But on Friday Mr. Comey determined that the agency would take another look at the matter given the discovery of additonal pertinent emails. As all this percolated over the weekend, Democrats and the Clinton camp went into panic mode — and then on the attack.

Hillary Clinton herself said on Saturday, without apparent irony, that the FBI director’s decision — announced in a letter to congressional leaders — “is not only strange, it’s unprecedented and it’s deeply troubling because voters deserve to get full and complete facts.”

And we all know that Mrs. Clinton is always eager to provide the “full and complete facts.”

Other campaign surrogates took to the airwaves to criticize Mr. Comey, accusing him of being “light on facts” and “heavy on innuendo.” Nevada’s own Sen. Reid, perhaps relishing one of his final partisan hatchet jobs before slithering off the public stage, said the FBI chief may have violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal workers from using their positions for political purposes.

This, of course, will come as no surprise to observers familiar with the Clinton modus operandi when it comes to those who threaten their ambitions. Team Clinton’s smears and attacks against the myriad women who came forward with revelations about trysts with Bill are well documented.

The Clinton camp was especially upset over the timing. “It’s extraordinary that we would see something like this just 11 days out from an election,” said campaign chairman John Podesta. Perhaps. But it’s also “extraordinary” to have a nominee so beset by her lies, deceptions and ethical lapses that nobody can truly profess shock at any of this.

A front-page story in Monday’s Wall Street Journal revealed an FBI and Justice Department often at loggerheads while simply trying to keep up with all the potential Clinton problems, including the emails and that morass of conflicts known as the Clinton Foundation.

“The new investigation effort … shows a bureau at times in sharp internal disagreement over matters related to the Clintons … ” the paper reported. “Even as the probe of Mrs. Clinton’s email use wound down in July, internal disagreements within the bureau and the Justice Department surrounding the Clinton’s family philanthropy heated up, according to people familiar with the matter.”

None of this will change if Hillary wins the White House. Quite the opposite. The whirring Clinton scandal machine has apparently achieved perpetual motion.