The Memorandum concludes, first, that Comey "was wrong to usurp the Attorney General's authority on July 5, 2016" when he chose to announce his legal opinion that the case against Clinton should not be prosecuted.
Second, notwithstanding Loretta Lynch's conflict of interest from her improper meeting with Bill Clinton at the Phoenix airport, "The FBI Director is never empowered to supplant federal prosecutors and assume command of the Justice Department." By issuing his own legal opinion confusing motive with intent, Comey exceeded the institutional powers of the government's chief investigator, even if Lynch had seemed to authorize him to do so.
Third, when such "a conflict requires the recusal of the Attorney General": "There is a well-established process for other officials to step in." Instead Comey "announced his own conclusions ... without the authorization of duly appointed Justice Department leaders." In other words, Lynch's ambiguous recusal from Servergate matters did not leave her with any authority to circumvent the normal process and authorize Comey's unusual usurpation of authority from those senior lawyers in DOJ who are lawfully empowered to take over command from the Attorney General in such circumstances. Comey violated the chain of command, even if he did seem to have the approval of Lynch in doing so.
These first three reasons are sufficient grounds for firing Comey, while also implicitly impeaching Loretta Lynch's equal complicity for her part in breaking these rules. But the Memorandum is not about Lynch, and does not criticize her role except by implication. Even more indirectly it is also about Obama, since he hired both of these Wall Street operatives after the Clinton email affair became known. Obama is subject to criticism for allowing this wrongdoing to occur on his watch. But this criticism is not expressly mentioned in the Memorandum. The Memorandum relates solely to Comey's own errors that justify his dismissal.
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