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It may be a case of, “What comes around goes around.”
President Trump’s bombshell announcement last night that he had fired FBI Director James Comey caught Washington by surprise. In fact, Politico even noted that “Chyrons promising ‘breaking news’ actually delivered it.” But despite the Director’s bad judgement, motives or both in the Hillary Clinton matter, the firing by Trump suggests bad judgement, motives, or both by the man at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as well. And without assuming something sinister, both threaten the very fabric of integrity as it relates to independent investigations.
If my rationale sounds complicated, let me explain.
It was thought that Comey’s release of the letter stating that he was reopening his investigation into Clinton’s emails was done because he wanted Trump to win the election. I don’t know whether that is true – he last week called even the remote possibility of the Bureau influencing the election “mildly nauseating,” but, I think the fact that he might have thrown the election to Trump only to be fired by him as president is ironic justice. But in the wake of the Russian investigation, it still reeks of a cover-up and the Trump White House is not Little Red Riding Hood either. In fact, history might show that they are operating in a manner that is far more malignant.
Somebody last night – I don’t recall who, compared the tracking of the Comey procession in Los Angeles (where he had been giving a speech) to the O.J. Simpson chase. That might be fitting because I don’t have much sympathy for either of them. But it was obvious politics and fear that caused the president to terminate the Director and that is unfortunate. The White House made a public show of releasing letters from the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, recommending to the president that he fire Comey. They cited his handling of the twin Clinton investigations – the one where Comey issued his findings that stopped short of an indictment and the now infamous pre-Election Day letter. Yet, this was all known before and Trump publicly stated numerous times that Comey had his confidence.That changed rather abruptly and publicly, just as Comey was getting underway with his Russian investigation.
Let’s start with the Clinton matter. Many legal analysts save a few conservative hacks (Sessions, Giuliani, Mark Levin, etc.), lauded Comey for his call in July opting to not indict Clinton. But many questioned his decision to go public with the matter. By the same token, his decision to rattle the election by inserting his letter into the political universe 11 days before was not praised, except of course, in a complete reversal of July, by those on the right. I share those dismayed by the October letter. There is a precedent to not publicly shake up an election and Comey dissed it. Furthermore, his decision to not say anything for the ensuing couple of days – including when he issued his findings on the Sunday before the election that his July decision to not charge Clinton stood, was a textbook example of exactly the wrong way to handle such matters.
An example: Comey would never say that the investigation in no way, shape or form involved Hillary Clinton’s personal server. I dn’t doubt – as has been suggested, that Comey released the letter in part because he was concerned about leaks and that, if they occured, he would be accused of an even further bias. But as my political hero, Harry S. Truman said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” The bottom line: Comey’s method of operation was just a little too cute so, I guess the fact that the Trump administration made his firing as public as just about any other presidential appointee in history is ironic justice. But it probably is justice nevertheless.
That said, the timing of the firing is profoundly disturbing as Democrats and some Republicans are profoundly questioning it. Pennysylvania Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat, called it “Nixonian,” and Michigan Republican Congressman Justin Amash suggested he was open to an independent counsel to look into the Russia matter.
Yale Law Professor Robert Post best summed it up by saying, “No one can know the inner workings of the president’s mind. But we can know that he consistently acts in ways that flout the creation of trust. The firing of FBI Director Comey, at a moment when Comey was investigating the president, is simply the latest and most egregious example of Trump’s disregard for appearances.”
Yes, while many who think Comey sabatoged Clinton’s White House chances are understandably satisfied by today’s developments, the reason and the ramifications ought to have alarm bells sounding in all corners of America.