As I tweeted on Tuesday, May 9th, 2017...if James Comey is smart, he will spill the beans on everything he knows. The now former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation can alone...single-handedly...bring down the Presidency of Donald Trump. But Comey needs to have the courage to do it.
There is no reason for me to use this column today...to detail chapter and verse...Comey's firing by Trump on May 9th...because - unless you've been sleeping under a huge boulder over the last few days - you know the particulars.
The above being said...if you believe that Trump dismissed Comey because - as initial reports indicated - he "mishandled" the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation... then you also believe that pigs can fly. Donald Trump is undoubtedly terrified of any probe in to Russia's connection in to last year's race between he and Mrs. Clinton. You may recall that Comey testified before the House Intelligence Committtee on March 20th that the FBI has been, in fact, actively investigating - since July 2016 - allegations that members of the "Trump campaign" were linked to the "Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election." That contradicts the termination letter that Comey received from Trump whereby he states..."While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau." It should always be remembered that the head of the Trump campaign was Donald Trump...so if the "Trump campaign" is being investigated...that would have to include Trump himself.
Let's not forget...that during his Congressional testimony in March...Comey was directly asked by Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell of California...if Trump himself was at anytime - either before or after the election - under investigation. Comey's reply..."I'm not going to answer that." In other words...Comey's refusal to provide a definitive response to Congressman Swalwell's question leaves me - and other Americans to believe - that Trump was indeed part of the FBI probe.
On Thursday, May 11th - during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill - Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon asked the new acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe...if he was aware of a conversation between Donald Trump and James Comey...about Trump personally being investigated by the Bureau. McCabe also refused to answer.
In that same Senate hearing...Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine asked McCabe if it is "standard practice" for the FBI to inform anyone that he is "not a target" of an investigation. McCabe stated..."I'm not aware of that being a standard practice."
But in an exclusive interview with NBC News Chief Anchor Lester Holt, Donald Trump - on May 11th - stated he outright inquired three times to James Comey whether he was being investigated by the FBI for improper conduct with Russia. Trump said Comey told him..."You are not under investigation." But at this point... who can really believe anything that Donald Trump says?
It is as obvious as the unusual hair-do on Donald Trump's head that he was - and still is - a target in the criminal investigation, which allegedly ties him with illegal activity by Russia to influence the outcome of our national election. So by firing Comey - who was in charge of the aforementioned investigation - Trump has removed the person who has conceivably caused him to suffer sleepless nights since Inauguration Day on January 20th. Still...Trump denies firing Comey to quash the Russian investigation. But - like many millions of other Americans - I definitely do not believe him.
I certainly am not a fan of James Comey. I absolutely agree with Hillary Clinton that Comey cost her the election...and that if the now former FBI Director had not written that infamous letter to Congress - eleven days before the election - that the former Secretary of State would...without question...be the 45th President of the United States. Comey clearly violated Department of Justice regulations to not interfere with an election. He was categorically wrong. And I would have understood...and supported...Comey's termination as FBI Director if he was fired by President Barack Obama...or by Donald Trump on January 20th. But to do it now...is mighty fishy.
I will add this, however. Trump is a coward. He didn't have the guts - dare I use the word "balls" - to meet Comey personally...in order to properly terminate his employment with the federal government. Though he would never admit it...Trump has all along used his reality television show, The Apprentice, as the prototype for his Presidency. But The White House is not the Trump Tower boardroom and, therefore, Trump didn't even give James Comey the courtesy for a face to face... "You're fired!" Instead...Trump sent his longtime bodyguard and Trump Tower security chief, Keith Schiller - who currently serves as Director of Oval Office Operations - to deliver the letter to Comey's office at the J. Edgar Hoover F.B.I. Building in Washington, DC...even though Trump had to be aware...that Comey was at an FBI conference...at the Bureau's Los Angeles operations center in California. Thus, Comey reportedly learned of his termination via a television monitor that flashed the "breaking news" while members of his staff scurried to his side.
As has been reported since Comey was dismissed...Americans - Democrats and Republicans alike - including many Members of Congress...do not believe that the Russian investigation was not a factor in Comey being fired. And if - as Trump told reporters on Wednesday, May 10th - that Comey was let go "Because he wasn't doing a good job, very simply"...then why wasn't the FBI chief axed...as soon as Trump took the oath of office nearly four months ago? That answer is plain and simple. James Comey was probably digging up dirt on Donald Trump...and Trump wanted to bury the Russian investigation before that dirt buried him. Therefore... Trump put himself above the law.
Trump has called the Russian probe everything from a "hoax"...to a "charade"...to "fake news." But reportedly...Comey's aim was to prove...or to disprove...the allegations that Trump and/or senior members of his campaign team were involved in a plot to destroy Hillary Clinton's chances at winning the Presidential election. A vast amount of Americans - including myself - believe that White House officials are in the thick of a cover-up. And that Donald Trump has perhaps participated with such a conspiracy.
The term "Constitutional crisis" has been expressed all week by numerous people from both political parties. The democracy of our nation...and the freedoms of each and every American...are being threatened. Therefore, an Independent Special Prosecutor - someone who Democrats and Republicans can implicitly trust - must be appointed to further investigate Russia's meddling in to our election and the possible links to Trump and his campaign staff. Americans must protect our country from Russian espionage.
The citizens of the United States must know for sure how deep the Russian connection is...and if Trump himself...colluded with Russian President Vladimir Putin and/or others associated with the Kremlin. After all...it is suspicious - and, therefore, unlikely to be a coincidence - that Trump fired both the Acting Attorney General (Sally Yates) and the FBI Director (James Comey). Keep in mind that Yates warned The White House that Trump's former National Security Adviser - retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn - may have been, in some way, compromised...or even blackmailed...by Russian intelligence agents. And that Comey had apparently been questioning the possibility...that members of the Trump campaign - including Trump - allegedly participated in illegal activities that involved Russia. And when you add in the fact...that it took 18 days for Trump to dismiss Flynn - an alleged spy who is also accused of being on Russia's payroll - then this White House scandal is worse than Watergate. Therefore...how the hell did Donald Trump - on May 10th - welcome to The White House...without U.S. reporters present...the Russian Foreign Minister and the Russian Ambassador? And the plot thickens.
The timing of Trump's firing of James Comey is not only puzzling, but troubling and disturbing. Many Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate - from both political parties - were shocked by Trump's decision to give Comey the boot. Attorney General Jeff Sessions supposedly recused himself from the Russian investigation and put the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on top of that probe. Yet it was Sessions who - on the recommendation of Rosenstein - reportedly advised Trump to get rid of Comey.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois - on May 10th - revealed to reporters... "I'm told that as soon as Rosenstein arrived, there was a request for additional resources for the investigation and that a few days afterwards he (Comey) was sacked." Senator Durbin went on to say..."I think the Comey operation was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives, and this (the firing of Director Comey) was an effort to slow down the investigation."
Donald Trump has abused his power to release FBI Director Comey from a job whereby he was investigating the President's campaign leadership...and - more than likely - the President himself. Without question...Trump was - and still is - scared of what will be discovered by the Senate and House investigations and by any probe conducted by the Justice Department or an Independent Special Prosecutor. But Americans must know unequivocally...whether the man who is now sitting behind The Oval Office desk...the man who holds the nuclear codes...did...or did not... coordinate with a foreign adversary...thus collude with Russia...to meddle with the U.S. Presidential election of November 8th, 2016.
If it looks like a cover-up...and smells like a cover-up...it must be a cover-up. And THIS...is a cover-up. The ultimate questions are...who on Donald Trump's team may be guilty of obstruction of justice...or even treason? And how involved...if anything...is Trump?
I have to wonder if part of James Comey is now relieved to have the day to day pressure off him. It has been reported that Trump had been planning - for awhile - to terminate Comey. There are some who believe that Trump's goal from the beginning...was to can Comey - who correctly felt it would be wrong, under the law, to prosecute Hillary Clinton over the e-mail controversy - and to then bring on board an FBI Director...such as former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani...or New Jersey Governor Chris Christie...or the like...who would recommend an indictment of Secretary Clinton. If Trump does that...it would be the act of a dictator...not a U.S. President. And with only a simple majority needed for the Senate to confirm a new FBI Director, if only 51 of the 52 Republicans vote yea, Trump could get his way. But for credibility, the FBI Director should have at least 60 to 75 yes votes...if not more. More importantly, though...there is no evidence whatsoever that Mrs. Clinton performed any act of illegal wrongdoing. To put Hillary Clinton...and the people of the United States...through a lengthy and expensive trial...would not only be unjustified...but it would be wicked and perverted abuse of an innocent and honorable person who in no way deserves it. Our country would not only suffer beyond imagination...but Watergate...and the witch-hunt that was the impeachment of President Bill Clinton...would look like cases for shoplifting.
I heard more than one television news commentator this week...compare Donald Trump to a king...who expects every single person to bow down to him. But Trump is not royalty. Some of his actions - not all - are more in tune with Marlon Brando's character, Don Vito Corleone in the 1973 Academy Award winning Best Picture, The Godfather. I certainly hope - after writing this column - that I don't wake up one morning to find a horse's head next to me in my bed.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of
GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B.
Duglin.
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