This week's firing of FBI Director James Comey is just another mess in an ever-growing line of messes for President Trump and his administration. Unlike other self-manufactured controversies, this one in particular could, and really should, be used as evidence of obstruction of justice. By the president's own admission to NBC's Lester Holt, Mr. Trump said that "this Russia thing" factored into his decision to fire Mr. Comey, who was leading the investigation into Russian involvement in our election and to the larger extent our democratic processes. Then there was the completely awkward ill-timed, frankly bizarre, meeting with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak where no U.S. media were allowed but Russian media was.
The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson commented that it was impossible to predict the timing of the things the president does, but I would content that it's not that difficult - just imagine the worst possible time in which to do something and that's when Mr. Trump will act.
But there is a big "if," which Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) outlined in his interview, which is that right now the investigation is a counter-intelligence investigation and not a criminal one, meaning that at this time appointing a special prosecutor would be premature. This argument treads thin due to the presidents statements, which included his mention of recordings of White House conversations with then-director Comey on January 27, 2017 at a private dinner between the two. What's not thin is the president's threat of "tapes." No "thinly-veiled," it was simply a threat. The president should take Senator Graham's advice to cease tweeting or commenting about the investigation.
Senator Schumer, for his part, is in wait-and-see mode for the president's choice to replace Mr. Comey as FBI director, which will then dictate the decision on whether there should be a united democratic call for a special prosecutor.
If you disagree with the charge of obstruction of justice, what is obvious is that the president is using all legal means, politically ugly or not, to impede the FBI investigation. As the BBC's Katty Kay pointed out - we haven't gotten the full, real story so conspiracy theories will reign. One is left only to speculate, but best guess from my perspective is that it has to do with his businesses being put under a legal microscope. Congress' investigation is more focused on Russia's interference with our election where the FBI seems more targeted at individuals within the Trump campaign, which could lead to an investigation of the president. It's all more personal in nature and that would seem to be more of a concern to Mr. Trump.
Paraphrasing Axios' founder Jim Vandehei, you can't be thinking small while trying to accomplish big things. It just won't work. That's where we all are with Donald Trump's presidency.
To directly quote Matthew Continetti of the conservative Washington Free Beacon, "He is the crisis." The boiling point comes when a larger enough portion of the Republican party disapprove and it's moving in that direction.
On the personal front, President is not helping himself certainly, but Secretary of State Rex Tillerson isn't helping the administration's credibility cause of U.S. foreign policy either. At the outset of this administration I had hope that Mr. Tillerson would be the pleasant surprise in an administration consisting of many political novices, but that hope ceased early on and today's interview confirmed any doubt that Mr. Tillerson simply doesn't have what it takes to represent the United States as its head diplomat.
Senator Graham said that he was 1,000 percent sure that Russia interfered in our election and Sec. Tillerson doesn't bring it up in his meetings with Putin on his Kremlin visit, saying it was "part of that broader landscape of conversation." With all due respect to the Secretary, what the hell does that mean? Another country meddling in the U.S. election is an attack on our democracy and indeed our sovereignty. Fine, it's part of broader conversations, but it's the first conversation.
Mr. Vandehei was a last minute addition to the panel to break the news that the Trump Administration is going to have a major shake up and names like Bannon, Priebus, Spicer, and McGahn are potential pink slip recipients. So much for Mr. Trump's hiring prowess and 'getting the best people.' No matter what side of the political aisle you favor or none at all, we would all agree that all this needs to be promptly resolved. In this instance Donald Trump is the only one who can fix all this, and indeed we need the full, real story because Americans' patience is running really thin with this unpredictable president and chaotic presidency.
Panel: Katty Kay, BBC News; Haley Jackson, NBC News; Matthew Continetti, Washington Free Beacon; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post
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