Comey firing cause for real concern
There is no question about the President of the United States’ authority to fire the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
There are, however, serious questions surrounding this president’s firing of this FBI director. The two most fundamental, and most troubling:
(1) Why? and (2) Why now?
The official answer to the first is that the administration of President Donald Trump was dissatisfied with James Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation last summer, when Comey concluded there were insufficient grounds for a criminal case.
That’s a shaky rationale on several levels, the most obvious being timing. Comey’s controversial public reopening of that investigation, just days before the presidential election, Trump himself praised as taking “a lot of guts.”
Even more troubling are implications involving the investigations into possible Russian interference in the presidential election and ties to Trump associates. According to several members of Congress, Comey had asked the Justice Department for more resources for that investigation days before his firing (from the Justice Department) and his scheduled, now rescheduled, congressional committee testimony.
Nor does the president’s dismissal letter to Comey deflect suspicion: “While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation,” Trump wrote, “I nevertheless concur … that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau.”
Exactly what those three occasions might have been, given the high profile of the Russia probe, has not been explained or elaborated on by the White House or the Justice Department. Somebody needs to ask James Comey.
The reported involvement of Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Comey’s dismissal also raises concerns. Sessions, who is supposed to have recused himself from all matters related to the FBI’s Russia investigation, is reported to have recommended Comey’s dismissal. The New York Times on Wednesday cited administration officials as confirming that the White House and Justice “had been working on building a case against Mr. Comey since at least last week,” and that “Mr. Sessions had been charged with coming up with reasons to fire him.”
As of Wednesday, demands for answers were by no means a strictly partisan matter. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called for “a special congressional committee to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.” His colleague Richard Burr, R-N.C., chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he is “troubled by the timing and reasoning of Jim Comey’s termination,” which “further confuses an already difficult investigation by our committee.” Reps. Justin Amash, R-Mich., and Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., both echoed McCain’s call for an independent commission. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, called the situation “serious cause for concern.” Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., tweeted, “I’ve spent the last several hours trying to find an acceptable rationale for the timing of Comey’s firing. I just can’t do it.”
Nor can quite a few members of Congress, in both parties. Nor can millions of Americans who have lots of questions for a White House that offers no credible answers.
This story was originally published May 10, 2017 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Comey firing cause for real concern."