by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Last May Donald Trump sent shock waves through the national political scene when he unexpectedly fired James Comey, the Director of the FBI and the man who arguably threw the 2016 presidential election to Trump by announcing a renewed interest in Hillary Clinton's emails just days before the fateful election. So much for gratitude.
In commenting on his sudden dismissal of the FBI Director Trump called him a "showboat" and a "grandstander." A more substantive reason for the firing was likely Comey's relentless digging into the affairs of former Trump National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, because an endangered Flynn could place the entire Trump administration in peril.
The normal term of an FBI Director is ten years, an amount of time deliberately determined to limit each president to no more that one FBI Director appointment - and, up until the time of Trump it has been seen as a stable and durable appointment. Many Americans, in fact, did not realize that in the era following Nixon that presidents even had the authority and power to fire an FBI Director.
But that power existed and Donald J. Trump chose to use it, regardless of how blatantly self-serving his actions appeared to the rest of the world.
By firing Comey Trump was able to appoint his own head of the FBI, a man more likely to bend to Trump's wishes. He chose Christopher A.Wray, a private attorney who had been a part of the Justice Department during the tenure of President George W. Bush. With his own brand stamped securely onto the FBI, Trump reasoned that he could sit back, relax, and play some golf. But he reasoned wrong.
Trump's ties to the Russian government of Vladimir Putin began drawing national interest and concern even before he was inaugurated, and during the first weeks of his presidency it became obvious that the Trump-Russia story was one that was going to grow. The FBI, which would have a natural role in investigating foreign interference in a United States election, operated under the U.S. Department of Justice, a branch of government that was headed by Jefferson B. Sessions, the U.S. Attorney General and a Trump appointee and close confidant. Trump undoubtedly saw Sessions as one more personal circuit-breaker in any investigation of Russian election meddling and Trump ties to Russia.
But that didn't play out as Trump expected. On March 2nd the overly-cautious Sessions recused himself from involvement in the Russia investigation and turned the matter over to the assistant attorney general, Rod Rosenstein. Trump took Sessions' recusal as an act of betrayal and soon seemed to be headed toward firing his attorney general.
But on May 9th Trump took a different tact and fired FBI Director Comey instead. A week and a day later Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a man who had been asked by Trump at a December meeting at the White House if he was on Trump's team, took control of the ball and appointed an independent prosecutor to investigate the Russia matters. Rosenstein's choice was Robert Mueller, a man who had served an extended term as FBI Director (12 years) and was highly regarded as a person of integrity who had the intellect and ability to get to the bottom of the byzantine set of connections between Russia and the Trump organization.
A few weeks after the Mueller appointment Trump announced his selection of Christopher A. Wray to head the FBI. It was a desperate attempt to get the game back under his team's control.
Now, as everyone knows, the Mueller investigation is forging onward and indictments are beginning to be issued. As the noose tightens, Trump is becoming angrier in his denials of pre-election involvement with officials of the Russian government, and more desperate to bring Mueller's work to a close. If Mueller can't be bullied into quitting, then the only way to get rid of him is to fire him. Trump's pawn at the Justice Department, Jeff Sessions, can't fire Mueller because he did not appoint him. Rosenstein, the man who appointed Mueller, can fire him, but doesn't seem inclined to do so. So now the question becomes will Trump, or Sessions, fire Rosenstein, so that Trump can appoint a replacement who will do his partisan bidding.
If all of this is starting to smell like a constipated version of Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre, well, that's because it is. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it - and Trump seems to ignore almost everything except his golf game.
Fast forward to the present: Two days ago Republicans released a memo prepared by Congressman Devin Nunes, the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee, with a likely assist from White House staffers. The memo was not the political bombshell that Republicans and Sean Hannity had promised it would be. The memo alleged that the FBI had targeted one official in the Trump organization in connection with an investigation of Russian meddling in U.S. politics, and it further alleged that information the FBI used to get the warrant to track the individual, Carter Page, was based on research that had partisan roots. The memo was described by one politician as being a "nothing burger." Then, as proof that the release itself was indeed a partisan stratagem, the House Intelligence Committee, controlled by Republicans, refused to allow the release of a Democratic counter-memo prepared by the committee's Democratic minority.
Trump, being Trump, got on his Twitter account and claimed the Republican memo totally vindicated him. He also claimed that the FBI's reputation was in "tatters."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is understandably distraught over being politicized and demonized by the Trump administration. The law enforcement agency, which has a history of leaning toward the conservative end of the political spectrum, is viewing the Trump and GOP attacks as the duplicitous and self-serving measures that they are, yet many feel that the current political assault will cause harm to the nation's law enforcement establishment that will last for decades.
But destroying the once mighty FBI seems to be a small price to pay in order to maintain a self-obsessed reality television personality in the White House - particularly for today's Republican Party. It's no longer about national pride and democracy. Today's Republicans are focused on power and privilege and greed. They are rampaging hogs out to consume all that they can while Trump clings to the presidency.
Here's hoping that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is able to muster and maintain its resolve and stop the onslaught of these crazed swine. The future of the republic is at stake!
Citizen Journalist
Last May Donald Trump sent shock waves through the national political scene when he unexpectedly fired James Comey, the Director of the FBI and the man who arguably threw the 2016 presidential election to Trump by announcing a renewed interest in Hillary Clinton's emails just days before the fateful election. So much for gratitude.
In commenting on his sudden dismissal of the FBI Director Trump called him a "showboat" and a "grandstander." A more substantive reason for the firing was likely Comey's relentless digging into the affairs of former Trump National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, because an endangered Flynn could place the entire Trump administration in peril.
The normal term of an FBI Director is ten years, an amount of time deliberately determined to limit each president to no more that one FBI Director appointment - and, up until the time of Trump it has been seen as a stable and durable appointment. Many Americans, in fact, did not realize that in the era following Nixon that presidents even had the authority and power to fire an FBI Director.
But that power existed and Donald J. Trump chose to use it, regardless of how blatantly self-serving his actions appeared to the rest of the world.
By firing Comey Trump was able to appoint his own head of the FBI, a man more likely to bend to Trump's wishes. He chose Christopher A.Wray, a private attorney who had been a part of the Justice Department during the tenure of President George W. Bush. With his own brand stamped securely onto the FBI, Trump reasoned that he could sit back, relax, and play some golf. But he reasoned wrong.
Trump's ties to the Russian government of Vladimir Putin began drawing national interest and concern even before he was inaugurated, and during the first weeks of his presidency it became obvious that the Trump-Russia story was one that was going to grow. The FBI, which would have a natural role in investigating foreign interference in a United States election, operated under the U.S. Department of Justice, a branch of government that was headed by Jefferson B. Sessions, the U.S. Attorney General and a Trump appointee and close confidant. Trump undoubtedly saw Sessions as one more personal circuit-breaker in any investigation of Russian election meddling and Trump ties to Russia.
But that didn't play out as Trump expected. On March 2nd the overly-cautious Sessions recused himself from involvement in the Russia investigation and turned the matter over to the assistant attorney general, Rod Rosenstein. Trump took Sessions' recusal as an act of betrayal and soon seemed to be headed toward firing his attorney general.
But on May 9th Trump took a different tact and fired FBI Director Comey instead. A week and a day later Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a man who had been asked by Trump at a December meeting at the White House if he was on Trump's team, took control of the ball and appointed an independent prosecutor to investigate the Russia matters. Rosenstein's choice was Robert Mueller, a man who had served an extended term as FBI Director (12 years) and was highly regarded as a person of integrity who had the intellect and ability to get to the bottom of the byzantine set of connections between Russia and the Trump organization.
A few weeks after the Mueller appointment Trump announced his selection of Christopher A. Wray to head the FBI. It was a desperate attempt to get the game back under his team's control.
Now, as everyone knows, the Mueller investigation is forging onward and indictments are beginning to be issued. As the noose tightens, Trump is becoming angrier in his denials of pre-election involvement with officials of the Russian government, and more desperate to bring Mueller's work to a close. If Mueller can't be bullied into quitting, then the only way to get rid of him is to fire him. Trump's pawn at the Justice Department, Jeff Sessions, can't fire Mueller because he did not appoint him. Rosenstein, the man who appointed Mueller, can fire him, but doesn't seem inclined to do so. So now the question becomes will Trump, or Sessions, fire Rosenstein, so that Trump can appoint a replacement who will do his partisan bidding.
If all of this is starting to smell like a constipated version of Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre, well, that's because it is. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it - and Trump seems to ignore almost everything except his golf game.
Fast forward to the present: Two days ago Republicans released a memo prepared by Congressman Devin Nunes, the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee, with a likely assist from White House staffers. The memo was not the political bombshell that Republicans and Sean Hannity had promised it would be. The memo alleged that the FBI had targeted one official in the Trump organization in connection with an investigation of Russian meddling in U.S. politics, and it further alleged that information the FBI used to get the warrant to track the individual, Carter Page, was based on research that had partisan roots. The memo was described by one politician as being a "nothing burger." Then, as proof that the release itself was indeed a partisan stratagem, the House Intelligence Committee, controlled by Republicans, refused to allow the release of a Democratic counter-memo prepared by the committee's Democratic minority.
Trump, being Trump, got on his Twitter account and claimed the Republican memo totally vindicated him. He also claimed that the FBI's reputation was in "tatters."
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is understandably distraught over being politicized and demonized by the Trump administration. The law enforcement agency, which has a history of leaning toward the conservative end of the political spectrum, is viewing the Trump and GOP attacks as the duplicitous and self-serving measures that they are, yet many feel that the current political assault will cause harm to the nation's law enforcement establishment that will last for decades.
But destroying the once mighty FBI seems to be a small price to pay in order to maintain a self-obsessed reality television personality in the White House - particularly for today's Republican Party. It's no longer about national pride and democracy. Today's Republicans are focused on power and privilege and greed. They are rampaging hogs out to consume all that they can while Trump clings to the presidency.
Here's hoping that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is able to muster and maintain its resolve and stop the onslaught of these crazed swine. The future of the republic is at stake!
1 comment:
Mr. Sessions conduct was not overly cautious. His prudent actions were consistent with the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys. He may have been concerned about Rule 1.8 (b) "A lawyer shall not use information relating to representation of a client to the disadvantage of the client unless the client consents after consultation, except as permitted or required by Rule 1.6 or Rule 3.3."
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