Timing of Comey’s firing raises questions

US President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of FBI director James Comey stunned the nation. It ignited a political firestorm as Comey was leading an investigation into whether Trump’s advisors colluded with Russian government to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election in his favour. It has given rise to suspicions that the White House was trying to blunt the FBI probe involving Russia. The move reeks of political interference by a sitting president into an existing investigation by the nation’s leading law enforcement agency.
Trump’s move has been compared to the “Saturday Night Massacre” of 1973, in which President Richard Nixon fired an independent special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told Trump he was “making a very big mistake” in firing Comey. But the president did not respond.
The White House officials refute allegations that there was any political motive behind Comey ouster. Trump explained the firing by citing Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. But the explanation does not hold water, as the president once praised Comey for his “guts” in his pursuit of Clinton during the campaign, which benefitted Trump. Also, Trump fired Comey a day after former acting Attorney General Sally Yates told a Senate panel that she had informed the White House on January 26 that Flynn was at risk of blackmail by Moscow. So, many in Washington are troubled by the timing of FBI chief sacking.
The clash between the president and the nation’s premier law enforcement agency continued a week of high drama in Washington. Reeling und criticism over Comey sacking, Trump insists FBI Russia probe would show he did nothing wrong. Trump took his fights with FBI to new level with verbal salvo at Comey. He called Comey a ‘showboat’ and ‘grandstander.’
Even many Republicans slammed Trump for taking the decision in haste that could have wider implications for the party. No matter how hard he tries, Trump cannot escape Russia as congressional probes push ahead. And FBI shows no sign of backing down in the face of the president’s criticism. The acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe has unequivocally said that he had no intention of briefing Trump on the ongoing probe into possible ties between Russia and Trump’s campaign as long as he held the job. He calls it the most important probes underway at the Justice Department. McCabe lauded Comey and told the Senate Intelligence Committee that his predecessor enjoyed broad support in the FBI and still does to this day. McCabe said working with Comey was “the greatest privilege and honor of my professional life.”
Trump seems to have started to believe that the Russia probe might touch his coterie of staff. He has been harping on that Comey assured him three times he’s not in trouble. But Trump has offered no such assurance regarding others in his campaign. An independent investigation into Moscow’s role in the election is now the only way to go to restore the American people’s faith.