Though the firing of FBI Director James Comey became inevitable last November, the main stream media continues to push the narrative that everything in the Trump universe is connected to his supposed collusion with Russia. In spite of the fact that Democrats like Minority Leader Chuck Schummer were calling for Comey’s removal until just days ago, they now claim his ouster is a “Nixonian” attempt by Trump at coverup.
Hours after firing FBI Director James Comey, President Donald Trump discounted Schumer’s demands for an independent investigation into Russian interference into last year’s presidential election by recalling the senator’s past criticisms of the former bureau head.
“Cryin’ Chuck Schumer stated recently, ‘I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer.’ Then acts so indignant. #draintheswamp,” Trump wrote on Twitter late Tuesday night.
Trump fired Comey late Tuesday, telling him in a brief letter that he could not “effectively lead” the bureau and calling for “new leadership that restores public trust and confidence” in law enforcement. Comey had come under fire for his handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe in 2016.
Most Democrats expressed outrage at the decision, noting that the FBI is investigating whether Trump’s campaign had ties to Russia. Schumer called for a special prosecutor to be appointed to take over the Russia probe. “This is part of a deeply troubling pattern from the Trump administration,” Schumer told reporters.
Senator Bob Casey (Dem-PA) called the move “Nixonian,” and House Judiciary Committee Democrats deemed it a “shocking decision” calling on the Department of Justice and the FBI to preserve all documents relating to the Russia probe.
But Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told FOX news that Democrats have pounced on the timing of Comey’s firing because it opened a door for them to renew their calls for a special prosecutor.
“I think it gave them a chance to get back to something they argued about a month ago and it was losing steam – to have a special prosecutor or have a commission to look into it,” Grassley said. “But there’s committees of Congress, including my own committee, investigating this and it gives them an opportunity to bring those issues up again.”
According to Grassley, the Democrat’s argument is fatally flawed because of their own rabid criticisms of Comey decision to temporarily re-open the investigation into Clinton’s private email server last October. Their argument at that time was that Comey was in effect throwing the election for Clinton and giving it to Trump. “I don’t think they have much credibility,” he said.
Breitbart and even some at progressive leaning POLITICO discount that the firing of Comey was a rush job or came only after his somewhat confusing testimony at recent hearings in Washington.
In retrospect, the firing of James Comey as FBI Director happened about as fast as it was possible to make it go. Here’s the sequence:
Democrats in Congress did their best to delay the appointment of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. That meant he was not in place until nearly a month after the inauguration.
Once able to move, Sessions proposed Rod Rosenstein for Deputy Attorney General. Given the highly politicized circumstances, neither President Trump nor Sessions could move against Comey directly. Rosenstein, was quickly confirmed 94-6 by the Senate.
In spite of his stellar non-political reputation, Rosenstein’s confirmation had been threatened by Senator Blumenthal the first week of March due to his demand for Sessions to appoint a special prosecutor on the Russia file.
Rosenstein was finally confirmed on Apr 25th after seven weeks of obstruction by Congress. Two weeks after Rosenstein assumed the position of Deputy Attorney General he submitted a request that Comey be fired.
Sessions endorsed and passed the recommendation to Trump which he approved the same day. By Washington standards, there is no way Comey could have been fired any sooner without calling the whole process into question. The handling of Comey was competent, professional, and above-board.
When asked what he thought of media outlets calling James Comey’s firing “Nixonian” and akin to President Richard Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre,” Grassley dismissed the claims. “My message is this – suck it up and move on,” he said.
The release of James Comey is a tale of two reactions: something that was necessary and done about as quickly as possible by the President and a cacophony of howls from a left that will never accept it lost last November.
~ American Liberty Report
