Truth, lies, widening political chasm
“Lies, plain and simple.” That’s the blunt assertion levelled by former FBI director James Comey during his testimony before the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, while responding to questions about the reasons offered by U.S. President Donald Trump for his firing last month.
It was an event, watched by rapt millions around the world, that fully lived up to the hype drummed up by America’s 24-hour news channels. Under intense questioning from members of both U.S. political parties, Mr. Comey pulled a few punches, a necessity when being asked about matters of national security, but he also delivered a series of political haymakers that left no doubt about the former FBI director’s assessment of Mr. Trump’s integrity.
What’s left, in the aftermath of Mr. Comey’s riveting three-hour open hearing (followed by a closed-door session in which more sensitive national security issues could be discussed), is for American citizens to decide just exactly who has been telling those plain, simple lies.
The answer, despite several moments of stunning clarity in Mr. Comey’s testimony, is anything but simple to discern in a country that remains polarized to the point of legislative and ideological paralysis. The only thing that’s safe to say is that few, if any, minds will have been changed by Thursday’s revelations.
Among the more noteworthy bits of testimony from Mr. Comey were his assertion that his dismissal was, without doubt, related to the investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s ties to the Russian government, his unease at the president’s pursuit of inappropriate one-on-one conversations (nine in total) with Mr. Comey -- including one session at which he instructed attorney general Jeff Sessions and adviser/son-in-law Jared Kushner to leave the room before expressing his “hope” that Mr. Comey would lay off the Flynn probe -- and his explanation that he kept fastidious notes of his conversations with the president because he was “honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting.”
Mr. Trump, notorious for his socialmedia outbursts, remained muted during Thursday’s hearing. Early Friday, he posted a tweet that both embraced Mr. Comey’s testimony that the president was informed numerous times he wasn’t personally under investigation and rejected most other aspects of the interview. At the same time, Mr. Trump criticized the former FBI director’s decision to have a friend pass portions of his personal notes to a media outlet in hopes that their publication would lead to the appointment of a special prosecutor for the Russian-hacking investigation.
“Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication ...and WOW, Comey is a leaker!” Mr. Trump tweeted.
All of which, of course, sets the stage for the next chapter in America’s ongoing game of “Who Do You Trust?” This week’s contestants are a former top investigator with a decades-long record of accomplishment while serving under both Democratic and Republican administrations, and a commander-inchief who has -- among other things -falsely claimed his presidential predecessor was Kenyan, boasted that his modestly attended inauguration attracted record crowds, complained erroneously that millions of people voted illegally for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election (which he won), implied that Republican rival Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the Kennedy assassination and claimed to have a secret plan to defeat ISIS within 30 days of taking office.
One would think the correct answer would be clear, simple and plain. In the United States in 2017, it is anything but.