The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Why Donald Trump’s Firing of James Comey is being called Nixonian
Why did Donald Trump’s firing of FBI Director James B Comey on Friday afternoon trigger talk of the Watergate scandal, an event from over 45 years ago?
While Watergate — the political scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in August 1974 — has had such enduring resonance that “gate” is now appended to the names of scandals everywhere (think Coalgate, Snoopgate, Panamagate etc. in India), the real similarity of the events that took place Tuesday afternoon in Washington is with those of October 20, 1973, known as the “Saturday Night Massacre”. It is during that chapter of Watergate that a US President fired a prosecutor leading an investigation that had a direct bearing on him, just as Trump did on Tuesday.
Back in October 1973, special prosecutor Archibald Cox had issued a subpoena asking President Nixon to hand over copies of recorded conversations in the Oval Office. Nixon had said no and, on October 20, ordered Attorney General Elliot L Richardson to sack the prosecutor. But Richardson had refused to comply and resigned, as had the Deputy Attorney General, William D Ruckelshaus, to whom Nixon had then turned. Cox had been finally fired by Solicitor General Robert Bork who, unlike Richardson and Ruckelshaus, had given no assurances to Congress that he would not interfere in Cox’s work.
In his letter firing Comey, Trump made it a point to underline that he “greatly appreciated” the Director telling him, “on three separate occasions”, that he was “not under investigation” — a way, The New York Times noted, to “pre-emptively deny that his (the President’s) action was self-interested”. However, Comey’s sacking ultimately hits the FBI’S criminal investigation into whether Trump’s advisers colluded with Russia to steer the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
Does this mean Trump wanted to get rid of a man whom he saw as potentially most threatening the future of his Presidency?
The White House claimed the firing was the outcome of Comey’s botched handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server — even though Trump is widely understood to have benefited politically from the inquiry that ran parallel to her election campaign. In the sack letter, Trump said he had gone by the recommendations of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his Deputy, Rod J Rosenstein, who had wanted Comey dismissed for incompetence.
But many — both Democrats and Republicans — rejected the idea. “It’s beyond credulity to think that Donald Trump fired Jim Comey because of the way he handled Hillary Clinton’s emails,” John D Podesta, who was Clinton’s campaign chairman, said. “Now more than ever, it’s time for an independent investigation.”
Senator Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania, said, “This is Nixonian.” Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, added, “Not since Watergate have our legal systems been so threatened and our faith in the independence and integrity of those systems so shaken.”
A longstanding ally of Trump’s, Roger J Stone Jr, even while he defended the President, said, “Somewhere Dick Nixon is smiling.” Representative Justin Amash, Republican of Michigan, called for an independent commission to investigate Trump’s Russia links, and said the President’s claim that Comey had cleared him 3 times was “bizarre”. Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, 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.”
Comey’s continued engagement with the media on the Russia question angered Trump, who increasingly saw the director as a “show horse”, The Wall Street Journal wrote. There was also frustration that Comey, in several Senate appearances, had refused to put the lid on the question of a possible Russian hand in the 2016 election — he simply wouldn’t “say those three little words: ‘There’s no ties.’”, The Journal quoted presidential aides as saying.
Politico whittled the reasons down to 2: that the FBI was investigating his campaign (just a day earlier, Trump had tweeted “The Russia-trump collusion story is a total hoax”), and that Comey wouldn’t back his claims that President Barack Obama had tapped his phones.
CNN was among the news organisations that recalled that before Comey, Trump had fired Acting Attorney General Sally Q Yates for refusing to back the ban on travellers from some Muslim-majority countries. But she was also investigating then-national Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s links with Russia. And Preeet Bharara, former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was fired at a time when his office was investigating cases involving Fox News, and Trump’s claim that Obama had ordered him wiretapped.
Now that Comey is gone, what happens next?
Trump will appoint a new Director, “someone”, he tweeted, “who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI”. An announcement is likely by the end of the week. The choice will be subject to Senate confirmation. There was speculation on several names, including Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie, both staunch Trump loyalists with law enforcement backgrounds, but whose strong partisanship would likely be an insurmountable hurdle in the Senate, and Andrew G Mccabe, the acting director and Comey’s deputy since early February 2016.
On the Russia inquiry, Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, pressed for “a fearless, independent special prosecutor”. From the Republicans, no united line emerged. At the FBI, Deputy Director Mccabe will oversee operations, including the continuing Russia investigation, until the new Director is appointed. COMPILED FROM THE NYT & AGENCIES