Haunting news on Trump and Russia

THE acknowledgment by James Comey, the FBI director, that the bureau is investigating possible connections between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia’s efforts to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s chances is a breathtaking admission. While there has been a growing body of circumstantial evidence of such links, Comey’s public confirmation ought to mark a turning point in how inquiries into Russia’s role in the election should be handled.

The top priority now must be to ensure that the FBI’s investigation, which could result in criminal prosecutions, is shielded from meddling by the Trump administration, which has shown a proclivity to lie, mislead and obfuscate with startling audacity. Testifying before the house intelligence committee, Comey said the bureau was conducting its probe in an “open-minded, independent way” and vowed to “follow the facts wherever they lead”.

Before Monday’s hearing began, Trump issued a remarkable set of tweets calling the possibility of collusion with Russia “fake news” and urging Congress and the FBI to drop the matter and instead focus on finding who had been leaking information to the press.

These brazen warning shots from the president do enormous damage to public confidence in the FBI’s investigation. The credibility of the justice department in handling the Russian matter was already deeply compromised after attorney- general Jeff Sessions arrived in the job refusing to recuse himself. He was forced to step aside only after it was revealed that, contrary to what he told senators under oath, he had met the Russian ambassador to Washington twice during the campaign.

This matter requires a broader investigation run by a collaborative, bipartisan team of statesmen. The ideal format would be a select committee that has subpoena power and a mandate to issue a comprehensive report of its findings.