YOU’RE FIRED!
Donald Trump’s sacking of FBI director James Comey could herald the start of the biggest political scandal since Watergate
HE WAS used to having his colleagues hanging on his every word – after all, as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), James Comey had access to a treasure trove of secrets and juicy gossip.
But as he stood addressing staff earlier this month he could see their attention was elsewhere. Instead of listening to him they were staring in disbelief at the television screen behind him, which was on mute.
When Comey (56) turned around and saw what it was he couldn’t believe his eyes. At first he thought it must be a prank. There running across the screen was a breaking news alert announcing he’d just been fired.
It turned out to be no joke. Although it was Comey’s job to know all the nation’s secrets he’d been totally in the dark that President Donald Trump was planning to fire him.
Trump was so fed up he didn’t even bother telling Comey the news in person – instead he let him find out along with everyone else by seeing it on TV.
“He wasn’t doing a good job,” Trump told reporters. “Very simple.”
For months Trump and Comey had butted heads on all kinds of issues (see box below).
Although the president’s camp first insisted the firing was as a result of the handling of Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s email probe, there are many who believe there was something more sinister behind the shock axing.
There’s speculation it was Comey’s determination to investigate claims the Trump camp was in cahoots with the Russians to rig last year’s elections that ultimately cost him his job.
If this turns out to be true it could pave the way for the biggest American political scandal since Watergate, which led to President Richard Nixon’s downfall in 1974. We take a closer look.
WHO IS JAMES COMEY?
Background: After graduating from the University of Chicago Law School in 1985, Comey quickly rose up the legal ladder.
As the United States attorney for the southern district of New York he led the successful prosecution of TV personality Martha Stewart, who was found guilty in 2004 of securities fraud, obstruction of justice and lying to an FBI agent.
In 2005 in his new role as deputy attorney general he endorsed a memorandum approving the use of 13 enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, a technique that simulates drowning.
In June 2013, President Barack Obama selected Comey to be the next FBI chief, replacing outgoing director Robert Mueller.
CONTROVERSIES S
The police and black Americans. Comey came in for criticism for a speech he delivered at Georgetown University in
Washington, DC, in 2015 in which he defended the use of violence against black suspects. “Officers on patrol in our nation’s cities often work in environments where a hugely disproportionate percentage of street crime is committed by young men of colour,” he said.
“Something happens to people of goodwill working in that environment. After years of police work, officers often can’t help but be influenced by the cynicism they feel. A mental shortcut becomes almost irresistible.”
SThe Clinton email probe. In July 2015 the FBI opened a criminal investigation into how Hillary Clinton allegedly flouted laws relating to the handling of classified material during her time as secretary of state by using a private email server to read sensitive correspondence.
WHY BOTH PARTIES HATED HIM
Comey drew the ire of Trump’s Republican Party last year for his decision to close the Clinton email probe. Then, just days before the election, Comey infuriated the Democrats by suddenly reopening the investigation. There are some who reckon his actions might even have even cost Clinton the presidency.
But since his firing the Democrats have sprung to Comey’s defence, saying his sacking is a thinly disguised attempt to sink his Russian probe.
HAS TRUMP OVERSTEPPED THE MARK?
Some have compared Trump’s move to President Richard Nixon’s firing in 1973 of Archibald Cox, an independent special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.
Richard Painter, a Washington ethics lawyer who served in the George W Bush administration, reckons what Trump has done is actually far worse than Watergate. “The president can’t fire the FBI director while he’s being investigated by the FBI director,” he says. “This is an abuse of power.”
But actually Trump is well within his rights to dismiss Comey, and he’s not the first president to go down this road. Back in 1993, then-president Bill Clinton fired his FBI chief, William Session, for ethical violations. “But there’s a norm that presidents don’t fire FBI directors,” says Jeffrey Rosen, a professor of law at George Washington University and president of the National Constitution Centre.
What happens next? It’s now up to Trump to appoint a new FBI director. But even with Comey out of the way, the president isn’t off the hook. Now the investigation has started it will be difficult for a new director to shut it down given all the attention it’s been drawing.
Such a move could prompt an open mutiny within the FBI and result in embarrassing leaks of information. It would also raise public suspicion and make voters even more curious about what Trump is trying to hide.
Meanwhile the Senate Intelligence Committee is continuing to probe the Russian allegations and the Democrats are calling for the appointment of an independent special prosecutor to conduct a full-scale inquiry. If this goes ahead it could open up a whole can of worms for the president.