Trump has opened a real can of worms
DONALD Trump added to his wealth by firing people for public entertainment as the star of the US version of The Apprentice.
He is fast discovering that while it’s one thing to fire an aspiring executive on a reality television programme, it’s quite another to dismiss the director of the FBI.
The great irony is that in sacking James Comey he has fired one of the people who did the most to help him into office.
The disclosure, just 11 days before the election, that Mr Comey was re-opening the FBI’s investigation into Democrat candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server was a true game-changer.
It may not have swung the election but it stirred memories of the controversies that dogged Bill Clinton’s years in the White House.
Ms Clinton has made no secret of the fact she believes the furore cost her the election.
She is unlikely to have felt any sympathy for Mr Comey when he said he felt “mildly nauseous” at the thought he may have influenced the result.
You could argue that Mr Comey should have resigned.
He testified that “hundreds and thousands” of emails, some of which may have contained classified information, were sent by a senior Clinton aide to her husband.
In fact, the FBI had to concede, only two email chains containing classified material had been sent by the aide to her husband to be printed out.
Mr Comey, who was just three and a half years into a 10-year term, could have apologised and left the bureau but he clearly thought he had important work still to do.
One FBI investigation in particular would have been on Mr Trump’s radar – the exploration of Russian interference in the US election. This would involve clearing up whether Trump campaign associates had contact with Russia.
The White House may argue that Mr Comey has been dismissed over his handling of the Clinton emails imbroglio but, fairly or not, this doesn’t ring true. Mr Trump told Ms Clinton during a presidential debate that she would be “in jail” if he won the election.
Having shamelessly stoked the notion that the Clintons have dark secrets to hide it would be incongruous for him to fire an FBI director for being too boisterous in his investigation of her.
This could backfire spectacularly for Trump and his administration. Democrats want a special prosecutor appointed to investigate Russian links.
Mr Trump will find this suggestion as appealing as getting a crew cut. The appointment of Ken Starr in 1994 to investigate Clinton controversies led to years of digging, the unearthing of the Lewinsky scandal and the impeachment trial.
One of the most serious aspects of this drama is that it may intimidate public officials from risking the ire of the White House. Mr Comey can get rich on the lecture circuit, but lower-ranking officials within arm’s reach of the President may fear getting walloped.