Ex-AG Gonzales: Firing could backfire on president
If President Trump thought firing former FBI Director James B. Comey would throw off the agency’s investigation into Russia’s influence on the presidential election, he is in for a surprise, according to former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
“If the purpose of this action was in any way to interfere with the investigation, it is going to backfire big time on the Trump administration,” Gonzales, who served under President George W. Bush, told me.
Gonzales criticized Comey in the lead-up to the Nov. 8 election after the former FBI chief informed lawmakers that the agency was looking at emails potentially related to its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state.
The former AG’s comment — that Comey’s decision was “an error in judgment” — was cited this week in a memorandum by Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. That memo recommended a change in leadership at the FBI.
When Comey was canned on Tuesday, the White House said Trump acted on the recommendations of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Rosenstein.
Gonzales told me that he was surprised to see his words cited in the memo that laid out the case for Comey’s dismissal.
“I would think the deputy attorney general would make his own evaluation based on his experience as to what conduct was appropriate and inappropriate,” he said. “I stand by what I said, but I was a little surprised seeing it in the letter.”
Gonzales said Trump’s timing is going to continue to cause headaches for the White House. If the Russia investigation had been closed — or if Trump had fired Comey in the early days of his presidency — it wouldn’t have looked quite as bad, he said.
But the optics now are not good.
“I am not suggesting there is anything there, but Russia is what the investigation is all about,” Gonzales said. “It really places a burden on the White House to be more forthcoming to provide a better explanation as to the timing. Why now? Why not at the beginning?”
The manner in which Comey was fired was “disrespectful,” Gonzales said. Comey reportedly learned of his dismissal through news reports as he spoke to agents in Los Angeles.
“I thought it was disrespectful and unprofessional and totally uncalled for,” he said. “By virtue of his service, Jim Comey was entitled to more respect as far as I’m concerned. He did not deserve to learn about this the way that he did.”
Gonzales also anticipates that the sudden firing sent shockwaves through the Justice Department, and that the FBI will now be keenly focused on the ongoing Russia probe.
“They are going to be more determined than ever to get to the bottom of what happened here,” he said. “I am 100 percent convinced that this will not in any way interfere or slow down the investigation.”