Firing set dirty laundry flapping
When President Trump took on the U. S. intelligence community over its collective finding that Russia sought to steer the election in his favor, the president sowed a palpable level of suspicion among its top leaders.
In one infamous early morning tweet, fired off 10 days before his inauguration, he took a thinly veiled shot at the FBI for the alleged “leak” of an unsubstantiated dossier purportedly detailing the Trump campaign’s ties to the Kremlin and allegations that the president had cavorted with prostitutes while in Moscow.
“Are we living in Nazi Germany?” Trump wrote.
It should come as no surprise that then- FBI director James Comey — increasingly suspicious of the president’s unusual outreach to him in the days before and after the inauguration — kept detailed memos about their communication.
When Trump dismissed Comey last month, the president effectively freed the former director to publicly air some of the most potentially damaging information to his young presidency.
Comey will speak publicly for the first time since his firing at a Senate hearing Thursday that’s turned into a highly anticipated live television event. Former colleagues and legal analysts said the former director embodies what may be the president’s most consequential miscalculation.
“President Trump badly misunderstood the makeup of Jim Comey,” said Chris Swecker, a former assistant FBI director. “If he had studied up on Jim Comey, he would have quietly let the Russia investigation take its course. Was it wise to take on the intelligence community the way ( Trump) did? I think he knows the answer to that now.”
Comey’s assertion that the president pressed him to drop the FBI’s inquiry into national security adviser Michael
Flynn’s contacts with Russia — outlined in a written statement filed before Comey’s appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee — is enough to inflict enormous damage, analysts said. Former Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller said it will probably raise allegations of obstruction of justice at least.
Former director of national intelligence James Clapper issued the government’s assessment last year that Russia interfered in the U. S. election with a campaign of cyberattacks and leaks of stolen information to websites such as WikiLeaks. In a speech Wednesday to Australia’s National Press Club, before Comey’s prepared testimony was made public, Clapper said the Watergate scandal that doomed the presidency of Richard Nixon “pales to what we’re confronting right now.”
Comey said he unsuccessfully solicited Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ assistance in walling off the FBI from Trump. The disclosure opens another avenue of exploration for Robert Mueller, the Justice Department’s special counsel overseeing the government’s counterintelligence inquiry, and the four congressional committees investigating alleged Russian interference.
“If Comey did share his concerns with the attorney general, who later played a role in his firing, that could put the Justice Department leadership in deep trouble,” said University of Notre Dame law professor Jimmy Gurule, a former Justice and Treasury Department official in the George W. Bush administration.
Comey’s appearance before the full Senate Intelligence Committee and the larger court of public opinion is not without risks for the former director. Miller said Comey’s disputed handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation removed the “bulletproof armor” that long shielded his reputation for solid judgment and unshakable integrity.
“Beyond the hearing room, people will be dissecting every word he utters,” said Ron Hosko, a former chief of the FBI’s criminal division and a Comey supporter. “They will be looking to see if he has inflated claims about his conver- sations with the president. If people feel that it looks like political payback for his firing, there will be a strong response. I don’t think that’s the case at all, but I’m expecting the deep political divisions in our country to be on full display.”
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate panel, said this week that Comey will be given wide latitude to tell his story.
“He can’t talk about anything that is classified,” Burr said. “But I haven’t gotten any indication that he is constrained in any way, shape or form.”
Over the seven pages of testimony Comey filed Wednesday, he held little back. He drew from the catalog of memos he prepared over four months, acknowledging that he felt “compelled” to document his conversations with the president, starting with their first encounter Jan. 6 at Trump Tower in Manhattan.
“Creating written records immediately after one- on- one conversations with Mr. Trump was practice from that point forward” in nine conversations with the president, Comey said, adding that “this had not been my practice in the past.” Comey said he had only two conversations with President Obama in nearly four years.
At a White House dinner Jan. 27, where Trump allegedly sought a pledge of the director’s loyalty, Comey set the scene: “It turned out to be just the two of us, seated at a small oval table in the center of the Green Room,” Comey said. “Two Navy stewards waited on us, only entering the room to serve food and drinks.”
At that dinner, Comey said, Trump told him, “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.”
The director recounted an encounter Feb. 14 in which the president said, “I hope you can let this go.” According to Comey, “I understood the president to be requesting that we drop any investigation of Flynn in connection with a false statement about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in December.”
Comey acknowledged, as the president has asserted, that he told the president on three different occasions that he was not a subject of the Russia investigation.
Trump’s camp seized on that information Wednesday, saying it amounted to a public acknowledgment that the president was not under investigation in any Russian probe. Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz said the president “feels completely and totally vindicated” and “is eager to continue to move forward with his agenda.”
As FBI director and deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, Comey aggressively worked behind the scenes to establish strong relationships with Republicans and Democrats. A political firestorm followed his decision not to recommend criminal charges against Clinton for her use of a private email server when she was secretary of State. But even after his controversial handling of the Clinton case, few challenged his integrity — though some questioned his judgment.
One former colleague, who declined to be identified because of his friendship with the former director, said he and others are bothered that Comey would be willing to disclose private conversations with the president. The former colleague described the upcoming testimony as unseemly.
Others regard Comey’s testimony as necessary.
“The rule of law in this country depends on public officials not politicizing or corrupting law enforcement,” said Vanita Gupta, former acting chief of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in the Obama administration. “It is vital that the American public and their elected representatives hear from former FBI director Comey about any inappropriate contacts from the White House in the course of conducting a nationally important investigation.”
The White House decided it will not block Comey’s testimony by asserting that his communication with the president was private. Trump may offer Twitter commentary during the Senate session.
Asked this week whether he had a message for Comey, Trump said, “I wish him luck.”