Trump’s words must have consequences
Two weeks ago, President Trump leveled an extraordinary charge against President Barack Obama, claiming that his predecessor tapped phones in Trump Tower before the election. The President cited no evidence to support his claim, and reporting suggested Trump had developed the theory based only on speculative commentary published by Breitbart News.
For the past two weeks, we’ve watched as Trump and his administration have dug in deeper, refusing to back down from the claim while also suggesting that British intelligence could have helped Obama listen in on Trump’s calls.
That led to a diplomatic row with one of the United States’ closest allies, as British intelligence agency GCHQ took the rare step of issuing a public statement to dismiss the Trump administration’s claims as “nonsense” that “should be ignored.”
For a while, it wasn’t clear how this matter would be resolved. Some objective observer needed to weigh in and explain what had really happened.
During congressional testimony Monday before a House of Representatives committee, two such observers weighed in. FBI Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers made clear that there is absolutely no evidence to support Trump’s wild claims. Comey testified that “The FBI and the Justice Department have no information to support” Trump’s accusation against Obama. Rogers — on behalf of the National Security Agency — seconded what Comey said.
As for the suggestion British intelligence could have helped wiretap Obama, Rogers strongly dismissed the notion that this could have occurred, explaining that such action would be “expressly against the construct of the Five Eyes agreement that’s been in place for decades.”
“Five Eyes” is a partnership of the United States, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia that provides for intelligence sharing among the countries.
This is important stuff. Trump and his administration made serious allegations against both his predecessor in office and a close American ally. He and his administration offered no evidence to support these claims, and U.S. intelligence officials have now flatly debunked them.
It is understandable that many of us would prefer to move on from this uncomfortable episode, trying our best to put this all in the rearview mirror. That would be a mistake. If Trump gets the message that he can make preposterous claims with impunity, he will have every reason to do so again.
Such claims can be very damaging. Rogers testified that the allegation the Trump administration made was not helpful to the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.
Rogers similarly testified that Trump’s suggestion, during a public meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that he and Merkel shared something in common, as each had supposedly been wiretapped by Obama, “certainly complicates things.”
Take a moment to let this sink in. The NSA director testified that the U.S. President has taken action at odds with some of our closest international alliances. If Trump reported to Rogers, it would be difficult to imagine that Rogers could have any confidence in Trump. Of course, Trump does not report to Rogers. But under our constitutional democracy, the President is neither above the law nor beyond reproach.
With Republicans controlling the House and Senate, it is up to them to decide whether there will be any consequences for Trump’s reckless actions.
Comey testified that the FBI’s investigation of links and possible cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia is ongoing, and that he can’t know when it will conclude. We don’t know, of course, what that investigation will or won’t turn up.
But we already know enough, based on Monday’s public testimony, to tell us that our government is facing an urgent challenge defined by a President who has shown no compunction about defaming his predecessor and jeopardizing longstanding American alliances.
It is hard to imagine a more difficult or unpleasant task for Republicans: to determine whether they are confident that the President is fit to carry out the duties of his office. No one can take any pleasure in this, but if Republicans in Congress do nothing, they will be making a dangerous mistake.