Comey’s day of wreckoning
FOR nearly two weeks, it’s been all quiet on the James Comey front. No government leaks, no friends of his issuing veiled threats,hreats, no reports of his memos to himselfmself mysteriously be-becoming public.
Until yesterday, whenhen the dam sprang a few leaks. The full delugee comes Thursday, when the J. Edgar Hoover wannabe spills to Con-Congress. Then it will bee all Comey, all the time.
It also will be all hell breaking loose be-between Comey and thethe president who fired him.
The television networksetworks certainly hope so, and smelling blood,od, they’ve cleared their schedules for what they hope will be a his-historic event. They’ree thinking “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” andnd depending on what the former FBI bossss says, and how Presi-President Trump responds,nds, their wish could be granted.
The stakes are enormousnormous for both men. Comey left office with few admirers and even fewer friends because of his suspect conduct in last year’sr’s election. Republicans thought he went softoft on Hillary Clinton’s e-mail case, and Democratsmocrats thought hehe waswas too hard on her.
Out of office, Comey’smey’s no longer in a posi-position to collect secretsrets and dole them out based on his own judgmentudgment and interests, and is likely to findd he has lost the institu-institutional benefit of thee doubt from both sides. Instead of blithely asserting his integrity, he’ll have to answerer questions with facts, and some of those questions will be hostile, as they should be.
I hope at least onene series focuses on leaks — and whetherether Comey knows who has beenen disclos-disclosing government secrets,ecrets, and whether he everer did it or authorizedd it himself. The answer, because he will be under oath, could be surprising.
For Trump, of course, the stakes are monumental.umental. The day is shaping up to be the most important event of his presidency.
Any damaging testimony Comey levels will make it that much harder for the president to push his stalled agenda through Congress as more Republicans pull further away. With his already-low approval numbers, additional declines could put his party at risk in the 2018 midterms.
Then there is the immediate legal risk. Comey clearly aims to damage the president by accusing Trump of asking him to pull the plug on the investigation into former Trump aide, Gen. Michael Flynn. Perhaps more important, Comey also will be asked why he thinks he was fired. I assume he will cite the Russia probe, and claim he believes that Trump fired him to stop the investigation. If true, that will be the headline of the day. And if he offers evidence beyond his opinion, Katie bar the door. Comey may make other charges, too, though it’s not clear we’ll get to hear all of them. Remember, some of his testimony to the Senate intelligence committee will be public, and some will be behind closed doors. To that end, Comey already met with Robert Mueller, his predecessor at the FBI who was named special counsel and tasked with heading the probe into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia. Mueller reportedlyportedly wanted to review Comey’s testimonymony to make sure none of it compromised the probe.
Trump, then, has to worry about the politicalical consequences ofof whatwhat ComeyC says publicly,licly, and try to guess what hhe says privately. Given the complexity, it wwas wise for the president to hire a lawyer. IIt would be even wiser for the president to follow the lawyer’s advice.
Presumably, the report ththat Trump might live-tweet his responses to CComey isn’t part of that advice.
It would make for great TTV — but could be a disaster for Trump’s fufuture. Comey is far more experienced at ththe investigative game, and Trump should bebe wary of tweetinging without knowing key fafacts, and the legalgal implications. He could be walking into a trap.
Already, the president hhas been on a tweeting tear, fighting witwith the mayor of London and criticizing bothbot federal courts andand hishis own JusticeJustice DepartmDepartment. He’s clearly aggravated, and is in dangerdange of overheating just when he needs to remairemain ice cool.
Comey is a formidable foe,fo and he’s cominging with his guns loaded andan is determined to use them. We know this bbecause a friend, Benjamin Wittes, suggested Comey was going for the kill.
“This is a guy with a story to tell,” Wittes told CNN late last month. “I think if I were Donald Trump, thatthat wouldwoul scare me a lot.” At the very lleast, it should scare TrTrump into beinging smart and ddisciplined wwith his sponse.