Comey Chameleon
The ex-FBI chief’s actions contradict ‘obstruction’ claim
THE leaks about the Trump White House took a dramatic new turn with The New York Times story about a conversation between the president and former FBI Director James Comey about former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn.
Flynn was fired for failing to provide an accurate account of his Dec. 30 phone conversation with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak. Thereafter the FBI began to look at Flynn’s ties to Russia.
A few days after Flynn was fired, Trump and Comey spoke about the FBI investigation. According to a memo Comey reportedly wrote shortly afterward, Trump suggested that the investigation be dropped. “I hope you can let this go,” the president told Comey. “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy.”
At first glance this brings back memories of Richard Nixon and the firing of Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox. After that happened, it was simply a matter of time before Nixon was forced to resign. Is that where we are, then?
Not so fast. The White House immediately issued a denial. “The president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end an investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn ... This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey.”
That’s not a denial that a conversation about Flynn took place. It’s a denial that Trump asked Comey to end the investigation, which is how the headline writers have treated the story.
Go back to Comey’s account of the conversation, and you’ll see that it’s at least as plausible to imagine a different sort of conversation, one much more benign. Something like, “I know you have to do your duty, Comey, but when you finish I hope you’ll find there’s nothing there.” That’s consistent with Comey’s account of what Comey said next. “I agree [Flynn’s] a good guy.”
The best evidence that that’s what Trump meant and how Comey understood it is what happened next: Nothing. Comey didn’t say anything about shutting down the investigation. And he didn’t resign.
If Comey had been ordered to stand down, I expect he would’ve quit. He didn’t — which suggests he didn’t think he had to abandon the investigation. Nor did he, it seems. Testifying before the Senate last week, acting FBI Director Andrew G. McCabe, a Comey loyalist and Democrat, said, “There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date.”
Before we rush to judgment, therefore, recall that false rumors have been squelched before. For example, based on anonymous sources, The New York Times has reported that Trump held up funding for the Russian investigation. However, this was debunked by McCabe. McCabe also rejected the idea that a special prosecutor was needed, as the FBI hadn’t been interfered with and would carry out the investigation scrupulously and thoroughly.
So when you add it all up, what’s the most plausible takeaway? Clearly, Trump talked to Comey about Flynn. And Trump probably felt bad about having had to fire Flynn just a few days before. Their friendship goes back a ways, and Flynn was on the shortlist to be Trump’s vice president.
And just how serious were Flynn’s offenses? There was nothing wrong with him talking to the Russian ambassador, or with the new administration’s announced desire for a thaw in relations with Russia. The transcript apparently revealed that, at the end of the conversation, the ambassador asked about lifting sanctions against Russia. Flynn said that didn’t happen, then said he had forgotten about it. It wasn’t nearly as big a deal as Trump haters made it out to be.
What’s frustrating about all this is the anti-Trumpers’ irrebuttable presumption Trump is a lying scoundrel. When that’s how you begin, you don’t need much by way of evidence to prove what you’ve assumed all along. The intemperate attacks on the president, the willingness to credit any rumor however fantastic, does nothing to make us want to believe Trump’s critics.
There may be more to the story; I’ve gotten used to shoes dropping all over the place. But I have confidence that, should more facts emerge, they’ll not change things overmuch. In particular, I think that the FBI and all of the investigative tools Congress possess will give us the rest of the story — if there is more to it.