I have read the testimony that former FBI Director James Comey will give to the Senate Intelligence Committee tomorrow and it confirms my argument from earlier today that the Senate Judiciary Committee must ask his potential successor Christopher Wray whether his priority is loyalty to the Constitution or loyalty to the President of the United States.
Consider Comey's January 27th dinner with President Trump:
The President began by asking me whether I wanted to stay on as FBI Director, which I found strange because he had already told me twice in earlier conversations that he hoped I would stay, and I had assured him that I intended to. He said that lots of people wanted my job and, given the abuse I had taken during the previous year, he would understand if I wanted to walk away.
My instincts told me that the one-on-one setting, and the pretense that this was our first discussion about my position, meant the dinner was, at least in part, an effort to have me ask for my job and create some sort of patronage relationship. That concerned me greatly, given the FBI’s traditionally independent status in the executive branch.
I replied that I loved my work and intended to stay and serve out my ten-year term as Director. And then, because the set-up made me uneasy, I added that I was not “reliable” in the way politicians use that word, but he could always count on me to tell him the truth. I added that I was not on anybody’s side politically and could not be counted on in the traditional political sense, a stance I said was in his best interest as the President.
A few moments later, the President said, “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.” I didn’t move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence. The conversation then moved on, but he returned to the subject near the end of our dinner.
I think Comey was in trouble from the moment Trump asked him if he wanted to stay on as FBI Director after his previous assurances. I further think that when Trump told him, "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty," Comey ought to have replied with, "My loyalty is upholding the United States Constitution."
John Podhoretz of Commentary Magazine tweeted, "So Trump said "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty." Sorry, but that's not a crime. It's crass and vulgar and obnoxious. Not a crime."
Except if the President tells the FBI Director not to investigate the President or people who were in his employ:
The President then returned to the topic of Mike Flynn, saying, “He is a good guy and has been through a lot.” He repeated that Flynn hadn’t done anything wrong on his calls with the Russians, but had misled the Vice President. He then said, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” I replied only that “he is a good guy.” (In fact, I had a positive experience dealing with Mike Flynn when he was a colleague as Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the beginning of my term at FBI.) I did not say I would “let this go.”
President Trump has no business telling the FBI Director to "see your way to letting this go." To do so is an act of intimidation and compromises the independence of both his office and the agency at large.
But unless Comey drops a bigger bombshell nothing will ultimately come of this testimony. It will be up to the voters to rid ourselves of Trump and somehow I don't think that is going to happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment