I was so tied up yesterday handling my duties in my little burg, that this is the first moment I became aware that Comey had bit the dust.
How analogous is this to a redux of the Nixon mass firing? Was Comey getting to close too some smoking gun somewhere? Just asking. I don't mean to be a drama queen. But as I say, I know nothing about this other then the firing itself.
I would say it's far more likely that Trump thought Comey was close to a smoking gun than that Comey was actually pursuing anything along those lines. Flynn is probably going to end up on trial, and maybe some other associates of the campaign. But proving enough collusion with Russia to take Trump down was going to be difficult. (While I do think Trump is likely guilty, I don't think Russia was going to hurt him as much as some people do. On the other hand, what functions are his conscience seems to be awfully twitchy over it, so maybe I'm wrong.)
Or maybe his refusal to publicly squash the whole investigation was getting on Trump's nerves. Maybe he just wanted to fire someone and felt compelled to play another round of The Apprentice: FBI Director.
Whatever the cause, the most Nixonian/Watergate aspect about the whole thing is that with the firing, Trump may have done more damage to himself than Comey or the Russia investigation ever could have. There are already reports alleging that the recommendations from Sessions and Rosenstein were written at Trump's request to give him cover for firing Comey, because Comey was refusing to stop the investigation. In my non-expert opinion, that looks an awful lot like prosecutable obstruction of justice. Constitutional crisis here we come?
Thanks. Very helpful - and seemingly "fair and balanced." And very insightful and well written to boot!
