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| Trump and Comey in happier times |
Etter at President Trump i går kvittet seg med FBI direktør James Comey burde alles fokus være på Kongressen. Når en president kontinuerlig trosser vanlige etiske prinsipper (uten å ha faktisk brutt loven) er det kun Republikanerne i Huset og (etter hvert) Senatet som kan begrense Trumps uansvarlig atferd. Enten antagelsene om Trumps forhold med russerne er like ille som vi trodde (og Trump vurderte det som bedre å sparke Comey og ta sjansen med en ny FBI direktør) eller han er så styrt av emosjonelle responser at han ble simpelthen irritert nok at Comey måtte gå (som er like bekymringfull). Uansett har Trump nå sørget for at Russland-saken absolutt ikke blir borte og sannsynligvis får uavhengig granskning.
Dette fra Politico er god på bakgrunn:
President Donald Trump weighed firing his FBI director for more than a week. When he finally pulled the trigger Tuesday afternoon, he didn't call James Comey. He sent his longtime private security guard to deliver the termination letter in a manila folder to FBI headquarters. He had grown enraged by the Russia investigation, two advisers said, frustrated by his inability to control the mushrooming narrative around Russia. He repeatedly asked aides why the Russia investigation wouldn’t disappear and demanded they speak out for him. He would sometimes scream at television clips about the probe, one adviser said.
For god analyse om hva dette egentlig handler om, les dette fra Lawfare:
The question before us now is whether Trump will get away with it. There is no question that the President has the legal authority to remove the FBI director. But there’s also no question that removing the FBI Director in the midst of a high-stakes investigation of Russian influence in the inner circle of the President’s campaign and White House is a horrifying breach of every expectation we have of the relationship between the White House and federal law enforcement.
Orin Kerr fra George Washington University tenkte på dette allerede rett etter valget:
Whether Congress counters presidential power depends on judgments about whether the president has gone too far. Those judgments aren’t set in stone. They’re mushy sorts of judgments based on what seems “on the wall” vs. “off the wall.” Presumably there is always a break point somewhere — a point at which Congress changes direction and counters a president who has seemingly gone too far. But where that break point might be is a political and cultural question that depends on a mix of public opinion and the views of those serving in Congress.
På The Atlantic bygger Conor Friedersdorf videre på Wittes og Hennesey fra Lawfare. Det som bør legges merke til med Trump administrasjonen er at alle bekymringene som uttrykkes av slike observatører - de kommer ikke fra folk som nødvendigvis skriker høyst hele tiden. At såpass mange reflekterte journalister og akademikere er såpass bekymret, burde legge merke til.
But circumstances being what they were, the prudent course was never to presume a benign explanation. Common sense and self-preservation called for presuming the worst. This is not a time that affords the luxury to wait and see what Trump does next, or who Trump appoints to be the next Director of the FBI. This is a time to act.It is a time for Congress to force a special prosecutor. It is a time for the Senate to use every tool at its disposal to investigate Trump and his associates, and to conduct zealous oversight of the agencies that he now leads. It is a time for citizens to tell their senators that guarding the rule of law against encroachments from this president should be their highest priority, and that they will be held responsible if they vote to confirm an FBI director who abuses his or her power.Ask any Trump ex-wife, creditor, or subcontractor if he deserves to be given the benefit of any doubts. His entire life suggests the answer is no. Americans should start acting like it.