Donald Trump's Firing of James Comey - By the NYT Editorial Board
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD MAY 9, 2017
The American people not to mention the credibility of the worlds oldest democracy require a thorough, impartial investigation into the extent of Russias meddling with the 2016 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump and, crucially, whether high-ranking members of Mr. Trumps campaign colluded in that effort.
By firing the F.B.I. director, James Comey, late Tuesday afternoon, President Trump has cast grave doubt on the viability of any further investigation into what could be one of the biggest political scandals in the countrys history.
The explanation for this shocking move that Mr. Comeys bungling of the investigation into Hillary Clintons private email server violated longstanding Justice Department policy and profoundly damaged public trust in the agency is impossible to take at face value. Certainly Mr. Comey deserves all the criticism heaped upon him for his repeated missteps in that case, but just as certainly, thats not the reason Mr. Trump fired him.
Mr. Trump had nothing but praise for Mr. Comey when, in the final days of the presidential campaign, he informed Congress that the bureau was reopening the investigation into Mrs. Clintons emails. He brought back his reputation, Mr. Trump said at the time. It took a lot of guts.
Of course, if Mr. Trump truly believed, as he said in his letter of dismissal, that Mr. Comey had undermined public trust and confidence in the agency, he could just as well have fired him on his first day in office.
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