Comeygate

The stench surrounding Donald Trump got stronger yesterday. And his abysmal ignorance of everything became even more apparent. Jill Abramson writes:

We know that President Trump has a stunning ignorance of history. He recently flubbed the basics of the causes of the civil war and seemed to think the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglas was still alive and “doing a great job.” It’s certainly possible that President Trump doesn’t know the lessons of Watergate.

The most famous lesson is that the cover-up is always worse than the crime.

We don’t yet know the full story of Russia’s meddling in the election, but the abrupt firing of the FBI director, who was leading an investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, certainly reeks of a cover-up.

It is true that Comey mishandled the case of Hillary's emails. But Trump revelled in that FBI investigation. The trouble is that he, too, is now being investigated. And things are becoming uncomfortable. The Guardian reports that Comey's dismissal

came on a night when CNN reported that a grand jury had issued subpoenas in the investigation of the Trump camp’s contacts with Russian officials, and after Comey had confirmed to Congress that more than one person connected to the Trump campaign was the subject of an FBI counter-intelligence investigation. Comey had also indicated that he was investigating leaks from inside the FBI to the Trump campaign in the course of the election.

And, Abramson speculates that,

more likely to have provoked the president was Comey’s recent congressional testimony, in which he said that it made him nauseous to think his actions affected the election results. This remark likely hit President Trump’s most sensitive nerve. Anything that strikes at the legitimacy of his election is destabilizing to the president. He is insecure and seems to feel that his hold on his office is tenuous. That’s why reminders that he lost the popular vote make him apoplectic.


It’s also relevant that he fired the FBI director just as the Russia scandal was heating up again following Sally Yates’ testimony on Monday. Yates’s head had already rolled, but Comey continued to stand at the white-hot center of this investigation. With the house and senate Russia investigations barely off the ground, derailing Comey now could help send the FBI’s probe off the tracks, too.

That seems to be the intent. But this is Washington, not the set of The Apprentice. Trump can't make his troubles go away by firing people. If he knew anything about recent history, he'd understand that.

 Image: Toronto Star