You never thought you’d hear about Hillary Clinton’s emails again, did you? Yet, here we are.
On May 9th, FBI Director James Comey was dismissed from his services by the Trump administration. Comey had been the head of the bureau since 2013, and was the harbinger of doom for Hillary Clinton’s campaign when he broke news of the Democratic nominee’s email scandal, and in doing so, tipping the scales in favor of her opponent. Back on the campaign trail, Trump praised Comey for his good work and his perseverance in uncovering the truth about “Crooked Hillary.” Of course, this was because the news only served to divide an already divisive voter population to the benefit of Donald Trump’s campaign.
The sweet irony of this is that the White House stated that the reason for Comey’s leave was because of how he mishandled those pesky Clinton emails.
The President insists that because both Democrats and Republicans found fault with Comey, he thought it was the appropriate time to let the director go. Not only was this a blatant deviance from the norm, but it was also an obvious attempt to quash the FBI investigation on Russia-Trump administration relations.
US intelligence agencies have grounds to look further into Russian interference in the 2016 elections, especially regarding whether or not anyone on the staff of the current White House encouraged, or even brokered, an agreement with the Russian government to secure Trump’s electoral victory. The timing of Comey’s dismissal could not be more suspicious, with Former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, saying that Russia could see this as, "another victory on the scoreboard for them."
Democrats continue to call for a special prosecutor to further investigate into ties between Trump and Russia, more urgent now than ever. This of course would involve extensive and relentless pressure from the Democratic party as Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, is recused from involvement in this investigation, and Deputy AG Rosenstein was cited as the individual who made the decision to let Comey go. Republicans in Congress are split in the issue, with some paying no mind, while others voice their skepticism at the sudden and poorly timed decision.
The President will have to appoint a new FBI Director, and the question therein lies with whether this appointee will remain impartial and continue the investigation into what is panning out to be a breach in American democracy, or will he/she end any further questioning into the issue?
Whatever the case may be, the core value of American democracy hangs in the balance.
