Public Comment

Trumpgate

Tejinder Uberoi
Friday March 24, 2017 - 04:55:00 PM

FBI Director Comey, consumed with guilt over his mishandling of Clinton’s emails, has stiffened his spine and declared the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election will continue. 

It is critically important that the FBI is shielded from political interference from the Trump administration which has displayed brazen attempts to lie and obfuscate. Unfortunately the Justice Department is stacked with Trump loyalists who may decide to softball the investigation. A visibly shaken Trump has already attempted to intimidate Comey with a barrage of negative tweets calling collusion charges, “fake news” and vowed to find those responsible for the leaks. Trump seems to have conveniently forgotten that it was a leaker who unmasked the devious General Flynn. 

Leaking the Pentagon Papers saved tens of thousands of lives. If someone leaked the bogus claims of WMD’s, the invasion of Iraq and the rise of ISIS could have been halted. 

These warning tweets from the president do enormous damage to public confidence in the F.B.I.’s investigation. Tweeting will not erase the dark clouds engulfing the White House. Rex Tillerson’s decision to skip the NATO meeting and depart to Russia is also deeply troubling. 

To remove such concerns demands the appointment of a special prosecutor who is independent of political pressure. Failure to hold all those who may have colluded with Russia would be a monumental betrayal of our democracy and the American people. The Republicans have a stark choice - country or party? Let’s hope they choose the former.