The FBI is so outraged over the firing of former director James Comey that agents have doubled their investigative efforts into Trump and Russia. Instead of killing the FBI investigation, Trump and Jared Kushner created an inferno.
Time had this nugget tucked into a story on Kushner, “Alone among Trump’s senior advisers, Kushner, 36, urged the firing of FBI Director James Comey, the official in charge of the Russia probe. The ensuing, entirely predictable uproar resulted in the appointment of a special counsel, who will keep the probe alive for months. It also alienated the FBI rank and file. ‘[Trump] pissed off the building,’ says a former U.S. official familiar with the investigation. ‘Now they’re doubling down twice as hard’ on the probe.”
The fact that Kushner and Trump didn’t anticipate this fallout is why novices can’t run the federal government. If Donald Trump was surrounded by experienced people that he listened to instead of a mini-me son in law, he might have thought twice before shooting himself in the foot.
Trump is incompetent, but matters have been made even worse by his decision to surround himself with more incompetence.
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The FBI has doubled down on their investigation of Trump because when the President fired the FBI Director he made them even more suspicious. If Trump and his campaign are innocent, they should have been welcoming and cooperating with the investigation because it would be ideal for the US to have a president who doesn’t think that interference in presidential elections by hostile foreign powers is ok.
Trump’s behavior suggests that he is no only ok with what the Russians did, his campaign colluded and participated in an effort to undermine democracy.
For this reason alone, firing James Comey was a very bad idea that may go down in history as the turning point in the decline of the Trump presidency.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
