The last week has been a tumultuous period in American politics. The US President sacked the head of the FBI James Comey without any notice. In fact, the dismissal letter was served while he was addressing his staff and initially, he thought it to be a prank. There are many theories about the sacking of the FBI director. The White House has said that they need a better man for the job. They have cited his handling of the email scandal of Hillary Clinton as an example of his incompetence. But underneath, many have opined that the US President fearful of Comey implicating anybody from Donald's team with Russia was in the background.
Now it is known that Donald Trump was extremely irritated with the stress by the press on the Russian connection. He probably thought that by sacking the FBI director he could nip the trouble in the bud. Matters have not been helped by news that Comey had asked for extra funds from the Justice department for the Russian investigation. This has been denied by the White House. This news was reported by Al Jazeera channel.
Russian connection
The Russian connection is not going to die away. The house committee will continue its investigation of the Russian connection. The Senate intelligence committee has invited Mr. Comey to testify next week. in addition, the committee has served a subpoena on Lieutenant General Flynn who was Trump's advisor, to appear before the committee with all documents.
A pointer to the state of affairs is the statement by Republican Lindsey Graham who stated that in case Mr. Trump thought that by sacking Flynn earlier and replacing Mr. Comey would halt the inquiry he "committed a big mistake".
Gathering storm
Senior GOP member John McCain has called for an independent prosecutor to be appointed to investigate the Russian connection.
Many republicans have supported the president including the house speaker Paul Ryun but these are run of the mill statements and the real facts will be investigated by the House Intelligence Committee. The chairman of the committee, Richard Burr has already commented that the removal of the FBI director at this time was" disturbing." All this points to a gathering storm.
Richard Nixon
A comparison with a similar action by Richard Nixon who in 1973 sacked almost the entire Justice Department including the special prosecutor is a painful reminder that everything does not go as per plan. There is a possibility that Donald Trump could have opened a hornet's nest which could sting him. One will have to wait and see how events unfold in the weeks to come.
