Trump dumps FBI chief: A shadow cast over US Presidency

Just when the world was getting used to the idea that perhaps the weight and responsibility of the Oval Office had sobered up Donald Trump, the American President has defied common sense and political reasonableness and summarily fired the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The agency has presumably earned the presidential ire because the Director, James Comey, is reportedly pressing ahead with an investigation into the allegations of possible Russian involvement in the Trump campaign. Ironically it is the same Director who was accused only a few days ago by Mr Trump’s democratic opponent, Mrs Hillary Clinton, of costing her the election by insisting publicly that the agency had not stopped looking into her controversial emails. Director Comey has apparently paid the price for being a good, competent professional in these times of all consuming partisanship.

Since the days of celebrated J Edgar Hoover, the FBI has had an iconic place in the popular American imagination. For the average American, the FBI remains a professional police organization dedicated to the cause of justice and fairness and which does not bend itself to the political preferences or personalities of the day. It zealously guards its autonomy and remains mindful of its professional reputation. There is every reason to believe that the White House consiglieri were not pleased that Director Comey remained so inattentive to President Trump’s political vulnerability. It is the most widely entertained hope in Washington that the FBI probe into the Russian role would lead all the way to members of the first family.

President Trump has obviously shot himself in the foot. His decision to fire the FBI Director probably emanates from his authoritarian political persona, which remains unwilling to submit easily to the constraints of constitutional authority. The American President is a very powerful office but he is not a dictator. This single action will instigate hostility and opposition from all democratic voices, who do not condone the idea of an American President acting dictatorially. From now onward, Trump will preside over a barricaded White House, engaged in high-noon battles every afternoon.

(The Tribune, India)