Below is my column in the Hill Newspaper on the Comey termination and comparisons to the Nixon presidency. Those analogies deepened this weekend after the President repeated that he thinks that they should just get rid of the daily press briefings that have been such a central part of White House operations for decades. What is most striking is how, again, the White House has engineered its own undoing. Many people had called for Comey to be fired, particularly Democrats. However, the timing and manner of the termination has created yet another scandal for the Administration. Only 27 percent of citizens support the decision according to a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. The growing credibility crisis has made the appointment of a Special Prosecutor (or even the resurrection of the Independent Counsel Act) a priority for many. While I have been a dissenting voice regarding the need for a Special Prosecutor, the Comey debacle has changed my view. The public deserves an independent investigation into these allegations and related issues. Perhaps people will be satisfied with the FBI investigation under a new director, but the last week has been so damaging to public confidence that the need for an independent investigation is obvious. Having said that, I am still unsure of the major crime being investigated under the facts that are currently known. For the moment, this Administration appears intent of self-incriminating actions in the absence of an actual crime.
Here is the column:
Teddy Roosevelt once quipped, “When they call the roll in the Senate, the senators do not know whether to answer ‘present’ or ‘not guilty.’ ”
It seems this week that presidents can face the same dilemma. President Trump’s obsession with the Russian investigation has been widely taken as proof of his guilt. The night of the firing of FBI Director James Comey, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin declared that the only explanation was that the investigation was getting too close to the president.
Echoing what has become a mantra in the media, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) declared that Trump’s conduct is “nothing less than Nixonian.” Of course, the difference is that the Nixon scandal cover-up began with an actual crime. The Trump scandal appears to be a cover-up in search of a crime.
History may ultimately be faced with one of the greatest curiosities in presidential politics: how the Trump White House convinced a nation that it was hiding a crime that was never actually committed. Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and others have expressly stated that they have seen no evidence of collusion between the White House and the Russians in the election. The focus of the investigation remains the Russian hacking of Clinton campaign emails.
However, that is not likely a crime committed by Trump or his associates. Indeed, no one is likely to seek the indictment of Vladimir Putin for the very same offense committed by our own government in hacking countless foreign accounts, including those of our closest allies like Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Thus far, the only clear criminal allegation centers on reporting or disclosure violations by former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. However, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) is rarely actually prosecuted. The Justice Department prefers administrative enforcement over criminal prosecution. The result is that there have been only seven prosecutions under FARA since 1966, when the law was revised, and only four such cases in the last decade.
Likewise, the Logan Act (which is often referenced) is a virtual dead letter. Passed in 1799, the act is widely viewed as unconstitutional. It makes it a crime for citizens to intervene in disputes or controversies between the United States and foreign governments. It has never been used to convict a single U.S. citizen and Flynn would have compelling defenses if it were suddenly resurrected. There could be false statement prosecutions to either Congress or federal investigators, but that is hardly worthy of Watergate analogies.
Yet, if there is no “noose closing around the neck” of the president, why does he constantly look like he is playing the perpetual bad guy George Raft in “Background to Danger” who, when asked what he was doing in Moscow, sneered, “We’re gonna cement Russian-American relations.” The irony is that the bizarre conduct this week could be the manifestation of paranoia rather than guilt.
Reports suggest that Trump was irate over the failure of Comey to support him on the Obama wiretapping allegations and to dismiss the allegations in the Russian controversy. Comey had been quoted by sources as saying that Trump was “outside the realm of normal” and possibly “crazy.”
Other sources allege that Trump demanded that Comey assure him of his “loyalty” as a condition of his retaining his position at the FBI. Trump himself admitted that he asked Comey to confirm that he was not a target of the FBI at a dinner where he said Comey was lobbying him to keep his job. Trump insists that Comey assured him that he was not a target of any investigation.
Ironically, if true, Trump finally came up with a bona fide reason to fire Comey. If Comey actually did repeatedly assure Trump that he was not a target, Comey deserved to be fired. It was a grossly improper question for the president to ask and an equally improper question for Comey to answer. Of course, the president’s account would contradict everything that we know about James Comey.
Trump actually embodies a harsher Nixon than Nixon himself — like Nixon without Checkers. He conveys Nixon’s paranoia without the pet. He tweeted today that “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!”
Where Nixon proclaimed after an election defeat that the media would not “have Nixon to kick around anymore,” Trump seems intent on out-Nixoning Nixon. Friday, he also threatened that “maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future ‘press briefings.’ ”
Of course, Trump may not have Checkers but, thus far, he also does not have a crime. He may have achieved the impossible in making a case for a special counsel without evidence of serious criminal conduct on his part.
The irony is that the only way that Trump can now clear his name would be the one thing that he seems most eager to prevent: a new independent investigation. He has succeeded in convincing millions of citizens that he is hiding his guilt. That view is not likely to be changed by conclusions of congressional investigations in the GOP controlled houses or an FBI investigation after he fired its director.
The White House itself has undermined any other path to exoneration for the president. This week, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated, “We want [this investigation] to come to its conclusion. We want it to come to its conclusion with integrity. And we think that we’ve actually, by removing Director Comey, taken steps to make that happen.”
In case such statements were not suspicious enough, the White House arranged for Trump to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office on the day after the termination of Comey.
As the public debated whether Trump was a puppet of the Kremlin, the president had his picture taken in the Oval Office with a grinning Kislyak — the very Russian at the heart of the collusion allegations. Not only did the White House admit that the meeting was held at the request of Vladimir Putin, the pictures of the meeting were taken by the state-run Tass organization because the White House barred U.S. media.
An independent investigation could reveal the evidence of criminal conduct that is so conspicuously missing today. It might also find nothing but a bizarre anomaly: a president who exhibited the most incriminating conduct in history without actually committing a crime.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.
There is NO QUESTION that he has always wanted to fire Comey
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/750352884106223616
Comey has the goods on thew crooks.
Everyone wanted Comey fired for many things, main one being the refusal to recommend charges to Lynch against Hillary when she clearly should have been charged.
But the Democrats made it look like Trump was under investigation for some Russia bs so that prevented Trump from firing Comey on Day 1 like he wanted to. Notice he waited until after he was cleared of doing anything wrong? There is no coverup here.
Professor I respect you a great deal but this is incorrect. Trump has ALWAYS wanted to fire Comey, So how is this a coverup? Its not.
If anything this makes Trump look BETTER as he waited until he was cleared by a man he wanted to fire.
All these were from JULY last year. Long before anyone even gave him a chance of winning
I think instead of suggesting Trump is covering up he should be commended for doing proper thing and waiting until he was cleared. Trump has thought Comey should be fired since at least July 2016
Another Trump that is lining his pockets with laundered money.
Trump is rigging the system by firing every official that has the goods on him.
The final assumption of most of the posters is a simple “Guilty until Proven Innocent.” But that’s the old rules We are now operating under a suspension of Civil rights of all varieties by the Patriot Act and ‘suspicion of’ without proof is the only standard. Probable Cause and due process is……gone.
Welcome to the DDR. Your papers are not in order…Comrade.
When do you people
💤 sleep 💤?
CV Brown – some of us don’t sleep, we are sentient robots. 😉 We do power down periodically, though.
http://dilbert.com/strip/2017-05-13
http://assets.amuniversal.com/8dbf46200b5301359a72005056a9545d
Gary T – thanks for the Dilbert cartoon. 🙂
A photo of The Donald on one side and Tricky Dick on the other side of the topic page.
Dick and Donald sittin in a tree.
K I S S I N Gee.
First came love
Then came marriage
Then came America in a baby carriage.
Oh this title is too close to the truth. “A cover-up without a crime”..I think you have nailed it Professor.
Were we not all told, Trump would remove any and all obstacles to him being declared GOD.? It’s taking shape now. It appears NOBODY, has what it takes to sit him down and tell him to stop behaving like a spoiled brat.
Look at the HAIR.? How many wives would allow a husband to appear like that in public, who gave a damn about him.?
Look at the Orange face with white bags under his eyes.? I wonder what he thinks the American public attribute that to.? Or are the public too stupid to know.? I am prepared to bet he thinks, the latter.
This is a DICTATOR, whose vanity is going to take him down. Soon, hopefully so Pence can salvage something. This is only the tip of the iceberg. This man is delusional about his self importance. I am surprised he gets anything done, other than looking at himself in the mirror.
People, who do not want their reputations destroyed, need to leave the White House.
We were all sick of the Clinton’s. We overlooked the obvious, in the hope of getting people employed and back to work. I, thought that was one thing the ORANGE ONE could do. Where are the jobs.? I am not seeing the economy roar back to life.
This guy, is going to make Nixon look like an Altar Boy.!
I think Trump knows exactly what he is doing and so does the GOP and they are loving it!
A blast from the escaped Bedlamits!
I am with Squeeky on this on. And we have more evidence the Clintons colluded with the Russians than did The Donald. Where is that investigation?
What universe are you from?
David Benson – went to Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 and by all accounts, I am from this universe. 😉
Clinton is a private citizen so she cannot be impeached.
I will suggest that The Donald has an undiagnosed brain tumor.
When someone engages in this kind of behavior the only conclusion to be drawn is that he has something to hide! He has admitted that he fired COMEY to end the Russia investigation. Clearly his motive for this firing was to obstruct an on going investigation. I’d say case made but of course the GOP isn’t in government for the interests of the American people. Power and profit and the shear joy of destroying everything seems to be their pleasure.
Maybe all he is trying to hide is his growing insanity.
Nobody cares outside the beltway and the attention seekers like Turkey who are trying to spin straw-into-gold. Next, issue.
Not going away so
Bring on the special prosecutor.
Over 75 percent want a special prosecutor.
https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/863546122119168001
By the “logic” used in this article, there should have been a Special Investigator to examine whether or not Obama was really born in America. Frankly, there is more evidence Obama was a foreigner than there is that Trump colluded with Russians.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Balderdash. BHO has a birth certificate.
Quit just Making Stuff Up.
No he has a Certificate of Live Birth based on affidavits supplied by others and does not have a Birth Certificate which is based on events witnessed by the participants i.e. the obstetrician and staff. What he has is used when the latter is unavailable, lost, nor ever filed.
However the point is now moot as the latest rulings count those of us born out of the country with at least one USA parent are assumed to be natural born – incuding myself. And it says so on my own
Certificate of Citizens ship …”natural citizen from birth.”
Thou doth squeeke too much!
🙂
Nail on the head, Squeeky! The corrupt DNC regime has been outed and it’s mad as hell!
You don’t know what the evidence is.
Mike Kelly,
And you DO know what the evidence is?
Or do you just like to state your conclusions without evidence?
No, he doesn’t know what the evidence is, because there isn’t much. But what we do know is that Julian Assange, the guy who released the information is adamant that he did not get the info from the Russians.
‘Nuff said.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Assange needs to hurry up and prove once and for all that Trump is innocent because it will be much harder once Trump puts Assange in jail.
Not that I believe in any of the RussiaGate malarky.
Reblogged this on Welcome to My Corner Here on Word Press and commented:
An interesting take as I am pleased to feature this for this edition of “Vie w of the week”…..never a dull moment no doubt….
“Is it possible to have a cover up without an actual crime?”
I dunno. Since none of us, including Prof. Turley, know whether an actual crime was commited by Trump, a blog post with this headline seems somewhat misleading.
Her’s a different suggested headline:
Is it possible for Prof. Turley to write a blog post or column about Trump that (notwithstanding the inclusion of some intelligent commentary) doesn’t show some form of pro-Trump bias?
I rather doubt that Professor Turley has a pro trump bias given that he’s a liberal (in the classical sense) and a early supporter of Obama. At most, he’s just trying to understand the current insanity emanating from this White House.
He has been consistently pro Trump so things must be getting really if even Turley is asking for a special
Prosecutor
I see. You advocate the Salem witch-hunt method of determining guilt: tie ’em up with weights, then throw ’em in the water. If they sink and die, they were innocent. If they don’t, then, “it’s a witch!” Very intelligent.
Were you not part of the Flynn admirers that wanted Clinton hung. Where is your copy of the constitution now?
I can’t reply to your non-sequitur. You must present something cogent first.
Reblogged this on 1EarthUnited and commented:
Brilliant, this sums it up perfectly:
The Trump scandal appears to be a cover-up in search of a crime.
Hence Trump’s snubbing of the Presstitutes.
The position that no crime involving the President has been uncovered assumes that the FBI has found nothing. Much of what the FBI deals with is classified so I am not so quick to assume that a man who acts guilty is not. Where there is this much smoke, there is likely to be a fire. Let the investigations continue with a special prosecutor. The Treasury Dept folks that investigate fraud have turned over all of their investigation records re: Trump.
bettykath, Methinks thou dost protest too much! What are you hiding? I can’t assume the FBI has no dossier on you! I’m not so quick to assume that you’re not guilty either! Give me your tax returns and I’ll subpoena the rest! Let’s see what we can dig up on you! LOL!
The Donald is not normal, to put it mildly. He is also into NYC real estate, suggesting some sort of mob connection and maybe even the Russian mafia.
But it might just be his lack of sanity.
Thank you Oliver Stone.
The last thing I want to see is millions of tax dollars wasted on an investigation that spirals out of control like the Whitewater special prosecutor who went on for years overturning every rock. Unless they can use attorneys and investigators who are already on the government payroll, I would say it’s not worth it. If Trump is up to something, let the press uncover it.
Huh? The press? Those bastions of investigative journalism like CNN, Fox, etc. Get serious. True investigative journalism is on life support. That is in large part because true investigative journalism normally doesn’t help generate dividends for shareholders but instead makes enemies of the power brokers/news sources whose oxes are gored by the work that is done.
I have my own opinions about Trump’s motives for his actions, but, like everyone else who posts here, I have no personal knowledge of the key facts. Absolutely time for a special prosecutor, given Trump’s actions and other available information. The value of having a truly independent investigation far exceeds the cost.
Exactly! The “press” is now nothing more than vain, camera-hungry, sophomores looking to hitch their wagon to “something big.” There are no thoughtful analysts in the press. It’s all, “Throw it on the wall and if it sticks, dab your makeup and stand in front of it with eyebrows raised!” God help this country!
Better use of tax dollars than Trump properties.
There is certainly another possibility. A widening investigation into Trump’s businesses and financial dealings may uncover separate crimes not associated with the elections. There are not well documented reports of money laundering and of Trump’s ties to mobs Russian and otherwise. The cover up could be real, just different than those involving Flynn, Page, Kushner et al.
You have hit the nail on the head.
Trump is the bagman for the Gambino’s and for the Brighten Beach Boys.
That is all he has ever been, the washing machine for dirty, blood stained money.
You are right. The so called constitutionalists on this blog have thrown them out in order to worship the money and power of TRUMP INC.
Hilarious! So, although it was Hillary in this instance who was so afraid her constituents might have access to her shenanigans that she attempted to keep her communications secret from them – whilst treating national security as an absurd afterthought – you’re afraid of the unsophisticated neo-politician that benefitted from the popping of her bubble of duplicity? Hopeless! Truly hopeless!
We used to have somehing called ‘probable cause.’ Closely followed by ‘due process.’ Both part of the Constitution.
That was replaced by the Patriot Act provisions one of which says ‘suspicion of’ the act or supporting the act without any evidence is sufficent.
Engima and a good many of the far left have already skipped over the Constitution..no news there… and having found ignoring it is so easy gone on to the simpliefied Patriot Act version. Which includes complete suspension of civil rights of all kinds.
Would be could be etc. the results of wishful thinking is now the measure of validity.
Note: That portion of the Patriot Act was ‘said’ to cover only terrorist activities which ‘after all’ are mainly the act of foreigners. However the extent of the ‘suspicion of’ arrest rules was never defined nor limited when it came to US Citizens.
So how do you like living under ‘our democracy’ which also does not exist instead of “our representative Constitutional Repubic’ which does exist. Or at least used to exist.
“Welcome to the DDR. Your papers are not in order.”
Now change Our Democracy to Our Mobacracy with the minority part of the government playing the role of terrorists.
It’s an enigma all right. But not a puzzle in a riddle. It’s right out in the open.
You are absolutely right! It’s absurd, DNC-engineered theatrics. *Yawn*
The republicans are beginning to question Trump’s business dealings and the calls for a special prosecutor are getting louder. Remember Turley worked for the house republicans..
No, Joe, career bureaucrats on both sides are getting loud. It’s just the sound of anxious swamp creatures.
https://twitter.com/politico/status/864098052826705922
Michael Aarethun, I looked at what I posted in search of where I may have suggested Trump lose any of his Constitutional Rights and don’t believe I did anywhere. What may be unclear is my use of the term “widening investigations” which I did not mean that investigations be widened in search of a crime. I was referring to the existing already expanding investigations now looking at Trump’s finances and businesses which I assume to be based on probable cause.
While I write this, news is breaking about Trump providing classified information that came from a third party to the Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador. The story broken by the Washington Post obviously came from a leak. Not some deep state holdover from the Obama administration but from someone in the room.
I stated that Trump’s fear of investigation may come from the concern that his business dealings unrelated to Russian collusion may be revealed. There are statements from his sons, allegedly from Trump himself that suggest business and financial ties far beyond what he tells us about himself through a certified letter issued by the “Russian Law Firm of the Year.”
Now… your thoughts about the sanctity of the Constitution remind me that it may mean something different to you than it does to me. In what will no doubt e received by some as a racist diatribe. I submit that the Constitution like most of the instruments of this government were designed to protect the rights of rich, white men. Almost no one who wasn’t a white, male, land owner had many rights. Women and minorities couldn’t vote. Blacks were 3/5ths of a person. The Electoral College was set up to provide greater strength to slave states. The Constitution is no greater than those interpreting it and often they haven’t done a great job. They gave us Plessey v. Ferguson which reinforced blacks have no rights. Even when they made the right decision in Brown v. Board of Education it was watered down by “with all deliberate speed.” Some of us and our families have endured internment, slavery, redlining, separate but unequal, voter suppression, redistricting based on race (see Texas, North Carolina, Alabama in 2017 if you feel this is all in some long ago past). The Constitution offers far more protections to Trump and his businesses (which because of Citizen’s United are considered people) that it has ever offered me.
I say all this to say that while I don’t think I’ve suggested Trump’s constitutional rights have been infringed on. I would be amused if the initiator of the Muslim Ban, the supporter of Jeff Sessions new mass incarceration era, the founder of the new Voter Fraud Commission found himself having his rights trampled.
In my earlier reply I forgot to address the scenario you mentioned where “Your papers are not in order.” This is already a reality for Hispanic “looking” people were required to be able to prove their citizenship on demand. Most of the Arizona “Papers Please” law was ultimately found unconstitutional but portions remain where anyone “suspected” of being illegal can be held until proof is supplied. I don’t imagine Trump will ever be affected by that one. Trump is also likely immune to “Stop and frisk” which he wants spread to urban areas across the country. Trump asked African-Americans famously, “What do you have to lose?” Jeff Sessions is currently showing us.
https://enigmainblack.wordpress.com/2016/12/19/not-my-constitution/
Hey enigma, Witch-hunt much?
Following up on probable cause.