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:
Continue reading “Trump’s Inner Nixon: Is It Possible To Have a Cover Up Without An Actual Crime?”
The decision of the White House to host Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak on the day after the termination of FBI Director James Comey ranks as one of the worst political decisions of a White House in years. Kislyak is the very Russian diplomat at the heart of the allegations of influencing peddling and collusion with Trump officials. Just as every network was exploring allegations that Comey was fired to protect Trump was an investigation into his ties with the Russians, the White House guaranteed that the Russians would be shown huddling with Trump followed by grinning photos in the Oval Office. That can be attributed to a long litany of self-inflicted wounds by this White House. However, what was more disturbing was the fact that U.S. photographers were barred from the meeting. Only the photographers from Tass were allowed. Tass is state-run agency. So not only did Trump meet with the Russians at the height of the allegations over Russian influence but the American people only saw pictures given to them by the Russians.
I was at CNN the night of the firing of James Comey. Frankly, it was utter chaos as Washington exploded with the news. (The green room was packed with folks waiting to go on. I left rather than wait all night for an uncertain hit. I was far more interested at that point in the Cubs-Rockies game). I was in other words an “eyewitness” in the crowded green room when White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was interviewed by Anderson Cooper who 
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who wrote the memorandum firing James Comey
Below is my Hill column this week on the confirmation from both Trump’s Chief of Staff and the White House Spokesperson that the Administration is working on possible changes in our libel laws — changes that by definition would require altering the First Amendment. The decision in New York Times v. Sullivan is decades old and celebrated as one of the Court’s greatest decisions. It has never been challenged by a president . . . until now. The case clearly states that the libel standard is a constitutional rule and thus the Court would have to overturned the decision or the President would have to amend the First Amendment. Whatever must be shown under the “actual malice” standard of New York Times v. Sullivan, it pales in comparison to the actual malice shown by this Administration toward the free press. Here is the column:
We have been discussing the alarming erosion of free speech on our campuses and the increasingly twisted view of free speech by students calling for speech codes and regulations. At the same time, we have seen campus police denounced as being a “triggering” element on campuses 
The call by President Donald Trump to break up the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit have been echoed by members of Congress, including 
We have been discussing (and lamenting) the rollback of free speech in France where writers and speakers are now routinely prosecuted for what would be protected political or religious speech in the United States. The latest case involves Robert Menard, mayor of Beziers and a top adviser to 
I 
