In case you haven't heard, out of the blue and just before Comey was set to testify to a Senate subcommittee about the Michael Flynn investigation, Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. The White House claims that he was fired due to his handling of the Hillary Clinton email server scandal.
Yeah, right...
Senator Chuck Schumer (NY-D) joins many other members of Congress in calling for an independent investigation. "If [Deputy Attorney General Rod] Rosenstein does not appoint an independent special prosecutor, every American will rightly suspect that the decision to fire Comey was part of a cover up.”
We're talking scandal at or beyond the level of Watergate. In the meantime, staffers at all the Congressional offices that I've called are telling me that the call volume has reduced. Look, y'all...when you got skin in the game, you stay in the game. But you don't get a win unless you play in the game.
We need to get back on the phones and make some noise. If you haven't called recently, you need to make sure your voice is heard.
Please call all three of your members of Congress and tell them that you expect both the House and the Senate to conduct hearings on the Flynn/Russia scandal as well as Trump's firing of Comey.
Then sign this ACLU petition demanding that Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente appoint a special prosecutor to investigate possible perjury by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and potential Russian interference in the 2016 race. No one is above the law in America, no matter their political connections.
Washington DC is in an uproar about this, but We the People need to make sure they know we are very much paying attention.
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Here's what Dan Rather has to say about the Comey scandal:
Future generations may mark today as one of the truly dark days in American history, a history that may soon take an even more ominous turn.
President Trump's sudden firing of FBI Director James Comey is a matter that should deeply concern every American, regardless of party, partisan politics or ideological leanings.
The independence of our law enforcement is at the bedrock of our democracy. That independance, already grievously shaken under the brief tenure of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is now shattered by uncertainty.
The firing of an FBI Director is always a very serious matter in normal times. But these times aren't normal. Far from it. The Bureau is engaged in one of the most important and perilous investigations of this or any other presidency—the investigation of connections between the Trump election campaign and the Russian government.
The questions mount and the shadow grows darker. What were those connections? What did Mr. Trump know about them and when did he know it? How can the President explain the serious allegations against his former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn? And what is President Trump hiding in this regard? It’s imperative that the nation—We The People—get answers to those questions. It will take time, but the process must start now.
A politicized FBI is the last thing we need as we struggle through the maze of lies, concealment and ever-deepening mysteries. The last time a President fired prosecutors who were investigating him was Richard Nixon during the widespread criminal conspiracy known for short as “Watergate.” We all know how that turned out. In real ways, this potential scandal and cover up are much graver. We are talking about the very security of the United States and the sanctity of our republic.
Thomas Paine famously wrote in 1776: "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."
I see this as having the potential for a similar reflection point in our American story. If there is a cover up, if our nation is at the risk that has certainly been more than suggested, it is incumbent upon everyone who claims to love this nation to demand answers.
We need a special prosecutor. We need an independent investigation. There is, obviously, much we don’t know about what has just happened, why it happened and why now. Just as obviously there is much more, so much more that we need know. We need to damn the lies and expose the truth.
Here's the text of the letter that Trump had delivered to Comey just as he was about to speak to FBI agents in Los Angeles prior to a recruiting event:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington
May 9, 2017
Dear Director Comey,
I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.
While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.
It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.
I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors,
Donald J. Trump
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