Trump has has taken unprecedented steps to politicize his justice department by claiming that it’s already politicized against him. As Mueller’s investigation has turned to include the Trump Organization, Trump seems to be taking increasingly brazen steps to attack and discredit the FBI.
President Trump celebrated the firing of Andrew McCabe last night with a disgusting tweet:
Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI – A great day for Democracy. Sanctimonious James Comey was his boss and made McCabe look like a choirboy. He knew all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018
McCabe was fired by Attorney General Jeff Sessions late Friday night, two days before being eligible for retiring with full pension benefits, which he worked over 20 years to secure. His firing came after intense pressure from President Trump and the right-wing media as well as an unprecedented Inspector General report recommended firing the deputy director, who stepped down abruptly in late January.
Former CIA chief John Brennan launched a broadside at Trump for his gleeful end zone dance, a celebration that sure to aid the former deputy director in the lawsuit he filed over his dismissal.
When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America…America will triumph over you. https://t.co/uKppoDbduj
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 17, 2018
“You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America…America will triumph over you,” Obama’s former CIA director wrote. Brennan, a political independent, has a long career in national security, working in both Obama and Bush administrations. His appointment by Obama was opposed by the ACLU and other groups concerned about his role in the Bush-era torture program.
Apparently not content his late-night gloating session, Trump popped onto Twitter again on Saturday for another victory lap:
The Fake News is beside themselves that McCabe was caught, called out and fired. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars was given to wife’s campaign by Crooked H friend, Terry M, who was also under investigation? How many lies? How many leaks? Comey knew it all, and much more!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2018
The incident McCabe was allegedly fired for (as the cover story goes, at least) involved his role in speaking to a Wall Street Journal reporter about the Hillary Clinton email scandal. While Trump and right-wing media have cast this as an attempt to aid Clinton, the resulting Wall Street Journal article was actually harmful to Clinton’s campaign, not Trump’s.
Former FBI Director Comey, whose firing prompted the appointment of Special Counsel Mueller, responded to Trump on Twitter as well:
Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.
— James Comey (@Comey) March 17, 2018
Comey has a book coming out soon which could shed more light on what went on behind the scenes.
Brennan and Comey weren’t the only national security official who criticized the president, four-star general Barry McCaffrey who served in President Clinton’s administration issued a harsh condemnation of Trump’s refusal to take Putin’s recent aggressive actions seriously.
Reluctantly I have concluded that President Trump is a serious threat to US national security. He is refusing to protect vital US interests from active Russian attacks. It is apparent that he is for some unknown reason under the sway of Mr Putin.
— Barry R McCaffrey (@mccaffreyr3) March 16, 2018
“Reluctantly I have concluded that President Trump is a serious threat to US national security,” the decorated general said, “It is apparent that he is for some unknown reason under the sway of Mr Putin.”
A former Russian spy living in London was killed in broad daylight on a public street using a nerve agent “deadlier than VX” that’s only produced in Russia. Putin is believed to have personally ordered the attack.
In other news, Trump’s personal attorney John Dowd appeared to issue a statement from the president calling for end end to Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He later walked back that statement saying he was speaking only for himself, but Trump’s on a firing spree and Mueller’s future remains uncertain.