A Week in Trump’s Washington What we’ve learned in the Comey-White House maelstrom.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-week-in-trumps-washington-1494629659
The Washington spectacle continues in the aftermath of President Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, and unlike Ringling Bros. it won’t be closing soon. As a service to readers, we thought we’d sort the fact from the suspicion, hyperventilation and bluster and sum up what we’ve learned from the latest tumultuous week in the Trump Presidency.
• Whatever Mr. Trump’s calculations, Mr. Comey’s departure is good for the FBI, the Justice Department and the country. The President and White House first said Tuesday that he had acted based on the recommendation of his top two Justice officials. On Thursday he told NBC News that he was going to fire Mr. Comey anyway, and that he had the FBI’s Russia-Trump probe on his mind.
The two aren’t mutually exclusive, but with Mr. Trump who knows? He often acts on one impulse then changes his explanation later. The main problem of his Presidency is that he treats his own statements as a form of public entertainment rather than acts of persuasion to build public trust. This is self-destructive, but it means everyone else has to discount what he says and focus even more than with most politicians on the substance of what he does.
Mr. Comey’s political calculations—most of them aimed at preserving his personal standing—had damaged the bureau. His dismissal sent a message that the FBI director is politically accountable through the Attorney General and Deputy AG.
• Rod Rosenstein deserves better treatment—from Democrats and Mr. Trump. The Deputy AG’s memo on Mr. Comey’s 2016 behavior is persuasive and a public service. It bears the hallmark of a straight shooter concerned with the accountability that is essential to a credible rule of law.
Democrats are now saying they don’t trust him, though a chunk of the memo quoted what Democratic legal veterans had written. They should be pleased to have someone of recognized integrity in such a crucial Justice role. So should Mr. Trump, whose initial public statements appeared to load the responsibility for Mr. Comey’s dismissal on Mr. Rosenstein.
The Washington Post report that Mr. Rosenstein threatened to resign has since been contradicted—it doesn’t sound like his M.O.—but Mr. Trump should still apologize to him.
• The various Russia probes will continue with even more vigor. Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe, a Comey loyalist, told Congress this week that he has seen no attempt to interfere with its investigation. He said the FBI has ample resources for the job and that he wasn’t aware of a request by Mr. Comey for more. This contradicted another media report.
If Mr. Trump hoped to cover something up, sacking the FBI director is exactly the wrong way to do it. Every G-man with a mediocre lead will leak if he thinks politicians are trying to sit on evidence. The next FBI director will be watched like a Russian agent for any hint of political favoritism. The House and Senate intelligence committees have also been given new impetus for thorough investigations.
• There still is no serious evidence of Trump-Russia collusion during the 2016 campaign. The worst detail so far is Michael Flynn’s denial (he says he forgot) that he had met with the Russian ambassador. The various other names who’ve flashed as targets of media suspicion are small-timers (Carter Page) or Beltway bandits ( Paul Manafort ) who look more like mercenaries than conspirators.
Perhaps such evidence will emerge. If it does, Mr. Trump’s Presidency isn’t likely to survive. If it doesn’t, he could emerge politically stronger for having his denials vindicated.
• Mr. Trump’s FBI nominee had better be someone independent and outside the Trump orbit. Mr. Trump has rebounded from other mistakes with good hires—see H.R. McMaster as national security adviser after Mr. Flynn’s flameout. He needs to ace the FBI pick now to neutralize Democratic opposition and reassure bureau agents on the case. We’ve suggested former Treasury official Stuart Levey, but no political hacks allowed.
• The Trump White House is a mess, but then we knew that. The chaos and self-serving leaks after the Comey firing make the Bill Clinton White House look like a model of discipline and decorum. If Trump aides aren’t trashing each other, they’re trashing the boss, who doesn’t seem to mind humiliating them as he has spokesman Sean Spicer. Then there was this week’s leak—dumped to reporters favored by the Stephen Bannon team—that Mr. Trump is unhappy with General McMaster, who apparently suffers from being too capable.
The historical analogy isn’t Richard Nixon, whose advisers were effective in their abuses until they were finally discovered. This is more like Jimmy Carter —outsiders who arrived to drain the swamp and are swamped by incompetence. The blundering over the Comey decision and aftermath raises serious doubts that this White House has the focus and discipline to manage tax reform.
• The main source of dysfunction is the man at the top. The President is his own worst enemy—impulsive, thin-skinned, undisciplined, by now readers know the story. Every time his supporters think he might finally be appreciating the weight of the job, or the gravity of a President’s words, he goes on a Twitter rant.
Rather than focus on his agenda, he keeps the Russia pot boiling by railing against critics. Health care—what’s that? He faults his communications team for mistakes, but they are usually based on incomplete information or an attempt to clean up the boss’s effusions.
Mr. Trump has assembled many able advisers and officials who are trying to serve the country and steer the mercurial President from his own worst instincts. If Mr. Trump won’t heed their counsel, he really will turn into Jimmy Carter.
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