This kind of never ending saga, they say, probes into allegations of the Trump Administration was linked to russia and wanting more details from the fbi on that. It is supposed to bea the fbi on that. It is supposed to be a non partisan post and that is why the terms last at least ten yea rs why the terms last at least ten years so why the terms last at least ten years so that they cross administration and and there was no linkage of their but the fact of the matter is, and a remember this at the time, being in washington last year, a lot of people suggested he himself inserted himself into the political process by usurping the power of the Attorney General in deciding the centre that latter to congress suggesting that the fbi was reopening the investigation into Hillary Clintons e mails days before a national election. Absolutely and that is what was so interesting about this hearing that the fbi director comey gave the senators because he try to defend his decision. He said it made him mildly nosh is that he affected the outcome of the election. He said he had two choices, to conceal all come out openly with the facts. Or. A lot of criticism aimed at the director. That he was independent not bound to work under a democratic president but he said he did not wa nt to president but he said he did not want to compromise the independence of the fbi and if anything had come out from those e mails after an election that he would be criticised and that would compromise the independence of the fbi. He made a very forceful defence of his actions. This is clearly an issue divided along party lines and eve ryo ne divided along party lines and everyone views his decisions in light of the election and what outcome they would have preferred. Mr term questions are being raised about russian interference in the last campaign on whether or not it would be investigated by the fbi. Now that the contract of james comey has been terminated, could that investigation between the Trump Campaign and russia be terminated . Other people have said that the next director must be strong and independent. They must be strong and independent. They must have a fairjudiciary committee hearing, so this is clearly a concern amongst democrats who have come out and spoken, saying that this must remain an independent role. But the fbi director must be able to come in, to take on the cases they are working on, independent of interference from the Executive Branch or the department ofjustice. Remember, mr sessions was appointed by mr trump and he has had to recuse himself from some of the investigations. One last question. We have been hearing throughout the last few days testimony given by various 0bama officials to the House Investigation as to whether or not they may be links between the Trump Election Campaign and the russians. Apart from the testimony of James Campaign and the russians. Apart from the testimony ofjames comey, could any of that have played into this decision . Well, i guess we may never know. Again, the white house has not unequivocally said what the exact turning point, what the decision was that finally brought them to basically say that the fbi director is not independent. That he cannot work with the fbi and be an effective leader. I think that is the question that we will have to wait to see if anybody has more enlightening information. Thank you very much. Talking now to the diplomatic editor from newsnight. Very much. Talking now to the diplomatic editorfrom newsnight. A bolt from the blue. A complete shock. The bottom line is, however, james comey had lost the confidence of the democrats following his handling of the Hillary Clinton e mailaffairand he was handling of the Hillary Clinton e mail affair and he was clearly coming under a lot of pressure from the republicans. A man with many enemies in washington. This story has been galloping along in the last half hour well. We know the reason, now, the president set it on the shoulders of the Attorney General who in turn cited his Deputy Attorney general. That letter, which i read, said that because of things the james comey said last summer about the Clinton E Mail investigation, that there was not a case to answer on the part of hillary, the Deputy Attorney general says that was not the prerogative of the director of the fbi to do that, but only the Justice Department could reach that formulation. 0stensibly, that is the reason for the firing but everybody will now speculate whether or not it is connected to the fact that james comey was overseeing the investigation into the ties of the Trump Campaign to russia. Doesnt wash with anyone that the president has fired the head of the fbi over an action last summer and he has waited three or four months to do this since he has been in office . Waited three or four months to do this since he has been in office7m is extraordinary. The first theory that many people had was that komi had a Disastrous Senate appearance in which he made serious errors about that e mail saga, the Clinton E Mail server and that business. He, today, corrected that. The conclusion that some people jump to was, oh, gosh, he had to go because he made these errors but, no, the Deputy Attorney generals letter is clear, that it is for leading Hillary Clinton off the hook early. There is a traditional Power Struggle between justice and the fbi, the investigating authority and the prosecuting authority. And so thatis,if the prosecuting authority. And so that is, if you like, the bureaucratic reason given. But, of course, everybody will say hang on you have a Recommendation Being pushed forward by the Attorney General who has had to recuse himself from the trump russia connections investigation, because he was part of the campaign, firing the man who was investigating it. It isa the man who was investigating it. It is a political gridlock, a tangle which somehow the Trump Administration will need to find a way through. Some would suggest then that if this man has been fired because he allowed Hillary Clinton off the hook. He made the decision whereas the justice say they should have made the decision. Ok, so does not necessarily follow that any investigation will be opened by the Trump Administration into Hillary Clinton e mail is . Trump administration into Hillary Clinton email is . You can say it goes back to some of the Trump Campaign pledges to investigate the whole saga, to have a Special Prosecutor. He did say not long after he won that the election that he was going to drop the whole idea ofa he was going to drop the whole idea of a Special Prosecutor and all of that, you could say that this could lead to a reopening however. Correcting his erroneous testimony of last week, james comey gave us some idea of what was found on the computer of the ex husband of huma abedin was far less compromising than thought. The fbi briefly reopened its investigation last 0ctober reopened its investigation last october and where any new investigation would go is a moot point. What is important now is that the fbi find a credible leader. M there any possibility that the fbi investigation into alleged links between the Trump Administration, or the Campaign Team and the russians. Is there any suggestion that that could now be called off . |j is there any suggestion that that could now be called off . I dont think. At it is not possible. The real question about these investigations is how can they be run on to the sidings or put on the backburner . We have already seen how partisan division in the House Intelligence Committee caused that forum for investigating these questions to become ineffective. The action then moved to the Senate Committee where people felt it was being handled in a more bipartisan matter. That has had difficulties but it is still on track. Those are the major investigations along with the major investigations along with the fbi, and the fbi are the key to this sense of investigation because they are giving evidence in public and private as to where they are in their investigations. They will go on, the investigations, but does anyone in this situation have the confidence to take the Political Risk of recommending prosecution . It could just be a couple of his middle Ranking Campaign officials who may be found to have acted improperly. The question is, who will take responsibility when you have a Justice Department saying look, this is the issue, we are the people who decide on prosecutions. You have the head of that department, the Attorney General, are reducing himself from the matter and a tangle as to who is investigating, who is deciding and we prosecutions should 90, deciding and we prosecutions should go, if indeed there are to be prosecutions. An airline is a republican commentator and a former member of the speechwriting team for george w bush. What do you make of all this drama . It is shocking that they have fired james comey, that donald trump went ahead with it and it is interesting to see how they are packaging carrying it out. The memo that was sent to the Attorney General, the former republican senatorjeff sessions, recommending that james comey be removed from office. And then jeff that james comey be removed from office. And thenjeff sessions sent that memo and his own recommendation to donald trump and then donald to donald trumpandthenfienald ~ fl then To Donald Dunnoandlhandonald ~ fl theneeieeeee To Donald Dunnoandlhandonald ~ fl thenseleaae a To Donald Dunnoandlhandonald ~ fl then m a letter To Donald Dunnoandlhandonald ~ fl 3st you tter To Donald Dunnoandlhandonald ~ fl 3st you are fired, lamas come salino loo are fired. Then lamas come salino loa ara firad. Then released a copy of basically. Then released a copy of that letter. You can see it online with the signature. It is unexpected but what is notable is that all of these memos are dated today. They have had the draft, it is clear that have had the draft, it is clear that have been thinking about it, and today they pulled the trigger. It is releva nt, today they pulled the trigger. It is relevant, as some people pointed out, he had just been testifying before congress and was due to do so again in two days time. Ostensibly, the letter explaining why this happened was that he overstepped his jurisdiction. Previously. That was during the election. I dont know of there has been a precedent in our nations history for the director of the fbi to be fired by the next president for something he did during the tenure of the previous president. The latter refers to actions he took injuly of 2016. President. The latter refers to actions he took in july of 2016m does seem quite bizarre. And if this was such an egregious act that james comey ostensibly committed last summer during the election campaign, why was he not fired on day
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