Australia and the World Past and Present

Donald trump doesn’t like James Comey.

Comey was appointed FBI Director by Barack Obama in 2013.

He was at the heart of an FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton and her emails.

In July of 2016, he said that Clinton had been “extremely careless”, but that she would not face criminal charges.

That may have been Trump’s first strike against Comey.

However, the FBI then decided to reopen the investigation – just days before the election. Democrats were outraged. Trump would, no doubt, have been overjoyed that the FBI had done an about-face.

Trump, as we all know, would go on to win the 2016 election.

But the FBI then began an investigation into possible Russian interference in the election.

In January 2017, US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia had interfered in the election to help Trump.

In particular, the FBI was looking at potential links between Russia and Trump’s election campaign.

Comey alleged that Trump had asked for his loyalty at a private dinner in January 2017. Comey told a Senate Intelligence Committee on 8 June 2017 that Trump had said “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.”

He also alleged that Trump had asked him to drop the FBI investigation into former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn the day after Flynn resigned. According to Comey, Trump remarked “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He’s a good boy. I hope you can let this go.” This exchange was said to have taken place in the Oval Office on 14 February 2017.

Flynn had resigned over questions about his relationship with Russian Ambassador, Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn had been involved in Trump’s election campaign. He was critical of Hillary Clinton’s conduct over the email issue. Flynn also encouraged better relations with Russia. His tenure as National Security Advisor was incredibly short. Almost as soon as he was in, he was out. He resigned on 13 February 2017. Flynn pleaded guilty to charges filed against him and was later pardoned by President Trump.

Trump fired Comey on 9 May 2017.

By making his allegations and by criticising Trump (including in a book he wrote), it seems that Comey has become a firm target of the President.

It has been reported that former US Attorney, Erik Siebert, had been reluctant to prosecute Comey or Leticia James (a former US Attorney for the state of New York who had been involved in prosecuting Trump during the Biden administration).

US Attorneys have to consider the merits of each case and estimate the probability of getting conviction. They have to weigh whether they have sufficient evidence to prove an allegation in a court of law.

Siebert didn’t file charges on Comey and resigned.

Siebert was replaced by Lindsey Halligan, who filed charges days after being sworn in. Halligan had been a personal lawyer to Trump.

Comey faces 2 charges – making a false statement to Congress and obstruction of a congressional investigation.

And the clock was ticking as there a 5 year limit on filing charges due to a statute of limitations.

Halligan has never prosecuted a case.

Trump has broken with all presidential tradition by calling on US law officers to bring charges against people like Comey. In a social media post on Truth Social on 20 September of this year, the President wrote that Comey and others were “guilty as hell”.

The Trump administration’s move to charge Comey smacks of retaliation and retribution.

It is further evidence of a retributive presidency.