James Comey urges FBI to maintain
independence amid sacking fallout
Ousted chief calls on staff he leaves
behind not to ‘spend time on the decision or the way it was executed’, saying
bureau must remain a ‘rock for America’
Sabrina Siddiqui in Washington
@SabrinaSiddiqui
Thursday 11 May 2017 04.27 BST Last modified on Thursday 11
May 2017 07.10 BST
The former FBI director James Comey has urged the bureau he
led until his abrupt dismissal by Donald Trump to remain “a rock of competence,
honesty, and independence”.
Comey addressed friends and staff in a widely reported
letter on Wednesday, in which he stated his belief that Trump, as president,
had a right to fire him irrespective of the circumstances.
“I have long believed that a president can fire an FBI
director for any reason, or for no reason at all,” Comey wrote in the letter,
which was first obtained by CNN.
“I’m not going to spend time on the decision or the way it
was executed. I hope you won’t either.
“It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you
and the mission deeply.”
The letter marked Comey’s first known comments on his firing
at the hands of Trump, which sent shockwaves across the country over the timing
and perceived breach of due process and natural justice. Comey was leading an
FBI investigation into potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia,
and reportedly sought more resources for the inquiry in the days leading up to
his removal.
“I have said to you
before that, in times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as
a rock of competence, honesty, and independence,” Comey wrote.
“What makes leaving the FBI hard is the nature and quality
of its people, who together make it that rock for America.”
Trump-Russia inquiry needs a special
prosecutor – but probably won't get one
Concerns about independence grow
after statement by Mitch McConnell suggests only option to lead inquiry is
special counsel – in this case, the man who wrote the letter leading to Comey’s
dismissal
Oliver Laughland and Jon Swaine
Wednesday 10 May 2017 20.43 BST Last modified on Thursday 11
May 2017 01.24 BST
Following the Trump administration’s shock decision to sack
FBI director James Comey on Tuesday, demands for the appointment of a special
prosecutor to lead an investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016
election have intensified.
“If we don’t get a special prosecutor, every American will
rightfully suspect that the decision to fire #Comey was part of a cover-up,”
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, tweeted shortly after Comey
was fired.
But options for placing an independent official in charge of
such an investigation are limited, and narrowed even further on Wednesday
morning after the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, made clear he did
not support Schumer’s demands.
McConnell told the Senate that such an appointment would
“only serve to impede the current work being done” by congressional committees
and law enforcement already investigating, probably taking two of three
possible options off the table. Congress could have passed legislation to
appoint an independent prosecutor to a new investigation, or it could have
created a special congressional committee to start up a new probe. After
McConnell’s remarks, both seem unlikely.
What seems like the only remaining option – the appointment
of a special counsel – now lies solely in the hands of the US Department of
Justice (DoJ) and the same man, deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein, who
authored the letter that led to Comey’s sacking in the first place.
After the Watergate scandal, legislation governing the
appointment of independent counsel was passed which allowed the attorney
general to request a panel of three judges to appoint a special counsel, and
then allowed that special counsel the ability to continue any investigation
until they deemed it complete. This was introduced in part to prevent a future
president from sacking a special prosecutor, as Richard Nixon had done in 1973.
But in 1999 this legislation was allowed to lapse by the
Clinton administration.
The system now is far less independent. Any federal special
counsel is appointed by the attorney general, who then retains the ability to
decide whether criminal charges are pursued after the investigation concludes.
Given that the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, has already recused himself
from any investigations into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, the
official who would be placed in charge of appointing such a special prosecutor
would be Rosenstein.
While Democrats have started to demand Rosenstein be removed
from such duties, due to his involvement in Comey’s sacking, career DoJ
officials including former acting attorney general Sally Yates had earlier
expressed confidence in his impartiality.
Former assistant attorney general Laurie Robinson also
expressed confidence in Rosenstein’s judgement in an interview with the
Guardian on Wednesday.
“My guess is that he has been a bit surprised by the
tremendous reaction, as the White House apparently was, to Comey’s firing and
that he is going to see that they’re going to have to take strong steps to
ensure the aggressive follow-through on this investigation,” said Robinson, who
served under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
She added that it would be logical for Rosenstein to appoint
a special prosecutor under these exceptional circumstances for one specific
reason: “The appearance of justice is a very important factor, and the
appearance of justice would tend to speak in favour of appointing a special
counsel.”
Nonetheless, even before Trump moved to sack Comey, the
investigation already being run by the DoJ appeared to be taking steps toward
prosecutions.
Late on Tuesday, CNN reported that federal prosecutors had
issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of Michael Flynn, Trump’s disgraced
former national security adviser, seeking business records. Grand juries
examine potential criminal misconduct and determine whether charges should be
brought, and operate in secrecy.
The subpoenas were reportedly issued by the US attorney’s
office for the eastern district of Virginia. Comey told Congress last week that
the FBI was coordinating its Trump-Russia inquiries with that US attorney’s
office and the national security division at DoJ headquarters.
Unusually, these offices are led by the same person: Dana
Boente, who is both the acting assistant US attorney general for national
security and the US attorney for Virginia’s eastern district.
Boente was given the national security role after briefly
serving as Trump’s acting US attorney general between the firing of Sally Yates
and the Senate’s confirmation of Sessions. A spokesman confirmed on Wednesday
that he also remains the US attorney in eastern Virginia.
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