It’s ironic that Trump’s Department of Justice has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on the charge of lying to Congress. One could argue that members of Trump’s own cabinet lied during their Senate confirmation hearings.
Attorney General Pam Bondi testified that “no one will be prosecuted, investigated because they are a political opponent.” The indictment of Director Comey can’t be viewed in any context other than political retribution.
Current FBI Director Kash Patel testified that “there is no enemies list” despite having published a book that recommended prosecution of a list of Donald Trump’s political enemies. Patel also testified that no FBI agents would be fired or disciplined for investigating the January 6th riot at the Capitol. This has happened to numerous agents; some are suing for wrongful termination.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. promised Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana that he would keep the CDC’s Vaccine Advisory Board in place. Once confirmed, Kennedy, a noted vaccine skeptic, fired every member of the board and replaced them with unqualified cronies.
The three justices that Trump nominated to the Supreme all testified that Roe v. Wade was “established precedent.” Each of them deliberately ignored that precedent when they had a chance to overturn it (Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization). Whether this rises to the level of “lying to Congress” is debatable, but it clearly was a tactic to make them appear to respect legal precedents by creatively evading the truth about their actual intentions.
The final irony is that Director Comey arguably helped Trump get elected in the first place by announcing publicly just weeks before the 2016 election that the FBI had reopened its investigation of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for President. It’s not certain that this action was enough to tip the scales in Trump’s favor, but it definitely did damage to Clinton’s campaign and reputation.
Trump should have bought Jim Comey a beer. Instead, he fired him, and now he’s having him prosecuted. Loyalty, for Donald Trump, is always a one-way street.
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