FBI Director James Comey strode onto Capitol Hill this morning and proceeded to shake the federal government to its very core.
He debunked the notion that Barack Obama ordered any wiretaps of Donald J. Trump’s campaign office, despite what the president tweeted about two weeks ago, accusing the former president of committing a felony.
Then he said the FBI is conducting an investigation into the Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. That’s it. There’s an investigation under way. He didn’t say much more beyond that, except that it will take time to finish.
What, oh what, does the president do now?
The FBI director reports directly to the attorney general, who reports directly to the president. The AG, Jeff Sessions, has recused himself from any direct participation in the Russia matter. He’s out of the picture as it regards this specific issue.
The question of the day: Is the FBI director’s job in peril?
I hope not. Sessions dare not fire him. As for the president, he’d better — for once in his still-young public life as a politician — exercise some restraint and judgment and resist the temptation to cut the FBI boss loose.
Then again, wereĀ the presidentĀ to declare “You’re fired!” to Comey, I cannot even begin to fathom the outcry — and the outrage — that would ensue.