This week we lived through the Superbowl of politics. The appearance of former FBI Director James Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee became the centre of gravity for US politics. That was in part because prior to his declaration Comey formally demanded that his testimony be public, which without doubt helped to set up a grand spectacle around his declaration. Donald Trump’s problems are multiplying and despite the fact that summer is here, it is clear that winter is Comey.
Comey explained that he has had new conversations with President Trump in private -during the eight years of Barack Obama’s term he had three- three in person and six over the telephone. The debate revolves around whether President Trump obstructed justice or not, after he made a personal appeal to Comey’s loyalty and that this was the reason for closing the investigation into Michael Flynn – who this week handed over more than 600 documents in response to subpoenas.
The debate revolves around whether President Trump obstructed justice or not
Although James Comey is not accusing President Trump of directly obstructing justice while he was head of the FBI, he does say that his removal from the post had consequences for the investigation, which is why he leaked his personal memos -without classified information- to the press via a legal professor at Columbia, with the aim of forcing the appointment of an attorney general for Kremlingate. Asked about whether President Trump told the truth about what took place in these meetings, Comey stated that the President failed to tell the truth on a number of occasions, such as it being the former FBI head who had called the meetings or whether he had assured President Trump that he was not under investigation.
Tweets that become official statements
Comey expressed confidence and certainty that the independent special counsel, Robert Mueller III, will get to the bottom of the case and he called on President Trump to make the recordings of the meetings public, if he has them. The case is complex because it is one man’s word against that of the other, but there are two facts that could make a difference.
The first is that Donald Trump admitted on Twitter that Comey’s sacking was due to Kremlingate... And tweets by the President of the United States are legally official statements. The second is that the sacking is a fact. It is not at all clear whether legally there is enough for it to be considered obstruction of justice - in fact it probably isn’t- but what must be kept in mind is that because the testimony of James Comey is public, he cannot reveal classified information. In fact, he stated that he is in possession of intelligence that directly affects the Attorney General of the United States, Jeff Sessions, information that was revealed during his declaration behind closed doors that took place just after he had given open testimony
Tweets by the President of the United States are legally official statements
At times Comey was very blunt and there were two key moments that went under the radar. The first was when he stated that "they were lies, pure and simple" when referring to Trump’s comments on the relationship between FBI staff and Comey. The second referred to Dossier Steele - classified intelligence published by The Guardian newspaper- about which he said "it is not declassified material" and that "the Russian penetration of the election was very deep," something that gives a hint about his potential testimony given behind closed doors.
Reality Winner, the translator’s treason
A day earlier, the Department of Justice arrested and brought charges against Reality Winner (yes, that is her name), a 25-year-old translator who works for an NSA contractor, and who leaked a document classified as “Top Secret” to the Russian outlet, The Intercept. The document states that the Russian secret services tried to manipulate the election with the full knowledge of the Russian government.
Though not specifying whether the operation was successful or not, Winner now faces a charge of treason and will most likely have to defend herself before the Grand Jury under threat of a sentence of between 10 and 20 years in prison. The judge has denied her bail on the grounds that she downloaded additional material to a USB stick that she has misplaced – at least according to her. The prosecution says it has found a text in which Winner, a sympathiser of the far left group Black Lives Matter, shows a clear intention to set fire to the White House, a statement that the judge finds “worrying whether or not she was writing seriously”. Winner’s mother has testified that Winner told her that she “would go nuclear” if her bail was refused “because that is how Manning acted”. It looks like we are going to get a first-division soap opera with Reality.
From North Korea to Iran
Foreign policy continues to cause problems for President Trump in particular and for the rest of the world in general. Iran’s reaction to the attack in London drew a harsh response from President Trump in a statement in which he openly accuses Iran of sponsoring Salafi terrorism.
According to the FBI, Russia hacked the Qatar news agency, something that turned into a ramping up of tension between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Saudi Arabia and Iran have been involved in a proxy war since the revolution of 1979 and this is what caused the extreme polarisation this week. Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries have broken off diplomatic relations with Qatar, while the peninsula has called for the sending of troops and food to Iran and Turkey. The FBI has tried to mediate in the conflict but this offer was rejected by Qatar, around which the pattern of alliances seen in Syria is being repeated, with two solidly antagonistic blocs slowly building up. Meanwhile, North Korea continues with its nuclear weapons tests, though the United States has lowered its tone.
According to the FBI, Russia hacked the Qatar news agency, something that turned into a ramping up of tension between Saudi Arabia and Qatar