WhoWhatWhy

WhoWhatWhy offers its unique perspective on why Trump took the rash step of firing FBI Director James Comey - based on knowledge gained in producing two major exclusive investigations. Trump's firing of James Comey yesterday proves that even those who carry water for the president are not safe. Trump is in greater peril, it seems, by the hour. And in response, the long knives are out for anyone who is less than 100 percent dependable. He needs unquestioned loyalists around him - especially in the office that could send almost anyone to prison. After all, Trump and his cronies are investigable for so very many things, from questionable business dealings and conflicts of interest to tax matters to allegedly colluding with the Russian government. Comey, under criticism for his own actions, faced significant public pressure to demonstrate that the FBI does its job. That could not have sounded good to Trump. As it happened, just hours before the Comey news broke, WhoWhatWhy had published a lengthy investigation into the back story to Comey's most famous - or infamous - act. It chronicled how Trump's close surrogates and media allies pressured the FBI director to reopen the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Evidence strongly suggests that this surprising move days before the election was decisive in Trump's unexpected victory. The White House said that Attorney General Jeff Sessions (shown in an official photo), who is recused from involvement in the FBI's probe of Russia contacts with Trump officials because of contacts with Sessions himself, approved the firing, as did the recently confirmed Deputy Attorney Gen. Rod Rosenstein, shown in a file photo. Consortium News, Watergate Redux or 'Deep State' Coup? Robert Parry, May 10, 2017. Exclusive: Official Washington is abuzz, comparing President Trump's ouster of FBI Director Comey to President Nixon's Watergate cover-up, but there is a darker "deep state" interpretation of these events. President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday reflected a growing concern inside the White House that the long-rumored scheme by "deep state" operatives to overturn the results of the 2016 election may have been more than just rumors. The fear grew that Comey and other senior officials in the U.S. intelligence community had concluded last year that neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump was a suitable future president, albeit for different reasons. I'm told that Clinton was seen as dangerously hawkish and Trump as dangerously unqualified, opinions privately shared by then-President Barack Obama. The Comey firing is already backfiring on Trump. It's only going to get worse. Washington Post, President Trump has surrounded himself with sycophants and amateurs who are either unwilling or unable to tell him no, James Hohmann, March 10, 2017.