Comey vs. J. Edgar Hoover
Question: On the basis of pure logic, does President Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey make it more or less plausible that there was a Trump/Russia conspiracy?
Answer: IF a skeptic needed MORE proof that the implausible Trump/Russian conspiracy theories were hogwash (see previous post “Makes No Sense” 3/29/17), Mr. Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey SHOULD seal the deal. Let me explain.
To answer the question, I’d like to take a look back at the formidable J. Edgar Hoover, FBI director from 1924 until his death in 1972. It should be quite apparent from this longevity, that Mr. Hoover must have perfected an absolutely fool proof method of insuring job security. Not only was he FBI director for an amazing 48 years, but he prevailed through Democratic and Republican administrations alike. He coexisted with presidents as diverse as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Nixon M. Nixon. How did he manage such a remarkable run? The answer is simple: blackmail! Mr. Hoover kept files on EVERY important person in the government, and was not afraid to use them. All the major governmental players (including presidents) knew that any attempt to remove Mr. Hoover or any attempt to control or pressure the man, would result in the release of damaging evidence against them. Truman once complained that Hoover was turning America into a “police state.” Nixon once said that the main reason he didn’t fire Hoover, was that he was AFRAID of his reprisals. Now THAT’s job security. The same methods that Mr. Hoover used so successfully were also available to Mr. Comey as well.
Recall that Mr. Comey was appointed director of the FBI in September of 2013. (ANOTHER example of Obama’s terrible judgement). He’s had 3 and a half years time to gather politically sensitive information, either directly or indirectly, under his own command. And, undoubtably, he would have access to relevant files from past years as well. We KNOW he had information on Mr. Trump’s campaign team, because some of that information has been LEAKED. Even putting aside, for the moment, the direct evidence of surveillance of Mr. Trump himself (revealed, in confidence, to Senate Intelligence Investigator Devin Nunes) we can still safely assume that the FBI also has information on Mr. Trump himself. Why? Because that’s WHAT THEY DO. If damaging information (such as collusion with the Russians) existed, Comey would, of course, have access to it.
Now, although Mr. Comey is, in my opinion, a flawed and blatantly partisan man, he is, however, quite clever. During the multiple meetings that Mr. Trump had with him just prior to his dismissal, I would be flabbergasted that if Mr. Comey had any damaging evidence of any kind on Mr. Trump that he didn’t either hint at it or downright say so. And, had Comey done so, I guarantee that he would still be Director of the FBI today. Mr. Trump would, in effect, have been blackmailed against dismissing him.
Furthermore, if Mr. Trump even THOUGHT that Comey had anything on him, I believe that he would be loathe to fire him and risk the release of that information. And, if Mr. Trump HAD, in fact, committed a crime (such as colluding with the Russians) he would HAVE to be aware that Comey most likely would have evidence of it. The result would, again, be a great reluctance on Mr. Trump’s part to fire him.
In conclusion, the very fact that Mr. Trump went ahead with Comey’s dismissal, is strong a priori evidence that Mr. Comey had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on Mr. Trump. I think that even J. Edgar Hoover would agree.