President Tries to Discredit Former FBI Chief Who Will Likely Be Key Part of Trump’s Downfall

PresidentÂ Donald Trump took to Twitter Friday morning, far later than usual, lying about the FBI Director he fired, in an obvious attempt to discredit him.Â

“Wow, looks like James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton long before the investigation was over…and so much more. A rigged system!”Â Trump tweeted.

Wow, looks like James Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton long before the investigation was over…and so much more. A rigged system! â€” Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2017

That’s a lie.

First of all, as NCRM reported Thursday, Comey did not, nor did he have the power to exonerate Hillary Clinton.Â

What really happened is Trump, we know, calledÂ Senate Judiciary Committee ChairmanÂ Chuck Grassley, one of Trump’s most-devoted partisans, on Wednesday. The conversation comes just days before Trump’s son, Donald Jr., is set to testify before Grassley’s committee.Â

Coincidence?

Why did Trump call?

To discussÂ ethanol.

Seriously.

Like Trump cares one iota about ethanol.

But you can bet Senator Grassley, Republican of Iowa, where the corn grows tall and gets made into ethanol, certainly does.

One day later, Sen. Grassley, along with his friend Senator Lindsey Graham, sent a letter to the FBI, attacking â€“Â you got itÂ â€“ Jim Comey. It claims Comey drafted a letter that became the basis of his now infamous press conference detailing why he was recommending Hillary Clinton not be charged with any crimes related to her handling of State Dept. emails and her use of a private server.

It’s a relatively unsubstantiated charge, and one that should not have been made public. But it helpsÂ Donald Trump.

Coincidence?

And now, after Grassley’s letter went viral on mostly right wing and political news websites, public opinion is turning against Comey. It’s embarrassing. And it’s absolutely wrong to use the Office of the President to attack a dedicated public servant, one who was fired by that president, and who may hold the key to information that will help Special Counsel Robert Mueller decide if Trump should be prosecuted for obstruction, or collusion, or anything else.

The smart people, at least, on social media are not buying the president’s amateur attacks.Â

Here’s the editor in chief of Lawfare, a well-respected and now very popular legal blog:

A few thoughts in response to the latest slime-job by the President against Comey. I will keep this very brief. /1/ https://t.co/hvdDHitYHd â€” Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017

There is nothing surprising about this news that Comey began drafting what became the declination statement early. /3/ â€” Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017

Comey was committed to transparency; the hardest part was explaining that they did a credible investigation that resulted in no charges. /5/ â€” Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017

So I would not be at all surprised if he began exploring how much transparency was possible under the law and what it would look like. /6/ â€” Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017

Smart people think ahead and prepare. That appears to be an alien notion to our current President, but that’s likely what happened here. /8/ â€” Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 1, 2017

And more smart folks:Â

The election was 297 days ago and Trump is still tweeting about Hillary Clinton. https://t.co/p9CfirMaBj â€” Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 1, 2017

Pro-Tip: Don’t complain about a “rigged system” while under criminal investigation for riggin’ an election. https://t.co/tLrN2yJVee â€” Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) September 1, 2017

When firing Comey, Trump’s White House put out a lengthy letter saying it was essentially because Comey was too tough on Clinton. https://t.co/ZXAwQf8kum â€” Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) September 1, 2017

It’s a bipartisan DOJ conceit. The decision is never “made” until the end, even when there’s a 99% chance it is only going to go one way. https://t.co/OAnq1H6WhH â€” Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) September 1, 2017

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