James Comey’s first personal encounter with Donald Trump was so disconcerting that Comey rushed outside to begin noting down the events of that evening. But Comey wasn’t the only one who thought that Trump’s personal contacts with those working in the Justice Department were inappropriate.
Preet Bharara, a prominent former U.S. attorney ousted by President Trump, said Sunday that he reported to the Justice Department efforts by the president to “cultivate some kind of relationship” with him, describing phone calls from Trump that made him increasingly uncomfortable. …
“And I’m not the FBI director,” he said, “but I was the chief federal law enforcement officer in Manhattan with jurisdiction over a lot of things including, you know, business interests and other things in New York.”
And, just as it had with Comey, going to Jefferson Sessions brought zero satisfaction. The calls from Trump kept coming. Eventually, Bharara decided the only solution was to simply not take Trump’s call. That definitely got a response.
President Donald Trump fired U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara the day after the prosecutor refused to return a call from him, Bharara said on ABC News’ “This Week” Sunday.
Trump doesn’t have to “apply pressure.” He can toss in a nice “I hope.” If he just fires the people who don’t cooperate, everyone else will get the message.
Republicans, of course, no longer believe it’s terrible for the White House and Justice to be having cozy chats. After all, President Obama is gone. Instead, not having the Justice Department acting at the executive’s whim is now a problem.
Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Trump’s personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz, pushed back against Bharara’s characterizations, suggesting on Twitter that if a U.S. attorney refused to take Trump’s call “he deserved to be fired.”
And while it’s nice for Republicans to clearly lay out these new standards for the Divine Right of Presidents, they might want to remember that … everyone will remember. Stretch the boundaries beyond recognition for Trump, and those boundaries are unlikely to come snapping back so neatly under the next administration. What Trump is doing is very different from how presidents of the past, even the very recent past, have treated Justice.
But Bharara said he never got a direct call from President Barack Obama, under whom he worked for more than seven years.
But Republicans have wedded themselves to this guy.
“I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very ‘cowardly!’ ” Trump said in a tweet Sunday.
And they’re stuck with him—creepy phone calls and all.