...
by Jimmy Gurulé, cnn.com — May 11, 2017
[…]
Ultimately, Comey may have been fired not because he wasn't doing a good job, as Trump claims, but because he was doing his job too well -- and that's bad news for the President, because it puts him within range of obstruction of justice charges. Evidence that Trump engaged in obstruction of justice could serve as the basis of impeachment proceedings.
Two significant events may explain this bizarre turn of events. First,
grand jury subpoenas were recently served on associates of former national security adviser
Michael Flynn, indicating the FBI investigation was aggressively moving forward. […]
Second, days before his firing, Comey
requested a significant increase in money and personnel to
expand the scope of the FBI inquiry involving the Russians and Trump's campaign, according to news reports. [...]
by William Yeomans, TheHill.com — 05/11/17
[…]
The firing followed Comey’s May 3 congressional testimony, at which he confirmed the continuation of the investigation into Russian tampering in the election and the possibility of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. It also followed close on the heels of a reported request by Comey for increased resources to pursue the investigation and reports that a grand jury had issued subpoenas in the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
Trump, therefore, fired Comey as the Russia investigation appeared to move into a higher gear amid repeated false statements and expressions of frustration emanating from the White House.
So, if Trump fired Comey with the intent of impeding the Russia investigation, has he obstructed justice and, if so, what are the implications?
[...]
by Keith A. Spencer, Salon.com — May 11, 2017
In Lester Holt’s interview with President Donald Trump on NBC Nightly News that aired earlier tonight, the president defended his sacking of FBI director James Comey and, in a possible gaffe, seems to have admitted that he fired Comey in part because of the agency’s ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign’s collusion with the Russian government.
“I was going to fire Comey,” Trump said defiantly. “When I decided to just do it, I said to myself, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.'”
[...]
It is unclear if Trump understands the implications of mentioning the “made-up Russia story” in the same sentence that he discussed his reasons for firing Comey. If Trump were to admit that he fired Comey because he was irked by the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s possible connections to Russian election interference, he would be admitting to obstruction of justice.
That same charge was what ultimately led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. [...]
For more details into the legal definition of Obstruction of Justice, check out my post from yesterday:
Did Donald Trump just admit to Obstruction of Justice?
This is a BFD folks.