Earlier this week, FBI director James Comey was abruptly fired by Donald Trump. The announcement came during a suspicious time, as Comey had been leading the investigation into Trump’s connections with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. Ordinarily, this is not cause for making national headlines for multiple days. However, there are a few circumstances that make Comey’s firing a big deal.
Comey might have angered Trump with his investigation, into Trump’s ties with Russia, as he had previously asked for more prosecutors to run the investigation, which Trump declined. Many Democrats and even some Republicans think Comey was well on the way to proving Trump had illegal contact with Russia, according to The New York Times.
Comey also testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week on matters regarding Hillary Clinton’s private emails, and he is also the third person to be fired while investigating Donald Trump. New York Senator Chuck Schumer remarked recently that Comey’s firing is part of a “troubling pattern within the Trump administration”, because this is not the first person that has been fired from his post for simply doing his job a little too well.
People such as Harvard Professor March Tushnet are even going as far to say that Trump could easily be impeached if it is ever revealed that Comey’s firing was a coverup. Refusing to hire an independent prosecutor for the case would be an abuse of the President’s power, and it is therefore constitutional for impeachment to follow. Perhaps Comey’s firing could lead to Trump’s own “Watergate” moment, but all that remains to be seen.