Radio Sputnik’s Loud and Clear spoke with editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and NSA whistleblower Bill Binney about the implications of this bizarre flip-flop.
'I think Donald Trump has assumed that the American people are stupid, and he may well be right about that," said Rall. "And everybody remembers that through the campaign he was very happy with what Mr. Comey did, and he definitely was very grateful for the apparent effect it had on Hillary’s campaign."
Rall added, "Conversely, it’s also known that if Hillary Clinton had gotten in, many top Democrats wanted her to dismiss Mr.Comey."
Rall suggested that Comey’s firing marks a turning point for the president.
"The media hasn’t been his fan, but now they’re going to sink their teeth into him and they’re not likely to let go anymore than a pit bull would. Knowing Donald Trump and studying his temperament, it’s probably not the last of this sort of authoritarian move that we’re going to see."
Binney thinks Trump’s action is long overdue.
"I thought Comey should’ve been fired a long time ago because of his inappropriate public discussion of a case or investigation. You should never discuss that publicly, so I agree with the attorney general and the assistant attorney general recommending his firing."
Loud and Clear host Brian Becker asked the guests whether there’s a "Political civil war within the summits of the US political establishment," as it appears that instability is reigning supreme.
Rall replied that he believes this to be the case, that it is "Part of the aftermath of the ‘hostile takeover of the the Republican Party’ by Donald Trump."
"In terms of the structure of the GOP, they process this as them not wanting him to be the nominee. They wanted Jeb Bush or perhaps Marco Rubio. They’re a little bit pleased because he won despite the fact that they really thought he was going to lose to Hillary, so they’re along for the ride, but now you’re seeing these internal divisions within the GOP playing themselves out.
"Trump has not been a canny politician. He has not brought the Republican Party together, and that coalition is fracturing within the bureaucracy."
Trump may have foreshadowed Comey’s ouster a day before it became official, writing on Twitter, "The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax. When will this taxpayer funded charade end?"
Becker asked Binney whether he thought the special prosecutor called for by Democrats would help matters. Binney said he supported the idea, but felt such an investigation should expand to include the entire agency.
"Because after all, this guy Comey came out there and said there wasn’t evidence to prosecute when in fact he went right down the line and listed all kinds of felonies for which a lot of whistleblowers are currently in jail," he said.
"That’s why I started calling the Department of Justice 'The Department of Just Us,' because they had a double standard of how they applied the law."
