Donald Trump is arguably a chastened President in the wake of last week’s congressional hearing on the Russian connection in the US Election 2016. There may be hope yet for empirical assessments ~ concordant with a libertarian democracy ~ with the FBI Director’s resounding presentation, specifically asserting that there is no basis for Trump’s orchestrated claim to have been wiretapped by Barack Obama. In effect, James Comey has challenged the President’s spurious defence of an ugly truth. Indeed, there were two “firsts” at the threshold of the hearing. One, the person at the helm of the national investigation agency has, for the first time, confirmed that the FBI is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow to influence the outcome of the presidential election. It is pretty much obvious that Comey has reversed gears, having initially refused to comment on the existence of any such investigation. The other striking feature was Comey’s appearance in itself, and in the company of the NSA director, Admiral Michael Rogers ~ described as a remarkable and unprecedented point in US political history. There is little doubt that Trump’s team is under investigation for possibly conniving with a foreign power to make sure that he ~ and not Hillary Clinton ~ would be the next occupant of the White House. Comey repeatedly stressed the “unusual nature” of the electoral involvement of the Kremlin, so unusual indeed that he felt compelled to deviate from the FBI’s tradition of never commenting on ongoing investigations. The credibility of Trump’s tweets on the issue are now open to question; neither the White House nor the Kremlin will readily be able to challenge the revelations of the FBI head. Chiefly that the counter-intelligence investigation into the Trump-Moscow links began in July 2016 and “is still ongoing”; more than one person associated with the Trump campaign is under investigation for links to the Russian government; and that there is no information to support Trump’s claims that he had been wiretapped by the Obama administration. The beans have been spilled no less forcefully by the NSA chief, who has trashed claims that the Obama administration had spied on Trump Tower. Furthermore, the Russian intervention in the election was “unusually loud, as if Moscow did not care about being caught”.

The presence of the directors of both the FBI and NSA and their revelations have made this Congressional hearing an extraordinary event… viewed through the executive/legislative prism or judged by the parameters of foreign policy. With tongue firmly in cheek, the FBI director has been bold enough to rebut President Trump’s claim that he was a victim of McCarthyism ~ “I try very hard not to engage in any-isms of any kind, including McCarthyism.” As the investigation gets under way, suffice it to register that the FBI director sounds more credible and, therefore, convincing than the 45th President of the US.

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