Trump contradicts Vice President Pence on Comey’s dismissal

“What really matters is not whether Comey deserved to be fired, but who Trump will put in his place,” says expert

The president of the United States , Donald Trump said it was decided to dismiss the director of the FBI , James Comey , even before hearing the opinion of the Department of Justice.

The statement, made in an  interview for NBC  News on Thursday,  contradicts a White House statement issued on Wednesday when Comey’s departure was made official . At the time, deputy spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the decision was made after Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy admitted to Trump concerns about the then-director of the FBI. The version was also repeated by Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump also said that Comey ‘s dismissal was not a form of pressure to end the FBI’s investigation into the relationship of members of his campaign with the Russians. “I want to find out if there was a problem in the elections with Russia,” the president said.

In an interview with VEJA , Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University and author of “Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why a Smaller Government Is Smarter,” says that only the appointment of Comey’s deputy could clarify the real motivations of the President.

Check out excerpts from the interview:

What made Donald Trump fire James Comey?

It is not yet possible to be sure, but the official justification is hard to believe. She says Trump was not happy with the way Comey conducted investigations into Hillary Clinton’s e-mail servers . But remember,  not long ago, Trump praised the former director of the FBI and said he did a good job. In this way, it is very difficult to detect the real reason for the departure of the former director.

Do you believe James Comey made major mistakes? 

There are good arguments from both sides about how he led Hillary Clinton’sinvestigations . What really matters now is not whether Comey deserved to be fired, but whom Trump will put in his place . Even if the former director of the US federal police has given enough reasons to be excused, the American president may put a person in worse power, that’s the real concern.

The resignation was sudden. Do you think there is any reason for Trump to do this right now? 

One possibility is that the Republican  wanted to weaken investigations into the relationship of members of his campaign with the Russians . We’ll know more when we figure out who Trump will put in place, before it’s too hard to be sure.

Does the decision bring the Republican administration closer to an autocratic regime? 

Dismissing the FBI director was not an authoritarian attitude to Trump, as the president has the authority to do so. The problem is at the time the president dismissed Comey as the director investigated his fellow campaigners about possible relations with Russia . The situation can still get worse if Trump puts in place someone who is not independent. That way, I believe that firing the FBI director was not an authoritarian attitude, but it could be problematic and dangerous.

Could we consider this decision as a victory for Trump? 

The dismissal did not result in a positive reaction, on the contrary. The reaction was very negative and will encourage public opinion to speak again on the issue of Russia . In the short term, the initiative was not good for Trump.