In the journalism business, we call them tick-tocks, the blow-by-blow reconstruction of a big story. The Trump administration has been a mother lode of the genre thanks to the many consistent leaks from the White House. The James Comey firing is a prime example. You have your pick of great ones from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, McClatchy, etc., etc. The Post story alone depended on 30 sources.
There was the firing of Comey and then there was the way Comey was fired, which was accomplished by printing out a letter, placing it in a manila envelope and having the president’s personal bodyguard deliver it to the FBI headquarters. Via The New Yorker.
From The National Review: A friend makes what he calls the bipartisan case for firing Comey.
Max Boot: The case for investigating any possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign begins with this question: Why does the president keep acting as if he has something to hide? Via Foreign Policy.
Bret Stephens: There are easy tells that indicate when Donald Trump is lying. In the case of firing Comey, what the tell tells is that Trump is afraid. Via The New York Times.
As most Republicans rush to defend the Comey firing, which may stall the Russia-Trump investigation, it’s now up to Democrats to save American democracy. Via The New Republic.
From Anderson Cooper’s eye roll to the stick of dynamite: How cable news reacted to the Comey firing. Via The Los Angeles Times.
The Trump-Russia story doesn’t begin or end with the dismissal of James Comey. On the same day Comey was fired came the news of the subpoenas in the case of Michael Flynn. Via Vox.
This is how extreme vetting works in the White House: They didn’t know that the one photographer allowed in Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov worked for the Tass news agency. Via The Washington Post.
If Anthony Kennedy retires, as many expect, the question then becomes whether Republicans can stand the fallout from a true majority-conservative Supreme Court. Via The Hill.
Photo courtesy of FBI, via Flickr: Creative Commons
