Trump's messaging problem
Washington Post:
The latter issue was not entirely Comey's fault. The Obama Justice Department was thwarting an investigation by refusing to call a grand jury to issue subpoenas and question witnesses. That hampered the FBI investigation. It is not clear to me why Comey did not confront this obstruction of justice.
The problem for Trump is also the irrational response of Democrats who wanted Comey fired for his handling of the Clinton investigation and then accused Trump of obstruction of justice on their unfounded claims of election collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Since firing the head of the FBI in no way stops the investigation there is no obstruction of justice on Trump's part as there clearly was by the Obama administration into the Clinton matter.
If Trump is looking to Fox News for help on his messaging strategy, his first choice would be Dana Perino who is not just a good spokesman, but she has a deep understanding of how to organize and roll out a message for the President. Whether he would heed her advice could be an open question though.
Trump’s shifting reason for firing Comey could cost him with Hill leadersPerhaps one his answers was the right one. Trump did not think Comey was doing a good job. That is always a reasonable response to why someone is fired. It would also include Comey's failure to pursue the case against leakers as well as Comey's bizarre handling of Clinton's mishandling of classified material.
The possibility that the president misled lawmakers about the reasons for Comey’s ouster could fuel calls on Capitol Hill for investigators to more aggressively probe allegations of collusion between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government.
The latter issue was not entirely Comey's fault. The Obama Justice Department was thwarting an investigation by refusing to call a grand jury to issue subpoenas and question witnesses. That hampered the FBI investigation. It is not clear to me why Comey did not confront this obstruction of justice.
The problem for Trump is also the irrational response of Democrats who wanted Comey fired for his handling of the Clinton investigation and then accused Trump of obstruction of justice on their unfounded claims of election collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Since firing the head of the FBI in no way stops the investigation there is no obstruction of justice on Trump's part as there clearly was by the Obama administration into the Clinton matter.
If Trump is looking to Fox News for help on his messaging strategy, his first choice would be Dana Perino who is not just a good spokesman, but she has a deep understanding of how to organize and roll out a message for the President. Whether he would heed her advice could be an open question though.
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