Abdullah Muradoglu
As the discussion on US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson being dismissed by President Donald Trump with a tweet and being replaced by CIA chief Mike Pompeo continues, another development that shook Washington took place on Sunday.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired Andrew McC-abe, who withdrew from his position as deputy director of FBI some time ago, 26 hours before his retirement. McC-abe’s firing is the second big operation that happened in the institute following FBI chief James Comey’s dismissal by Trump in May 2017.
It is believed that Comey was dismissed because he did not accept to carry out the “Russia Investigation” the way Trump wished. However, the US Department of Justice authorized former FBI chief Robert Mueller to conduct the investigation. Mueller turned into a serious headache for Trump. Trump supporters defend that the “Russia Investigation” is a “deep state” conspiracy against the Trump administration, which includes the FBI and supporters of Hilary Clinton. We had previously discussed the likelihood of the “Mueller Investigation” dragging on until the by-elections in fall. According to political scientists, American voters have been displaying an inclination for some time toward “Republicans” taking control over Congress if the president is a Democrat, and the Democrats taking control if the president is “Republican.”
According to a brand new poll by NBC News and Wall Street Journal, 50 percent of voters want a Democrat-controlled Congress, while 40 percent want a Republican-controlled Congress. During the Trump era, Democrats took some important governorates from the Republica-ns and in the state of Ala-bama, they won a seat in Senate.
Similarly, in the election held in Pennsylvania for a seat that became available in the House of Representatives, a Democrat candidate won. These victories of the Democrats is a serious signal. As a matter of fact, the Pennsylvania election was interpreted as a “referendum” for Trump. The extension of the “Mueller Investigation” in such a sensitive period concerns the Republicans. Following McCabe’s discharge, Trump’s lawyer John Dowd asking Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to stop the “Mueller Investigation” heated debates. Democrat and some Republican senators are defending that stopping the investigation will lead to a very serious constitutional crisis. As for Trumpists, they have been making calls for a while for Rosenstein to dismiss Mueller. Rosenstein is the only one who has the authority to dismiss Mueller. Yet Rosenstein is not doing it. However, Trump may fire Rosenstein and bring in someone else who will send off Mueller. This option is interpreted as a repetition of the “Watergate Scandal” that threw Richard Nixon off his seat as president. Both wings of Congress are warning that Mueller’s dismissal is a red line that Trump should not pass. According to Trumpists though, Mueller turning toward Trump and his family is a red line. Trump, who reacted to McCabe’s firing as “A wonderful day for democracy,” also wanted the “Russia Investigation” to be stopped. As for Republican Senator Jeff Flake, he said, “I think it is a horrible day for democracy.” According to Senator Lindsey Graham, Mueller’s dismissal would be the beginning of the end of Trump’s presidency. Graham, who defends that Mueller needs to continue his post without any prevention, says, “There are many Republicans who share my view.” Former chief of CIA, John Brennan, and former chief of FBI, James Comey, also made heavy accusations in the tweets they shared.
The “Mueller Investig-ation” is increasingly branching out. A new claim is being presented daily in US media. What was the issue right in the beginning? It was that the Russians had intervened in the elections for Trump to win. This was the claim. Of course, whether the Russians intervened in the elections is a different topic altogether, but at the point reached, it is a fact that Washington is seriously scrambled.
