Yes, James Comey Can Be Fired


Can James Comey be fired? That is what people are wondering after the FBI director announced on Wednesday that he doesn’t have any plans on retiring until the remaining six and a half years left in his term are up.

After Comey’s whirlwind of confusing and seemingly poor decision-making regarding FBI investigations into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, some are questioning if he deserves to continue on as head of the FBI. A position, says Michael Goodwin of the New York Post, that grants too much power to one individual.

“The prerogative to investigate, and the willingness to feed a scandal-hungry media, is close to being God in politics, and Comey plays the role with relish.”

Goodwin is essentially saying that anyone who has the authority to launch an investigation against the U.S. president, of whom citizens worldwide have continuously dubbed “the most powerful person in the world,” is basking in privilege most people can only dream about.

Many Americans, for example, believe Comey’s decision to reopen the Hillary Clinton email investigation just days before the country was scheduled to cost her the election. There’s no way to know for sure if that’s what he was doing, but if it was, it worked.

Goodwin asserts James is playing similar games with Trump in relation to the president’s wiretapping claim and the Russian election-meddling narrative.

Goodwin makes comparisons between Comey and the first ever FBI director, John Edgar Hoover. [Image by AP Images]

Michael attributes Comey’s behavior to former FBI director John Edgar Hoover, who was known for his unorthodox approaches to law enforcement. Hoover was the first person to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He died in office, and Goodwin alleges that he was feared by each president who served with him.

Leaks from somewhere within the U.S. government are continuing, and so far it appears Comey has no intention of looking into where they’re coming from, which many believe is his job, so who, if anyone, can hold him accountable?

Can James Comey be fired, and if so, by whom?

According to PJ Media, it’s absolutely possible for the FBI director to be fired, and the person who wields that power is the president. Hence Donald Trump, if he desired to, could prematurely end the career of FBI director Comey.

How is Trump entitled to fire Comey? The FBI is a subdivision of the executive power branch, which is headed by the president. This makes James an executive official, and as such, the United States Constitution grants the chief executive, Trump, to terminate any executive serving under him. President Obama also could have fired Comey if he had seen fit.

While FBI directors, once appointed, are given 10-year terms, there are no roadblocks to firing them before their decade is up if the president wills it, and according to Comey, he plans on finishing his term.

Reasons For Trump To Fire Comey

Given what we know, why would Trump feel the need to fire Comey? One reason is that in response to the president’s claim that Obama wiretapped the phones at New York City’s Trump Tower, Comey requested that the Justice Department officially deny the existence of any truth to the claim, as reported by the New York Times.

Perhaps Trump doesn’t appreciate James making him look like a liar, and that’s why Comey is fired.

FBI Director Comey and President Trump greet each other in the Blue Room of the White House on January 22. [Image by Pool/Getty Images]

Michael Goodwin suggests that Comey is the driving force behind the suspicion surrounding Trump and Russia, as the leaks that have come out regarding it seem to have the stamp of the FBI on them, though recent revelations brought forth by the first of WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 publications have now brought the CIA into the equation.

Also noteworthy is the fact that Comey has yet to investigate or even express interest in investigating the source of the leaks, which is also leading some to suspect that these insider leaks are coming from federal agents.

James Comey can be fired, but whether he will remains to be seen. In the meantime, questions remain. What is going through the mind of the FBI director? Whose side, if any, is he on? Will Comey make it six and a half more years without Trump intervening? Does he deserve to? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

[Featured Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]

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