Comey's Dismissal Shows Trump Is Really Bad at Cover-Ups

[EasyAce]

The president's ham-handed efforts to stifle interest in Russia's election meddling have only drawn more attention to it.
By Jacob Sullum
http://reason.com/blog/2017/05/11/comeys-dismissal-shows-trump-is-really-b/print

Donald Trump's official reason for dismissing FBI Director James Comey is transparently phony, and there is strong
circumstantial evidence that the real reason had something to do with the FBI's investigation of Russian attempts to influence
the presidential election. That likelihood should trouble anyone who values the rule of law, since it looks like Trump is trying
to impede an investigation that could prove embarrassing, politically damaging, or even legally perilous for him. But talk of
a "constitutional crisis" is more than a little premature. So far Trump has acted within his legal authority, albeit with questionable
motives, and he cannot unilaterally block inquiries into Russia's election meddling. To the contrary, he has only succeeded at
stimulating interest in the issue . . .

. . . Maybe legislators' promises to get to the bottom of Russian meddling in the election will prove empty. Maybe they will
rubber-stamp whomever Trump chooses to replace Comey and abdicate their oversight responsibilities, letting the FBI investigation
quietly die without an explanation. Maybe voters won't care. But for the time being, Trump's ham-handed efforts to stifle
interest in this sensitive subject has only drawn more attention to questions he wants everyone to stop asking.