The president isn’t the only one who can use Twitter to his advantage. Thankfully, it’s still not as though other leaders sit around tweeting threats against formidable adversaries, as Trump does.
Even still, other leaders — like former FBI Director James Comey — use the social media platform to make their opposition to the present state of affairs known. No matter how many jabs the president posts to Twitter, he can’t make Comey fade into irrelevance.
Trump fired Comey back in May of last year, catalyzing allegations of obstruction of justice against him and setting off a chain of events that led to the appointment of the presently serving Special Counsel for the Russia investigation Robert Mueller.
Trump’s attacks on the justice system extend far beyond his abrupt and uncalled for firing of James Comey, and it’s the GOP’s leaders’ silence in the face of the attacks that Comey went after on Twitter this Wednesday morning.
The president’s most recent Twitter attack on the nation’s justice system came Tuesday, when he managed, in a single tweet, to both suggest he’s interested in seeing his political opponents jailed and assert that there are interests in the U.S. Justice Department conspiring against him and being allowed to operate unchecked.
Commenting on the recent release of Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s emails by the State Department, Trump wrote on Tuesday morning:
‘Crooked Hillary Clinton’s top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others’
The emails that prompted Trump’s tweet have already been examined by the government — the government is the interest that released them after all. Abedin, like Clinton, has been cleared of any offense beyond carelessness — and yet Trump still is trying to put his finger on the scales of justice, so to speak, and see not only her but also former FBI Director James Comey himself jailed.
Trump has accused Comey of leaking classified information because he provided notes of his conversations with the president to the press. Those notes weren’t classified, however, and Comey did nothing wrong, no matter how many times Trump wants to assert otherwise.
Comey, in responding to the president’s attacks on the Justice Department and the rule of law and order on Twitter this Wednesday, was a bit more direct than he normally is on the social media platform.
In his tweet, he included a quote from a philosophical authority, as he often does, but also made it clear who he was directing his sentiments to, writing:
‘Where are the voices of all the leaders who know an independent Department of Justice and FBI are essential to our liberty? “You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.” — Martin Luther’
It’s Republicans who have by and large been the silent ones. There are multiple concurrent possible explanations for why the Republicans have been so silent, including the possibility of them simply not caring at all. Republicans also know the possible career value of being on the president’s good side — even though their hopes may be dashed should GOP Congresspeople find their efforts to have come up short and lose their seat in 2018.
Check out Twitter’s response to Comey below.
Featured Image via Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images
