Trump often turns to Twitter to insult and bash anyone critical of him. His schoolyard bully nicknames have, so far, included “Liddle Marco” (Rubio), “Crooked Hillary,” “Crazy Bernie,” and “Pocahontas” (Sen. Elizabeth Warren). However, a few of his ranting, rambling tweets have caused big problems, especially when he spreads disinformation and his opinion, as a person now in a position of high power, on pending court cases.
There is no chance that former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe will not appeal his termination. The timing of his firing, 26 hours before he was set to retire, is suspect as well as vindictive. The reasons behind his firing are also questionable considering the false statements made by the president and his administration around other firings, such as James Comey’s. McCabe is now represented by former Inspector General Michael Bromwich, who will be highly capable of reviewing the recommendation by current Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, who completed a report regarding McCabe’s actions, and determining whether or not McCabe’s dismissal was warranted.
Trump’s nasty tweets maligning McCabe, though, are unnecessary and could end up being used against him. Bromwich took to Twitter on Sunday to address them all as whole instead of one by one.
We will not be responding to each childish, defamatory, disgusting &
false tweet by the President. The whole truth will come out in due
course. But the tweets confirm that he has corrupted the entire
process that led to Mr. McCabe’s termination and has rendered it
illegitimate.— Michael R. Bromwich (@mrbromwich) March 18, 2018
Trump is damaging his case against McCabe by showing his bias against him. The points he has made to justify that firing have been largely untrue and easily fact-checked, such as the claim that McCabe’s wife took $700,000 from Hillary Clinton and her allies during her failed Senate run, making all of the other claims against him suspect.
While the current Inspector General wrote the report that led to McCabe’s firing, the clear desire of the president to remove him from office after months of defaming him in front of the whole world will tarnish that same report. Trump has publicly berated his own appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions for not firing him already, which supports an assumption that Sessions was under pressure to do so.
The current Inspector General was indeed appointed by Obama, but this kind of public pressure to produce a decision that will please the president can now be used to prove bias against McCabe. Despite Trump’s and Fox News’s and Devin Nunes’s best efforts, there is absolutely no indication that FISA abuse occurred, and it’s likely that no proof will be forthcoming showing McCabe was less than truthful under oath or that he leaked classified information, both points that Trump has made to justify his dismissal.
This also would not be the first time that a court case would be complicated by Trump’s public statements. A case brought against Bo Bergdahl, accused of deserting his post in the military and joining the Taliban (Bergdahl defended his actions by saying he was a prisoner of war captured by the Taliban and had no choice) was so biased because of Trump’s statements that they had to be considered a “mitigating factor” by the judge who acquitted him. Trump took to Twitter again to call for the death penalty for a Muslim man who drove his truck into a crowd in New York City, killing eight people.
Trump’s comments about the attack in New York and his demand for the ultimate penalty may also complicate that case. Perhaps Trump should keep his opinion to himself, particularly those that can be used against him in a court of law.
Featured image via Getty/Bloomberg
