The FBI is supposed to be independent. Its first Director, J. Edgar Hoover, always had the goods on whoever was president. Hoover had it in for folks such as MLK Jr., who was not intimidated by him, but generally speaking, J. Edgar was greatly feared.
Donald Trump never trusted James Comey, the FBI Director he fired in May of last year, on the flimsiest of excuses.
Then, he got to appoint Christopher Wray to take Comey’s place.
During the intense back and forth on the Senate Judiciary Committee as it considered Trump’s most recent SCOTUS nominee, Brett Kavanaugh (a disciple of Bush Two), Arizona’s outgoing senior senator, Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican who doesn’t trust Trump (no love lost there), upended Chairman Chuck Grassley’s plan to speed Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Senate floor, by asking that the credible allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh be investigated by the FBI.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed, and reluctantly asked Trump to tell Director Wray to reopen his investigation of arch-conservative Judge Kavanaugh.
Ever loyal to his boss, Wray did an extremely cursory, totally unworthy review of the credible allegations of attempted rape that Kavanaugh committed against 15-year old Christine Blasey.
Because McConnell has been, throughout his career representing the Bluegrass State, hell-bent on tilting our federal judiciary far to the right, and, even more significantly, because Trump was desperate for a “deliverable" ahead of November 6, both Trump and McConnell insisted that Director Wray tell his agents to only scratch the surface of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations, and the FBI report was kept under lock and seal for senators to look at privately.
After Dr. Ford went public in her allegation of Kavanaugh’s sexual assault, Trump could have told Kavanaugh to withdraw, but Trump, who knows a lot about taking risks, knew that he would lose face with his base if he backed down (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/05/kavanaugh-confirmation-trump-base-876298).
After holdout Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced yesterday that she found Director Wray’s report to be a sufficient excuse for her vote in favor of Kavanaugh, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) following suit, Trump got his deliverable (isn’t it interesting that Trump has appointed two males to SCOTUS, while President Obama nominated two really fine women to the Supreme Court?).
Now President Obama’s National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, is thinking about running against Senator Collins in 2020 (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/05/susan-rice-susan-collins-2020-876185).
If Rice runs, she’ll be sure to defeat Collins because Collins didn’t stand up for women.
Associate solitary reporters Melissa Smith and Keith Coleman were in the Senate galllery as McConnell got his win, 50-48. When Clarence Thomas squeaked through in 1991, the vote was 52-48.
SCOTUS and the American people are the real losers.
During Kavanaugh’s vote, ASRs Smith and Coleman egged on the protesters and listened to Grassley’s lame, hypocritical congatulations to the protesters. They then managed to sneak into a back room where Chief Justice John Roberts, a fellow Republican who is a far better judicial politician than Kavanaugh, administered the oath of office.
ASR Coleman, a true gentleman, congratulated Kavanaugh’s wife, Ashley, on surviving her ordeal.
Then Kavanaugh, whose nomination was rescued by the GOP’s master strategists, announced that to show his gratitude, he’ll be at all Trump’s remaining campaign rallies to get out the Republican vote in November.