Clapper: Donald Trump Is As Threat To US Government Institutions

Former DNI James Clapper was on CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper today and, obviously, the Comey firing came up.

CLAPPER: The past week, very bothersome, very disturbing to me. I think, in many ways, our institutions are under assault, both externally–that’s the big news here, Russian interference in our election system–and I think as well our under assault internally.

TAPPER: Internally from the president?

CLAPPER: Exactly.

TAPPER: Because he’s firing the checks and balances?

CLAPPER: Well, I think the Founding Fathers, in their genius, created a system of three co-equal branches of government and a built in system of checks and balances. And I feel as though that’s under assault and is eroding.

TAPPER: Are you surprised at how quiet Republicans on Capitol Hill have been?

CLAPPER: Well, I can’t say. I think each Senator or Congressman has got to, I hope, think in terms of their own conscience. And I can’t characterize it as being surprised, I just hope they’ll speak up.

If you like Tapper and think Trump is a Russian stooge, you’re nodding in agreement with this. But this argument is batsh** crazy and is nothing more than progressive agitprop. The idea that Trump’s dismissal of Comey is even in the same ballpark as alleged Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 election is nothing short of bizarre and unhinged.

First and foremost, the FBI director is a officer in the executive branch, not a part of the checks and balances envisioned by the Founders. A week ago the Democrats were baying for Comey’s blood and blaming him for Clinton’s loss so it is hard to imagine how the situation changed so markedly if one rules out partisan politics.

I would agree, however, that our institutions are under attack. Clapper’s own agency, for instance, routinely recorded without warrant and unmasked US citizens at a rate of about 2,000 per year, on the basis of the curiosity of members of the Obama administration. We saw the IRS weaponized. We saw the Department of Education declare that students accused of sexual assault on campus had no right to even know the allegations against them. We saw the ATF arm Mexican drug cartels. We saw our immigration laws ignored. All of that happened on Clapper’s watch and he supported or acquiesced to each and every action.

There was ample reason for firing Comey, not the least of which was him showing no interest whatsoever in accelerating a probe that is paralyzing the government. Loyalty to the nation demanded, above all, that Comey either clear or charge people in a reasonable amount of time–we are now approaching the first anniversary of this probe–and stop the uncertainty.

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