Priebus committed a serious ethical & potentially legal violation. He should resign immediately [View all]

[kpete]

Last edited Sun May 21, 2017, 09:56 AM - Edit history (1)

BOSTON GLOBE:
By Michael A. Cohen MARCH 21, 2017

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First of all, we know that Priebus’s public assertion that the New York Times story on contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence is simply not true. If there were no contacts, then the FBI clearly wouldn’t be investigating Trump and his aides. At the very least, Priebus lied to the American people and should apologize for doing so.

Second, Priebus’s claim that he was “approved” by the FBI to say the Times story was wrong is dubious, since Comey on Monday implicitly confirmed that the story was correct. Moreover, why would McCabe have acted so inappropriately in reaching out to Priebus to tell him the Times story was “BS” when we now know from Comey’s testimony that the story is not BS?

The more likely explanation for the contacts between Priebus and the FBI — which of course the White House does not deny took place — is that it was Priebus who reached out to McCabe and Comey and asked them to dispute the story.

If all this is true, then Priebus not only violated longstanding norms that severely limit contact between the White House and the Department of Justice, but his outreach to the FBI looks very much like an implicit effort to pressure the FBI into denying the Times story. That sounds a lot like obstruction of justice.

Even if Priebus did not intend to pressure the FBI about the investigation, his contact with Comey and McCabe gives the appearance that this is exactly what he was trying to do.

In short, none of the White House’s explanations about the nature of the contact between Priebus and the FBI make any sense.

The more logical explanation is that Priebus committed a serious ethical – and potentially legal – violation.

He should resign immediately.


http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/03/21/reince-priebus-should-resign/M6H5KmokyERBeGWVmoNYJL/story.html