by Walter W. Murray, reporter
President Donald Trump is coming under fire from angry liberals who claim his firing of FBI Director James Comey is unprecedented.
But that left-wing hollering is ringing hollow — and not just because those same Democrats were screaming for Comey’s head just a few months ago.
Turns out Trump’s move wasn’t as unprecedented as they’re making it sound – because there’s ANOTHER example of a president firing an FBI director in recent history.
July 19th, 1993 proves Trump was right to fire Comey. That was the date Slick Willy himself — former President Bill Clinton — did the same thing!
The liberal media doesn’t want to admit it… but Clinton axed William Sessions just a few months into his presidency, and the circumstances are quite familiar.
So where was the liberal outrage then?
There was none.
Just as with Comey, the problems with Sessions began during the previous administration. In fact, the ball for his firing started rolling when the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility under President George H.W. Bush filed a report about Sessions’ ethical lapses.
Next, just as Trump had Attorney General Jeff Sessions (no relation) file a report about Comey, Clinton had Attorney General Janet Reno write a letter detailing why Sessions was no longer fit to serve.
“She has reported to me in no uncertain terms that he can no longer effectively lead the Bureau and law enforcement community,” Clinton said at the time, according to CNN.
Time magazine was more blunt.
“Tales of incompetence and self-indulgence on the part of the bureau’s director have pushed the organization into a state of near mutiny,” they reported.
Again, that’s almost exactly how this situation has unfolded.
“I’ve heard from countless members of the FBI that are grateful and thankful for the president’s decision,” Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said this week after Comey was canned.
Clinton called Sessions and fired him by phone. He forgot to mention that it was effective immediately, so he had to call back a few minutes later.
That must’ve been awkward. Maybe he should’ve sent a letter.
Finally, Clinton spoke to the American people.
“We cannot have a leadership vacuum at an agency as important to the United States as the F.B.I.,” Clinton said, according to The New York Times.
Trump expressed a remarkably similar sentiment: “It is essential that we find new leadership that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.”
Democrats and the liberal media, of course, accepted Clinton’s reasoning. But they’re screaming bloody murder this time around, saying Trump can’t fire Comey because he’s under investigation despite the fact that the president himself ISN’T under investigation.
Clinton, on the other hand, would go on to become the subject of multiple investigations… a special prosecutor… an impeachment… and as far as we know, the full story of his scandals STILL hasn’t been told.
None of that had happened when Sessions was fired, but Clinton may have made the move knowing he brought a closet full of skeletons to Washington. The last thing he wanted was a sharp, experienced and fearless voice leading the FBI.
Sessions was exactly that. Before becoming director of the FBI, he was a district court judge – and prior to that, a U.S. attorney. His replacement, Louis Freeh, was two decades younger. He was – and remains – the youngest person ever to hold the job.
It didn’t help and Clinton was ultimately impeached.
That’s one parallel Democrats are no doubt wishing for with Trump… but as with everything else, they’ll certainly be disappointed.
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative with decades of experience in the world of politics and investigative reporting. He is the author of “America’s Final Warning.”