After Comey testimony, dark clouds over the Trump presidency

Here is the news that the American people and Congress learned today after the testimonies of FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers before the House Intelligence Committee, which were devastating to the credibility of President Trump and his false charges against President Obama and British intelligence.

First, Comey and Rogers unequivocally and flat-out stated that Trump’s charge that Obama ordered illegal eavesdropping against him are not backed by evidence.

In addition to Comey and Rogers stating there is no evidence to support Trump’s bogus charge, Comey announced that he had authorization from the Justice Department to state unequivocally that there is no evidence to back Trump’s charge.

The pressure on Trump to offer Obama a full apology, drop the charge entirely and move on will now rise to white-hot levels.

It is extraordinary for an American president to accuse his predecessor of committing a criminal felony. The charge is false, malicious and has now been debunked by the Republican and Democratic leadership in the Senate and House, the Republican and Democratic leadership of the House and Senate intelligence committees, the FBI director, the director of the NSA and the Department of Justice.

To avoid a disastrous legacy as president, Trump needs to learn to cut his losses, admit he was wrong, apologize to those he wronged and move on.

{mosads}Since making his charge, there are signs that his popularity, already the lowest of any new president since the beginning of presidential polling, has fallen to even lower levels. Trump is now facing a credibility gap of epic proportions by standards of newly inaugurated presidents.

Trump owes Obama a full and complete apology and runs a grave risk if he continues his attack against Obama and the habit of regularly tweeting or retweeting nonsense — some of which has caused internationally controversies with our strongest allies.

The second thing we learned from the Comey-Rogers testimony was that Trump’s charge that the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British intelligence service, illegally conspired with Obama to wiretap Trump was as false his original charge against Obama.

Trump owes the leaders and people of Great Britain and the GCHQ a strong and unequivocal apology for his false charge against America’s strong and faithful ally.

This slander by Trump is a dangerous business that hurts American security and gives aid and comfort to a former KGB man who is now the dictator or Russia.

(I will write much more about this subject soon.)

The third thing we learned today is that the FBI is definitely pursuing an active investigation of ties between Russian intelligence and people close to Trump in possible collaboration in Russian covert actions designed to discredit American democracy and elect Trump as president.

To be clear and fair, Comey offered little about the investigation and would not comment about individuals close to Trump who have been named in various media reports as being involved in this investigation. I offer no comment here about innocence or guilt, but there is no longer any doubt that an investigation of this subject is proceeding.

There is now a dark cloud over the Trump presidency that will continue until this matter is resolved by public statements, or potential actions, by the FBI, the Justice Department and congressional committees.

It is now time for Trump to close the books entirely on his attacks against Obama and U.S. and British intelligence.

President Trump end his destructive habit of tweeted or making ill-conceived and false accusations — and hope his friends and staff are formally exonerated when all investigations are complete.

Brent Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Chief Deputy Majority Whip Bill Alexander (D-Ark.). He holds an LL.M. degree in international financial law from the London School of Economics. He is a longtime regular columnist for The Hill and can be contacted at brentbbi@webtv.net.

The views of contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.