The document summarizes James Comey's testimony about his interactions with President Trump and draws comparisons to the Watergate scandal. It discusses how Comey's firing and subsequent leaked memos have sparked the Russia investigation. While similarities exist to Watergate, key differences include today's polarized media environment and continued support for Trump among Republicans. The investigation continues to uncover information as the June 23rd deadline approaches for documents to be handed over to the Senate panel.

1. Democracy Dies in Darkness
Comey Exposes Political Scandal of
Watergate Calibre
By Willem Kleinendorst (June, 16 2017)
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences.
WASHINGTON - it has been an uncertain and unstable time for a lot of people, not only in America, but
for most people influenced by US politics. Ever since the Trump administration entered the white house,
jaw dropping information has been surfacing time after time concerning the current republican
administration. Although information will continue to flow and cause new questions to raise, one specific
event has overrun all other news. On May 9, 2017, President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey
in order to, according to the President, “restore public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement
mission” (Trump, D. 2017). With “it” meaning the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This may seem plausible
to many people, but when taking a closer look at past events starting from the very first days in office,
one might question whether it is the real reason behind firing such an important official.

2. In order to truly understand the criticism it is essential to go back to the appointment of the former
National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Many people have been sceptical towards the appointment of
the former general as the National Security Advisor of the United States. According to the BBC, even
president Barrack Obama had issued a warning against appointing Michael Flynn since his contacts with
Russia would leave him vulnerable to blackmail (BBC News, US & Canada, 9 May 2017). Additionally,
Michael Flynn himself admitted to be under investigation for his ties with Russia and Turkey (Cillizza, C.
CCN 2017). Nevertheless, Trump decided to appoint Mr Flynn anyways since they shared many views. One
of them being the possible assets of closer ties with Russia (BBC News, US & Canada, 8 May 2017).
Eventually, the critics proved to be right and Michael Flynn resigned after 23 days in office. In his
resignation letter he admitted to have lied about the discussion of lifting US sanctions on Russia with the
Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak (Flynn, M. 2017).
Afterwards, the series of events that developed caused the
media to raise even more questions regarding the Russia
investigation. Some of which were addressed in a formal
testimony to congress written by James Comey. The matters
discussed in his testimony included firstly, a briefing on
January 6 2017. Here the then-President-Elect Trump was
ensured that he was not subject to any ongoing FBI
investigations. Secondly, a dinner on January 27 where
according to Mr Comey, President Trump was trying to create
a “patronage relationship” with him by asking Comey
whether he still wanted the job as FBI director and demanding loyalty of the ex-FBI director. Comey
expressed great discomfort about the questions repeatedly asked by the President about his job. Thirdly,
an oval office meeting in February 14. In this meeting the President of the United States requested the
then-FBI-Director to drop the Michael Flynn case accentuating that Michael Flynn is “a good guy”. It is
argued for that this was, at least, an attempt to Obstruction of Justice by Donald Trump. Which is in
principle an impeachable offence. Fourthly, two phone calls between Comey and Trump. In these phone
calls Comey was asked to “lift the cloud” off the Russia investigation. The President claimed that he had
nothing to do with Russia and stressed that “the cloud” was damaging his ability to make international
Obstruction of Justice: A federal
offense that revolves around any
actions attempting to obstruct
prosecutors or other government
officials. Obstruction of Justice is
governed by a series of criminal
statutes which make it a crime to
intimidate, threaten, bribe or retaliate
against participants in a criminal or
civil proceeding.
(Burton’s Legal Thesaurus, 2007)

3. deals. Lastly, during these phone calls the president also requested to publish the fact that he was not
subject to any FBI investigation. Shortly after these interactions Mr Comey was fired. (Comey, J. 2017)
It could very well be the case that Trump is trying to cover
something up, which makes a strong comparison to the
impeachment of both Nixon in 1974 (The Washington Post
from the Archive), as well as Clinton in 1999 (Mitchell, A.
1998). In both impeachment proceedings an Obstruction of
Justice in order to conceal a wrongdoing played a significant
role. Especially when looking into the Watergate scandal the
resemblance is compelling. In 1974, a senior FBI official
leaked crucial information to two Washington Post
journalists, Woodward and Bernstein, they later wrote a book
about the scandal. And in 2017 the FBI director himself leaked
a memo to what he called “a close friend” asking him to share the content of the memo with a reporter
(Vox News, 8 June 2017). This resulted in the publishing of the memo in The New York Times on May 16
(Schmidt, M.S. 2017). Despite the resemblance being significant there are also considerable differences.
These differences mainly exist because for the role of the media in this age. When taking the media into
account, the instable condition of the media provides Trump with a great advantage that Nixon did not
have at his possession at the time. In the time of Nixon, each major city in the United States had only a
couple of recognised news outlets, none of them were on his side. He had to sit and watch how the media
rapidly attacked his administration flushing out everyone involved. Due to the amount of news platforms
existing today the quality of news cannot always be guaranteed, this leads to a lot of counter- and
misinformation. Another advantage Trump has that Nixon missed is the fact that Trump still has the
majority of the Republican party behind him. In the case of Nixon members of his own party called for
investigations into the President’s behaviour, allowing congress to vote for impeachment in the end. As
long as Trump still has the majority of Republicans supporting him the Hastert Rule will prevent any
impeachment bill to be issued by the Speakers of the house of Representatives, and considering the way
it looks this will not be the case at least until June 23 (Samuelsohn, D. 2017). On this date the deadline for
handing in any relevant material over to the Senate panel will pass. These materials could include any
tapes of conversations between Comey and Trump, possible information Michael Flynn could be holding
Hastert Rule: An informal political
principle mostly used by Republican
Speakers of the House of
Representatives to only allow bills to
come up for a vote that have support
from the ‘the majority of the majority’
of Members of Congress. In practice,
if the Speaker follows the Hastert Rule
it means that he/she will not bring a
bill for a vote unless it has the support
of the majority of the current House
majority party, the Republicans.
(The Direct Policy Group, 2017)

4. back regarding communications with Russia or any other documents related to the Russia investigation.
But do not worry, until that day we can always pass our time by focussing on the President’s unreleased
tax returns. An issue that has been forgotten since the elections but might still have great consequences
if unravelled.
All in all, Comey’s testimony was the spark that set fire to the Russia investigation. The investigation by
now runs on various players in Trump’s administration, drawing a lot of media attention to it. The special
counsel is currently still working on collecting all relevant documents that could be used as proof for the
alleged claims against Trump and his administration. Once these documents have been dealt with the
investigations may continue to stir up the already frenzied situation in America. Until then, Americans
will have to relish the media speculation and rumours. Drawing conclusions from the past may seem to
be useful but one must not forget that times are changing. The new media, rise of internet trolls and fake
news websites will continue to misinform the public. Remaining critical of where you choose to collect
your information from is key with regard to this investigation. Considering that, this may according to me,
very well be one of the core elements in the whole Russia investigation. Donald Trump’s administration
might have dubious ties with Russia, but if it turns out they have nothing to do with the Russian media
influencing American politics this would not surprise me the least. I personally also think Trump’s staff has
proven itself incapable enough that it is not unlikely that they could not have had any clue at all of it
happening. The amount of times Sean Spicer, the press secretary, had to come up with the most ridiculous
explanations for blunders made by White House officials alone accounts for my claim. Also, I personally
believe that this election has not been the only election influenced by the Russians lately. They profit too
much from the raise of populism in the west to not want to have a finger in the pie.

5. References:
BBC News, US & Canada (8 May 2017). Michael Flynn: Former US national security adviser. Retrieved
from: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38025057
BBC News, US & Canada (9 May 2017). Obama warned Trump about hiring Michael Flynn. Retrieved
from: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39847417
Beauchamp, Z. (2017). Why the FBI might wage “war” on Trump — and how they would actually do it.
Vox.com. Retrieved from: https://www.vox.com/world/2017/5/11/15624544/fbi-trump-comey-war
Burton's Legal Thesaurus (2007). Legal Definition of Obstruction of Justice. 4E. Copyright © 2007 by
William C. Burton. Used with permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Retrieved from:
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/obstruction+of+justice
Cillizza, C. (19 May 2017). Trump team knew Mike Flynn was a huge problem. They hired him anyway.
Retrieved from: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/18/politics/mike-flynn-donald-trump/index.html
Comey, J.B. (8 June 2017). Statement for the Record Senate Select Committee on Intelligence James B.
Comey. Retrieved from: https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/os-jcomey-
060817.pdf
District Policy Group (2017). Dewonkify: Hastert Rule. Retrieved from:
http://www.districtpolicygroup.com/dewonkify-detail/dewonkify-hastert-rule
Flynn, M. (2017). Letter of Resignation. Retrieved from:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Michael_Flynn_Resignation_Letter.pdf
Mitchel, A. (1998). Impeachment: The overview – Clinton Impeached; Faces a Senate, 2D in History; Vows
to do Job Till Term’s ‘Last Hour’. The New York Times 20 December 1998 Edition. Retrieved from:
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/20/us/impeachment-overview-clinton-impeached-he-faces-senate-
trial-2d-history-vows-job.html
Samuelsohn, D. 2017 6 explosive moments that could still come in Russia probe, Politco. Retrieved from:
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/14/trump-russia-probe-explosive-239525
Schmidt, M.S. (2017). Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation. The New York
Times 16 May 2017 Edition, Politics Section. Retrieved from:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html

6. Taylor, S. (2017). Dan Rather: ‘Hunted’ Donald Trump ‘no longer has control’. Theblaze.com providing
access to the original NBC interview. Retrieved from: http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/05/17/dan-
rather-hunted-donald-trump-no-longer-has-control/
Trump, D. (2017). Letter from President Trump to James B. Comey Terminating Mr. Comey’s contract.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/09/us/politics/document-White-House-Fires-James-
Comey.html
The Washington Post. Watergate. Retrieved from:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/watergate/
Vox (8 June 2017). Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before Congress (Full). Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73bIlOzjFHo

7. Annotated Bibliography:
BBC News, US & Canada (8 May 2017). Michael Flynn: Former US national security adviser.
BBC News article explaining the case of Michael Flynn. It sheds light on his ties with Russia and
Turkey, Obama advising against his appointment and quotes of Flynn’s own statements.
BBC News, US & Canada (9 May 2017). Obama warned Trump about hiring Michael Flynn.
BBC news article that shedding light on the problems arising after the appointment of Michael
Flynn. I solely utilised this article with the means to refer to Obama’s disapproval of his
appointment.
Beauchamp, Z. (2017). Why the FBI might wage “war” on Trump — and how they would actually do it.
Vox.com.
This VOX article gives a brief overview of the situation that currently exists between Trump and
the FBI. It also sheds light on tools the FBI could use to weaken Trumps administration. It is
written in a relatively anti-trump style and provided me with some inspiration for my own article.
Burton's Legal Thesaurus (2007). Legal Definition of Obstruction of Justice. 4E. Copyright © 2007 by
William C. Burton. Used with permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The Legal Definition of Obstruction of Justice found on a web-dictionary. This dictionary referred
to Thesaurus, therefore I thought it to be credible enough to use as a citation.
Cillizza, C. (19 May 2017). Trump team knew Mike Flynn was a huge problem. They hired him anyway.
Michael Flynn told Donald Trump's transition team that he was under federal investigation for
secretly working for Turkey, according to a report Thursday in the New York Times. Trump went
ahead and hired Flynn as his national security adviser anyway.
Comey, J.B. (8 June 2017). Statement for the Record Senate Select Committee on Intelligence James B.
Comey.
Comey’s official written statement for the hearing before the Senate panel. I used this to refer to
the conversations mentioned in the article between Trump and Comey. Comey explains very
clearly what exactly happened and what he was thinking during the conversations.
District Policy Group (2017). Dewonkify: Hastert Rule.
Concise and clear explanation of the Hastert Rule. I compared various sources to make sure I had
a clear understanding of the definition myself before using it as a reference. I found that this
explanation was a very easy to understand description of the rule

8. Flynn, M. (2017). Letter of Resignation.
Michael Flynn’s official letter of resignation. In this letter Flynn admits that he had lied to Vice-
President Mike Pence about the content of the conversation he had during a meeting with the
Russian ambassador in the United States.
Mitchel, A. (1998). Impeachment: The overview – Clinton Impeached; Faces a Senate, 2D in History; Vows
to do Job Till Term’s ‘Last Hour’. The New York Times 20 December 1998 Edition.
The New York Time article providing a clear overview of the impeachment procedure against
Clinton in 1998. I used this article to gain basic knowledge about what happened in the scandal
in order to draw a comparison between the current situation in the White House and the
situation in 1998/1998.
Samuelsohn, D. (2017). 6 explosive moments that could still come in Russia probe, Politco.
Politco article describing other possible events that could cause harmful situations for the
Whitehouse. In this article I found the deadline for the documents providing any useful
information to the Senate Panel regarding the Russia investigation.
Schmidt, M.S. (2017). Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation. The New York
Times 16 May 2017 Edition, Politics Section.
This article is the first article issuing the Memo leaked by James B. Comey. In this memo Comey
reveals that Trump asked him to drop the Michael Flynn counter-intelligence investigation.
Taylor, S. (2017). Dan Rather: ‘Hunted’ Donald Trump ‘no longer has control’. Theblaze.com providing
access to the original NBC interview.
NBC interview with Dan Rather (veteran Journalist known for investigating the Watergate
scandal) who has picked up his duty to inform the people due to his concerns about the current
political situation in America. In this interview he expresses his concerns about the
establishment/appointment of the special council that will be in charge of the Russia allegations
investigation
Trump, D. (2017). Letter from President Trump to James B. Comey Terminating Mr. Comey’s contract.
The official letter in which Trump fired FBI director James Comey.
The Washington Post. Watergate.
A webpage dedicated to the Watergate scandal in which The Washington Post played a
meaningful role regarding exposure and release of critical information to the public. This
webpage is equipped with archived articles explaining the scandal.
Vox (8 June 2017). Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before Congress (Full).
Full testimony before congress.