The Trump Administration was born under a cloud created by the allegations of Russian interference in the presidential campaign and time has only provided more information to show that the cloud was real and not imaginary. It is now time for the Oval Office to face up to responsibilities and not downplay an issue that increasing numbers of people are viewing with concern.
Denial
After a few days of calm, President #Donald Trump once more went on the charge on Twitter. He had been quiet since his well received address in Congress on Tuesday evening, but the recent turn in news has put the address into the shadows.
Yesterday’s decision by Attorney General Jeff Session to recuse himself from any involvement in the Justice Department’s investigations into the alleged interference in the Russian election was in line with his declarations during his confirmation hearings.
This was the least that could have been expected by the public on an issue of national and international interest, but it will do nothing to lessen pressure on the White House and President Trump in particular to address the issue in a responsible manner. Making the comments on Twitter was not in a responsible manner.
On a day that the White House confirmed reports that meetings had occurred with the Sergey Kislyak the Russian Ambassador to the United States between Trump staffers, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and son in law Jared Kushner at Trump Tower in December the tweets simply contrasted the serious behaviour of Jeff Sessions with the President’s knee jerk reaction in labelling the investigations as a witch-hunt.
Political realities
Criticizing legitimate investigations does not make the issues go away. The simple fact that the President himself stated that the allegations were real should have directed him to tone down the rhetoric and to await the results of the investigations before making any more comments on the matter.
Rather, the President continues to avoid two political realities that are a fundamental part of the job description.
The first is the necessity to follow the procedures of America’s system of government and to respect the roles of the various branches that operate within it.
The moment that the Justice Department undertakes any investigation the President should wait the outcome and not pre-empt any possible result. By their very nature investigations have the potential of uncovering anything and making any premature comment will only create further problems for the future, as we are seeing at the present time.
The other reality is one that is much harder for Donald Trump to swallow and it comes partly from his experience as an entrepreneur. As the President of the United States he is answerable for every action under his watch, whether he was directly involved or not.
Entrepreneur President
In private business he could hire and fire without explaining himself to anyone even for arbitrary reasons, once he sat in the Oval Office that was no longer possible. That is one of the reasons for the confirmation process for the most important government positions, even when the two Houses are friendly to the White House as happens now.
President Trump’s choice for Attorney General was always controversial and although the Republicans confirmed the nomination, it was a choice that always had the potential to come back and hurt the Administration, which it inevitably did.
Like the Russian allegations, Jeff Sessions will always be a problem for the Administration and it is only a matter of time when it will come to a head.
President Trump can no longer afford to simply deny and accuse on these two issues. He has two choices, to keep his silence and wait for the results of the investigations, or to provide solid proof that the accusations are unfounded and risk that they may eventually be proven false by the investigations with all the consequences that will follow.
It is now up to Donald Trump to make the choice.
