POLITICO Magazine’s Tim Alberta on Comey Aftermath
How do you feel about the reaction of Republican leadership to the Comey firing?
The dust is beginning to settle in Washington after last week’s news that President Trump had fired FBI Director James Comey, the man who had been investigating Trump’s campaign and its possible connections to Russia. Of course, one big remaining question is who Trump will select to replace Comey and when.
Tim Alberta, reporter for POLITICO magazine, joins Stephen Henderson on Detroit Today to discuss reactions to Comey’s firing and possible scenarios that could play out moving forward.
Alberta says people in Washington D.C. are just beginning to come to terms with the situation.
“Career professionals both in the political arena and in the national security arena are just not entirely sure…how to respond to some of these things and how to process them because it is so far outside of the conventions that we have all…sort of become familiar with,” says Alberta.
According to Alberta, the question now is to see who Trump nominates.
He says he anticipated more of a muscular push back from conservatives. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was silent for almost 24 hours after the decision was made. Alberta discusses Republican allegiance to party over country.
The Trump administration has yet to be tested by a major external crisis, Alberta says. The issues that have arisen thus far have all been self-made.
A remaining question is whether Trump will be able to piece together a long enough stretch of time to work on policy objectives, such as tax and health care reform, without an interruption.
Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.
