Former federal prosecutor smells rat

Director James Comey was just here at the FBI in Los Angeles when he was informed, by staffers, that he had been fired by the administration.

Having worked for almost 30 years as a prosecutor for the US Department of Justice, I am on the record stating that Comey was wrong to make his pronouncements about Hillary Clinton, as I told the Huffington Post in October 2016.

However, as I see it, this, his dismissal now, was done to squelch the Russia investigations. Reasoning: It is the timing of this development, in the news cycle about the number of Clinton e-mails forwarded to the laptop computer of Anthony Weiner, that strongly suggests a “cover story’’ designed to impede or tank current investigations.

New management and changing of the guard in law enforcement makes for delays and, often, as I know well, a lower likelihood that charges will be filed.

This does not bode well for our democracy.

Julie A. Werner-Simon

Los Angeles

The writer was a federal prosecutor from 1986 to 2015.

This president and Justice Department can’t be trusted

Timing tells the real story. Consider the facts. President Trump waited weeks after learning that General Michael Flynn, his national security adviser, was compromised and a threat to national security before ousting him. And yet the president was in an unexplainable rush on Tuesday to fire FBI director James Comey, referencing old news that, ironically, didn’t previously trouble him, and knowing that Comey was the person heading the investigation of the Trump team — a probe that just issued subpoenas.

The issue is not whether director Comey was, as Trump said, “doing a bad job.’’ And the issue should not now become one of whether the person to replace Comey is well-respected. The issue is entirely about the rule of law and whether our nation can ever have confidence in and trust the current president of the United States and Justice Department following such an outrageous move. Let us hope that our nation’s system of checks and balances will resolve this crisis.

Richard Cherwitz

Austin, Texas

The writer is a professor at the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin.

The focus on Russia is Democratic obstructionism

Many Americans are growing weary of the continuing push to present a Russian collusion story. With the firing of James Comey, the left is aware that President Trump is going to appoint a new FBI director and that the conduct of Hillary Clinton will come under scrutiny once again, just as Trump promised in his campaign.

We have come to a point in our nation’s history where all you have to do is suggest that there is a crime or possible collusion, as we have seen in the allegations of Russian meddling in our elections, to cause dissent among the American people and the virtual shutdown of our government. An appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate something where there is no evidence to indicate wrongdoing will be time-consuming, and it would support the Democrats’ obstructionist strategy to undermine the Trump presidency and the Republican majority in congress.

The liberals are doing the only thing they can, outside of our Constitution and common decency, to undermine the election results of last year. Hypocrisy and dishonesty in Washington have always been endemic, but this seems to have reached a new level.

Charles Michael Sitero

Ormond Beach, Fla.

Sorry, just not ready to move on from Russia probe

Sarah Huckabee Sanders has the temerity to say it’s time to move away from Russia and on to issues the American people care about.

I can’t speak for everyone, but this senior citizen and Cold War veteran of the Air Force officer corps cares about our nation becoming a vassal state to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

I also care about a so-called health care plan that throws millions out of their health insurance and does serious damage to those who are most needy. A tax plan that focuses on further cuts for our most wealthy is yet another concern.

But of all of these, the taking of personal control of our nation’s central criminal investigative service by the president smacks of dictatorial consolidation of power and, to me at least, represents an existential threat to American democracy.

Leland J. Katz

Bellingham