FLASHBACK: The New York Times Approved of Bill Clinton Firing FBI Director in 1993

The Democrats lost their minds after President Trump fired FBI Director, James Comey. Certainly this is a partisan knee-jerk reaction because The New York Times and prominent Democrats had no problem when then-President Bill Clinton fired FBI Director, William Sessions in 1993.

In fact, The New York Times opened their article by saying, ‘Defiant FBI Chief Removed From Job By The President’. Slick Willie also fired 93 U.S. Attorneys in one day in 1993, but that’s okay because he’s a Democrat and Democrats can do whatever they want without fear of reprisal.

Here is an excerpt from the 1993 New York Times article. The New York Times made Bill Clinton look like a decisive leader who removed a ‘defiant FBI Director’ and wondered ‘why it took so long’:

Mr. Clinton, explaining his reasons for removing Mr. Sessions, effective immediately, said, “We cannot have a leadership vacuum at an agency as important to the United States as the F.B.I. It is time that this difficult chapter in the agency’s history is brought to a close.” Defiant to the End

But in a parting news conference at F.B.I. headquarters after Mr. Clinton’s announcement, a defiant Mr. Sessions — his right arm in a sling as a result of a weekend fall — railed at what he called the unfairness of his removal, which comes nearly six years into his 10-year term.

Mr. Clinton said that after reviewing Mr. Sessions’s performance, Attorney General Janet Reno had advised him that Mr. Sessions should go. “After a thorough review by the Attorney General of Mr. Sessions’s leadership of the F.B.I., she has reported to me in no uncertain terms that he can no longer effectively lead the bureau.”

Despite the President’s severe tone, he seemed to regret having to force Mr. Sessions from his post. He said he had hoped that the issue could be settled at the Justice Department without the necessity of using his authority to dismiss the Director, who has a 10-year term but may be removed by the President at any time.

Still unclear is why it took so long for Mr. Clinton and his Attorney General to act in Mr. Sessions’s case. White House officials said Mr. Clinton had hoped that Ms. Reno could reach an amicable settlement that could lead to a graceful exit.

But today, with Ms. Reno saying the Director should be above politics, it was evident that the Administration feared that dismissing Mr. Sessions might be viewed as politically motivated.

In contrast, here is an excerpt from the New York Times article after Trump fired Comey. The article revolves around the Russia hoax because of course without the Russia story, the left has nothing to hang their hats on. In this article, Comey’s firing is a ‘stunning development’ and a ‘rash decision that could have deep implications for the (Republican party)’:

The stunning development in Mr. Trump’s presidency raised the specter of political interference by a sitting president into an existing investigation by the nation’s leading law enforcement agency. It immediately ignited Democratic calls for a special counsel to lead the Russia inquiry.

Mr. Trump explained the firing by citing Mr. Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, even though the president was widely seen to have benefited politically from that inquiry and had once praised Mr. Comey for his “guts” in his pursuit of Mrs. Clinton during the campaign.

But in his letter to Mr. Comey, released to reporters by the White House, the president betrayed his focus on the continuing inquiry into Russia and his aides.

The officials said that Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, pushed for Mr. Comey’s dismissal. But many in Washington, including veteran F.B.I. officers, saw a carefully choreographed effort by the president to create a pretense for a takedown of the president’s F.B.I. tormentor.

Reaction in Washington was swift and fierce. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said the firing could make Americans suspect a cover-up. Mr. Trump lashed back later Tuesday night in a Twitter post: “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer stated recently, ‘I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer.’ Then acts so indignant.”

Many Republicans assailed the president for making a rash decision that could have deep implications for their party. Representative Justin Amash, Republican of Michigan, said on Twitter that he now supports an independent commission to investigate the Russia links to Mr. Trump. He called Mr. Trump’s claim that Mr. Comey had cleared him three times “bizarre.”

So it’s okay for Bill Clinton to fire his FBI Director at the advice of his Attorney General, but when Trump does the exact same thing, it’s a Constitutional crisis. The investigation into the Trump-Russia hoax can continue whether Comey is the FBI Director or not. If it weren’t for double standards, the Democrats would have no standards at all.

 

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Cristina began writing for The Gateway Pundit in 2016 and she is now the Associate Editor.

You can email Cristina Laila here, and read more of Cristina Laila's articles here.

 

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