President Donald Trump was right to fire former FBI Director James Comey for misunderstanding the bureau's role in government, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In its Thursday editorial, the Journal argued that Comey, who the paper describes as "calculating, self-protective, [and] one of the more skilled political knife-fighters of modern times," deserved his firing for his refusal to cooperate with the White House or the Justice Department concerning the FBI investigation into Russian election interference.
Comey, in his prepared testimony released Wednesday, said Trump encouraged him to close the inquiry, but he never told Attorney General Jeff Sessions about his concerns over the conversation, choosing instead to meet with "FBI senior leadership."
"The most troubling part of Mr. Comey's statement is his belief in what he calls 'the FBI's traditionally independent status in the executive branch,' which he invokes more than once. Independent? This is a false and dangerous view of law enforcement in the American system." the Journal wrote.
"Mr. Comey is describing an FBI director who essentially answers to no one. But the police powers of the government are awesome and often abused, and the only way to prevent or correct abuses is to report to elected officials who are accountable to voters."