U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 17th week in the White House may have been his most unpredictable yet.
Tuesday: The president amid an FBI investigation into whether Trump鈥檚 campaign had ties with Russia鈥檚 interference in the U.S. election.
Wednesday: Three U.S. officials said for the Russia-Trump investigation before he was fired.
Thursday: Trump told NBC News that -- a statement that flatly contradicted earlier explanations from the White House that pegged blame on a Justice Department memo criticizing how Comey handled the investigation into Hillary Clinton鈥檚 emails.
And finally, Friday: Trump unleashed an early-morning barrage of tweets for 鈥渢he sake of accuracy鈥� and of private conversations between Comey and himself.
The remarkable series of events prompted comparisons to Watergate and raised questions about how the White House was coping with the mounting scandal.
It also sparked heated debate.
Former media baron Conrad Black, who is friends with Trump, told CTV鈥檚 Question Period that James Comey has 鈥渘o supporters鈥� and that 鈥渢here鈥檚 no comparison whatsoever with Watergate.鈥� He railed against the White House press corps, calling the media 鈥渓iars鈥� and 鈥渆nemies of the people.鈥�
Here is an abridged transcript of the exchange on The Scrum:
CTV鈥檚 Question Period host Evan Solomon: We know the president has got the right to fire the FBI director. But what does it tell you that he fired the guy who鈥檚 in the midst of conducting a serious investigation into allegations that his campaign team had contacts with the Russians?
Conrad Black: Well, I don鈥檛 think the fact that that investigation is going on prevents him from firing him for cause. The acting director yesterday, speaking at Congress, made it clear there had been absolutely no attempt to interfere with that investigation.
He denied that there had been a request from the former director (James Comey) for increased funding for the investigation. He said squarely that there was absolutely no need for an independent prosecutor, which as you know, one requires a crime to have been committed, and there鈥檚 no evidence of that, and two, invariably under that law, turns into a ghastly witch hunt anyhow.
And we know perfectly well and indeed the former assistant national security director under (former president Bill) Clinton, Nancy Soderberg, conceded to me on the BBC last night that their aim chiefly was to immobilize the Trump government.
There is no case. It鈥檚 nonsense. It鈥檚 a fiction. No sane person could imagine that Donald Trump or any person of authority in his campaign colluded with the Russians. It鈥檚 just nonsense.
Solomon: Well you call it nonsense so 鈥�
Black: Wait a second, Evan. Everyone agrees, Republican and Democrat, that Comey had to go. (Congresswoman) Maxine Waters, that pillar of congressional equity and good sense and promoter of riots in Los Angeles from time to time, announced to MSNBC of all places -- the most anti-Trump network of all -- that Hillary should have fired him, but Donald shouldn鈥檛.
I mean, Comey has no supporters.
Solomon: We know Comey didn鈥檛 have friends on a lot of sides of the House, Craig, but it鈥檚 not insanity to say that this Russia investigation is a fiction because security agencies have said this is a real issue, and the FBI is genuinely investigating it.
Black: The fact that there is an investigation isn鈥檛 a fiction. The idea that it ever happened is a fiction.
Craig Oliver: Mr. Black and I both were active in the reporting business during Watergate. And I think what Mr. Trump should be worried about now is remembering who Deep Throat was. It took us 30 years to find out who he was, but Deep Throat, the supplier of information that brought down Nixon, was assistant director of the FBI.
This is where the trouble will begin now. The establishment people who want to protect the American Constitution will begin to leak. That鈥檚 for sure. And this is why Mr. Trump passed something of a Rubicon, I think. His allies, his enemies, I think feel that they can no longer trust him.
Solomon: Stephanie, what are the consequences of all this?
Stephanie Levitz: Craig鈥檚 point about Watergate is well taken. And I think Trump鈥檚 tweet about the tapes, I don鈥檛 think that was an accidental tweet. I don鈥檛 think he just fired it off thinking I鈥檓 going to use the word 鈥渢apes鈥� just for fun.
He knows people are accusing him of Watergate, and he鈥檚 worried about it. And I think Craig鈥檚 point is well taken that there are a lot of people in the administration, we see them now already talking to the press. You look at even the conflicting timelines that have been published around when Comey actually got fired, how he got fired, when did he find out, when was the decision made. Trump says one thing, his spokespeople say another thing, the leakers say something else.
It鈥檚 throwing such a fog of confusion into all this, and perhaps that鈥檚 the point at the end of it -- just discredit, discredit, discredit.
Solomon: Are these kinds of situations damaging his credibility and his ability to actually get anything done?
Black: It鈥檚 more complicated than that. Let us remember this was a war. Donald declared war on all factions of both parties, virtually all the media, all of Hollywood, all of Wall Street, all the bureaucracy. Every adult in the District of Columbia -- 96 per cent of them -- voted against him.
It鈥檚 a war. It鈥檚 a drain-the-swamp attack. And the war has gone on. For the first time in 25 years, there鈥檚 no Bush, Obama or Clinton in Washington, but the war goes on. And part of it is the media attacking him all the time.
He has to go to social media. He has to tweet, because that鈥檚 the only avenue he has. The press will not treat him fairly or honestly, except for Fox, the Wall Street Journal and a couple of others. That鈥檚 why he has to do what he does.
Levitz: [Speaking over Conrad Black] Attacking the press is misunderstanding the role of the press in a democracy.
Black: And by the way, there鈥檚 no comparison whatsoever with Watergate. Nothing. Mr. Nixon did not commit a crime, some people did, in the national committee and in the White House staff. Nixon didn鈥檛. There were leakers all the time. But at least there was a crime there somewhere.
And there isn鈥檛 here. There is no evidence of any. Nothing. It鈥檚 a confection. A fabrication.
Levitz: When people pivot to attack the press, and they say things like 鈥渢he media is attacking us all the time鈥� -- no. The media is holding the government to account. That is the media鈥檚 job and that is the role of the media鈥檚 job in a democracy.
And when the leader of a government in the free world attacks the media regularly, what they鈥檙e doing is attacking democracy and saying they don鈥檛 care about democracy because they don鈥檛 view the media as holding them accountable. They don鈥檛 want to be held to account.
Solomon: He said to cancel all future press briefings and hand out responses for 鈥渢he sake of accuracy.鈥� Again, some people thought that was a threat.
Black: The press has no constitutional right to speak to him, and he鈥檚 right when he calls the White House press the enemies of the people. That鈥檚 what they are. They鈥檙e liars.
Solomon: Conrad Black, you as a former press owner, I鈥檓 going to give you a chance to clarify. An enemy of the people is a traitor. This is a democracy, sir. You know it, I know it. That鈥檚 a bridge too far, no?
Black: It鈥檚 admittedly flamboyant but it鈥檚 been invited by their treatment of him. But not 鈥渆nemy of the people鈥� in the sense of a totalitarian state where you鈥檙e shot as a result of it. Merely misinforming the people. You don鈥檛 get shot, you don鈥檛 get fired, nothing happens. It is what it is.
Oliver: Where is the accountability then? If we鈥檙e going to end this period, that鈥檚 what I want to know. Whereabouts in America is somebody going to stand up and say, 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to stop this guy,鈥� even though he鈥檚 the President of the United States and all of the power and influence that includes? He is becoming more authoritarian by the day. He鈥檚 knocking down every opposition to his presidency.
Black: Craig, he鈥檚 not violating his constitutional oath. You鈥檙e not going to stop him. Why do you want to stop him? He鈥檚 just doing his job. What are you trying to stop?
Oliver: I鈥檓 trying to stop him becoming increasingly authoritarian, knocking down one by one all of the checks and balances, if he can, that stand in the way of his presidential power.
Black: What are you talking about? He hasn鈥檛 knocked down any checks -- look, Craig, please. As we鈥檝e discussed, we are experienced observers of these things. The Democrats went judge-shopping for some flaky left-wing Pacific-coast judges to claim an authority to countermand his constitutional authority over immigration. They wanted him to ignore the judge like Andrew Jackson did, so they could start talking about impeachment.
He went through due process. The Supreme Court is going to toss it out. It鈥檚 all nonsense. He isn鈥檛 attacking the system of checks and balances, he鈥檚 been absolutely faithful to the constitution.
And you shouldn鈥檛 be contributing to this poisoned atmosphere that there鈥檚 something of a Frankenstein鈥檚 monster about this guy. He has a mandate to clean up that sleaze factory in Washington.
Watch the full conversation on
