The controversies, innuendoes and make-believe anecdotes facing the presidency of Donald Trump seem not to be abating with fresh allegations popping up on news headlines now and then. The latest are a news report gathering forces like a wild forest fire that the president is under investigations by the independent counsel mandated to look into the possibility that Trump colluded with the Russians during his campaigns.
Although the State Department has been working overtime to seal any possible leaks, it is now emerging that the Justice Department recently appointed Robert Mueller the former Director of FBI to lead the probe by FBI as a special counsel after President Trump dismissed Robert Comey from his position as the Director of FBI a month earlier. It is claimed that Russian was engaged in the election meddling that characterized the 2016 elections. A lot of the investigative work being carried out focuses on the ties the inner circle of the president allegedly had with Moscow. The narrative that Trump has been spawning that he is not under any investigation seem to be losing traction because his assertion that he is not being investigated is now highly questionable due to new revelation from various credible media sources.
The event that triggered the investigations about Trump’s possible involvement in the obstruction of justice started on May 9th when he fired Comey from the Directorship of the Bureau of Investigation. Insider sources familiar with the proceedings claim that the office of Mueller has now taken up the task, and all indications from the preliminary interviews scheduled with officials from the intelligence agency indicate that Mueller’s team is actively but silently tracing credible witnesses from both the government and outside the administration.
The evidence that is emerging gives clear indications that the allegations are no longer just a "you said/he said" tussle of words between the fired Director of the FBI and the President, but there are high chances that there was an attempt to obstruct justice. The information was revealed by an official whose identity will remain anonymous for now. However; there is a caveat to the whole investigative process because Trump is a sitting president. So even if convincing evidence could be found that he tried to circumvent justice, it would be difficult to probe him for possible crime involvement because he is the President. According to the long-held view and tradition of the Justice Department, it is not right to indict a sitting president.
According to legal and constitutional experts, the onus of bringing indictment charges against the president would fall on the Congress. Under the stipulations of the law, Congress would have to review all the findings of the possible criminal misconduct first before coming to a decision on whether to start the proceedings of impeachment. While giving testimonies before a Senate hearing last week, the former FBI Director, Mr. Comey confirmed that it was true the president attempted to put pressure on him so that he could drop the probe into Michael Flynn, the former National Security Adviser.
With the emergence of new claims and counter claims from different sources, the president is hard pressed to deny the allegations. The media and the press are having a field day trying to piece together every bit of new claims. The claims are now at fever pitch. What many people are waiting to see is the direction the entire affair will take if it is proved beyond doubt the Trump indeed obstructed justice. Will the Justice Department and the Congress allow indictment proceedings to be brought against a sitting President?