The constitutional crisis is bigger than Watergate.

Updated at 10:17 a.m. ET on December 1, 2024.

For more than four decades before Donald Trump took office as president, the FBI director stayed above politics. The new president may choose a political ally as attorney general. But an FBI director is different. An FBI director appointed by Richard Nixon also served under Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Carter’s choice remained in the job during his second term. reagan When Reagan moved him to head the CIA Reagan’s FBI appointees served through the George H.W. Bush presidency and in Bill Clinton’s administration. expel civil servants who inherit property—For the first time, a president has fired an FBI director only because the outgoing Bush administration left behind a Justice Department report accusing the director of ethics violations. (Clinton tried to persuade a disgraced director to resign on his own volition. Only after persuasion failed did Clinton take action.)

And so it was. continuously Entering the 21st century, except in the case of a serious scandal, Senate-confirmed FBI Directors will remain in their positions until they resign or until their 10-year term expires. Never, never, never will an FBI Director. that the Senate confirmed was expelled So that the president can replace him with a loyal one. Republicans and Democrats agree that there must be no return to the days of J.J. Edgar Hoover did extraordinary favors for the president that perpetuated his power.

Even McDonald’s Yet Trump reluctantly conceded to the rule during his first term, as the Mueller Report later detailed. Trump wants to fire FBI Director James Comey to close investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia. Trump’s advisers convinced him that admitting his true intentions would spark a major scandal. Instead, the new administration invited the deputy attorney general to write a letter offering a neutral explanation. Increasingly, that’s Comey. has been handled in the wrong way Hillary Clinton’s Office Investigation, Deceptive Rationalization – Mueller Report Reliably refute The cover story did little to calm the uproar over Trump’s plans to appoint a protégé as FBI director. At the time, even Trump supporters acknowledged that the director must be More than the president’s right man, things only quieted down when Trump chose a politically independent candidate to replace Comey. which is Christopher Ray, hold work To this day, it has been maintained throughout the four years of the Biden administration.

Yesterday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he intends to fire Wray in favor of replacing him with Kash Patel, a figure known for respecting Trump’s wishes. How bad of a choice was Patel? My colleague Elaina Plott Calabro reports that when President Trump “Entertaining in naming FBI Deputy Director Patel, Attorney General Bill Barr confronted the White House chief of staff and said, ‘Over my corpse'”

But before we get to Patel’s shortcomings, we should linger for a minute on the ominous danger of Trump’s desire to fire Wray.

Read: Kash Patel’s Principles

The Director of the FBI wields incredible power over American freedoms. The unwritten rules governing their appointment. No expulsion Except for serious causes Stifling American law and freedom for half a century Even Trump in his first term did not dare openly challenge it. But Trump’s second term is kicking off with a bid to trash it all. Much of the reporting on Trump’s announcement revealed a society already tilted to Trump’s will: what was seen as unacceptable in 2017 was outrageous – the treatment of the director. The FBI – just another Trump aide – was semi-standardized even before President-elect Trump took office.

Wray’s firing was pure evil. Patel’s distasteful nomination caused resentment and increased resentment.

Perhaps Patel’s nomination will fail, as Trump’s attempt to appoint Matt Gaetz as attorney general has failed. If Patel falters, perhaps Trump will fall back on a more respectable candidate. A second applicant might be greeted with relief. But the major damage would be done by firing Wray, not hiring Patel (or whoever ultimately gets the job), less than a month since the closest election by a majority vote in two generations. We are witnessing a pattern of littering among institutions. of Trump and willingly replaced these institutions. Across law enforcement and national security agencies Trump has announced his intention to reinvent the FBI in an unprecedented way: an instrument of presidential personal power that will investigate (or refrain from investigating) and bring charges. (or refrain from charging) as the President desires.

For the Minister of Defense Trump has chosen someone who has a mother of his own. accused He repeatedly wrote of the abuse of women. (She later denied the statement.) At the CIA, Trump need Too much partisanship As Trump’s first director of national intelligence has chosen to declassify information to discredit Trump’s political opponents for Trump, second term as Director of National Intelligence need Long-time apologist for Bashar’s regime Al-Assad in Syria and Vladimir’s war of aggression Putin in Ukraine

Morality, competence, honesty do not matter at all, or, frankly, those good qualities appear to be lacking. Trump’s choices were made purely for obedience.

Read: The man who would do anything for Trump

Now comes the big test: Is America’s constitutional system as fragile as Trump hopes? Will Wray accept a gentle dismissal or will he defend the office from Trump’s second, more audacious attempt to distort it? Will Senate Republicans ratify Trump’s attacks on separating law enforcement from politics? Will a federal court issue a warrant to the FBI who requests a warrant and makes an arrest because the president tells them to? Will the Republican majority in the House support or oppose Trump’s effort to create a private police force? There is enough independent media to survive outside the control of Trump-friendly oligarchs to explain what happened and why it matters. Will public care be enough? Will the public have enough reaction?

Americans Vote for Cheaper Eggs They will receive only noise, strife, and chaos. What Trump will try if he succeeds It would become a constitutional scandal much bigger than Watergate. If he succeeds The seizure of power he unsuccessfully attempted in 2021 may be carried out in 2025.