EDITORIAL: Comey testimony changed few minds

The only real certainty that came out of fired FBI director James Comey’s testimony last week is that it did little to change anybody’s mind.

Those who think President Trump did nothing wrong still believe that. Those who think he obstructed justice still believe that.

And it’s pretty safe to say that those who think Russians influenced the 2016 election are just as firm in their beliefs, while those who think the allegations of Russian influence is misdirection by Democrats who can’t accept that Trump defeated Hillary Clinton still feel that way.

This, again, is representative of how divided our nation is. As that chasm gets deeper, those digging have taken an approach of the ends justify the means, always a dangerous direction to take. If to lead the nation, you first destroy what makes it a nation to start with, what have you gained?

From what we have seen and read, there are some plausible takeaways from Comey’s testimony.

First, it is very likely that the president did tell Comey he preferred that the Russian investigation would go away.

Second, it is very unlikely there was a direct order for Comey to halt the investigation.

Third, these two men absolutely did not trust each other in the least. That was evident from Comey writing memos regarding his meetings with Trump and Trump’s references to possible recordings of his meetings with Comey.

And those are before you get to questions about Trump asking for Comey’s loyalty and Comey’s admission of leaking documents to achieve the appointment of special counsel.

Comey had a strange end to his FBI career, an end that appeared to be inevitable given the lack of trust he and Trump shared in regard to each other. In addressing the Clinton emails and the Trump campaign investigations, he created a no-win situation for himself and his bureau. Frankly, running the FBI in today’s tempestuous political climate is a thankless, difficult job and he was swept away by the perfect political storm.

In the end, there was no smoking gun in Comey’s testimony, which was based on his recollections of his one-on-one meetings with Trump. He inferred that he was being ordered to stop the probe, but expressing a desire that an investigation be halted is not the same thing as point-blank ordering it. Unless there is a secret tape in which the president ordered that action — and if it had been stated that openly, surely it would have been in Comey’s memos and testimony — it’s unlikely that Trump’s conversations with Comey, which were, at best, ill-advised, are going to rise to the level of obstruction.

Meanwhile, the Russians are basking in some glory from all this. Whatever transpired, they have planted a seed in the minds of many Americans — and people of the world — that they can manipulate our body politic. That perception, unfortunately, has been augmented by our elected and appointed officials who are focused more on party dominance than their duties as public servants.

Our officials in Washington should stop fighting among themselves long enough to focus on the important task of finding a way to reaffirm America’s faith in its political process. Once faith is lost, it’s difficult to recover. And sometimes, it never is.