Just one day after Washington lost its mind over the controversial and suspiciously-timed firing of an FBI Director actively investigating a sitting president’s alleged links with the hostile Russian Federation, President Trump decided to host diplomats from Moscow, the very same men who, according to U.S. intelligence information about the operational procedures of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin, were intimately involved in Russia’s cyber warfare campaign against the United States. Adding fuel to the media fire, Trump also invited Henry Kissinger, the late President Nixon’s larger-than-life Secretary of State and National Security Advisor.
I hate “optics” talk, but nothing screams “Not Nixonian” and “Not about Russia” like meeting Russia and Kissinger within 24 hours of firing
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) May 10, 2017
It would be an understatement to assert that this is bad optics for an administration under fire from the entire Democratic party and a handful of high-ranking Republican lawmakers over its handling of a federal investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged links to Russia.
Trump personally met with the Sergeys: Russian ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. Oddly enough, photos detailing the meeting were first released by the Russians, specifically state-run “news” agency TASS, not the White House.
2 photos of Trump in the Oval Office with Russian FM Lavrov and Ambassador Kislyak. They’re from the Russians. Nothing from White House yet. pic.twitter.com/s8BSYDGn62
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 10, 2017
If Kisylak’s name sounds familiar, that’s because you probably heard his name casually floating around during the Michael Flynn controversy. According to the White House itself, Flynn was fired from his post as National Security Advisor after lying (by omission) to Vice President Mike Pence about his suspicious meetings with Kislyak during the presidential campaign.
Flynn, who made several appearances on Russian state-television, dined with Putin in Moscow, and retroactively registered as a foreign agent for the government of Turkey, is currently under federal investigation. In fact, Flynn’s associates were subpoenaed by a federal grand jury on Tuesday as part of the FBI’s ongoing investigation into the potentially illegal links between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Lavrov’s presence at the White House just one day after Comey’s firing is just as controversial. According to a discredited dossier drafted by a former MI6 agent, Lavrov was at the center of an apparent Russian blackmail operation against Trump. While the salacious dossier was found to be wholly uncredible and rife with inconsistencies and falsehoods, it’s unclear why Trump would choose to meet with somebody whose very presence reeks of impropriety.
Lavrov routinely condemns the United States at the United Nations over the issue of Syria and walks a fine line between characterizing America as a greedy, arrogant imperialistic empire and labeling the U.S. government as an entity guilty of war crimes.
Things only get weirder when you consider the fact that sitting U.S. presidents almost never meet with foreign ministers. Defying diplomatic norms, Trump, not Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, went out of his way to personally meet with Kislyak and Lavrov. Under any other administration, Tillerson would be the one sitting down and getting dirty with the Russian delegation in an effort to address U.S. concerns about Russian cyber warfare, Putin’s invasion of Crimea, and the Russian army’s scorched earth campaign in Syria on behalf of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Incredibly, Trump put on a smiley face Wednesday and acted as if it was business as usual at the White House. Omitting any mention of Kisylak, Trump described his meeting with Lavrov as “very, very good.”
Trump’s cheery comments came just minutes after Lavrov mocked the Comey firing scandal.
“Was he fired?” Lavrov quipped facetiously in response to a question by NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell about whether Comey’s dismissal would affect his meeting with Trump in anyway.
“You are kidding — you are kidding,” Lavrov added, rolling his eyes in contempt.
Trump’s White House meeting with the Russian officials came after a meeting with Henry Kissinger, prompting many to draw parallels between the president’s firing of Comey and the Saturday Night Massacre in which President Nixon ordered his attorney general to fire the special prosecutor tasked with investigating Watergate. The scandal was exacerbated when both the attorney general and the deputy attorney general resigned. Ultimately, Nixon would resign in disgrace after Congress formally initiated the impeachment process on February 6, 1974.
Trump’s meeting with Kissinger reportedly involved discussions “about Russia and various other matters.”
Adding further confusion to an already chaotic day at the White House, the meeting appeared to have been organized haphazardly.
“Trump’s public schedule said the president would meet with Lavrov in the Oval Office at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday,” reports The Washington Examiner. “Reporters were ushered into the Oval Office afterwards to see Trump not with the Russians, but with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.”
It’s not hyperbole to say that today’s events unfolded like a primetime television show.
In a scene that will live on in annals of absurd presidential moments, Trump actually fielded questions about Comey while sitting next to Kissinger.
When asked why the head of the FBI was abruptly fired just three years into his 10-year term, Trump answered, “Because he was not doing a good job.”
Slouched over in his comfortable yellow chair underneath the austere portraits of Hamilton, Washington, and Jefferson, Kissinger allowed his famously stoic face to give off a subtle grin.