Just in from Reuters, Trump appears to be making the only good move — interviewing four longtime FBI career officials to replace James Comey, and not treating the post as a blocking post for some political lackey. Take it as a heartening sign:
The four candidates include acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, assistant FBI director in charge Paul Abbate, Chicago special agent in charge Michael J. Anderson and Richmond, Va., special agent in charge Adam Lee, the official said.
McCabe, whose wife is a Clinton-aligned Democratic politician, would be controversial for some Republicans, but completely safe as far as defusing the Comey controversy.
Abbate, according to this FBI bio, is a 21-year FBI veteran. He has been deployed all over the place, including to Iraq and Libya (shortly after the 2012 Benghazi attacks), working mostly in counterterrorism since 2003.
Michael Anderson, a 22-year veteran who took over in Chicago two years ago, appears to have worked mostly corruption cases, as has the other candidate, Adam Lee.
Of course, no appointment can completely make up for the unusual nature of Comey’s firing, or prevent an appearance that Comey’s firing is itself a shot across the bow of his successor, but Trump could be making things a whole lot worse, and at least he isn’t doing that.
