DNA Edit: Taking on a President

Five months after taking charge as the President of the United States of America, the outspoken businessman Donald Trump is facing his first baptism by political fire.

James Comey, the former FBI director, in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, confirmed that Russia had indeed meddled with the presidential campaign last year. Comey also testified before the committee that Trump also demanded “loyalty” from him and urged him to “lift the cloud” of the Russian probe from over him by declaring publicly that he was not the subject of investigation.

Comey, who was fired on May 9, has come out all guns blazing against the President, testifying that Trump had asked him to end the FBI’s investigation against his former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s Russian ties. Comey’s testimony has raised his stature in the public eye; many equating him as a champion of American democracy and electoral transparency.

A stand like Comey’s has been virtually unheard of, in fact unimaginable, in the Indian administrative milieu. Secretaries and Joint Secretaries have been known to cower and stitch their opinions to suit the fancies of the political executive. The administrative history of  India is replete with investigations into civil and criminal misdoings being botched up, side-stepped or ceded to bureaucratic delays and judicial lags.

As of now, the task before the Senate Intelligence Committee is to determine if the charge of obstruction of justice is established, which is an impeachable offence and can spell a premature end to Trump’s presidency. Should things come to such a pass, India would be none the worse for it. Trump hasn’t got off on the right foot with India. India’s IT and pharmaceutical companies were dreading the prospects of him being voted to power and since his election have been ruing it.

His protectionist stand has disrupted global business protocols, forcing countries like the UK and Australia down an economically regressive path. Recently, he trained his guns on India and China, accusing the two Asian powerhouses of cheating on their commitments under the Paris accord, and blaming the Paris accord for creating a special leeway for India.

These developments before PM Modi’s trip to the US, which reportedly could be slated for the last week of June, can upset equations. Already, protests against the H1-B visa norms have gone unheeded. Expecting Trump to retract or reconsider his exit from the Paris Accord seems unlikely as that would mean losing the support of the electorate that shares his scepticism of global warming.