Thursday, March 28, 2024

Today on News One Now: FBI Director James Comey Fired As Trump ‘Tries To Deflect Attention’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This morning on “News One Now,” host and managing editor Roland Martin spoke with Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) about the abrupt firing of former head of the FBI James Comey.

Comey found out the news yesterday after hearing it on television while addressing agents in Los Angeles, and originally thought it was a joke.

President Trump had once praised Comey for his decision to re-open the email investigation against Hillary Clinton before the presidential election, and now claims that his reason for firing him was due to his mishandling of the same investigation.

Last week, Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding possible Russian involvement in the election and about the email investigation related to Clinton utilizing a private server during her time as secretary of state. Comey is the first FBI Director to be fired in almost 24 years, and the second to be fired in U.S. history. William Sessions was fired in 1993 by then-president Bill Clinton over ethics concerns

“At the core of all this is a dismantling of any checks and balances to what is an administration that has all kinds of irregularities, all kinds of ethical challenges,” says Coleman, who is on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.   “I have no reason to believe that even though I don’t agree with the way Comey handled certain things that he wasn’t doing an independent investigation. I think this is a way that Donald Trump tries to deflect attention away from the fact that his is a corrupt administration. He is at the center of that corruption and that we, the American people, need to have answers.” 

Martin also spoke with Congressman James Clyburn (D-SC) and Melanie Campbell, CEO of the National Coalition on Black Participation about the life and legacy of Eddie Williams, former president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies who died Monday at the age of 84. Williams led the center for more than 30 years. While there, his career was focused on shaping black political thought and research, and supporting black politicians, from local mayors to national congressmen, elected into office following the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The groundswell and support led to the creation of the Congressional Black Caucus, and to creating a roster of more than 10,000 black elected officials.

“Eddie Williams was one of those once-in-a-lifetime guys. At the time that Eddie came the Joint Center was, you might say, ‘hootin’ with owls.’ Eddie came in, turned it into a real think tank, and we began to soar all across the country,” said Clyburn. “Eddie’s vision saw it being broadened into something much more comprehensive.”

Added Campbell, “[Williams] never stopped working. One of the people also don’t know from the international perspective is that he really helped get a lot of folks into foreign service in the State Department. He was a renaissance man. He connected the dots. He understood the power of the vote, the power of economic empowerment, and how all of that connected to making sure that black people and marginalized folks had a great quality of life.”

 News One Now re-broadcasts the previous day’s episode at 6 a.m. ET each weekday morning, giving viewers two chances to watch each broadcast. For more information about News One Now and Roland S. Martin, visit www.tvone.tv , and check out TV One’s YouTube Channel. Viewers can also join the conversation by connecting via social media on Twitter, Instagram  and Facebook (@tvonetv) using #NewsOneNow and engage with Martin daily via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Periscope (@rolandsmartin). Viewers are now able to listen to NewsOne Now by live streaming on www.newsone.com.

ABOUT NEWS ONE NOW:

Emanating from the heart of Washington D.C. in a state-of-the-art studio that offers a stunning view of the Capitol building, News One Now airs Monday through Friday on TV One from 7-8 a.m. ET.  News One Now is hosted by Roland S. Martin, the 2013 National Association of Black Journalists’ Journalist of the Year and former host of TV One’s long-running, award-winning weekly news program, Washington Watch with Roland Martin.  Each morning, Martin sifts through the headlines of the day to spotlight matters that greatly impact the African American community. In addition to television, News One Now reaches audiences 24/7 with exclusive program content and extended editorial on NewsOne.com and the News One mobile app.  News One Now is an evolution of Interactive One’s award-winning digital brand NewsOne.com that launched in 2008 and reaches millions of African Americans each month. Susan Henry is executive producer of News One Now. D’Angela Proctor is TV One’s head of original programming and production.

ABOUT TV ONE:

Launched in January 2004, TV One serves more than 60 million households, offering a broad range of real-life and entertainment-focused original programming, classic series, movies and music designed to entertain and inform a diverse audience of adult black viewers. The network represents the best in black culture and entertainment with fan favorite shows Unsung, Rickey Smiley For Real, Fatal Attraction, Hollywood Divas and The NAACP Image Awards.  In addition, TV One is the cable home of blockbuster drama Empire, and NewsOne Now, the only live daily news program dedicated to black viewers. In December 2008, the company launched TV One High Def, which now serves 14 million households. TV One is solely owned by Radio One [NASDAQ: ROIA and ROIAK, www.radio-one.com], the largest African-American owned multi-media company primarily targeting Black and urban audiences.

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Alonda Thomas, [email protected] 
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