University of Birmingham colleague Adam Quinn and I are speaking to a series of radio outlets about the sudden dismissal of FBI Director James Comey by Donald Trump.

We strip away the White House’s official explanation to get to the real one: Trump’s frustration over the expanding inquiry into the links of his associates with Russian officials.

Listen to Scott Lucas on BBC Radio Wales

“Well, this all points to the increasing desperation of the Trump White House, with the excuse of Comey overstepping on the investigation of Hillary Clinton an attempt to put up smoke to cover up the fire.”

Listen to Adam Quinn on BBC Radio 5 Live

This is already a five-alarm fire for the health of American democratic institutions. What’s absolutely needed is a full and thorough investigation to find out what connections,if any,
there may have been between Russian intelligence services and the activities of the Trump campaign.

If that investigation cannot be seen through — fully, fairly, and independently — then I think all of those with a sense of responsibility for American institutions, both Republicans and Democrats, must force the point.

Listen to Scott Lucas on BBC Coventry

For more than a week, Trump has been getting more and more frustrated. He wanted people to talk about anything except that he might be compromised by links with Moscow. So yesterday he pulled the trigger and thought mistakenly that both Republicans and Democrats would rally around him.

Listen to Scott Lucas on BBC Three Counties

Listen to Scott Lucas on BBC Berkshire

With respect to Mr Trump’s latest Twitter message, if there is someone who has lost the confidence of almost everybody and who will soon be replaced by someone who will do a better job, it’s not FBI Director Comey.

Listen to Scott Lucas on BBC WM

Listen to Scott Lucas on Monocle 24 from 11:33

This is significant, even by the exalted standards of the day-to-day unravelling of the Trump Administration. This is the biggest crisis in American politics since 1973 and the Watergate scandal.

TOP PHOTO: FBI Director James Comey testifies before the House Intelligence Committee, March 20, 2017