An AI Guide to Trump versus Comey

American Voters Forecast the Showdown between Trump and Comey using Swarm AI Technology

Stories move fast in Washington these days. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan recently declined to comment on President Donald Trump’s tweet that fired FBI Director James Comey “better hope there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations“, saying he could not keep up with the “tweet of the day.” But, while stories from the White House do seem to be breaking daily, that only means it’s more important than ever to dive deep into what these developments mean for the new President and his administration.

Throughout the Trump era, researchers at Unanimous A.I. have turned to a super-expert formed by a swarm of American voters to gain insight into the new President’s successes and shortcomings. As you might recall, one of these groups used our Swarm AI platform UNU to offer a literally perfect forecast for Trump’s 100 Day Approval Rating weeks before he took office. So, when we’re trying to understand what impact James Comey’s memos detailing his troubled relationship with Trump will have on the White House, who better to turn to than the swarm?

Comey’s assertion that Trump asked him to end the Flynn investigation puts his word – and his written memos – at odds with a fierce denial from the President. So, naturally, any discussion of the importance of these revelations must begin with a question of trustworthiness.

James Comey, who managed to successfully anger both sides of the aisle over the past year or so before being fired ignominiously fired by the President, could easily be seen as a biased and imperfect source for the sort of blockbuster revelations alluded to in his memos. And yet, when asked to assess the validity of Comey’s account of their conversation versus Trump’s, the swarm clearly sided with Comey.

Intent matters, as any lawyer will tell you. Some defenders of the President have noted that this sort of offhand remark is “just the way he speaks” and that the exchange would “look different on paper.” Given that swarms have proven remarkably insightful in determining whether or nor human emotion is genuine, it was only natural to ask this swarm to assess whether or not Trump’s suggestion was serious or not.

 

 

If Trump did seriously suggest that Comey drop the investigation, the president could be facing very serious consequences. Now that House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz has demanded to see all FBI documentation on Trump and Comey, this question will move from the hypothetical to the practical. Given that this incident involves a sitting President of the United States, the specter of obstruction of justice, and GOP lawmakers like John McCain saying this scandal is nearing “Watergate in size and scale,” these questions have a profound impact on American politics. So our researchers asked the swarm one final question.

The swarm’s “high confidence” judgment that Trump’s attempt to influence an FBI investigation of Michael Flynn represents obstruction of justice is indicative of a major problem for the President. Only three presidents have ever face impeachment ( Nixon, Clinton and Andrew Johnson ) and two of them were charged with obstruction of justice. Combine that with the vagueness around the “vast ocean of wrongdoing encompassed by the Constitution’s stipulation of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors‘”, and even the perception of obstruction of justice could mean the President has committed an impeachable offense. And, as the Quadrant Analysis makes clear, the swarm was quite certain that some level of obstruction took place. 

 

Naturally, government officials won’t have the information required to make that kind of important assessment for some time, but our swarms will continue to reveal deep insights as this important story as it develops.

Every week Unanimous A. I. brings together swarms of regular people just like you to help us predict sporting events, investment opportunities, and technology as well as provide insight into everything from pop culture to politics. If you’d like information on joining a swarm – or just want to stay up to date on the latest predictions – fill out the form below.