Donald Trump should be impeached over Comey Firing, says Harvard constitutional law professor

Donald Trump should be impeached because he “regards himself as above the law", a Harvard law professor has claimed.

“He has shown no respect for the rule of law, he regards himself as above the law, he thinks it's appropriate to essentially have a job interview with the FBI director,” Professor Laurence Tribe, who has taught at the prestigious American university for almost 50-years, told ABC News.

He added that the US leader solidified the need for his impeachment when he fired former FBI Director James Comey last week.

In the aftermath of the sacking, the White House scrambled to provide an explanation for Mr Trump’s actions.

Officials sought to protect the President from accusations by Democrats and others, that he had fired him because he was heading the investigation into the possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia’s alleged efforts to influence the presidential election.

At a private dinner Mr Trump reportedly asked for his FBI director’s loyalty. Mr Comey is said to have declined.

Professor Tribe suggested that Mr Trump "essentially said if you assure me that this meddlesome Russia investigation will go away, maybe I’ll keep you on.”

He added: “That’s obstruction of justice even within the technical terms of the criminal code.”

Mr Trump has denied asking for his FBI director’s loyalty. The White House’s official reasoning for the dismissal is Mr Comey’s handling of the FBI investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email server.

However, the US leader has stated that he fired Mr Comey after growing tired of hearing about the FBI investigation into his campaign's possible ties to Russia.

“When I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won’” Mr Trump told NBC News.

While not technically illegal, Mr Trump’s decision to question the FBI director about an ongoing investigation raised red flags within the intelligence community.

Professor Tribe said the action proved Mr Trump treats himself as “as above the law”.

He added: “This president has shown that he cannot be trusted to remain within the law, and our constitution's last resort for situations of that kind is to get the person out of office."