Althouse: "Comey called Trump 'crazy' and 'outside the realm of normal' while the President thought there was 'something wrong' with his FBI director..."

May 11, 2017

"Comey called Trump 'crazy' and 'outside the realm of normal' while the President thought there was 'something wrong' with his FBI director..."

It takes one to know one, they say.

ADDED: The linked article, in The Daily Mail, is based on this much more substantial NYT article. I'm going to do a separate post on the NYT article.

133 comments:

ndspinelli said...: Trump should start playing Patsy Cline singing, Crazy, like Ross Perot did when called "crazy."; 5/11/17, 7:16 AM
Jaq said...: Still it was Comey singing "They're Coming to Take me Away!"; 5/11/17, 7:23 AM
Curious George said...: Comey should have been put up against a wall, shot, and his corpse fired.; 5/11/17, 7:23 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: The primary thing 'wrong' with Comey seems to have been that he was unwilling to bend the knee.; 5/11/17, 7:24 AM
David said...: It's hard to know who to believe in this mess.

"Nobody" is a good assumption, until proven otherwise with unlikely clarity.; 5/11/17, 7:24 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Crazy was Comey thinking he handled the email issue correctly; 5/11/17, 7:28 AM
rehajm said...: Entrenched bureaucrats don't like becoming unentrenched.; 5/11/17, 7:29 AM
traditionalguy said...: Comey thinks the deep state and the Clinton's crime spree is the normal. So he takes authority over Trump. But Trump says you're fired.Then the deep state riots and is determined to see Trump fired before he replaces them all next.

The fourth Branch of Government has been a deep state blackmail operation since 1992 when Hillary ordered the FBI files on all the players in DC delivered to her.

DJT just effectively fired the fourth branch of Government. Stay tuned. Let's see how long it takes Ryan and Priebus to turn traitor to Trump and return to their roles in the normal blackmail deep state.; 5/11/17, 7:32 AM
Jaq said...: The primary thing 'wrong' with Comey seems to have been that he was unwilling to bend the knee.

He sure did that for Hillary! Letter her off because, you know, she was just a girl and couldn't be expected to understand rules that were fundamental to her job as SoS.

MacArthur wouldn't bend the knee either, and he was fired for the same reason.; 5/11/17, 7:34 AM
Jaq said...: Damn I hate autocorrect.; 5/11/17, 7:34 AM
Jaq said...: What the WaPo wrote about Comey last week:

These were Comey’s fullest comments to date on his indefensible decision to announce on the eve of the election that he was reopening the investigation into Clinton, almost certainly handing the election to Donald Trump. It wasn’t a compelling explanation, but, knowing the self-righteousness and independence that drives the FBI director, it seemed genuine. He made a disastrous decision but for reasons that weren’t entirely wrong: Bill Clinton’s clumsiness created a vacuum of credibility, and Comey, self-appointed guardian of the justice system, stepped in to fill the void.; 5/11/17, 7:37 AM
Jaq said...: You know what handed the election to Trump? Hillary's utter disregard for the law, and the Democrat Party's complete dismissal of that disregard as a legitimate issue.; 5/11/17, 7:38 AM
David Baker said...: Don't allow the media to wear you down. Spit in their face and keep moving forward.; 5/11/17, 7:40 AM
Jaq said...: Suppose in the past I had been soliciting prostitutes on Dixie Highway, and was under investigation, suppose that I actually had been down on Dixie Highway. Then the days before my wedding, a detective knocks on my door and lays out the charges. My wedding is off, whose fault is it? Mine, or the detective's?; 5/11/17, 7:41 AM
James K said...: his indefensible decision to announce on the eve of the election that he was reopening the investigation into Clinton, almost certainly handing the election to Donald Trump.

It was more than a week before the election. Then a few days later he indefensibly exonerated her again. Why doesn't anyone talk about that? Doesn't fit with the agenda?; 5/11/17, 7:43 AM
narciso said...: Unpeople by their very nature commit crimethink, this was comey's tack in the retroactive saga he spun against Gonzalez the actual truth, the surveillance expired the night before the Madrid train bombings; 5/11/17, 7:45 AM
Once written, twice... said...: The Trump team is saying it was Comey's unfair treatment of Hillary Clinton that justifies him being fired.

You can't make this shit up. And the Althouse Hillbillies will be happy to lap it up.; 5/11/17, 7:46 AM
Jaq said...: Can't get enough of Democrats using terms like Hillbilly to denigrate their former base. And the "liberals" lap up the hatred.; 5/11/17, 7:48 AM
AllenS said...: Can I have another helping of unfair treatment?; 5/11/17, 7:49 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Chrissy Matthews called it a "whiff of fascism" lol

From Tammy Bruce:

The reaction of the Democrats, the media and scattered pathetic “Never Trump” Republicans to the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey has been priceless and actually has nothing to do with Mr. Comey, or any investigation he was leading.

The baying at the moon and wringing of hands over a supposed Trump cover-up or treason and Russia (of course) is drama of a sort that even Shakespeare would admire.

But enough is enough. The media coverage from the moment it was revealed President Trump fired the embattled FBI director was a hysterical and unified Democratic Party talking point: The president firing an incompetent director, they insist, is exactly like former President Richard M. Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre.” Uh, yeah, no.

Headline after headline, pundit after pundit, and the failed and envious Never Trump crew are breathlessly spewing their indignation and insistence on a special prosecutor for the Russia issue because … Nixon, massacre and more Nixon!

This is absurd on its face and illustrates the frenetic panic descending on the bureaucratic swamp.

You see, Mr. Trump is holding people accountable and will act when action is required. But the bureaucracy is relying on the Obama/Hillary rats’ nests embedded in each and every agency to maintain its control of government by stopping Mr. Trump’s agenda, by making it impossible for him to govern. In order for this to work, Democratic operatives must remain in place; it should be made impossible for Mr. Trump to fire anyone, for any reason.; 5/11/17, 7:56 AM
Jaq said...: One thing is for sure, however Trump's presidency turns out in the end, as reported by the media, he won't be able to pay for a drink in any bar if I am there at the time.; 5/11/17, 7:58 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Poot, Trump and the Russians used gama-mind-rays on unsuspecting deplorables to control their votes. Poor admirable hillary was on her way to winning!; 5/11/17, 7:58 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: To Comey's credit, he summed up the situation nicely in his farewell letter:

“I have long believed that a President can fire an FBI Director for any reason, or for no reason at all,” Comey wrote in his letter’s opening lines. “I’m not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed. I hope you won’t either. It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply.”

The Left is going apeshit because they are focused on the purported REASON Comey was fired instead of the lawful authority to fire him.

That idiot US Attorney from New York, Preet Bahrara, didn't understand this either.

As for the claim that Comey was on the cusp of unraveling the Russian "collusion" with Trump, I offer a hearty yawn. Call me when someone, anyone, is indicted by the DOJ.; 5/11/17, 7:59 AM
ndspinelli said...: Comey is just another victim of Clinton hubris, and his own as well. Girly men should not be FBI Directors. Although the first one wore dresses.; 5/11/17, 7:59 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/11/17, 8:02 AM
tcrosse said...: As if President Hillary wouldn't have fired Comey the moment she took office (perish the thought). And Herself a former First Lady of Arkansas. How's that for a Hillbilly ?; 5/11/17, 8:03 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: OT: Democrats threaten to kill the wife of a Republcian congressman.

"We now have organized leftwing mobs threatening elected officials and their families and not a peep from Democrat “leadership” [or the left's media - aka - the media] to chill the hell out. This is who they are."

that whiff of fascism - that's leftwing progressive democrat fascism.; 5/11/17, 8:04 AM
wendybar said...: Once written, twice... said...
The Trump team is saying it was Comey's unfair treatment of Hillary Clinton that justifies him being fired.

You can't make this shit up. And the Althouse Hillbillies will be happy to lap it up.

5/11/17, 7:46 AM

Calling people HILLBILLIES is going to make Donald Trump President for 8 years!! Keep on namecalling...it's working!! At least I'm not a Racist anymore, like I was for the last 8 years....; 5/11/17, 8:04 AM
Michael K said...: Comey may have been sincerely trying to protect the agency or he may have been faced with an agent revolt last July when it became apparent that Lynch had a deal with Bill to declare Hillary "exonerated."

I have some sympathy for him but what he should have done was resign after that July press conference.

Instead, he tried to square the circle and keep his job.; 5/11/17, 8:04 AM
Michael K said...: I keep wondering if once written is a hoax poster who wants to keep reenforcing the impression that leftists are clueless wannabes who think they are smarter than everyone else.

Nobody could be that obnoxious for real.; 5/11/17, 8:07 AM
narciso said...: No he was just trying to keep his hsbc consulting gig which happens to do a great deal of business in russia, quelle surprise.; 5/11/17, 8:07 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Once Bitten - Hillary lost - LOL! and you voted for her. You support corruption, lies and money grubbing. Feel free to fuck off.; 5/11/17, 8:08 AM
Kevin said...: Outside the realm of normal is why Trump was elected.; 5/11/17, 8:09 AM
mockturtle said...: Much as I hate to post long excerpts, this is worth notice. From Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch.

Here are 10 of Comey’s biggest embarrassments at the FBI:

1. Before he bombed the Boston Marathon, the FBI interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev but let him go. Russia sent the Obama Administration a second warning, but the FBI opted against investigating him again….

3. The FBI had possession of emails sent by Nidal Hasan saying he wanted to kill his fellow soldiers to protect the Taliban — but didn’t intervene, leading many critics to argue the tragedy that resulted in the death of 31 [sic; actually 13] Americans at Fort Hood could have been prevented.

4. During the Obama Administration, the FBI claimed that two private jets were being used primarily for counterterrorism, when in fact they were mostly being used for Eric Holder and Robert Mueller’s business and personal travel….

8. The father of the radical Islamist who detonated a backpack bomb in New York City in 2016 alerted the FBI to his son’s radicalization. The FBI, however, cleared Ahmad Khan Rahami after a brief interview.

9. The FBI also investigated the terrorist who killed 49 people and wounded 53 more at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Despite a more than 10-month investigation of Omar Mateen — during which Mateen admitting lying to agents — the FBI opted against pressing further and closed its case.

10. CBS recently reported that when two terrorists sought to kill Americans attending the “Draw Muhammad” event in Garland, Texas, the FBI not only had an understanding an attack was coming, but actually had an undercover agent traveling with the Islamists, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi. The FBI has refused to comment on why the agent on the scene did not intervene during the attack.; 5/11/17, 8:10 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "The primary thing 'wrong' with Comey seems to have been that he was unwilling to bend the knee."

-- And the lying to Congress. And the unwillingness to investigate leaks. And the multiple scandals within the FBI under his watch. And the numerous other things listed by AGs from both Republican and Democrat administrations going back to Clinton, if not earlier.; 5/11/17, 8:13 AM
Once written, twice... said...: I call you the Althouse Hillbillies because that is what you are. Learn to live with the truth that you are so moronic that you would vote for Trump.

Trump has been president for just over a hundred days. Imagine what the next thousand will be like. It is not going to be pretty and Republicans will rue the day that they nominated this Hillbilly clown to be president.; 5/11/17, 8:13 AM
Sebastian said...: They are both right. Trump is not crazy, but he is "outside the realm of the normal." And there was "something wrong" with Comey, particularly in the way he handled the Hillary investigation--no real criminal investigation, no grand jury, evidence allowed to be destroyed, witnesses serving as attorneys, an oddly accusing and exonerating news conference, citing absence of intent as reason to let Hill skate even though the relevant statute does not require intent, etc.; 5/11/17, 8:14 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "As for the claim that Comey was on the cusp of unraveling the Russian "collusion" with Trump..."

-- If true, then the Clintonite who will now be leading the investigation will either drop the hatchet or leak like a sieve to deal the killing blow.; 5/11/17, 8:17 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: The Loretta Lynch -Bill Clinton tarmac rendezvous signaled to Comey and the FBI that the DOJ would not indict Hillary, and that the top cop needed to get on board. Comey decided to split the baby - recommend no indictment, but criticize Hillary as extremely careless.; 5/11/17, 8:18 AM
Matt Sablan said...: Also: The fact there was zero -- zilch -- nada upset, cries of fascism, etc., when Inspector Generals investigating Obama were fired/intimidated tells you all you need to know about the people who are now aghast that someone investigating a sitting president might be fired.

Sorry. Under the Obama Rules, not only can Trump fire people investigating him, it is perfectly fine for him to start a whisper campaign questioning their competence and whether or not they are senile.; 5/11/17, 8:20 AM
Darrell said...: Gotta love that President Trump!; 5/11/17, 8:25 AM
narciso said...: Right the one who was investigating americorps and Obama crony Kevin Johnson.
Then we had the irs if report which was spun by lerner who did the Hillary 1.0 wih her servers. Fast and furious where weapons keep popping in zeta or somalia cartel hands.; 5/11/17, 8:27 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: James K said...

It was more than a week before the election. Then a few days later he indefensibly exonerated her again. Why doesn't anyone talk about that? Doesn't fit with the agenda?

Despite the headlines of every major media outlet at the time ( except Fox ), Comey did not exonerate Clinton just before the election. He reclosed the investigation, saying they found nothing to change their earlier findings. The earlier findings did not exonerate Clinton, they laid out how she was guilty as hell, but with a set of facts that most prosecutors would choose not to prosecute.

If you wish to dispute his last point, I will not argue with you. But everyone should understand that Clinton was never "exonerated" nor "cleared" nor any other finding that would indicate a lack of guilt.; 5/11/17, 8:27 AM
Matt Sablan said...: [Also, unlike Comey, there were not bi-partisan calls for months for those IGs to be fired AND there was no one ready to step in and finish their investigations. Firing those IGs effectively killed those investigations, as opposed to empowering an enemy partisan to close out the investigation.]; 5/11/17, 8:27 AM
narciso said...: Sinaloa cartel hands all though they are likely in the hands of the Guadalajara cartel.; 5/11/17, 8:28 AM
Darrell said...: Comey's pre-election announcement energized Hillary voters. Lefties don't care if crimes are involved unless they think they can pin one on a Republican.; 5/11/17, 8:30 AM
Michael K said...: Tammy Bruce has a pretty good take on where to go from here.

Mr. Trump’s one mistake upon taking office was not immediately sweeping out bureaucratic and partisan hacks like Ms. Yates and Mr. Comey. We wanted a team that was from outside the disaster, and with that comes a learning curve. With the firing of Mr. Comey, it became obvious that Mr. Trump now understands the nature of the beast he is assigned to dispatch.
The harpies in legacy media and in Congress scream about the timing of the firing, as though this is some evidence of nefarious intent.
That’s nonsense, and they know it.
The fact is this: With the firing of Mr. Comey, Andrew McCabe is now the acting FBI director.

McCabe is another corrupt Democrat and should go too but maybe Trump is going to make a deal with him.

"You toe the line and behave yourself and I'll leave you alone."

The IRS guy should be next in the unemployment line.

Trump has been president for just over a hundred days. Imagine what the next thousand will be like.

I can hardly wait and the vision of you tearing your hair out will add to the pleasure.; 5/11/17, 8:32 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: Outside the realm of normal - that describes any high achiever.; 5/11/17, 8:36 AM
Wince said...: Comey sees neither the log in his eye... nor the dart in his neck.

"I like you, but you're crazy."; 5/11/17, 8:39 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: OT, but....we're the crazy ones?

“This is how we’re going to kill your wife.”

That’s the message Rep. Tom Garrett (R-Va.) said he received in a series of recent threats that targeted him, his family and even, at one point, his dog. And it’s the reason, he said, that his town hall here in this sleepy Virginia community on Tuesday night was ringed by law enforcement.

When Garrett took the stage at Eastlake Community Church, the walls in the 300-seat room were lined with security — some uniformed and some in plainclothes. The presence was noticeable all night, as Garrett aides enforced rules to keep audience members from disrupting the event.

Though the town hall proceeded without significant incident — one woman was removed by police for repeated disruptions — security personnel made their presence felt, approaching hecklers throughout the evening and standing watch at all entrances and exits. The high security presence, Garrett said later, was the result of threats that Capitol Police, state police and intelligence officials “have deemed to be credible and real.”; 5/11/17, 8:42 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: "You know what handed the election to Trump? Hillary's utter disregard for the law, and the Democrat Party's complete dismissal of that disregard as a legitimate issue."

Exactly. And every time I say this to a Democrat, they fall into a bewildered silence, as though it had never occurred to them that anyone could care about the law when there are transgendered dudes out there who desperately need to use the Ladies room at Target.; 5/11/17, 8:45 AM
Michael K said...: These town halls are being packed with leftist demonstrators and paid agitators.

One in California required police to escort the Republican Congressman out through the mob, many of whom had driven hours to get there. About half were not from his district,; 5/11/17, 8:47 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "Mr. Trump’s one mistake upon taking office was not immediately sweeping out bureaucratic and partisan hacks like Ms. Yates and Mr. Comey."

-- There used to be a tradition of civil servants putting politics aside at their job, or at least, doing a better job of hiding it.

The Trump administration, however, has demonstrated Republicans are fools to not immediately purge every last Democrat appointee they legally can upon taking power. It is political suicide to leave ticking time bombs who will be rewarded for damaging your administration in a position to do so.; 5/11/17, 8:48 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: Comey has a hero complex--"the last honest man in Washington." So he drops the dime on Clinton when it becomes clear that Lynch/ Obama will never let Hillary be prosecuted, and then, in an effort to mete out equal destruction on Trump, he jumps into the ridiculous Russia investigation with both of his size 18 wingtips.

Comey needed to move on from Russia, but his ego wouldn't let him. The Last Honest Man in Washington must be seen to be equally tough on Trump and Clinton.

I say good riddance.

Now we have a partisan Democrat in charge who at least has the virtue of having told Reince Priebus a few weeks ago that there is nothing there in the Russia investigation.; 5/11/17, 8:48 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: MockTurtle @ 8:10

That's some major failure. Hillary would have read that list as a resume.; 5/11/17, 8:49 AM
Matt Sablan said...: Remember the glitter bombings and the guy who managed to throw something into Rand (or was it Ron?) Paul's car?

I thought security was being ridiculously lax then, and this is what we get. People threatening people's dogs.; 5/11/17, 8:50 AM
Clayton Hennesey said...: Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, seeking to best the tour of FTL leaps Rocket dials in in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, on NPR just now is now calling for Atty General Jeff Sessions to resign. Why?

- Sessions agreed to recuse himself from all Russian investigations

- Regardless of what anyone else in the know or with the authority to do so might say, Comey was fired to torpedo Russian investigations

- The fact that Sessions is the Atty General and leads the DOJ with all the responsibilities attendant upon that role is irrelevant. Any degrees of Kevin Bacon connection with anything Russian - in this case, the reason for Comey's firing injected by Wyden himself - constitutes a violation of that recusal

As with the burgeoning "I-identify-as" urges propelling our brave new Age of Subjectivity, inventiveness is the new objectivity and the new political-legal standard: what happens to bubble up in someone's mind, bacteriogenically or not, immediately becomes the new Objective Truth.

Therefore I am calling upon Senator Wyden to resign immediately, because it is clear to my eyes that he is someone imminently likely to sexually violate innocent woodland creatures, in the process wreaking havoc upon the environment and betraying his constituents.; 5/11/17, 8:53 AM
readering said...: Crazy comment was in reference to Trump view and tweets that Obama tapped his phone.; 5/11/17, 8:53 AM
readering said...: BTW do you know Trump invented the phrase priming the pump?; 5/11/17, 8:56 AM
chickelit said...: mockturtle said...Here are 10 of Comey’s biggest embarrassments at the FBI:

Those talking points are making the rounds and I don't disagree. What's not being said is how they mostly fall in line with a DoJ policy of coddling radical Islam -- a policy that originated with then President Obama. There were similar directives aimed at every department under the purview of the Executive branch. For example, the suicidal rules of engagement (ROE) foisted on combat military were intended to lessen enemy deaths and injuries. One by one, these will be removed by Trump with hoots and howls from the left.; 5/11/17, 8:57 AM
Michael K said...: It is political suicide to leave ticking time bombs who will be rewarded for damaging your administration in a position to do so.

I wonder if the hysteria continues there might be some action to reduce the number of "career civil service" jobs and get the unions under control.

The former VA Director in Phoenix is a felon but can't be fired by the new Secretary,

The Deep State needs to be uprooted.; 5/11/17, 8:57 AM
Amadeus 48 said...: Once Written at 8:13: "I call you the Althouse Hillbillies because that is what you are."

And I call you an effete, moronic nitwit, because that is what you are, you creep.

See what I did there?; 5/11/17, 8:59 AM
readering said...: BTW did you know Trump is applying his dealmaking expertise to selecting the catapult for aircraft carriers?; 5/11/17, 8:59 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "The former VA Director in Phoenix is a felon but can't be fired by the new Secretary."

-- If he can't be fired, I think the responsible employees (and veterans) should walk out and protest. That's something worth protesting over; a felon is literally killing our veterans through shoddy work, and the government is telling them "Deal with it."; 5/11/17, 9:00 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "I wonder if the hysteria continues there might be some action to reduce the number of "career civil service" jobs and get the unions under control."

-- It has to happen eventually.; 5/11/17, 9:00 AM
Michael K said...: "Crazy comment was in reference to Trump view and tweets that Obama tapped his phone."

Trump was correct in that there is growing evidence that his team were under surveillance since last June.

Not that I expect you to admit it, of course,; 5/11/17, 9:00 AM
khesanh0802 said...: The hypocrisy surrounding Comey's firing would be funny if it weren't so pathetically sad. Anyone who watched Comey's recent performances at Senate and House hearings would have been convinced that he was unfit for such an important job regardless of what happened with Hillary's e-mails. As many have mentioned Trump's big mistake was not cleaning house on inauguration day.

I have a high level of confidence that the screaming and yelling by the Dems and MSM will have no impact on how Trump runs the show. Unlike professional politicians I suspect he is impervious to the usual horseshit in DC. He has four years to make an impact and I think that's what he is focused on - not political game playing. If you look carefully at what has been accomplished in terms of regulatory roll back in just three months you have to be pleased with Trump's performance.

There will be no special prosecutor. Flynn will probably be indicted - because that's how grand juries work- but he is a private citizen. Proving him guilty of whatever lame charge made will be something else again.

As for me I was a Trump supporter from the moment he was nominated. The primary reason was the potential appointments to the Supreme Court, Obamacare and the roll-back of ridiculous regulations created by the Obama administration. So far things are going pretty well on all those fronts. The nonsense coming from the MSM and Dems just makes me dig in deeper in support of Trump vs the DC establishment. I suspect many in flyover country feel the same way.; 5/11/17, 9:02 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Hey, readering, did you know leftist thugs are threatening to murder GOP representatives and their families and even their pets?

That's your people.; 5/11/17, 9:04 AM
readering said...: Ok (backing away slowly); 5/11/17, 9:09 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Trump had questioned Comey's judgement and loyalty...."

I don't have any issues with Comey's being fired--one expects a new President to want his own appointee in place in any case--but, assuming this statement from the Guardian article is true, should FBI Directors be loyal to the President? Mightn't this potentially conflict with their obligation to be loyal to the rule of law and to the American people?; 5/11/17, 9:13 AM
Robert Cook said...: "These town halls are being packed with leftist demonstrators and paid agitators."

Really? Who's doing the packing and the paying?; 5/11/17, 9:20 AM
Drago said...: readering: "BTW did you know Trump is applying his dealmaking expertise to selecting the catapult for aircraft carriers?"

Link, so we can determine if your characterization is accurate.

Something tells me it's just Trump driving the contractors to a more competitive cost basus as he did with Lockheed Martin on the F-35.; 5/11/17, 9:23 AM
readering said...: Time
Magazine
Interview; 5/11/17, 9:25 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Let's imagine Hillary won the election and people in her administration were under investigation by the FBI. Who here can honestly say they would have been fine with her sacking the FBI director during ongoing investigations? At a minimum all investigations should have been allowed to reach their conclusion or an independent prosecutor appointed to avoid the appearance of self-dealing.; 5/11/17, 9:26 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Imagine if Hillary and Poot had used Mind-control to fix the election.; 5/11/17, 9:32 AM
chickelit said...: AReasonableMan wrote: Let's imagine Hillary won the election and people in her administration were under investigation by the FBI. Who here can honestly say they would have been fine with her sacking the FBI director during ongoing investigations?

It's just too easy to imagine that most lefties are like Maxine Waters.; 5/11/17, 9:34 AM
Patrick Henry was right! said...: ARM, don't have to imagine it, Bill Clinton did it. Fired all the US Attorneys including the one investigating him.

Have you ever read a book, or even an article?; 5/11/17, 9:35 AM
buwaya said...: "Really? Who's doing the packing and the paying?"

SEIU among others -

http://www.seiu.org/blog/2017/2/workers-across-the-country-demand-a-real-healthcare-plan-from-congress; 5/11/17, 9:36 AM
Drago said...: ARM: "Who here can honestly say they would have been fine with her sacking the FBI director during ongoing investigations?"

There is not a Democrat/MSMer/lefty
alive who would dare criticize the first lefty woman Democrat President for anything at any time. It would obambi permanent honeymoon Part Deux.

There was no good time or good enough reason Trump could have followed that would preclude the Dems/left from accusing him of a crime and demanding impeachment.

The Dems/msm games grow old and stale.

The left does this to every single republican. Recall Cheney halliburton? Bushitler? Bush Crime family? Bush let 9-11 happen?

Sell it somewhere else.; 5/11/17, 9:36 AM
mockturtle said...: chickelit responds: Those talking points are making the rounds and I don't disagree.

Yes, I should have clarified that the points did not originate with Jihad Watch but that it was only quoted there. I could not find any attribution.; 5/11/17, 9:42 AM
Michael K said...: "Proving him guilty of whatever lame charge made will be something else again."

Does anyone still remember Billy Dale, Hillary's first victim ?

Kennedy turned to the FBI for help, a move that Clinton opponents say was an attempt to use the bureau for political ends. Over a two-day period, Kennedy met with agents, who initially said they believed there was insufficient evidence to investigate. When the agents hesitated, Republican critics would later contend, Kennedy leveled a threat by playing on agency rivalries: If the FBI didn't respond quickly, the White House would turn to the Internal Revenue Service.

FBI again. They did get Dale indicted and tried.

The result ?

He was acquitted in less than two hours of deliberations.

The jury acquitted Dale of both charges on November 16, 1995,[4] following less than two hours of deliberations.

The trial had taken 13 days.

I expect much the same with Flynn.; 5/11/17, 9:42 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Basil said...
Bill Clinton did it.

Wrong Clinton dumbass, and you didn't answer the question. Do ever read anything with comprehension?; 5/11/17, 9:42 AM
Drago said...: readering: "
Time
Magazine
Interview"

As expected. You mischaracterized it in very ARM-like fashion.

How unexpected.

Trump was receiving prototype testing feedback that the new systems utilizing new tech was not performing at even the minimum requirement.

It's a perfectly acceptable position to take to say we won't be using it if it doesn't work.

As someone who at one depended on those very launch systems I'm going to have to go with Trump over your arm-chair mischaracterization.

Thanks for playing.; 5/11/17, 9:43 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Jim Geraghty said..
"How could anyone at the White House possibly not grasp that firing an FBI Director will be a supremely controversial decision? The only other time a president asked an FBI Director to step down was in William Sessions in 1993, and that was after a report by Attorney General William P. Barr that found…

Sessions falsely claimed a tax exemption on the home-to-work use of his official limousine, billed the Government for personal trips on Federal Bureau of Investigation aircraft, built a security fence for his home at Government expense and did not cooperate with investigators looking into accusations that he received special treatment from a bank on his mortgage loan for his house in Washington.

It’s much easier to justify a firing when you’ve got a list of ethics problems!"; 5/11/17, 9:45 AM
MacMacConnell said...: The media and Democrats would lead us to believe that firing Comey was to nip the Russian Connection investigation in the bud. We are to believe the Acting Director McCabbe, whose wife Hillary Clinton campaigned for in the Va. senate race and is in bed with Gov. Terry McAuliffe the former DNC Chair and Hillary campaign chair, will be a Trump hack.; 5/11/17, 9:46 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: @Dr K - the problem with the firing of the VA Director in PHX was somewhat technical. Not that she couldn't be fired, but rather not on the fast track used. Instead, they are going to have to go through the regular Civil Service termer nation process, which gives felons like her maybe a year of paid off time. Don't like the ruling at all, of course, but the sky isn't completely falls down.

@ARM - you have to be kidding, in your head hypothetical with Crooked Hillary. This is the woman who fired the WH travel staff, whose husband met with the AG right before Comey said they couldn't make a case against her, despite putting the smoking gun in her hand, etc, and this is the same fanning, captive, MSM that pretended that her storing thousands of emails containing classified information on an unsecured server at her home, then in a bathroom in CO, was routine and unremarkable. My counter proposal/hypothesis is that those same MSM reporters, pundits, and anchors, who went apeshit last night would not have blinked if she had fired Comey by borrowing a gun from her SS detail and shooting him on the front lawn of the WH on national TV for not calling off the investigation. They would have applauded her courage to do the right thing in the face of the danger posed by a rogue federal agent (esp with her being a woman, and him being such a large man, etc).; 5/11/17, 9:48 AM
Drago said...: Hmmm, no link again from ARM.

Further, ARMs posting is structured in a way that implies Geraghty wrote the second graf.; 5/11/17, 9:51 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: readering said...
Ok (backing away slowly)

5/11/17, 9:09 AM

What did I say that was untrue?

Leftists are violent thugs.; 5/11/17, 9:52 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Bruce Hayden said...
you have to be kidding

Again, with comprehension, I asked would you be OK with this? We all know the answer, but it does call into question the right's easy acquiescence to this action. Trump is not doing the right any favors here.; 5/11/17, 9:53 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: "Who here can honestly say they would have been fine with her sacking the FBI director during ongoing investigations?"

I wouldn't have a problem with it if the director has a history of incompetence/stepping outside the boundaries of the position's authority, as Comey does.; 5/11/17, 9:53 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Drago said...
ARMs posting is structured in a way that implies Geraghty wrote the second graf.

He did, and Google is only a finger tip away. Geraghty is not rolling over for Trump on this. Correctly in my view.; 5/11/17, 9:56 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "Who here can honestly say they would have been fine with her sacking the FBI director during ongoing investigations?"

-- What did you have to say about the multiple IGs fired under Obama who were investigating him, and IG positions left empty so no investigations could go forward? I'd like a contemporary quote, not a "I would have said" line.; 5/11/17, 9:56 AM
Michael K said...: Instead, they are going to have to go through the regular Civil Service termer nation process, which gives felons like her maybe a year of paid off time.

Oh, I agree but there are plenty of people angry that the firing process is held up and apparently the new 2017 legislation is also affected by the ruling. I know a couple of doctors who worked at the Phoenix VA who left.I haven't asked them about it but it was a doctor who "blew the whistle" on that mess. And was punished, one of the accusations against that Director.; 5/11/17, 10:00 AM
DanTheMan said...: >>should FBI Directors be loyal to the President?

Comey was VERY loyal to the president. To President Hillary Clinton.

Ooops.; 5/11/17, 10:00 AM
Michael K said...: "Geraghty is not rolling over for Trump on this. Correctly in my view."

NR was well into the NeverTrump camp all along with that ridiculous whole issue in January 2016.

I just wonder how many subscriptions they lost in a addition to mine.; 5/11/17, 10:02 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Washington Post said..
Within the Justice Department and the FBI, the firing of Comey has left raw anger, and some fear, according to multiple officials. Thomas O’Connor, the president of the FBI Agents Association, called Comey’s firing “a gut punch. We didn’t see it coming, and we don’t think Director Comey did anything that would lead to this.’’

Many employees said they were furious about the firing, saying the circumstances of his dismissal did more damage to the FBI’s independence than anything Comey did in his three-plus years in the job.

One intelligence official who works on Russian espionage matters said they were more determined than ever to pursue such cases. Another said Comey’s firing and the subsequent comments from the White House are attacks that won’t soon be forgotten. Trump had “essentially declared war on a lot of people at the FBI,” one official said. “I think there will be a concerted effort to respond over time in kind.”

The idea that Trump has the support of the rank and file in the FBI for the firing of Comey is delusional.; 5/11/17, 10:03 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Washington Post said..
Back at work Monday morning in Washington, Trump told Vice President Pence and several senior aides — Reince Priebus, Stephen K. Bannon and Donald McGahn, among others — that he was ready to move on Comey. First, though, he wanted to talk with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, his trusted confidant, and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, to whom Comey reported directly. Trump summoned the two of them to the White House for a meeting, according to a person close to the White House.

The president already had decided to fire Comey, according to this person. But in the meeting, several White House officials said Trump gave Sessions and Rosenstein a directive: to explain in writing the case against Comey.

The pair quickly fulfilled the boss’s orders, and the next day Trump fired Comey — a breathtaking move that thrust a White House already accustomed to chaos into a new level of tumult, one that has legal as well as political consequences.

Rosenstein threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the White House on Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire Comey and that the president acted only on his recommendation, said the person close to the White House, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Hmmm.; 5/11/17, 10:06 AM
Matt Sablan said...: No one cared when the IGs raised hell about Obama firing them. I cared then, but the new rules say this doesn't matter.; 5/11/17, 10:08 AM
FullMoon said...: buwaya said... [hush][hide comment]

"Really? Who's doing the packing and the paying?"

SEIU among others -

http://www.seiu.org/blog/2017/2/workers-across-the-country-demand-a-real-healthcare-plan-from-congress

Health plan? Oh, are you talking about the healthcare situation all the democrats were screaming about killing people three days ago? Seems as if there has been a slight diversion.; 5/11/17, 10:11 AM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: Memo to J. Comey: When you lose confidence in your boss, the honorable thing to do is leave the organization.; 5/11/17, 10:12 AM
Drago said...: Washington Post said..
Within the Justice Department and the FBI, the firing of Comey has left raw anger, and some fear, according to multiple officials. Thomas O’Connor, the president of the FBI Agents Association, called Comey’s firing “a gut punch. We didn’t see it coming, and we don’t think Director Comey did anything that would lead to this."

Then what have the lefties been screaming about and demanding Comey's firing for?

Once again, history began this morning for the left and we aren't supposed to remember anything they've said and done prior to this morning.

Hillary would have fired Comey immediately. Why?; 5/11/17, 10:21 AM
Matt Sablan said...: Much like if Clinton had proposed the travel ban it would be constitutional, so too would her firing of someone investigating her be fine.; 5/11/17, 10:27 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: Drago said...
Hillary would have fired Comey immediately.

I am not sure about this. It is certainly not the smart move, for exactly the reasons outlined in the WP article. Also, if she had won then the argument that Comey 'stole' the election would never have arisen.; 5/11/17, 10:29 AM
Matt Sablan said...: I have no doubt Clinton would have fired Comey; she fired people to make room for her cronies and, having won, would have no need to keep him around when she could promote McCabe, who owes her.; 5/11/17, 10:34 AM
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/11/17, 10:36 AM
Drago said...: ARM: "I am not sure about this."

Every lefty talking head on TV has no problem being "sure" about this.

It is irrelevant if it is a "smart" move or not. Once Comey did the "email" thing then his goose was cooked with Hillary. And Hillary knows perfectly well she would have been untouchable by the entire MSM and left if she did it.

I wonder where Hillary might have gotten the idea that she could get with anything?; 5/11/17, 10:40 AM
Drago said...: Matthew Sablan: "I have no doubt Clinton would have fired Comey; she fired people to make room for her cronies and, having won, would have no need to keep him around when she could promote McCabe, who owes her"

Indeed.

McCabes entire family "owes" her.

And the fact that McCabe didn't recuse himself from the Hillary investigation even after a sweet, sweet $700k was pocketed by his wife via clinton allies tells you all you need to know.; 5/11/17, 10:42 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: @ARM - one thing that both Trump and Crooked Hillary have in common is that they both require a lot of personal loyalty. Much more than most. And that would have been Comey's sin in her eyes, that he was too independent, and had crossed her before. Her vendictiveness is also well known.

BTW - this is why I disbelieve the rumor about Rosenstein threatening to resign. If he had threatened, I fully expect that it would have been accepted. And if he leaked his displeasure, he would be out the door on short order. FBI agents can bitch all they want, but not those put in high places by Trump. Trump doesn't appear to tolerate high level leaking at all, which is why I suspect any claimed high level leaks, from within his Administration, the type that are so common around DC, are fake.; 5/11/17, 10:45 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: What I don't think a lot of esp DC insiders, MSM, etc quite get about Trump is that it is not business as usual in his Administration. Esp after 8 yrs of Obama, who didn't expect personal loyalty, and wouldn't have gotten it if he had, since his method of governance was to divvy up cabinet posts as spoils fort he various consistuancy that put him in office, and then let them run their departments as private fiefdoms. Crooked Hillary went for, and got, State, first because it was the best place to burnish her resume, but also, maybe most importantly, the best place to make money. A lot of money. A good businessman like Trump doesn't operate this way.

As I said right after the firing, I think that the core reason for Comey's firing was insubordination. And lack of loyalty, but mostly insubordination. When Trump said to jump, the correct response is to ask "how high?", and not ask Chuck Schumer, Jeff Bezos, and Carlos Slim for their recommendations. Comey thought that he had an independent power base at the FBI, as has mostly been the case since Hoover and his blackmail material. He found out differently, and his successor will know who his real boss is.; 5/11/17, 11:05 AM
Birkel said...: @ ARM

So you believe because the federal government workers' unions don't support President Trump that spells impending doom for Republicans?

Former governor Scott Walker could not be reached for comment, because he's still governor.; 5/11/17, 11:19 AM
Robert Cook said...: "SEIU among others -

"http://www.seiu.org/blog/2017/2/workers-across-the-country-demand-a-real-healthcare-plan-from-congress"

Doesn't sound like "paid leftists and agitators" to me, but a cohort of citizens who demand a better healthcare plan from Congress than they believe they're getting. Sounds like democracy in action to me.; 5/11/17, 11:23 AM
Birkel said...: @ Robert Cook

Make a list of all the things we get from a federal government that are better than what can be bought from a private sector actor. Then, make a list of all the things we can buy from the private sector that are better than that we can get from the public sector.

Compare the lists.

You are welcome.; 5/11/17, 11:28 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Make a list of all the things we get from a federal government that are better than what can be bought from a private sector actor. Then, make a list of all the things we can buy from the private sector that are better than that we can get from the public sector.

"Compare the lists.

"You are welcome."

I think your lists and mine would have disparities between them.; 5/11/17, 11:33 AM
Birkel said...: @ Robert Cook

Assuredly so. But I think you would find that the list of things you can get from government that are better than those things you can purchase from private actors has one salient feature precisely the same as mine:

The private sector list would be much, much longer.

(Further, you would be wrong on almost all the particulars but I hold no grudges as to your wrongness, so long as you do not have the power you wish to have to kill or subjugate me and mine.); 5/11/17, 11:36 AM
Michael K said...: The idea that Trump has the support of the rank and file in the FBI for the firing of Comey is delusional.

A series of interviews with "officials" instead of street level agents tells you this and THEY are delusional ?

If you had ever served in the military, you might have heard that everyone above O-6 is a politician.; 5/11/17, 11:49 AM
Michael K said...: " Sounds like democracy in action to me."

Yes, like the brownshirts in Germany and Italy. Have you watched any of the videos ?; 5/11/17, 11:51 AM
Drago said...: Robert Cook: "I think your lists and mine would have disparities between them."

Indeed, since the outlawing of these lists might very well be the first thing on your list.; 5/11/17, 11:57 AM
Rabel said...: The court decision on the Phoenix VA directors firing has been grossly misreported. It's not a terrible ruling (the court upheld the firing, the woman is not getting paid, it wasn't a union issue, etc.) but I can't quite figure out how the judge made the leap that seems to identify appointment powers delineated in the constitution as also including termination powers. A SC precedent is involved but I can't put it together.

Althouse doesn't do requests, but this topic would be right up her alley and I would greatly appreciate a post explaining the decision.; 5/11/17, 12:18 PM
Kyzer SoSay said...: The difference between Hillary firing Comey and Trump firing Comey, to me at least, is this:

Hillary broke the law. Unequivocally, undeniably, broke the law, and lied about doing so, and then tried to brush it off as nothing, knowing that a compliant media and her Deep State allies would protect her and shield her. Her firing Comey would be akin to a bank robber lying on his job application to become a branch manager, and then firing all the security guards so he could rob the bank from the inside.

Trump hasn't broken the law. Despite months of investigating, Obama wiretaps that may or may not have been legal or ethical, and a legion of Deep State cronies doing their best to find and leak damaging information, nothing illegal has emerged, and if you want to compare his campaign team's Russian ties with the Clinton campaign team's Russian ties, you'll find a broader and deeper web between Clinton and Putin than Trump and Putin.

So, to whit, Trump firing Comey is like a wealthy bank customer who lands that same branch manager job, and upon realizing that the security folks dislike him or lobbied against him for months, spreading lies and innuendo, decides to fire them and replace them with people he can trust.

See how simple that is?; 5/11/17, 12:24 PM
Kyzer SoSay said...: Rabel, I second that. I've not had time to read deeply about the issue and would like to get a legalistic opinion from someone I've come to trust. Namely, Althouse and her legion of commenters.; 5/11/17, 12:26 PM
Rabel said...: Most of her legion of followers hasn't considered anything beyond the misleading headlines on the case.; 5/11/17, 12:28 PM
Robert Cook said...: "...I hold no grudges as to your wrongness, so long as you do not have the power you wish to have to kill or subjugate me and mine."

Hahaha! You're mistaken. I have no wish to kill or subjugate anyone, (or to have the power to do so). That's one of my major beefs with the American deep state, which includes and is driven by the corporate and financial plutocratic entities: it seeks to kill or subjugate anyone and everyone who stands in the way of its agenda. (What is that agenda, you may ask? To control the world and all its resources.); 5/11/17, 1:01 PM
mockturtle said...: Hahaha! You're mistaken. I have no wish to kill or subjugate anyone, (or to have the power to do so). That's one of my major beefs with the American deep state, which includes and is driven by the corporate and financial plutocratic entities: it seeks to kill or subjugate anyone and everyone who stands in the way of its agenda. (What is that agenda, you may ask? To control the world and all its resources.)

Gotta agree with you there, Cookie. It's the alternatives we disagree about.; 5/11/17, 1:05 PM
khesanh0802 said...: @ARM I would have been perfectly fine with Hillary firing any or all the department head if she had (God forbid) been elected. That is the president's prerogative, regardless which party is in office. You can bet Comey would have had his resignation letter on Hillary's desk on Jan 21.; 5/11/17, 2:08 PM
Trumpit said...: Trump will go down in history as the world's biggest ingrate. He owes his presidency to Comey's mishandling of the Clinton email scandal. I hate Comey for what he did to this country by installing Trump in the White House. They both have an overblown opinion of importance. They both deserve to be pilloried for eternity.; 5/11/17, 2:25 PM
tcrosse said...: If Comey installed Trump in the White House, he had plenty of help, not least from Hillary herself.
But this is a fairy tale to soothe the hurt feelings of petulant losers.; 5/11/17, 2:48 PM
Kyzer SoSay said...: Trumpit, you're right that Comey mishandled the Clinton email scandal. He should have recommended her for indictment. The result would be the same, and you'd still hate him for it, but maybe next time your party should pick a non-hopelessly-corrupt candidate instead of a woman with more skeletons in her closet than your typical 3rd world dictator.; 5/11/17, 4:25 PM
Trumpit said...: Comey affected the outcome of the election. He was out of line to put it mildly. I lived through it, and you're nonsensical rewriting of history won't change that fact or my mind.; 5/11/17, 4:31 PM
Jaq said...: Had Hillary followed some simple rules... Naah!; 5/11/17, 6:02 PM
Drago said...: Trumpit: "He owes his presidency to Comey's mishandling of the Clinton email scandal"

Maybe Comey AND Putin stopped hillary from campaigning in Wisconsin or moving the Iowa resources back into Michigan when the Hillary MI campaign folks were screaming at NY hdqtrs to do just that.

Nah.

It was Comey and Putin. And dehydration. And misogyny. And Deplorables.

Not the brilliant, beautiful, magnificent, luminescent Hillary!; 5/11/17, 7:15 PM
Michael K said...: "I lived through it, and you're nonsensical rewriting of history won't change that fact or my mind."

I doubt anything could change your mind, including a notarized copy of a document proving it's bullshit.

It's impressive to see a mind lost.; 5/11/17, 9:47 PM
Jaq said...: It's Comey's fault for mishandling the scandal, not Hillary's for creating it! Can't you people see simple facts! Hillary was the only person in the whole Democrat Party who was able to be president! We, as a nation, must overlook her many ethical lapses because America needed her uniquely! No other Democrat would have done!

It's the Clinton's divine right to rule, people! Why can't you hillbillies just see it!?!; 5/12/17, 4:46 AM
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