Once written, twice...So You think this is a Coup d'Etat by the Deep State to over turn the election won by a Nationalist America First President. That makes Congress a coven of traitors at war with the Republic.
We need some elections, unless the Coup leaders call that off too. .
Why didn't Sessions or Priebus or someone else not tell Trump that it was a bad idea for them to step out so they could have a one on one conversation?
The Tweet by the POTUS DJ Trump -- The FAKE MSM is working so hard trying to get me not to use Social Media. They hate that I can get the honest and unfiltered message out.
I think Trump should remain as President. Elections have consequences and we should live with this one instead of taking what appears to be the easy way out.
But there is no doubt that Trump is a crazy. We just have to neutralize him as he continues to hold office.
Wow, talk about believing what you want to see... Don't believe everything you think, Once. I'm sure your therapist has told you that a couple of times.
Don't waste your day following this. Nothing will come out of it to impeach Trump, anything exonerating Trump will be spun by the media or memory holed. Tomorrow morning will be no different than today.
I know this because Democrats are saying the Mothership didn't arrive today only because the prophecy was not adjusted to account for the variance in declination of true north and something something mumble mumble something about Venus in retrograde.
New Day of Doom is forecasted for June 22nd and they really mean it this time.
So far Republicans are elevating Comey as he makes his case against Trump. I think two things are at play here-- 1) Senate Republicans know this is not going to end well for Trump and they don't want to have video played back at them in the future of them supporting Trump.
2) Given number 1, they want to bring Trump down fast.
So Comey just said that the Lynch-Clinton tarmac meeting was a major reason he went to the public over the email scandal, and furthermore that Lynch asked him to not call the email investigation an "investigation". Clearly Lynch's behavior concerned him. Did it concern him as much a Trump apparently did? I wonder if in any subsequent meetings with Lynch he took detailed notes?
The questions I would ask Comey after reading his statement:
1. You talk about one of the functions of counter intelligence being to recruit double agents. Did you try to recruit Donald Trump to be a double agent?
2. You knew that President Tump had called for you to be fired during the campaign. Yet you set up your first meeting with him to confront him with the golden shower dossier. Were you trying to blackmail him into letting you keep your job?
3. You say you may have understood the "honest loyalty" you promised President Trump differently than he did. Aren't you saying that you lied or made a false promise to the President?
4. You have been criticised for influencing the outcome of the election in your statements regarding the FBI investigation of Hilary Clinton. Don't you have a blatant conflict of interest? Shouldn't you have recused yourself from the Russia investigation?
"Senate Republicans know this is not going to end well for Trump" Completely delusional? Nothing can happen that will hurt Trump. Some parts have helped him already.
Comey just said he believed Trump directed him to let Flynn go. This appears to mean that Comey believed at the time of the meeting that Trump was obstructing justice. Does he not have a duty to report something like that?
Fen said... Don't waste your day following this. Nothing will come out of it to impeach Trump, anything exonerating Trump will be spun by the media or memory holed. Tomorrow morning will be no different than today."
Yeah, the Dems will continue to throw chum in the water until the 2018 midterm at least to keep their dim bulb base excited, but there's nothing there.
Rubio just made a great point. Pretty much everything the FBI was doing on Russia-Trump was leaked, EXCEPT the fact that Trump was not under investigation. Despite the fact that members and leaders in congress and people in the FBI knew that fact for weeks and weeks.
But that never leaked. And Comey refused to go public and say Trump was not under investigation.
Comey says his firing was Russian Investigation related. And it was. Trump wanted Comey to say in public that Trump was not under investigation, which Comey was telling everyone in confidence, but refusing to say in public as an FBI statement "because it might change later."
After waiting three months under a constant media slanderama,Trump seized the day and fired him so he could testify in public what he had told Trump three times that Trump was not under investigation.
And Trump won again. That statement just happened on every known TV channel broadcast uninterrupted, and under oath.
This Comey hearing is a perfect example of how the media and Democrats coordinate to try and influence us.
We all know that the DC bureaucrats who hate Trump leak. It's all they do all day long. And left and right media have all their sources leaking leaking and more leaking.
Are we to believe the media didn't know Trump wasn't under investigation?
Of course they knew. They just kept it to themselves.
Why didn't Sessions or Priebus or someone else not tell Trump that it was a bad idea for them to step out so they could have a one on one conversation?
Why is it so bad? Comey had already met one on one with Trump on Jan 6, at Comey's request. So how is it supposed to be a thing that you never meet alone with the FBI director?
"I think Priebus and others close to Trump encouraged Trump to walk into this trap."
-- Ah yes. The trap where Comey admits that the media WAS peddaling fake news about whether Trump was told he was a target and where Comey reasserts there was no obstruction. A real Wily E. Coyote trap.
"So Comey just said that the Lynch-Clinton tarmac meeting was a major reason he went to the public over the email scandal, and furthermore that Lynch asked him to not call the email investigation an "investigation". "
-- ... That's... that's about the same level of obstruction as Trump. It may actually be worse since she openly asked Comey to LIE for political reasons, whereas Trump wanted him to tell the truth.
"Comey just said he believed Trump directed him to let Flynn go. This appears to mean that Comey believed at the time of the meeting that Trump was obstructing justice. Does he not have a duty to report something like that?"
-- If he does, then he should be tried for perjury.
I know its a million years ago, but people seem to forget that in Jan/Feb people were expecting Trump to fire Comey since everyone hated him - Republicans and Democrats.
Trump said at the time that he wanted to give Comey a chance. So, he gave him a chance, and he fired him in May. Poor Trump he assumed the Democrats were sincere in their Comey hatred. He forgot the Democrats will lie and say one thing today and the opposite tomorrow - their only consistent principle is the pursuit of power.
Wait, so the FBI had ruled out even investigating investigating Trump... but we've been being told for WEEKS that Trump was actually being investigated, and that Trump was lying about Comey telling him he wasn't being investigated?
"Trump said at the time that he wanted to give Comey a chance."
-- And what did Comey do with that chance? Lie to Congress in just exactly the way to help Huma Abedin not seem to have broken as many laws as the public thought she did.
"Comey just said he believed Trump directed him to let Flynn go."
Most people wouldn't read Trump's words (as described Comey) that way. And isn't it funny, that Trump never brought the subject up again. You'd think he was really concerned about protecting Flynn, he'd do more than just bring it up once and then forget about it.
How many of them knew the truth - that Trump was NOT under investigation - but refused to print it?
Are we supposed to be believe that none of the congressmen or FBI execs who knew that Trump was not being investigated - aka the leakers - didn't talk to the NYT or WaPo about this?
I think the proper word here is "cooked". "Cocked" gives them a little too much credit for honesty. I basically find it impossible to believe that they didn't already know the truth about that when they were writing the stories- I think where they went awry was in believing Comey was going to lie about it this morning.
Think about it- you have nothing personally at stake, but you want Trump impeached at any cost. So, you think someone other person really wants this also, but you can't see that this person is in legal jeopardy as a cost. The difference between lying and lying under oath. Add to that factor that the truth might well have been recorded by party that had good reason to not trust you in the first place.
I think it is a failure to be able to see things from any perspective but ones own.
I don't think Senate Republicans are going to cover for Trump's bad behavior.
Good God, man. We've been hearing about stolen elections, collusion with hostile governments, obstruction of justice, and imminent impeachment proceedings. And at this point all we've got is "bad behavior"?
Trump was elected precisely because his bad behavior was acceptable compared to Hillary's.
pacwest: "Russians out. Obstruction of justice in."
The Russians were never really "in". That was simply the cover to execute continuous surveillance of the Trump folks and arrange for a "process infraction" to establish the impeachment basis for the coup the dems/media/deep staters desperately desire.
Comey just said he believed Trump directed him to let Flynn go.
Rubio reminded everyone that Trump used the same words the next day at his press conference which were then broadcast to the world. It wasn't a secret he felt that way. And it wasn't something hush-hush or between him and Comey.
Trump put his feelings about the matter on the record, which the keepers of the record immediately dismissed as inconvenient to their narrative.
I watched Senator Collins trying to rehabilitate the witness by getting him to say that the assurance to Trump of "no investigation" was "no investigation of your getting Russian hookers to pee on the hotel bed once occupied by Obama" but even Comey wouldn't quite say that. He could only say that the "context" of the conversation was around that particular piece of salacious BS.
It would be like me asking the police if I am being arrested and they say "No," and I believe them, when later on somebody is going to try to say what the police meant was, "You're not being arrested for THIS." Where "THIS" is never mentioned and I am allowed to proceed without tickets or any other indication of official interest or intervention.
Remember, in the very, very near future, the establishment guys and gals will have to account for why it was that they have been spying on the US citizens, journalists and even congressional personnel and having that information unmasked and used politically and in many other ways that have only recently come to light.
Comey, Brennan, Yates, Clapper and the entire obambi Chicago Cabal are going to be smack dab in the middle of all that so its critical that some muddying of the waters in a public relations way be created.
That explains the white hot intensity of the dems to shut this down now before more comes out ahead of congressional hearings and re-approval of the surveillance tools this October.
Nonapod: "Good grief, I'm so relieved that Comey is not longer in a position of power. He's utterly incompetent"
Comey was a pure "fixer" appointee for the dems (take a look at all the shenanigans he had been involved in, always assisting the Clintons) and had Lynch not screwed things up so publicly with that meeting on the tarmac Comey would never have been put in the public position of doing the old onsey-twosey sidestep.
In other words, his rear end would have remained fully covered.
Its clear that what was passed between Lynch and Clinton on the tarmac must have been critically important to share with no ability for anyone to listen in.
Was listening to NPR the other day, and both the interviewer and some "Professor of Conflict Resolution" [sic] were both calling Qatar "ka-tar" like regular people.
Was this some rogue apostate, or is that the thing again, now? What happened, did the incumbent President call the country "gutter" so all the right-thinking people have swapped back ... ?
Here is the relevant quote as best I remember it, but this is obviously a paraphrase:<
I woke up in the middle of the night, because it suddenly dawned on me that there might be a tape of our conversation. I thought I needed to make it public. I asked a friend to give the memo to a reporter. I didn’t do it myself for a lot of reasons. I asked him because I thought that might provoke the appointment of a special counsel. The friend is a professor at Columbia
The interesting part to me are the "lot of reasons" he didn't do it himself. That makes literally zero sense- what you do using a conduit is no different than doing it without the conduit. Add to that- why be concerned that there was possible recording of the conversation? Why would that make it necessary to make the conversation public? I mean, I could understand it motivating you to write the memo, but not to suddenly make it public. Was he thinking the recording might get released in doctored form?
NB: Comey has mastered the appearance of being incompetent technique to create a presumption of honesty. No one that dumb could ever think of doing evil and betraying you. Oops, yes they can; and this type wears perfect sheep's clothing everyday. It is Religious Deception Act 101. Ever see a Pope act intelligent?
"Was he thinking the recording might get released in doctored form?"
-- That's possible; what I really think is that he wanted to do maximum damage. If he gave the memo, the reporter would have asked HIM about it. Doing that, unless Comey was willing to lie (which, looks like he's not), he would have had to admit, "Yeah. Trump's right. The Comey crowed three times, 'You're not under investigation!'"
Giving it to his friend creates a buffer where the friend can make an honest mistake, Comey doesn't have to lie, and it does maximum damage to Trump.
Yeah. They were always going to go for the low hanging fruit. Not sure if Comey's "uneasiness" is enough to hang Trump, but I'm sure it will be heavily expanded by the MSM. Plan on hearing about obstruction = impeachment 24/7.
We can guess what we will be hearing from Inga for the next several weeks.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Work product remains work product even if you have been canned. A leak is still a leak- or are we going to play the semantics game about the definition of a "leak"?
pacwest: " Plan on hearing about obstruction = impeachment 24/7."
of course. They did it to Reagan, HWBush and W as well.
There is nothing more predictable than dems calling something "watergate redux" and demanding the impeachment of a republican President. They've been doing that for a long, long time.
So Comey just said that the Lynch-Clinton tarmac meeting was a major reason he went to the public over the email scandal, and furthermore that Lynch asked him to not call the email investigation an "investigation". Clearly Lynch's behavior concerned him. Did it concern him as much a Trump apparently did? I wonder if in any subsequent meetings with Lynch he took detailed notes?
I wondered this too and wish Comey would be questioned about whether or not he felt sufficiently concerned about Lynch's behavior to record memos. He answered a question about doing so with other presidents but I don't think anyone followed up to ask the same question about his interactions with the AG.
IMO there is a better case, from facts already made public, of obstruction of justice regarding the Clinton investigation than the current Russian collusion case. Obama just had the sense to make Loretta Lynch the one who might have to take the fall for it, instead of interacting directly with Comey.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Work product remains work product even if you have been canned. A leak is still a leak- or are we going to play the semantics game about the definition of a "leak"?
6/8/17, 11:10 AM
Comey says during the hearing that, "As a private citizen I felt free to share it."
That is what I think, too. Comey knows someone has outed him already despite his using a third party to leak it- it is probable that the friend was forced to do so, or has at least been asked about it by law enforcement.
By far the easiest explanation for why Comey used a third party is that he knew he was breaking the law in leaking it. Of all the things he has said today, this is the one I think actually shows him in a good light- he wasn't willing to let this friend hang out on a limb- he took the responsibility in the end. That is actually admirable.
You have to remember something about the memo leak- the original story made it sound like the leak came from Comey's colleagues in the FBI or in the DoJ, not from outside the bureau or the agency. I don't think that was accidental.
Very important item to remember: Comey met with Mueller prior to this testimony to discuss his testimony.
Could it be at that meeting that Mueller informed Comey of potential evidence linking Comey to that leak? If so, that might explain Comey's "Rush to Confess Tour 2017"
"Could it be at that meeting that Mueller informed Comey of potential evidence linking Comey to that leak?"
-- The other possibility, I see is: "Hey, your friend? This guy: He had your work product. How did he get that? I mean, getting that means he probably did something pretty illegal."
And then Comey copped to giving it to the guy to keep his friend out of serious troublke.
The democrats are "helpfully" changing the characterization of Comey's testimony (since it would be too exhausting for Comey to do it) and saying, flat out, that Trump told Comey to drop the Flynn investigation.
Expect more of that as the nothingburger gets longer in the tooth.
The problem with the new narrative is that the investigation wasn't dropped after Comey was fired. The only piece of evidence is that one conversation about Flynn, and in it even Comey has admitted that he didn't think it was an order to drop that part of the investigation.
Quite frankly, whats much more troubling is the explicit anti-Christian Religious Test that Senator Sanders and the dems are apparently attempting to institute for government employees.
But after you've called this "Pearl Harbor", which the dems did, accuse Trump and associates of actual TREASON, what do you do when that falls apart? What about your media allies and deep staters who are all so invested in that story and you've staked everything on it?
You do precisely what the dems have done: manufacture innuendo and smears daily to cloud the issues so that when the bottom falls out there will be so much fake chum and squid ink in the water you can beat a hasty retreat all the while saying don't blame me, there was so much "smoke" there we had to investigate.
Much different this time. CNN and others have been caught in several lies now. The only way they can come out the other side with any credibility at all is if President Trump is impeached. Bush was level 2. Trump will be level 11.
pacwest: "The only way they can come out the other side with any credibility at all is if President Trump is impeached. Bush was level 2. Trump will be level 11."
I don't know about that.
I mean, you are correct about the media going to "11". Absolutely.
But in terms of "credibility", they are leftists so their definitions are different than yours and mine.
CNN and the rest have already established their LEFTIST POLITICAL credibility with all their peers so the actual facts don't impact that.
All will be judged politically and nothing else matters.
They will be seen as simply "taking one for the team" in advancing the impeachment cause and will suffer no adverse consequences other than what has already occurred in the marketplace of ideas.
Which works for us because what little credibility the media had in the middle of the country has been further squandered.
Looking at newspapers online, its interesting to see which of those are anti-Trump, and which are more interested in reporting the news. Liberal Minneapolis paper has it all over their homepage. On their newsfeed, the last non-anti-Trump item was at 7:29 AM. More moderate St Paul paper has only one item on this and it is a link down aways on their home page. Both papers know who their target is and who will generate clicks on their respective web sites.
I was surprised that Inga hasn't weighed in yet, but then I realized she is undoubtedly focused on the hearing with the same breathless concentration my grandma used to have when she tuned into "The Days of Our Lives."
"Will Joanne Kingston realize that her husband and her best friend are having an affair? And tie it in with Bill Morgan's sudden disappearance?"
I’m not watching. I’d rather catch the highlights on this thread. Of course I am recording it to view later should I need to. My discretionary time, of which I have much, is spent doing only what is fun. Watching the malevolent political whores on the committee question a liar is pointless and not fun.
In the coming days better brains than mine will analyze all this shit down to the word. I’ll research both sides, consult the record and try to figure things out that way. I do appreciate those who ARE viewing this dick-dance so I don’t have to. That allows me to sample this pathetic display, this WWE of political theatre of the absurd questioning the corrupt, in small doses.
When will the "two scoops of ice cream" inquiry begin?
Beautiful.
I don't think Senate Republicans are going to cover for Trump's bad behavior.
The Senate Republicans are going to undermine Trump whenever they believe they safely can. They’re firmly allied with the Democrats and the MSM in their anti-Trumpery. I guess the commentor didn’t know this. They have to pick their shots carefully because most of them would pay a huge political price if the Trump supporters back in their home states saw them openly pull that crap. I love the “bad behavior” meme. Trump is such a bad boy. Always into mischief …
Comey just said "He broke me! He broke me! He broke me!" Twenty six Democrats fainted.
Drago, on the religious test that Sanders wants to impose. I read that story on Huff Post, then read the comments. When even the lefty Huff Post readers are condemning Sanders...... But I think they get it. If you can ban Christians from holding public positions, then can't you also ban Muslims from holding those jobs? Once you start implementing a religious test to hold a civil service job, things won't go well.
The Bern is saying that if a person believes in what John 3:16 says, he (or she) cannot hold a public position. And remember folks, The Bern is the first choice for president for a large number of people out there.
Keep in mind, this was never about the "Russians" from the get go.
It was made up post-election. The Democrats knew it, since they're the ones that made it up.
No, you scream "WE NEED AN INVESTIGATION" that Jill Stein kicked off. Then, the dems/media run play after the play, moving the chains downfield. They are not looking for a Hail Mary, as some suggest. Just a power run game, moving the chains, getting the ball closer and closer to the impeachment end zone.
This is about setting Trump up for Impeachment through process.
See Scooter Libby.
Oh, by the way-
Who appointed the Special Prosecutor in the bogus Valerie Plame leak case? The one that couldn't find Dick Armitage, but sent Cheney confidant Scooter Libby to prison?
Dave from Minnesota: "To finish my thought on Sanders.....The Berne is saying that only Atheists or those that believe in universal salvation can hold government jobs"
This thinking is de rigueur on the left.
But to have one of them express it so openly...well. This is where we find ourselves today.
The Trump campaign did not collude with the Russians.
Trump was never under investigation.
Trump did not obstruct justice.
Trump will not be impeached for speaking to the director of the FBI and saying that a member of his administration was "good guy."
Trump will not be impeached for firing Comey.
The Democrats will very likely lose the next election for behaving like Evergreen College students agitators - i.e., for having no leader, no policies, and no sense. They told their people they had evidence and to march, march, march, contribute, contribute, contribute. And though The Dem people may not speak up the Dem people see that it was all for nothing. Except raising money for Dem politicians. You can't fool all the Democrats all the time. Even at Evergreen the students have said: enough.
Dave from Minnesota: "To finish my thought on Sanders.....The Berne is saying that only Atheists or those that believe in universal salvation can hold government jobs"
So he's saying he doesn't want Muslims in government jobs?
I've never heard that they're big on universal salvation. Universal death for infidels, sure.
Drago, the Democrat party does have a problem with anti-Christian bigotry. But The Berne is not getting much support here as even liberals see what he did as way over the top. I think it is because it comes so close to anti-Islamic types saying Muslims shouldn't work for the gov't. Imagine applying for am management job out in the real world and during the interview you are asked about your views on eternal salvation and what needs to be done to be saved.
This is like the Charlotte NC gay pride parade, where the homosexual Trump supporters are being banned. It is a bit too close to saying that a baker doesn't have to be forced to participate in a gay wedding.
Dave from Minnesota: "Drago, the Democrat party does have a problem with anti-Christian bigotry. But The Berne is not getting much support here as even liberals see what he did as way over the top. I think it is because it comes so close to anti-Islamic types saying Muslims shouldn't work for the gov't."
You are making the mistake of using a logical framework to analyze the dems/left instead of the more appropriate political framework.
The dems don't care one whit if what they are saying is illogical or inconsistent. Only the politics matters.
Just as they (the left) do at every institution they capture, they will implement completely different rules for different groups and the only "problem" the "moderate" lefties see right now is they don't have the critical political voting mass to lock in their intentions.
If Trump asking Comey to go easy on someone is improper influence... what is Loretta Lynch telling him that there is to be no investigation into Clinton (I mean, that's what she clearly means when she says not to call what they're doing an investigation.)
Late in the hearing, someone followed up on the Loretta Lynch bit, and Comey said that he didn't push her to appoint a special prosecutor because he thought that would put a taint on Hillary Clinton during the campaign.
And yet in the current situation with Trump, he admits, without any reservation (no fuzz on it, as he seems fond of saying) that he leaked his own memos after he was fired for the express purpose of triggering the appointment of a special prosecutor.
The only logical difference I can think of as to why he saw the need to treat the two situations differently is the timing (Clinton's investigation was during the campaign.) That really doesn't fly though because Trump may not be in a campaign right now but the Democrats have done everything possible to put a cloud over his presidency and it's really no difference in terms of the public needing to know if there is any real misdeed or just political smoke blowing. If the appointment of special prosecutor would have created that illusion for Clinton, it does the same for Trump now. But then, he bent over backward to avoid that for Clinton and now he's personally taken steps to put Trump under air of suspicion.
"CNN and the rest have already established their LEFTIST POLITICAL credibility with all their peers so the actual facts don't impact that."
True that, but it crushes my hopes that somewhere over the rainbow the American people aren't sheeple, that there is some integrity and common sense out there. Somewhere.
My main takeaway from the hearing was how distasteful Comey finds Trump. Pretty reminiscent of the more strident anti-Trumpers on this blog. Shorter Comey - He's icky.
Drago: "... The dems don't care one whit if what they are saying is illogical or inconsistent. Only the politics matters.
Just as they (the left) do at every institution they capture, they will implement completely different rules for different groups and the only "problem" the "moderate" lefties see right now is they don't have the critical political voting mass to lock in their intentions.
Lefty Taqiya."
I confess to being a slow learner; your remarks penetrate even my skull. The message is: they say whatever they need to say to whichever listener in order to get the check, the vote, the seat. We need to forget about our main defenses, namely the rule of law and logic, the idea of Kantian reciprocality, intellectual consistency and the natural hatred of hypocrisy. We have to see those as handicaps when these people turn up and begin campaigning.
WhiteHouse press sec Sanders said WH has decided to "outsource" comments and statements about the Comey testimony to @POTUS outside counsel Marc Kasowitz.
Last I checked there are no Trump tweets about Comeys show.
Owen: "I confess to being a slow learner; your remarks penetrate even my skull. The message is: they say whatever they need to say to whichever listener in order to get the check, the vote, the seat. We need to forget about our main defenses, namely the rule of law and logic, the idea of Kantian reciprocality, intellectual consistency and the natural hatred of hypocrisy. We have to see those as handicaps when these people turn up and begin campaigning.
Well said."
That one made me laugh.
I was going to follow up with a "uh...yeah. That's EXACTLY what I was getting at."
Rich Lowry said... Comey’s evaluation of Trump’s character is damning, but not anything we didn’t know. Still, it’s amazing to hear a former FBI director call a president of the United States a liar.
Rich Lowry said... We heard this morning about what a shrewd operator Comey is — deliberately not including any classified material in his memos about his interactions with Trump so they could be spread around as necessary, getting a friend at Columbia to leak their contents to the press after his firing to try to force the appointment of a special counsel. As a practical matter and the merits aside, this was a reason not to fire him like Trump did — Comey knows how to fight back bureaucratically and in the media.
"As a practical matter and the merits aside, this was a reason not to fire him like Trump did — Comey knows how to fight back bureaucratically and in the media."
OT but largely correct, Heather MacDonald said.. It’s taken as a given among the commentariat that Islamic terrorists commit their atrocities in order to “sweep away” the West’s commitment to the “inclusiveness of diverse societies,” as the New York Times put it after the Manchester Arena bombing in England last month. As long as Europe and the U.S. preserve maximum multiculturalism, the “terrorists will have failed,” the Washington Post editorialized after that same attack. Conversely, according to this logic, Islamic terrorists will win if a country reevaluates its open-borders policy.
Why, then, did ISIS hit Iran’s parliament complex and its shrine to Ayatollah Khomeini on Wednesday? Why is it targeting Syria and other countries in North Africa? None of these places is notable for multiculturalism or open borders. Perhaps it’s because ISIS’s goals are more straightforward: to kill as many infidels as possible and to usher in the Caliphate. The liberal story-line that radical Islam is obsessed with Western “inclusiveness” and that it pays close attention to changes in immigration policy is simply narcissistic.
So at the end of it all, we have Comey trying to thread the needle by heavily implying that he felt perhaps just maybe in some distant way Trump could have been attempting to obstruct justice with his "Aww shucks, Flynn's such a good guy" language, while also trying to not look like a complete idiot for not saying anything about it at the time. So ultimately we have this really pathetic attempt to keep this sham narrative going that Trump did something... anything remotely in the realm of an impeachable offense. And the MSM, the DC establishment, and most of the anti-Trump crowd are whipped up into a delusional frenzy over what amounts to... what?
No matter how hey try to spin it, the Dems won't be able to make a case for obstruction of justice.
1) if there had been a criminal investigation, and probable cause that Flynn had violated a law (under which he could have been prosecuted - which excludes the Logan Act), the prosecutors could still have refused to bring charges, under prosecutorial discretion. Similarly, the FBI could decide not to investigate crimes thoroughly (as they did with Crooked Hillary), through investigatory discretion. But that discretion is delegated them by the President, as the Constitutional head of the Executive Branch. Without him, and his power, they have no power to investigate and prosecute, nor any discretion not to. That means that if Trump said drop the investigation, they legally had to, so, since they had no power to investigate, absent his.
2) but, of course, Comey admitted that Trump never told him to drop the investigation, just asked him to.
3) But it wasn't a criminal investigation in the first place. There was never evidence supporting probable cause that a prosecutable law had been violated. It was a counter-intelligence investigation. The FBI has two roles - criminal investigations and counter-intelligence. We have known this from the start, because the FBI cannot legally use the unmasking of FISA intercepts ito initiate criminal investigations (but they can use such in certain cases if they stumble into a crime while engaged in legitimate counter-intelligence). Bottom line here is that ordering the termination of a counter-intelligence investigation cannot be obstruction of justice, because justice was not involved. Presumably (since we are talking FISA abuses by the Obama Administration) only national security was at issue.
4) even if there had been a specific statute forbidding the President from ordering a counter-intelligence investigation closed (there isn't, and he didn't), it would be of questionable validity, since counter-intelligence is at the core of the President's powers under our Constitution (see the Jackson concurrence in Youngstown Steel).
"2) but, of course, Comey admitted that Trump never told him to drop the investigation, just asked him to."
And then, fired him when he didn't drop it because of (according to DJT himself) his handling of the Russia investigation stuff that DJT wanted him to drop.
Seems like a real 'nothingburger' compared to HRC's. We have a non-politician who doesn't know all the accepted 'protocols' and wears his frustration(s) on his sleeve. Maybe he's TOO transparent?
No matter how hey try to spin it, the Dems won't be able to make a case for obstruction of justice.
Oh they're already spinning that the real answers are going to come in the closed session, and the non-answers in the open session clearly stated (wink, wink) that the answers in the closed session will be damaging.
Amidst all kinds of allegations, innuendo, questions, complaints, investigations of "surrogates" and leaks of everything (classified and unclassified but private info) Trump asks Comey if he can be loyal.
Comey reads it as some kind of demand for patronage instead of maybe, say, questioning whether Comey will be a stand up guy and not stab Trump in the back, or leak things detrimental to him.
Trump fires Comey. Comey leaks his memos to a "friend" to forward to the MSM.
Clearly Trump made the right call in firing the guy. he would have stabbed him in the back. He was already, from the very first meeting together, making notes of their every conversation. What kind of a disloyal D-Bag does that?
"And then, fired him when he didn't drop it because of (according to DJT himself) his handling of the Russia investigation stuff that DJT wanted him to drop."
BS. You have no evidence supporting that assertion. He could have just as easily fired Comey because he was the one guy in the room who towered over Trump.
But more realistically Comey likely got fired because he was insubordinate and disloyal. He was repeatedly told to clean up the leaking. Comey agreed that it was a big problem. Then, months later, there were no scalps on the wall, and the intensity of leaking of classified material had, if anything increased. He again, of course, agreed that the leaking was a big problem, but didn't do anything visible to solve it. Comey wasn't in-your-face insubordinate, but rather bureaucratic passive aggressive insubordinate. He had been given his priorities from his 3rd level boss, and instead of getting Trump his scalps (which would start diminishing the leaking), he continued to devote resources to the smoke that the Dems/MSM were blowing about Russian collaboration and meddling. Trump would likely have lived with the fake Russian probe, if he had gotten what he wanted from Comey and the FBI (for them to have gone visibly after the leakers). But he didn't, and Comey was fired.
""2) but, of course, Comey admitted that Trump never told him to drop the investigation, just asked him to."
And then, fired him when he didn't drop it because of (according to DJT himself) his handling of the Russia investigation stuff that DJT wanted him to drop."
He asked him about letting the Flynn stuff go (which was not investigating Trump). He said he fired him for his handling of the Russia investigation (which was not investigating Trump). Two different things.
And Comey told Trump privately 2 times he was NOT being investigated, but would not say so publicly, even when the inaccurate reports abounded that Trump was involved.
I "hope" the Democrats, the 'left' and the media (but I repeat myself) can just move on and get back to debating policy and the Republicans - who have control of the government - deliver what the PEOPLE, who put them there, want.
Just like Trump "hoped" Comey would back off Flynn, I don't count on it.
Let me add a couple things to the last. 1) We all know that there has been and continues to be a lot of leaking going on, much of it of classified information, with the fairly obvious intent of harming Trump and delegitimizating his Presidency. 2) Leaking of classified information is a federal felony. 3) The FBI should be the lead agency I the leak investigations. Yet, they have no scalps, except for maybe Reality Winner this week. And notably, her leaking was most of 4 months into the Trump Administration, and if the FBI had been doing their jobs, probably should have been too scared to leak it. 4) The arrest of Winner shows that the FBI (etc) have the tools to track down the leakers. Why haven't they?
Meanwhile Hillary is waiting in a side room with Ruth Bader Ginsberg and a Bible.
She gets home tonight, throws a vase at Bill. "Those F'ers had one last chance to make me queen. But could they finally get it right. Nooooooooo. Jesus Christ, can I get a vodka tonic? Where the hell is Esmeralda?" *cough cough cough haaaaackkkk* "First Huma goes back to The Wiener and now the help can't even get me a vodka tonic when I demand one. God Bill, I swear you could F up a wet dream."
"Comey admitted that Trump never told him to drop the investigation, just asked him to. "
Everybody knows that Flynn did nothing wrong except not tell Pence about his phone call with the Russians. Maybe he forgot what was said, sort of like how they entrapped Scooter Libby,
OK, Trump fired him.
Then he said "I hope you can let this go now." as he had been fired and there was no crime.
Of course people like Comey and Patrick Fitzgerald and Lawrence Walsh cannot let anything "go." They have to collect scalps, Republican scalps.
It doesn't matter if there is no underlying crime. Even Martha Stewart got sent to prison for this sort of thing.
"1) We all know that there has been and continues to be a lot of leaking going on, much of it of classified information, with the fairly obvious intent of harming Trump and delegitimizating his Presidency."
= patriotic whistle blower who can't stand by while DJT admin folks are publicly lying about their ties to foreign countries.
It doesn't matter if there is no underlying crime. Even Martha Stewart got sent to prison for this sort of thing.
Powerline had a thread on this recently. There doesn't have to be an actual crime committed for federal prosecutors to go after you. See Root and Cardiac Arrest.
A) I'm not watching, appreciate those with stronger stomachs/more patience/more time who do, B) All I've gleaned so far is "Yawn", and C) This is a darkly comic satire on our entire government, but I think Key & Peele did it first and better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdXo8uJ9NSk
Right, except that Comey's testimony was that he thought Trump was asking him to drop the Flynn matter, which at that point was a possibility of Flynn lying to the FBI. And Comey did NOT think Trump was asking him to drop the Russia investigation at large. In fact, Comey testified that Trump specifically wanted the Russia investigation to get completed (but quicker) EVEN if it swept up some tangential figures.
Trump was NOT being investigated, and he wanted Comey to say that publicly. Comey wouldn't.
Like I said, I think Comey's testimony today (especially his admission of leaking his internal memos to his buddy at Columbia) proves Trump did the right thing. Comey was conspiring against him and was gonna stab him in the back.
PB continues to give the game away: "= patriotic whistle blower who can't stand by while DJT admin folks are publicly lying about their ties to foreign countries."
LOL
"Treasonous Trump/Putin Collusion!!" has morphed, almost AGW to Climate Change-like, into DJT admin folks have "ties" to foreign countries!
Next up, DJT associates subsribe to Foreign Affairs Magazine!! DJT Associates have vacationed in Belize!!
It just keeps getting better and better.
Here we are a full year into a BS "investigation" designed to cover for obama admin mass spying on American citizens and all the charges from the dems, contrary to all REAL investigations, more and more vague and opaque.
Well, that fake narrative can't sustain itself now, can it?
Martha Stewart got convicted of insider trading, which was sort of true, and lying to a FBI agent, but his and her recollection of the question asked differed and there was no recording, just the agent's "notes" written down after he got back to his office.
My understanding is that Comey prosecuted her as a favor to a New York politician Martha had bad-mouthed, and she was convicted of being rich and powerful. At least one juror admitted as much.
As President Trump can pardon Flynn, ask that the investigation into Russian interference in our election be stopped and fire the FBI director, even though it sounds like a bribe-- do you like your job, can you make this Russian thing go way? But the question is does it matter that this president seems to have no regard for our laws and the institutions that try to up hold them? And why such defense of Flynn-- we shall see if the satellites will hold while the center folds around constitutional privilege.
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357 comments:
1 – 200 of 357 Newer› Newest»Althouse can knock off early today and hit the trails! Sweet!
The Republican chair is quite deferential to Comey. I don't think Senate Republicans are going to cover for Trump's bad behavior.
If Republicans want to get rid of Trump then they should do it themselves.
I think there is cordination between AG Sessions, Priebus, congressional Republicans to get a President Pence in place ASAP!
I think Priebus and others close to Trump encouraged Trump to walk into this trap.
Once written, twice... said...
"If Republicans want to get rid of Trump then they should do it themselves."
Yes, indeed. We'll see who's running against him in 2020.
Now wipe your chin.
Once written, twice...So You think this is a Coup d'Etat by the Deep State to over turn the election won by a Nationalist America First President. That makes Congress a coven of traitors at war with the Republic.
We need some elections, unless the Coup leaders call that off too. .
Is "once" have a seizure ?
Why didn't Sessions or Priebus or someone else not tell Trump that it was a bad idea for them to step out so they could have a one on one conversation?
The Tweet by the POTUS DJ Trump --
The FAKE MSM is working so hard trying to get me not to use Social Media. They hate that I can get the honest and unfiltered message out.
Kick 'em in the nuts, Trump.
I think Trump should remain as President. Elections have consequences and we should live with this one instead of taking what appears to be the easy way out.
But there is no doubt that Trump is a crazy. We just have to neutralize him as he continues to hold office.
Wow, talk about believing what you want to see... Don't believe everything you think, Once. I'm sure your therapist has told you that a couple of times.
Don't waste your day following this. Nothing will come out of it to impeach Trump, anything exonerating Trump will be spun by the media or memory holed. Tomorrow morning will be no different than today.
I know this because Democrats are saying the Mothership didn't arrive today only because the prophecy was not adjusted to account for the variance in declination of true north and something something mumble mumble something about Venus in retrograde.
New Day of Doom is forecasted for June 22nd and they really mean it this time.
We just have to neutralize him as he continues to hold office.
Are you going to take away his pen and his phone?
I'm so worked up that I'm going to take something into my own hands.
Blood is coursing through my adrenaline.
So far Republicans are elevating Comey as he makes his case against Trump. I think two things are at play here--
1) Senate Republicans know this is not going to end well for Trump and they don't want to have video played back at them in the future of them supporting Trump.
2) Given number 1, they want to bring Trump down fast.
So Comey just said that the Lynch-Clinton tarmac meeting was a major reason he went to the public over the email scandal, and furthermore that Lynch asked him to not call the email investigation an "investigation". Clearly Lynch's behavior concerned him. Did it concern him as much a Trump apparently did? I wonder if in any subsequent meetings with Lynch he took detailed notes?
The questions I would ask Comey after reading his statement:
1. You talk about one of the functions of counter intelligence being to recruit double agents. Did you try to recruit Donald Trump to be a double agent?
2. You knew that President Tump had called for you to be fired during the campaign. Yet you set up your first meeting with him to confront him with the golden shower dossier. Were you trying to blackmail him into letting you keep your job?
3. You say you may have understood the "honest loyalty" you promised President Trump differently than he did. Aren't you saying that you lied or made a false promise to the President?
4. You have been criticised for influencing the outcome of the election in your statements regarding the FBI investigation of Hilary Clinton. Don't you have a blatant conflict of interest? Shouldn't you have recused yourself from the Russia investigation?
"Senate Republicans know this is not going to end well for Trump" Completely delusional? Nothing can happen that will hurt Trump. Some parts have helped him already.
Comey just said he believed Trump directed him to let Flynn go. This appears to mean that Comey believed at the time of the meeting that Trump was obstructing justice. Does he not have a duty to report something like that?
Once Bitten is about to spin off into space.
I've only been able to catch a bit of the hearing.
It looks like Comey is having a public therapy session.
Fen said...
Don't waste your day following this. Nothing will come out of it to impeach Trump, anything exonerating Trump will be spun by the media or memory holed. Tomorrow morning will be no different than today."
Yeah, the Dems will continue to throw chum in the water until the 2018 midterm at least to keep their dim bulb base excited, but there's nothing there.
Comey is playing the "I was a frightened little girl and Trump scared me" card.
David Docetad said...
Comey is playing the "I was a frightened little girl and Trump scared me" card.
6/8/17, 10:12 AM
It will work with emo men and watchers of "The View."
So now Comey says he told other people in the FBI that Trump ordered him to kill the Flynn investigation.
Rubio just made a great point. Pretty much everything the FBI was doing on Russia-Trump was leaked, EXCEPT the fact that Trump was not under investigation. Despite the fact that members and leaders in congress and people in the FBI knew that fact for weeks and weeks.
But that never leaked. And Comey refused to go public and say Trump was not under investigation.
Curious.
Comey says his firing was Russian Investigation related. And it was. Trump wanted Comey to say in public that Trump was not under investigation, which Comey was telling everyone in confidence, but refusing to say in public as an FBI statement "because it might change later."
After waiting three months under a constant media slanderama,Trump seized the day and fired him so he could testify in public what he had told Trump three times that Trump was not under investigation.
And Trump won again. That statement just happened on every known TV channel broadcast uninterrupted, and under oath.
This Comey hearing is a perfect example of how the media and Democrats coordinate to try and influence us.
We all know that the DC bureaucrats who hate Trump leak. It's all they do all day long. And left and right media have all their sources leaking leaking and more leaking.
Are we to believe the media didn't know Trump wasn't under investigation?
Of course they knew. They just kept it to themselves.
Liars.
Why didn't Sessions or Priebus or someone else not tell Trump that it was a bad idea for them to step out so they could have a one on one conversation?
Why is it so bad?
Comey had already met one on one with Trump on Jan 6, at Comey's request. So how is it supposed to be a thing that you never meet alone with the FBI director?
"I think Priebus and others close to Trump encouraged Trump to walk into this trap."
-- Ah yes. The trap where Comey admits that the media WAS peddaling fake news about whether Trump was told he was a target and where Comey reasserts there was no obstruction. A real Wily E. Coyote trap.
This is somewhat entertaining, but ultimately a big nothing-burger.
According to Comey:
1) Trump asked him to "let Flynn go, if he could"
2) Asked him to publicly state what he told him privately 3 times
3) Asked him to be loyal.
Wow, that really is just like Watergate!
"So Comey just said that the Lynch-Clinton tarmac meeting was a major reason he went to the public over the email scandal, and furthermore that Lynch asked him to not call the email investigation an "investigation". "
-- ... That's... that's about the same level of obstruction as Trump. It may actually be worse since she openly asked Comey to LIE for political reasons, whereas Trump wanted him to tell the truth.
"Comey just said he believed Trump directed him to let Flynn go. This appears to mean that Comey believed at the time of the meeting that Trump was obstructing justice. Does he not have a duty to report something like that?"
-- If he does, then he should be tried for perjury.
Susan Collins delving to find if the FBI was investigating criminally investigating Trump and Comey gives a clear "No."
I know its a million years ago, but people seem to forget that in Jan/Feb people were expecting Trump to fire Comey since everyone hated him - Republicans and Democrats.
Trump said at the time that he wanted to give Comey a chance. So, he gave him a chance, and he fired him in May. Poor Trump he assumed the Democrats were sincere in their Comey hatred. He forgot the Democrats will lie and say one thing today and the opposite tomorrow - their only consistent principle is the pursuit of power.
I hope it doesn't preempt Rush.
Wait, so the FBI had ruled out even investigating investigating Trump... but we've been being told for WEEKS that Trump was actually being investigated, and that Trump was lying about Comey telling him he wasn't being investigated?
How many journalists totally cocked this up?
"Trump said at the time that he wanted to give Comey a chance."
-- And what did Comey do with that chance? Lie to Congress in just exactly the way to help Huma Abedin not seem to have broken as many laws as the public thought she did.
"Comey just said he believed Trump directed him to let Flynn go."
Most people wouldn't read Trump's words (as described Comey) that way. And isn't it funny, that Trump never brought the subject up again. You'd think he was really concerned about protecting Flynn, he'd do more than just bring it up once and then forget about it.
"How many journalists totally cocked this up?"
How many of them knew the truth - that Trump was NOT under investigation - but refused to print it?
Are we supposed to be believe that none of the congressmen or FBI execs who knew that Trump was not being investigated - aka the leakers - didn't talk to the NYT or WaPo about this?
"How many journalists totally cocked this up?"
I think the proper word here is "cooked". "Cocked" gives them a little too much credit for honesty. I basically find it impossible to believe that they didn't already know the truth about that when they were writing the stories- I think where they went awry was in believing Comey was going to lie about it this morning.
Think about it- you have nothing personally at stake, but you want Trump impeached at any cost. So, you think someone other person really wants this also, but you can't see that this person is in legal jeopardy as a cost. The difference between lying and lying under oath. Add to that factor that the truth might well have been recorded by party that had good reason to not trust you in the first place.
I think it is a failure to be able to see things from any perspective but ones own.
Comey is now stressing that Trump actually speaking to him alone is the proof of Trump's high crimes.
No wonder Comey tried to get himself fired. He wanted to get out of the Catch-22 world he was living inside.
rcocean: "How many of them knew the truth - that Trump was NOT under investigation - but refused to print it?"
All. Of. Them.
So far no Trump tweets at all. Those poor people at the pub are probably parched!
When will the "two scoops of ice cream" inquiry begin?
Clyde: "So far no Trump tweets at all. Those poor people at the pub are probably parched!"
Parched "pub-ites"?! Pitiful. Painful. Pathetic.
I don't think Senate Republicans are going to cover for Trump's bad behavior.
Good God, man. We've been hearing about stolen elections, collusion with hostile governments, obstruction of justice, and imminent impeachment proceedings. And at this point all we've got is "bad behavior"?
Trump was elected precisely because his bad behavior was acceptable compared to Hillary's.
Russians out. Obstruction of justice in.
According to Inga, it was three scoops, and it was topped with vodka- Russian Vodka!
And now Comey admits to leaking to the press.
This same guy who wants us to believe he couldn't tell us Trump wasn't under investigation.
pacwest: "Russians out. Obstruction of justice in."
The Russians were never really "in". That was simply the cover to execute continuous surveillance of the Trump folks and arrange for a "process infraction" to establish the impeachment basis for the coup the dems/media/deep staters desperately desire.
"And now Comey admits to leaking to the press."
-- Wait. What's the quote? That... that's probably a crime.
Comey just said he believed Trump directed him to let Flynn go.
Rubio reminded everyone that Trump used the same words the next day at his press conference which were then broadcast to the world. It wasn't a secret he felt that way. And it wasn't something hush-hush or between him and Comey.
Trump put his feelings about the matter on the record, which the keepers of the record immediately dismissed as inconvenient to their narrative.
Kevin: "Rubio reminded everyone that Trump used the same words the next day at his press conference which were then broadcast to the world."
Yes, but that was only the super secret "dog whistle" statement that was, like, totally different and stuff than what Trump said to Comey!
Totally!!
Fitz-Mas!....er, I mean Comey-mas!!
Blogger Matthew Sablan said...
"And now Comey admits to leaking to the press."
-- Wait. What's the quote? That... that's probably a crime.
6/8/17, 10:45 AM
I'll have to wait for a transcript. He says he gave his memo to a friend who works at a university to leak to the press.
Matthew,
Comey admitted to asking a friend to share the "contemporaneous" memo he wrote.
Wake me when it's over.
I watched Senator Collins trying to rehabilitate the witness by getting him to say that the assurance to Trump of "no investigation" was "no investigation of your getting Russian hookers to pee on the hotel bed once occupied by Obama" but even Comey wouldn't quite say that. He could only say that the "context" of the conversation was around that particular piece of salacious BS.
It would be like me asking the police if I am being arrested and they say "No," and I believe them, when later on somebody is going to try to say what the police meant was, "You're not being arrested for THIS." Where "THIS" is never mentioned and I am allowed to proceed without tickets or any other indication of official interest or intervention.
Please.
... Yeah. That was work product. He doesn't have the right to share that.
Kevin,
Yes, but did Trump use the word "smidgen"? If not, then that is also obstruction of justice!
I think specifically he says, and this isn't an exact quote but close.
"I asked a friend to share the contents of the memo with a reporter"
Because he was trying to get a special counsel appointed.
The question you have to ask yourself is- why ask a friend to do it?
Drago: "...pretext..."
Bingo.
Good grief, I'm so relieved that Comey is not longer in a position of power. He's utterly incompetent.
Remember, in the very, very near future, the establishment guys and gals will have to account for why it was that they have been spying on the US citizens, journalists and even congressional personnel and having that information unmasked and used politically and in many other ways that have only recently come to light.
Comey, Brennan, Yates, Clapper and the entire obambi Chicago Cabal are going to be smack dab in the middle of all that so its critical that some muddying of the waters in a public relations way be created.
That explains the white hot intensity of the dems to shut this down now before more comes out ahead of congressional hearings and re-approval of the surveillance tools this October.
"The question you have to ask yourself is- why ask a friend to do it?"
-- Because the friend could make a mistake ("No one told Trump he was under investigation! That wouldn't happen!") without reflecting poorly on Comey.
How much is this farce-show trial-circus costing We, the Taxpayer?
I hope this Colosium Spectacle costs the Media at least 9 figures. A day.
Colosseum.
Trump is a liar. Comey is not. Let that sink in...
Nonapod: "Good grief, I'm so relieved that Comey is not longer in a position of power. He's utterly incompetent"
Comey was a pure "fixer" appointee for the dems (take a look at all the shenanigans he had been involved in, always assisting the Clintons) and had Lynch not screwed things up so publicly with that meeting on the tarmac Comey would never have been put in the public position of doing the old onsey-twosey sidestep.
In other words, his rear end would have remained fully covered.
Its clear that what was passed between Lynch and Clinton on the tarmac must have been critically important to share with no ability for anyone to listen in.
Café=open thread?
Was listening to NPR the other day, and both the interviewer and some "Professor of Conflict Resolution" [sic] were both calling Qatar "ka-tar" like regular people.
Was this some rogue apostate, or is that the thing again, now? What happened, did the incumbent President call the country "gutter" so all the right-thinking people have swapped back ... ?
sunsong: "Trump is a liar. Comey is not. Let that sink in..."
Comey the felonious leaker.
Comey, the incompetent, who didn't have the courage to "stand up" to Trump and turn him in as he is legally bound to do!
Unless there was nothing really to "turn in" Trump for, in which case Comey is just a political hack.
Choose.
Drago: "sunsong: "Trump is a liar."
If you like your narrative, you may keep your narrative. No one is going to take it away from you. Period.
Here is the relevant quote as best I remember it, but this is obviously a paraphrase:<
I woke up in the middle of the night, because it suddenly dawned on me that there might be a tape of our conversation. I thought I needed to make it public. I asked a friend to give the memo to a reporter. I didn’t do it myself for a lot of reasons. I asked him because I thought that might provoke the appointment of a special counsel. The friend is a professor at Columbia
The interesting part to me are the "lot of reasons" he didn't do it himself. That makes literally zero sense- what you do using a conduit is no different than doing it without the conduit. Add to that- why be concerned that there was possible recording of the conversation? Why would that make it necessary to make the conversation public? I mean, I could understand it motivating you to write the memo, but not to suddenly make it public. Was he thinking the recording might get released in doctored form?
Comey just said "He broke me! He broke me! He broke me!" Twenty six Democrats fainted.
It's not a leak if you are not in the government.
NB: Comey has mastered the appearance of being incompetent technique to create a presumption of honesty. No one that dumb could ever think of doing evil and betraying you. Oops, yes they can; and this type wears perfect sheep's clothing everyday. It is Religious Deception Act 101. Ever see a Pope act intelligent?
traditionalguy: "It is Religious Deception 101"
Lets just call it "Democrat/Deep State Taqiya"
What is the proper name for a group of ostriches?
"Was he thinking the recording might get released in doctored form?"
-- That's possible; what I really think is that he wanted to do maximum damage. If he gave the memo, the reporter would have asked HIM about it. Doing that, unless Comey was willing to lie (which, looks like he's not), he would have had to admit, "Yeah. Trump's right. The Comey crowed three times, 'You're not under investigation!'"
Giving it to his friend creates a buffer where the friend can make an honest mistake, Comey doesn't have to lie, and it does maximum damage to Trump.
This whole thing about leaking to get a special counsel appointed is bizarre. And disturbing.
The Bureaucracy really wants to take Trump down.
readering: "What is the proper name for a group of ostriches?"
Members of the European Parliament and Member States Governments re: islamist terror.
Thanks for asking.
"The Russians were never really "in"."
Yeah. They were always going to go for the low hanging fruit. Not sure if Comey's "uneasiness" is enough to hang Trump, but I'm sure it will be heavily expanded by the MSM. Plan on hearing about obstruction = impeachment 24/7.
We can guess what we will be hearing from Inga for the next several weeks.
The United States Congress, readering.
Blogger sunsong said...
Trump is a liar. Comey is not. Let that sink in...
The delusions of the credentialed but uneducated are funny/sad to see.
I'm not watching because I have a weak stomach.
Comey admits to a felonious leak (one step removed) WITHOUT EVEN BEING ASKED!!
He probably, probably, assumes this leak has come to light somewhere within the DOJ.
Since it seems like we are going into another cold spell and that false god is finally showing feet of clay, they need something to believe in.
Readering,
You have no idea what you are talking about. Work product remains work product even if you have been canned. A leak is still a leak- or are we going to play the semantics game about the definition of a "leak"?
pacwest: " Plan on hearing about obstruction = impeachment 24/7."
of course. They did it to Reagan, HWBush and W as well.
There is nothing more predictable than dems calling something "watergate redux" and demanding the impeachment of a republican President. They've been doing that for a long, long time.
So Comey just said that the Lynch-Clinton tarmac meeting was a major reason he went to the public over the email scandal, and furthermore that Lynch asked him to not call the email investigation an "investigation". Clearly Lynch's behavior concerned him. Did it concern him as much a Trump apparently did? I wonder if in any subsequent meetings with Lynch he took detailed notes?
I wondered this too and wish Comey would be questioned about whether or not he felt sufficiently concerned about Lynch's behavior to record memos. He answered a question about doing so with other presidents but I don't think anyone followed up to ask the same question about his interactions with the AG.
IMO there is a better case, from facts already made public, of obstruction of justice regarding the Clinton investigation than the current Russian collusion case. Obama just had the sense to make Loretta Lynch the one who might have to take the fall for it, instead of interacting directly with Comey.
Blogger Yancey Ward said...
Readering,
You have no idea what you are talking about. Work product remains work product even if you have been canned. A leak is still a leak- or are we going to play the semantics game about the definition of a "leak"?
6/8/17, 11:10 AM
Comey says during the hearing that, "As a private citizen I felt free to share it."
Incredible.
Drago,
That is what I think, too. Comey knows someone has outed him already despite his using a third party to leak it- it is probable that the friend was forced to do so, or has at least been asked about it by law enforcement.
By far the easiest explanation for why Comey used a third party is that he knew he was breaking the law in leaking it. Of all the things he has said today, this is the one I think actually shows him in a good light- he wasn't willing to let this friend hang out on a limb- he took the responsibility in the end. That is actually admirable.
All I can say from what I have read is
1) I don't know yet who is hurt or helped by the testimony
2) this guy needed to be fired regardless
"Weirdo" is a spot-on assessment of Comey.
Ken B,
Yes, the testimony is almost proof positive that he was simply not competent enough to run the FBI- either emotionally or skill-wise.
You have to remember something about the memo leak- the original story made it sound like the leak came from Comey's colleagues in the FBI or in the DoJ, not from outside the bureau or the agency. I don't think that was accidental.
Very important item to remember: Comey met with Mueller prior to this testimony to discuss his testimony.
Could it be at that meeting that Mueller informed Comey of potential evidence linking Comey to that leak? If so, that might explain Comey's "Rush to Confess Tour 2017"
I wondered this too and wish Comey would be questioned about whether or not he felt sufficiently concerned about Lynch's behavior to record memos.
He was asked and answered that he made no memos of his conversations with Lynch, troubled as he was about them.
Yancey: Probably another reason to have a friend do it than himself.
"Could it be at that meeting that Mueller informed Comey of potential evidence linking Comey to that leak?"
-- The other possibility, I see is: "Hey, your friend? This guy: He had your work product. How did he get that? I mean, getting that means he probably did something pretty illegal."
And then Comey copped to giving it to the guy to keep his friend out of serious troublke.
The democrats are "helpfully" changing the characterization of Comey's testimony (since it would be too exhausting for Comey to do it) and saying, flat out, that Trump told Comey to drop the Flynn investigation.
Expect more of that as the nothingburger gets longer in the tooth.
Perhaps Trump will begin calling the MSM-ers "The Seagull Press".
Michael K., I believe you give sunsong too much credit. What are sunsong's "credentials?" A B.A. in Womyn's Studies with a minor in Virtue Signaling?
The problem with the new narrative is that the investigation wasn't dropped after Comey was fired. The only piece of evidence is that one conversation about Flynn, and in it even Comey has admitted that he didn't think it was an order to drop that part of the investigation.
There really is nothing here.
Democrats just asked Comey where the bad man touched him. Developing. . . .
Quite frankly, whats much more troubling is the explicit anti-Christian Religious Test that Senator Sanders and the dems are apparently attempting to institute for government employees.
Unexpectedly.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/bernie-sanders-chris-van-hollen-russell-vought/529614/
Yancey Ward: "There really is nothing here."
There never was and all the dems know it.
But after you've called this "Pearl Harbor", which the dems did, accuse Trump and associates of actual TREASON, what do you do when that falls apart? What about your media allies and deep staters who are all so invested in that story and you've staked everything on it?
You do precisely what the dems have done: manufacture innuendo and smears daily to cloud the issues so that when the bottom falls out there will be so much fake chum and squid ink in the water you can beat a hasty retreat all the while saying don't blame me, there was so much "smoke" there we had to investigate.
"impeachment 24/7."
"of course."
Much different this time. CNN and others have been caught in several lies now. The only way they can come out the other side with any credibility at all is if President Trump is impeached. Bush was level 2. Trump will be level 11.
McCain was sad. His wife needs to come and take him home. He's finished.
pacwest: "The only way they can come out the other side with any credibility at all is if President Trump is impeached. Bush was level 2. Trump will be level 11."
I don't know about that.
I mean, you are correct about the media going to "11". Absolutely.
But in terms of "credibility", they are leftists so their definitions are different than yours and mine.
CNN and the rest have already established their LEFTIST POLITICAL credibility with all their peers so the actual facts don't impact that.
All will be judged politically and nothing else matters.
They will be seen as simply "taking one for the team" in advancing the impeachment cause and will suffer no adverse consequences other than what has already occurred in the marketplace of ideas.
Which works for us because what little credibility the media had in the middle of the country has been further squandered.
McCain needs to spend more taxpayers' money to buy made-up crap from the 4 Chan kiddies.
Looking at newspapers online, its interesting to see which of those are anti-Trump, and which are more interested in reporting the news. Liberal Minneapolis paper has it all over their homepage. On their newsfeed, the last non-anti-Trump item was at 7:29 AM.
More moderate St Paul paper has only one item on this and it is a link down aways on their home page. Both papers know who their target is and who will generate clicks on their respective web sites.
Just saw on Twitter
"Hey, I just me you
And call me crazy
But Trump's not guilty
Comey maybe"
I was surprised that Inga hasn't weighed in yet, but then I realized she is undoubtedly focused on the hearing with the same breathless concentration my grandma used to have when she tuned into "The Days of Our Lives."
"Will Joanne Kingston realize that her husband and her best friend are having an affair? And tie it in with Bill Morgan's sudden disappearance?"
"There is nothing more predictable than dems calling something "watergate redux"
Watergate was the only time in US history that Democrats actually "took down" a president.
The Whigs acted very similarly toward Polk and maybe there are actually Democrats who remember that and want revenge.
I doubt it. I think their behavior is more on the order of muscle twitches in lower vertebrates.
I don't know a Democrat who knows any history before 1932. Only a few know anything before 1965.
I’m not watching. I’d rather catch the highlights on this thread. Of course I am recording it to view later should I need to. My discretionary time, of which I have much, is spent doing only what is fun. Watching the malevolent political whores on the committee question a liar is pointless and not fun.
In the coming days better brains than mine will analyze all this shit down to the word. I’ll research both sides, consult the record and try to figure things out that way. I do appreciate those who ARE viewing this dick-dance so I don’t have to. That allows me to sample this pathetic display, this WWE of political theatre of the absurd questioning the corrupt, in small doses.
When will the "two scoops of ice cream" inquiry begin?
Beautiful.
I don't think Senate Republicans are going to cover for Trump's bad behavior.
The Senate Republicans are going to undermine Trump whenever they believe they safely can. They’re firmly allied with the Democrats and the MSM in their anti-Trumpery. I guess the commentor didn’t know this. They have to pick their shots carefully because most of them would pay a huge political price if the Trump supporters back in their home states saw them openly pull that crap. I love the “bad behavior” meme. Trump is such a bad boy. Always into mischief …
Comey just said "He broke me! He broke me! He broke me!" Twenty six Democrats fainted.
Gets a like from me.
I sure hope this hearing ends soon.
OOPS!!
I'm obstructing justice!
Drago, on the religious test that Sanders wants to impose. I read that story on Huff Post, then read the comments. When even the lefty Huff Post readers are condemning Sanders...... But I think they get it. If you can ban Christians from holding public positions, then can't you also ban Muslims from holding those jobs? Once you start implementing a religious test to hold a civil service job, things won't go well.
The Bern is saying that if a person believes in what John 3:16 says, he (or she) cannot hold a public position. And remember folks, The Bern is the first choice for president for a large number of people out there.
"Comey just said "He broke me! He broke me! He broke me!" Twenty six Democrats fainted. "
I am so stealing this.
grackle: " I love the “bad behavior” meme. Trump is such a bad boy. Always into mischief … "
And Comey would have stopped it all if only that meddling Trump hadn't fired him!!
Now, alas, according to Comey, the Republic is lost.
"L'état, c'est Comey!!!
To finish my thought on Sanders.....The Berne is saying that only Atheists or those that believe in universal salvation can hold government jobs.
Keep in mind, this was never about the "Russians" from the get go.
It was made up post-election. The Democrats knew it, since they're the ones that made it up.
No, you scream "WE NEED AN INVESTIGATION" that Jill Stein kicked off. Then, the dems/media run play after the play, moving the chains downfield. They are not looking for a Hail Mary, as some suggest. Just a power run game, moving the chains, getting the ball closer and closer to the impeachment end zone.
This is about setting Trump up for Impeachment through process.
See Scooter Libby.
Oh, by the way-
Who appointed the Special Prosecutor in the bogus Valerie Plame leak case? The one that couldn't find Dick Armitage, but sent Cheney confidant Scooter Libby to prison?
Why, that was none other than James Comey.
"Now, alas, according to Comey, the Republic is lost.
'L'état, c'est Comey!!!'
All that needs is Comey holding his own head, or at least a basket holding it.
I considered sending a senator a question to ask Comey- which Comey brother was it that identified an innocent man as a home invader 40 years ago?
Dave from Minnesota: "To finish my thought on Sanders.....The Berne is saying that only Atheists or those that believe in universal salvation can hold government jobs"
This thinking is de rigueur on the left.
But to have one of them express it so openly...well. This is where we find ourselves today.
The Russians had no effect on the election.
The Trump campaign did not collude with the Russians.
Trump was never under investigation.
Trump did not obstruct justice.
Trump will not be impeached for speaking to the director of the FBI and saying that a member of his administration was "good guy."
Trump will not be impeached for firing Comey.
The Democrats will very likely lose the next election for behaving like Evergreen College students agitators - i.e., for having no leader, no policies, and no sense. They told their people they had evidence and to march, march, march, contribute, contribute, contribute. And though The Dem people may not speak up the Dem people see that it was all for nothing. Except raising money for Dem politicians. You can't fool all the Democrats all the time. Even at Evergreen the students have said: enough.
Time for Loretta Lynch to lawyer up.
The leftist hillbillies were played for suckers by their Washington masters.
And still I'll bet they will happily allow themselves to continue being played!!
Carry on lefties!
Rush is back on the air in the 2nd hour. I had to get the first hour at rushlimbaugh.com
With an opportunity to react to today's damaging testimony, equity markets modestly up on the day. Reasonable men hardest hit.
Dave from Minnesota: "To finish my thought on Sanders.....The Berne is saying that only Atheists or those that believe in universal salvation can hold government jobs"
So he's saying he doesn't want Muslims in government jobs?
I've never heard that they're big on universal salvation. Universal death for infidels, sure.
Drago, the Democrat party does have a problem with anti-Christian bigotry. But The Berne is not getting much support here as even liberals see what he did as way over the top. I think it is because it comes so close to anti-Islamic types saying Muslims shouldn't work for the gov't. Imagine applying for am management job out in the real world and during the interview you are asked about your views on eternal salvation and what needs to be done to be saved.
This is like the Charlotte NC gay pride parade, where the homosexual Trump supporters are being banned. It is a bit too close to saying that a baker doesn't have to be forced to participate in a gay wedding.
"Make them play by their own rules"
"What is the proper name for a group of ostriches?"
Avis Struthio Birdbrainicus.
Media worm Chris Cillizza: "Loretta Lynch is having a surprisingly bad day in the Comey testimony"
Unexpectedly!
Exile...we were typing at the same time. See my post right after yours. But yes, that is what Bernie was saying, even if he did't realize it.
Those who know won't tell, and those who tell don't know.
Dave from Minnesota: "Drago, the Democrat party does have a problem with anti-Christian bigotry. But The Berne is not getting much support here as even liberals see what he did as way over the top. I think it is because it comes so close to anti-Islamic types saying Muslims shouldn't work for the gov't."
You are making the mistake of using a logical framework to analyze the dems/left instead of the more appropriate political framework.
The dems don't care one whit if what they are saying is illogical or inconsistent. Only the politics matters.
Just as they (the left) do at every institution they capture, they will implement completely different rules for different groups and the only "problem" the "moderate" lefties see right now is they don't have the critical political voting mass to lock in their intentions.
Lefty Taqiya.
Earnest Prole: "Those who know won't tell, and those who tell don't know."
Oh, I don't know about that.
So, who stole Trump's phone to keep him from tweeting?
The leftist hillbillies were played for suckers by their Washington masters.
And still I'll bet they will happily allow themselves to continue being played!!
Carry on lefties!
6/8/17, 12:07 PM
And right on clue - Inga shows up, after tearing herself away from The Greatest Soap Opera On Earth!
If Trump asking Comey to go easy on someone is improper influence... what is Loretta Lynch telling him that there is to be no investigation into Clinton (I mean, that's what she clearly means when she says not to call what they're doing an investigation.)
Late in the hearing, someone followed up on the Loretta Lynch bit, and Comey said that he didn't push her to appoint a special prosecutor because he thought that would put a taint on Hillary Clinton during the campaign.
And yet in the current situation with Trump, he admits, without any reservation (no fuzz on it, as he seems fond of saying) that he leaked his own memos after he was fired for the express purpose of triggering the appointment of a special prosecutor.
The only logical difference I can think of as to why he saw the need to treat the two situations differently is the timing (Clinton's investigation was during the campaign.) That really doesn't fly though because Trump may not be in a campaign right now but the Democrats have done everything possible to put a cloud over his presidency and it's really no difference in terms of the public needing to know if there is any real misdeed or just political smoke blowing. If the appointment of special prosecutor would have created that illusion for Clinton, it does the same for Trump now. But then, he bent over backward to avoid that for Clinton and now he's personally taken steps to put Trump under air of suspicion.
I hope you can see your way clear to drop it is NY speak for asking if there's a reason why not and if not then why not drop it.
"CNN and the rest have already established their LEFTIST POLITICAL credibility with all their peers so the actual facts don't impact that."
True that, but it crushes my hopes that somewhere over the rainbow the American people aren't sheeple, that there is some integrity and common sense out there. Somewhere.
My main takeaway from the hearing was how distasteful Comey finds Trump. Pretty reminiscent of the more strident anti-Trumpers on this blog. Shorter Comey - He's icky.
Matthew Sablan: "So, who stole Trump's phone to keep him from tweeting?"
The bruised guy whimpering in the corner?
Just a guess.
Laura Ingraham tweete:
Comey gives early Christmas gift to GOP. Most Americans see this for what it is: a formerly impt man mad that he was canned. Spurned.
I guess its full speed back to "Emoluments!!11!1!!!1!"
Did you know that some foreign dignitaries visiting Washington DC stay at Trump family owned hotels?!
It's true, TRUE I tellya!
Drago: "...
The dems don't care one whit if what they are saying is illogical or inconsistent. Only the politics matters.
Just as they (the left) do at every institution they capture, they will implement completely different rules for different groups and the only "problem" the "moderate" lefties see right now is they don't have the critical political voting mass to lock in their intentions.
Lefty Taqiya."
I confess to being a slow learner; your remarks penetrate even my skull.
The message is: they say whatever they need to say to whichever listener in order to get the check, the vote, the seat. We need to forget about our main defenses, namely the rule of law and logic, the idea of Kantian reciprocality, intellectual consistency and the natural hatred of hypocrisy. We have to see those as handicaps when these people turn up and begin campaigning.
Well said.
If a foreign dignitary, staying at a Trump Hotel in Washington DC, orders more than 1 scoop of ice cream, can we impeach Trump for that?
Just askin'.
Carry on lefties!
WhiteHouse press sec Sanders said WH has decided to "outsource" comments and statements about the Comey testimony to @POTUS outside counsel Marc Kasowitz.
Last I checked there are no Trump tweets about Comeys show.
Owen: "I confess to being a slow learner; your remarks penetrate even my skull.
The message is: they say whatever they need to say to whichever listener in order to get the check, the vote, the seat. We need to forget about our main defenses, namely the rule of law and logic, the idea of Kantian reciprocality, intellectual consistency and the natural hatred of hypocrisy. We have to see those as handicaps when these people turn up and begin campaigning.
Well said."
That one made me laugh.
I was going to follow up with a "uh...yeah. That's EXACTLY what I was getting at."
Lem: "Last I checked there are no Trump tweets about Comeys show."
There is no joy in Mudville. They won't even let Casey come to bat!
Alas, we will have to content ourselves with the lefties latest batch of tears.
"All Quiet On The Leftist Front"
Rich Lowry said...
Comey’s evaluation of Trump’s character is damning, but not anything we didn’t know. Still, it’s amazing to hear a former FBI director call a president of the United States a liar.
Was it just me, or did anyone else notice all the blood coming out of Comey's eyes, blood coming out of his wherever?
Rich Lowry said...
We heard this morning about what a shrewd operator Comey is — deliberately not including any classified material in his memos about his interactions with Trump so they could be spread around as necessary, getting a friend at Columbia to leak their contents to the press after his firing to try to force the appointment of a special counsel. As a practical matter and the merits aside, this was a reason not to fire him like Trump did — Comey knows how to fight back bureaucratically and in the media.
Out: Treason!! Collusion!! Russian Hookers!!
In: Lying!!
So sayeth the felonious leaker.
LOL
"So sayeth the felonious leaker."
leaker = whistle blower
What direction do we head now? Can't stomach watching CNN to see the marching orders.
"As a practical matter and the merits aside, this was a reason not to fire him like Trump did — Comey knows how to fight back bureaucratically and in the media."
Well, yeah, if you're a mendacious weasel.
OT but largely correct, Heather MacDonald said..
It’s taken as a given among the commentariat that Islamic terrorists commit their atrocities in order to “sweep away” the West’s commitment to the “inclusiveness of diverse societies,” as the New York Times put it after the Manchester Arena bombing in England last month. As long as Europe and the U.S. preserve maximum multiculturalism, the “terrorists will have failed,” the Washington Post editorialized after that same attack. Conversely, according to this logic, Islamic terrorists will win if a country reevaluates its open-borders policy.
Why, then, did ISIS hit Iran’s parliament complex and its shrine to Ayatollah Khomeini on Wednesday? Why is it targeting Syria and other countries in North Africa? None of these places is notable for multiculturalism or open borders. Perhaps it’s because ISIS’s goals are more straightforward: to kill as many infidels as possible and to usher in the Caliphate. The liberal story-line that radical Islam is obsessed with Western “inclusiveness” and that it pays close attention to changes in immigration policy is simply narcissistic.
PB: "leaker = whistle blower"
Wikileaks thanks you.
So at the end of it all, we have Comey trying to thread the needle by heavily implying that he felt perhaps just maybe in some distant way Trump could have been attempting to obstruct justice with his "Aww shucks, Flynn's such a good guy" language, while also trying to not look like a complete idiot for not saying anything about it at the time. So ultimately we have this really pathetic attempt to keep this sham narrative going that Trump did something... anything remotely in the realm of an impeachable offense. And the MSM, the DC establishment, and most of the anti-Trump crowd are whipped up into a delusional frenzy over what amounts to... what?
PB decides now would be a good time to rewrite federal law.
Well, how "unexpected" for a leftist.
LOL
The Left have granted Trump the liberty not to care about optics. He gets to be himself and they get to keep pissing all over themselves.
No matter how hey try to spin it, the Dems won't be able to make a case for obstruction of justice.
1) if there had been a criminal investigation, and probable cause that Flynn had violated a law (under which he could have been prosecuted - which excludes the Logan Act), the prosecutors could still have refused to bring charges, under prosecutorial discretion. Similarly, the FBI could decide not to investigate crimes thoroughly (as they did with Crooked Hillary), through investigatory discretion. But that discretion is delegated them by the President, as the Constitutional head of the Executive Branch. Without him, and his power, they have no power to investigate and prosecute, nor any discretion not to. That means that if Trump said drop the investigation, they legally had to, so, since they had no power to investigate, absent his.
2) but, of course, Comey admitted that Trump never told him to drop the investigation, just asked him to.
3) But it wasn't a criminal investigation in the first place. There was never evidence supporting probable cause that a prosecutable law had been violated. It was a counter-intelligence investigation. The FBI has two roles - criminal investigations and counter-intelligence. We have known this from the start, because the FBI cannot legally use the unmasking of FISA intercepts ito initiate criminal investigations (but they can use such in certain cases if they stumble into a crime while engaged in legitimate counter-intelligence). Bottom line here is that ordering the termination of a counter-intelligence investigation cannot be obstruction of justice, because justice was not involved. Presumably (since we are talking FISA abuses by the Obama Administration) only national security was at issue.
4) even if there had been a specific statute forbidding the President from ordering a counter-intelligence investigation closed (there isn't, and he didn't), it would be of questionable validity, since counter-intelligence is at the core of the President's powers under our Constitution (see the Jackson concurrence in Youngstown Steel).
"2) but, of course, Comey admitted that Trump never told him to drop the investigation, just asked him to."
And then, fired him when he didn't drop it because of (according to DJT himself) his handling of the Russia investigation stuff that DJT wanted him to drop.
Carry on.
James Comey said...
“Lordy, I hope there are tapes.”
This just in--WNBA offers Comey a five-year contract. Developing. . .
Nothingburger.
Seems like a real 'nothingburger' compared to HRC's. We have a non-politician who doesn't know all the accepted 'protocols' and wears his frustration(s) on his sleeve. Maybe he's TOO transparent?
This just in--Bronies elect Comey as new international president. Developing. . .
Lynch...."I hope you can see your way to call the Clinton investigation a "matter" & not an investigation"
Nothing to see here either folks, just garden variety corruption.
No matter how hey try to spin it, the Dems won't be able to make a case for obstruction of justice.
Oh they're already spinning that the real answers are going to come in the closed session, and the non-answers in the open session clearly stated (wink, wink) that the answers in the closed session will be damaging.
Meanwhile Hillary is waiting in a side room with Ruth Bader Ginsberg and a Bible.
"Lynch...."I hope you can see your way to call the Clinton investigation a "matter" & not an investigation""
And when he didn't follow this, BHO fired his ass.
Amidst all kinds of allegations, innuendo, questions, complaints, investigations of "surrogates" and leaks of everything (classified and unclassified but private info) Trump asks Comey if he can be loyal.
Comey reads it as some kind of demand for patronage instead of maybe, say, questioning whether Comey will be a stand up guy and not stab Trump in the back, or leak things detrimental to him.
Trump fires Comey. Comey leaks his memos to a "friend" to forward to the MSM.
Clearly Trump made the right call in firing the guy. he would have stabbed him in the back. He was already, from the very first meeting together, making notes of their every conversation. What kind of a disloyal D-Bag does that?
Bruce Hayden: great comments, thanks.
"And then, fired him when he didn't drop it because of (according to DJT himself) his handling of the Russia investigation stuff that DJT wanted him to drop."
BS. You have no evidence supporting that assertion. He could have just as easily fired Comey because he was the one guy in the room who towered over Trump.
But more realistically Comey likely got fired because he was insubordinate and disloyal. He was repeatedly told to clean up the leaking. Comey agreed that it was a big problem. Then, months later, there were no scalps on the wall, and the intensity of leaking of classified material had, if anything increased. He again, of course, agreed that the leaking was a big problem, but didn't do anything visible to solve it. Comey wasn't in-your-face insubordinate, but rather bureaucratic passive aggressive insubordinate. He had been given his priorities from his 3rd level boss, and instead of getting Trump his scalps (which would start diminishing the leaking), he continued to devote resources to the smoke that the Dems/MSM were blowing about Russian collaboration and meddling. Trump would likely have lived with the fake Russian probe, if he had gotten what he wanted from Comey and the FBI (for them to have gone visibly after the leakers). But he didn't, and Comey was fired.
And when he didn't follow this, BHO fired his ass.
What doya mean, BHO just learned about this in the news......today!
BH,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2017/live-updates/trump-white-house/james-comey-testimony-what-we-learn/comey-pointing-to-trumps-own-comments-believes-he-was-fired-because-of-the-russia-probe/?utm_term=.d7d3324f0b62
3rd Grade said:
""2) but, of course, Comey admitted that Trump never told him to drop the investigation, just asked him to."
And then, fired him when he didn't drop it because of (according to DJT himself) his handling of the Russia investigation stuff that DJT wanted him to drop."
He asked him about letting the Flynn stuff go (which was not investigating Trump). He said he fired him for his handling of the Russia investigation (which was not investigating Trump). Two different things.
And Comey told Trump privately 2 times he was NOT being investigated, but would not say so publicly, even when the inaccurate reports abounded that Trump was involved.
Comey obviously thinks that, but he's not a trust worthy source.
Al,
Right, Flynn gots nuttin' to do w/ Russia.
Carry on.
Trump said he "hoped"
That is not a direction and no one has ever been prosecuted for hoping
I "hope" the Democrats, the 'left' and the media (but I repeat myself) can just move on and get back to debating policy and the Republicans - who have control of the government - deliver what the PEOPLE, who put them there, want.
Just like Trump "hoped" Comey would back off Flynn, I don't count on it.
Let me add a couple things to the last.
1) We all know that there has been and continues to be a lot of leaking going on, much of it of classified information, with the fairly obvious intent of harming Trump and delegitimizating his Presidency.
2) Leaking of classified information is a federal felony.
3) The FBI should be the lead agency I the leak investigations. Yet, they have no scalps, except for maybe Reality Winner this week. And notably, her leaking was most of 4 months into the Trump Administration, and if the FBI had been doing their jobs, probably should have been too scared to leak it.
4) The arrest of Winner shows that the FBI (etc) have the tools to track down the leakers. Why haven't they?
Meanwhile Hillary is waiting in a side room with Ruth Bader Ginsberg and a Bible.
She gets home tonight, throws a vase at Bill. "Those F'ers had one last chance to make me queen. But could they finally get it right. Nooooooooo. Jesus Christ, can I get a vodka tonic? Where the hell is Esmeralda?" *cough cough cough haaaaackkkk* "First Huma goes back to The Wiener and now the help can't even get me a vodka tonic when I demand one. God Bill, I swear you could F up a wet dream."
"Comey admitted that Trump never told him to drop the investigation, just asked him to. "
Everybody knows that Flynn did nothing wrong except not tell Pence about his phone call with the Russians. Maybe he forgot what was said, sort of like how they entrapped Scooter Libby,
OK, Trump fired him.
Then he said "I hope you can let this go now." as he had been fired and there was no crime.
Of course people like Comey and Patrick Fitzgerald and Lawrence Walsh cannot let anything "go." They have to collect scalps, Republican scalps.
It doesn't matter if there is no underlying crime. Even Martha Stewart got sent to prison for this sort of thing.
Someone slipped McCain a mickey.
"1) We all know that there has been and continues to be a lot of leaking going on, much of it of classified information, with the fairly obvious intent of harming Trump and delegitimizating his Presidency."
= patriotic whistle blower who can't stand by while DJT admin folks are publicly lying about their ties to foreign countries.
It doesn't matter if there is no underlying crime. Even Martha Stewart got sent to prison for this sort of thing.
Powerline had a thread on this recently. There doesn't have to be an actual crime committed for federal prosecutors to go after you. See Root and Cardiac Arrest.
A) I'm not watching, appreciate those with stronger stomachs/more patience/more time who do,
B) All I've gleaned so far is "Yawn", and
C) This is a darkly comic satire on our entire government, but I think Key & Peele did it first and better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdXo8uJ9NSk
3rd Grade said:
"Al,
Right, Flynn gots nuttin' to do w/ Russia."
Right, except that Comey's testimony was that he thought Trump was asking him to drop the Flynn matter, which at that point was a possibility of Flynn lying to the FBI. And Comey did NOT think Trump was asking him to drop the Russia investigation at large. In fact, Comey testified that Trump specifically wanted the Russia investigation to get completed (but quicker) EVEN if it swept up some tangential figures.
Trump was NOT being investigated, and he wanted Comey to say that publicly. Comey wouldn't.
Like I said, I think Comey's testimony today (especially his admission of leaking his internal memos to his buddy at Columbia) proves Trump did the right thing. Comey was conspiring against him and was gonna stab him in the back.
PB continues to give the game away: "= patriotic whistle blower who can't stand by while DJT admin folks are publicly lying about their ties to foreign countries."
LOL
"Treasonous Trump/Putin Collusion!!" has morphed, almost AGW to Climate Change-like, into DJT admin folks have "ties" to foreign countries!
Next up, DJT associates subsribe to Foreign Affairs Magazine!! DJT Associates have vacationed in Belize!!
It just keeps getting better and better.
Here we are a full year into a BS "investigation" designed to cover for obama admin mass spying on American citizens and all the charges from the dems, contrary to all REAL investigations, more and more vague and opaque.
Well, that fake narrative can't sustain itself now, can it?
Martha Stewart got convicted of insider trading, which was sort of true, and lying to a FBI agent, but his and her recollection of the question asked differed and there was no recording, just the agent's "notes" written down after he got back to his office.
My understanding is that Comey prosecuted her as a favor to a New York politician Martha had bad-mouthed, and she was convicted of being rich and powerful. At least one juror admitted as much.
patriotic whistle blower who can't stand by while DJT admin folks are publicly lying about their ties to foreign countries.
LOL. And leaks to. Wikileaks were all by traitorous scum driven by hate for their country and a groundless hatred of Hillary!
As President Trump can pardon Flynn, ask that the investigation into Russian interference in our election be stopped and fire the FBI director, even though it sounds like a bribe-- do you like your job, can you make this Russian thing go way? But the question is does it matter that this president seems to have no regard for our laws and the institutions that try to up hold them? And why such defense of Flynn-- we shall see if the satellites will hold while the center folds around constitutional privilege.
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