Patterico's Pontifications

12/19/2018

Mollie Hemingway Twists the Facts to Accuse James Comey of Lying

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:18 am



The pronouncements of Mollie Hemingway are often taken as Gospel truth by the Trump superfan section of the Internet, so a little debunking of a false claim she has recently made about James Comey is in order. Here is Mollie Hemingway on Twitter:

Mollie is here claiming that Comey lied to Congress. Her evidence does not support her claim.

Mollie, in the first tweet above, suggests that Comey could not have leaked his memo in response to Trump’s tweet, because “in fact” Trump’s tweet was “in response” to “Comey’s latest leak.” Therefore, Comey’s testimony is a “false claim” — one that he has made several times.

But Mollie’s evidence does not support her claim, which rests on a false implication that the New York Times article to which Trump was responding was based on a leaked memo from Comey. It wasn’t. Instead, that New York Times article was sourced to two anonymous “associates” of Comey’s. Mollie is dead wrong here and I have called her out.

In case this is not already crystal clear, I’m going to explain it step by step. It’s a little intricate, but stay with me and I promise that it won’t be that difficult.

Here’s the order of events as they actually happened. A New York Times story appeared on May 11, 2017, and appeared on Page A1 of the May 12, 2017 edition, titled In a Private Dinner, Trump Demanded Loyalty. Comey Demurred. The story opened with these paragraphs:

Only seven days after Donald J. Trump was sworn in as president, James B. Comey has told associates, the F.B.I. director was summoned to the White House for a one-on-one dinner with the new commander in chief.

The conversation that night in January, Mr. Comey now believes, was a harbinger of his downfall this week as head of the F.B.I., according to two people who have heard his account of the dinner.

As they ate, the president and Mr. Comey made small talk about the election and the crowd sizes at Mr. Trump’s rallies. The president then turned the conversation to whether Mr. Comey would pledge his loyalty to him.

The story is sourced to “two people who have heard [Comey’s] account of the dinner.” Elsewhere in the story they are described as Comey’s “associates”:

Mr. Comey again replied that he would give him “honesty” and did not pledge his loyalty, according to the account of the conversation.

But Mr. Trump pressed him on whether it would be “honest loyalty.”

“You will have that,” Mr. Comey told his associates he responded.

Throughout his career, Mr. Trump has made loyalty from the people who work for him a key priority, often discharging employees he considers insufficiently reliable.

As described by the two people, the dinner offers a window into Mr. Trump’s approach to the presidency, through Mr. Comey’s eyes.

Keep in mind that Comey reported the events of the meeting to top FBI officials after it happened, as well as writing a memorandum. But Comey’s memorandum is not referenced in the story. Instead, two associates described what Comey had told them at the time:

Mr. Comey described details of his refusal to pledge his loyalty to Mr. Trump to several people close to him on the condition that they not discuss it publicly while he was F.B.I. director. But now that Mr. Comey has been fired, they felt free to discuss it on the condition of anonymity.

This is the NYT story that Mollie is referencing in her first tweet, above, which embeds four images: 1) Trump’s tweet, 2) a section from Comey’s testimony, 3) a screenshot of the opening of the NYT article, and 4) a screenshot of a notation stating that the story appeared on page A1 of the May 12, 2017 edition. Here are the third and fourth images from Mollie’s first tweet above:

Hemingway Screenshot 3

Hemingway Screenshot 4

Later that same morning, May 12, 2017, Trump tweeted an implication that he had taped the meeting:

A screenshot of this tweet is the first image in Hemingway’s first tweet, followed by the second image: a screenshot of a portion of Comey’s testimony:

Hemingway Screenshot 2

Comey, in other words, testified that he leaked his memo summarizing the meeting in response to that Trump tweet. This is the testimony that Mollie is claiming is “false.”

But the claim that Comey’s testimony is false rests on the false implication that the NYT story I just discussed in great detail is based on a leak from Comey — in particular, a leak of Comey’s memo. If you put Mollie’s two tweets together, the allegedly “false claim to Congress” is the claim described in her first tweet:

Comey just told Congress he only leaked his memos in response to Trump’s 5/12/17 tweet about “tapes” of his meetings with Trump.

This is “false,” we are told, because “in fact” Trump’s tweet was made “in response” to “Comey’s latest leak.” The very strong implication here is that “Comey’s latest leak” is the leak referred to in the Comey testimony highlighted by Hemingway’s second screenshot, describing why he leaked his memo.

In other words, Hemingway is implying that the NYT story was based on Comey’s leak of his memo memorializing his dinner with Trump.

But it wasn’t. There is zero evidence of that. It’s something Hemingway is pulling out of her hind quarters. The NYT story based on the memo that Comey leaked through his friend Daniel Richman came days later, on May 16, 2018. The article was titled Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation:

President Trump asked the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote shortly after the meeting.

“I hope you can let this go,” the president told Mr. Comey, according to the memo.

It’s a different story.

Hemingway is conflating that May 16, 2018 story, which appeared four days after Trump’s tweet, with the May 11, 2018 story to which Trump was responding in his tweet. The earlier story was not based on a leaked Comey memo. The latter one was.

The timeline is consistent with Comey’s version of the events, and inconsistent with Hemingway’s revisionism. She owes James Comey a retraction and an apology.

[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]

140 Responses to “Mollie Hemingway Twists the Facts to Accuse James Comey of Lying”

  1. Ding.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  2. I’m not sure that I grasp the importance of this. But I certainly don’t take anything Ms. Hemmingway says or writes as gospel, and indeed, she rivals Sean Hannity in her lickspittledom enthrallment to Donald Trump; she’s long, long past forfeiting any respect she earned before he secured the GOP nomination. I suspect she’s planning on becoming Sarah the Huck Sanders’ replacement in due course.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  3. Ok. Comey is a great guy and a straight-shooter. Mollie is a “Lickspittle”

    Thanks for well reasoned opinion.

    rcocean (2e1c02)

  4. So, now that the NEver trumpers have been heard from. Does anyone have an informed serious opinion?

    rcocean (2e1c02)

  5. I thought she was pretty good in Personal Best.

    nk (dbc370)

  6. So, now that the NEver trumpers have been heard from. Does anyone have an informed serious opinion?

    rcocean (2e1c02) — 12/19/2018 @ 12:15 pm

    rcocean, you are accusing Patterico of being uninformed and unserious with your comment. Is that a route you want to continue on? Because if so, you will find yourself in moderation for making personal insults, which you know goes against commenting rules here.

    Question for you: Why have you reflexively attacked the writer of the post, and by extension those who are not Trumpers, instead of smartly demonstrating to readers your own seriousness in an informed and challenging opinion?

    Dana (023079)

  7. Comey/Daniels/2020

    mg (8cbc69)

  8. James Comey lies like Santa Claus goes hohoho

    it’s an FBI thing you see

    (they’re lacking in integrity)

    so this year underneath his tree

    mayhap Jimmy finds some honesty

    a new leaf turned!

    new lessons learned!

    NEVER GIVE UP ON CHRISTMAS!

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  9. #2: Because it’s not important:

    “Journalism largely consists in saying ‘Lord Jones is dead’ to people who never knew Lord Jones was alive.”
    ― G.K. Chesterton

    I’m cantankerous, restless, and exhausted, so I’m in the perfect mood for journalism.

    rpg (d9198f)

  10. I thought it was clear I was responding the comment that called Mollie a “Lickspittle” but guess it wasn’t. Both comments were directed at our beloved commentator Beldar.

    No one else.

    rcocean (2e1c02)

  11. If I disagreed with Patterico, I would’ve mentioned him by name. I will be more specific in the future.

    rcocean (2e1c02)

  12. Compared to Trump and his prime apologists, Comey is a straight shooter.
    And given the degree to which Ms. Hemingway defends Trump, “lickspittle” is not an entirely inaccurate term to describe her.

    And to be clear, unless Ms. Hemingway comments here under some clever anonym, no one who comments here can be said to truly deserve that term.

    kishnevi (845597)

  13. Thank you for the clarification, rcocean. It wasn’t clear to me. However, you realize that personal insults toward any commenters here are off limits as well?

    Dana (023079)

  14. what if it turned out this was be nice to mollie day a lot of y’all would feel really silly huh (not naming anybody)

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  15. fine ignore the actual memo, lets pretend that richman and wittes were the ones who misrepresented, 14 years ago mueller covered for him. A year before, he already knew that Armitage had leaked to miller and woodward, but he kept quiet to allow his friend fitz to be appointed special counsel,

    narciso (d1f714)

  16. Is this something MH is ‘pulling from her hind quarters’ too?

    Mollie
    @MZHemingway
    FWIW, “Russia dossier” inventor Christopher Steele lobbied Bruce Ohr at DOJ and others on behalf of Deripaska. Steele was criminally referred by Senators for lying to feds, was not registered as Deripaska’s agent, etc., but Mueller apparently has no interest.

    harkin (1161c2)

  17. @ rcocean (#3): You just manufactured something — pulled it right out of your ass — and pretended that I said it.

    I did indeed express a negative opinion of Mollie Hemmingway.

    I said nothing either way about Jim Comey. If you cared (which you obviously don’t), you could have quickly found dozens and dozens of comments I’ve left here about Jim Comey that are extremely negative and extremely detailed.

    You’re a very unpleasant fellow, and I resent you lying about me by making stuff up and pretending I said or wrote it. This is an episode of reckless dishonesty which speaks very, very badly of your credibility and dignity.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  18. seeing as this account was pivotal to the appointment of a special counsel, it matters what was said at the time, and what the record showed subsequently, it matters that mueller relayed notes in 2004, about events he was not a party to at the time, now I regard comey much like mark felt, his job was unsanctioned breakins and surveillance, yet he pretended he was above all that to woodward, who must have discovered at some point,

    narciso (d1f714)

  19. @ narciso: What Comey did and didn’t do as FBI director is important. What Mollie Hemmingway has to say about him, far less so, to anyone I suspect. As for me, I care nothing whatsoever about what she has to say, since I think she’s intellectually dishonest and a Trump sycophant who’s best ignored.

    I note that rcocean has not challenged our host’s factual assertions, including his time sequence, in Ms. Hemmingway’s defense, but rather, the only thing he contributed here was to make up a lie about what I’d said, so that he could then be snarky and insulting about me.

    I will cherish this memory, however, as one of the rare occasions when I’ve been faulted for writing too little in support of my opinions, and I think I’ll leave it at that.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  20. As w/all the talking heads hired to pump hot air into a cool medium, she is irrelevant. But when Mollie’s starts to play Hemmingway in the TeeVee Game, best to choose words and wardrobe carefully. Avoid stripes, checks, skip the potato salad–and hit the salad bar.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  21. (I would, however, still cooperate fully if there were a GoFundMe page set up to purchase a large weasel costume which I could wear while picketing Comey’s legal ethics classes at William & Mary.)

    @ nk: That was the lovely Mariel Hemmingway (#5), who’s been recently in the news again with reports that when Woody Allen was putting her, at age 16, in the role of the mistress of an actor played by himself in the film “Manhattan,” he also had a real-life 16-year-old girlfriend, who’s just gone public about the relationship.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  22. Sorry, #21 ought have said “the mistress of a character played by himself.”

    Beldar (fa637a)

  23. Here’s another example of Ms. Hemingway twisting the facts, and it also involves Comey.
    1) in fact, the secret funders were obscured from FISA court
    2) @comey denied knowing who funded it as recently as 4/26:
    @BretBaier: When did you learn that the DNC and Hilary Clinton campaign had funded Christopher Steele’s work?
    @Comey: Yes. I still don’t know that for a fact.
    However, if you go to the transcript, Comey knew it was funded by a Trump opponent didn’t know exactly who at the time.

    BAIER: When did you learn that the DNC and Hilary Clinton campaign had funded Christopher Steele’s work?
    COMEY: Yes. I still don’t know that for a fact.
    BAIER: What do you mean?
    COMEY: I’ve only seen it in the media. I never knew exactly which Democrats had funded — I knew it was funded first by Republicans —
    (CROSSTALK)
    BAIER: But that’s not true.
    COMEY: I’m sorry?
    BAIER: That’s not true that the dossier the Christopher Steele worked on was funded by Republicans.
    COMEY: My understanding was his work started funded by — as oppo research funded by Republicans.
    BAIER: So Free Beacon and — said that they had Glen Simpson and Fusion GPS on account of a retainer but they did not fund the Christopher Steele memo or the dossier. That was initiated by Democrats.
    COMEY: OK. My understanding was the activity was begun that Steele was hired to look into was first funded by Republicans then picked up — the important thing was picked up by Democrats opposed to Donald Trump.
    BAIER: So is that why — did you tell President Obama that the dossier was — who it was funded by?
    COMEY: No, not to my recollection.
    BAIER: Did you want to know who it was funded by?
    COMEY: I wanted to know what I knew which was it was funded by people politically opposed to Donald Trump.
    BAIER: OK.
    COMEY: Which, particular, opponents wasn’t that important to me.
    BAIER: But when did you — So you, still, to this day, don’t know that it was funded by the DNC or the (inaudible)?
    COMEY: I’ve read that in the media, but I don’t know for a fact and didn’t know, while I was at the FBI, who — which exact opponent of the president’s funded that.

    The lesson here is that Hemingway is so in the bag for Trump that her hyperpartisan a$$ can’t be trusted.

    Paul Montagu (8d207c)

  24. I trust Mollie Hemingway cause she understands the whole situation

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  25. “The lesson here is that Hemingway is so in the bag for Trump that her hyperpartisan a$$ can’t be trusted.”
    Paul Montagu (8d207c) — 12/19/2018 @ 4:19 pm

    I would certainly trust an FBI Director who says with a straight face that he didn’t know who exactly funded the dossier.

    Munroe (4ecc31)

  26. — Comey knew the Steele dossier was funded by people politically opposed to Donald Trump.
    — No sh!t, Sherlock?
    But which particular opponent was not important to the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Riiight!
    Comey is a weasel that no self-respecting polecat would want to be associated with.

    nk (dbc370)

  27. I’m not sure that I grasp the importance of this. But I certainly don’t take anything Ms. Hemmingway says or writes as gospel, and indeed, she rivals Sean Hannity in her lickspittledom enthrallment to Donald Trump; she’s long, long past forfeiting any respect she earned before he secured the GOP nomination. I suspect she’s planning on becoming Sarah the Huck Sanders’ replacement in due course.

    It’s just that she acts like she has this tremendous “gotcha” showing Comey lied and it’s hooey. I figured I’d show it’s hooey before it spreads.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  28. oh wow check it out

    turns out James Comey is just another corrupt piece of FBI trash

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  29. @ narciso: What Comey did and didn’t do as FBI director is important. What Mollie Hemmingway has to say about him, far less so, to anyone I suspect. As for me, I care nothing whatsoever about what she has to say, since I think she’s intellectually dishonest and a Trump sycophant who’s best ignored.

    She’s on TV, so if she says this on TV Trump will probably see it. Not everyone shares your view (which I increasingly share) that she is best ignored.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  30. And I’m sorry, Patterico, but it does look to me like Ms. Hemingway is more right than wrong. She may be be wrong about the timeline of the leak of the actual memo, but it seems to me that Comey did use a couple of associates two days earlier to leak what the memo said. Patayto, poetahto.

    nk (dbc370)

  31. I would certainly trust an FBI Director who says with a straight face that he didn’t know who exactly funded the dossier.
    Well, that would be twisting Comey’s words, too, just like Mollie did. Well done. Comey knew it was funded by a Trump opponent.

    Paul Montagu (8d207c)

  32. Ok. Comey is a great guy and a straight-shooter. Mollie is a “Lickspittle”

    Thanks for well reasoned opinion.

    Beldar did not say Comey is a great guy and a straight shooter, so you have used a deliberate and obvious strawman as a cheap route to seem like you’re effectively refuting Beldar. That’s against the rules and it’s a week-long suspension, minimum.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  33. Comey knew it was funded by a Trump opponent.

    That’s some crackerjack detective work, I’ll tell you.

    nk (dbc370)

  34. But which particular opponent was not important to the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Riiight!

    This all came back to the FISA warrant application for Carter Page, the one that the infamous Nunes Memo got wrong because the application footnote stated that the Steele reports were requested by a Trump opponent. And whoever did pay Steele committed an FEC violation because it was a concealed campaign expenditure, washed through Perkins Coie.

    Paul Montagu (8d207c)

  35. “Well, that would be twisting Comey’s words, too, just like Mollie did. Well done. Comey knew it was funded by a Trump opponent.”
    Paul Montagu (8d207c) — 12/19/2018 @ 4:39 pm

    To ignore my intentional use of the word “exactly” is to twist my words. Very Comeyesque.

    Munroe (b2f076)

  36. To ignore my intentional use of the word “exactly” is to twist my words. Very Comeyesque.

    Ok, I withdraw my comment.

    Paul Montagu (8d207c)

  37. Mollie Hemingway isn’t a lickspittle she’s a nice lady who loves freedom and america and doing the right thing

    for reals lickspittles are include John McCain

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  38. A democrat friend told me today he hates to see Ryan leave as he did a stellar job at stopping Trumps agenda, he thinks Pelosi will be a failure.

    mg (8cbc69)

  39. The problem is he should have if he was to include it in an intelligence estimate, and/or a fisa warrant
    , if you can’t verify the source one shouldn’t use it.

    narciso (d1f714)

  40. Comey’s scummy conduct calls into question everything the sleazy deeply-compromised FBI did or said on his watch

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  41. If Comey had told the FISA court that it was Hillary behind the dossier, would the court have given him a warrant for Trump’s campaign or Hillary’s campaign?

    nk (dbc370)

  42. If Comey had told the FISA court that it was Hillary behind the dossier, would the court have given him a warrant for Trump’s campaign or Hillary’s campaign?

    we found out these dirty FISA judges are as unethical and sleazy as the FBI

    it’s all just kind of rotten

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  43. And I’m sorry, Patterico, but it does look to me like Ms. Hemingway is more right than wrong. She may be be wrong about the timeline of the leak of the actual memo, but it seems to me that Comey did use a couple of associates two days earlier to leak what the memo said. Patayto, poetahto.

    It’s not potato, potahto because Mollie’s point is to assert Comey lied about why he leaked the memo.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  44. leaking was wrong and scummy

    there’s no excuse for Comey’s treasonous and barbaric acts

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  45. I take Comey at his word that he wanted a special counsel, now that he, McCabe and Sally Yates were hors de combat.

    nk (dbc370)

  46. happyfeet, one of the judges on the FISA court — the chief judge, in fact — is someone with whom I worked very extensively some years ago, and I still consider her a colleague and friend. It is very difficult for me to refrain from saying deservedly nasty things about you when I see you say absolutely undeserved, lying, libelous things about her. Please stop it.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  47. nk- serious question
    Is Comey a lawyers lawyer?

    mg (8cbc69)

  48. harkin (1161c2) — 12/19/2018 @ 3:30 pm

    None of that is within the parameters of Mueller’s AOR. Bit there is nothing to stop the Acting AG to order an investigation of Steele or to follow up on that referral from Congress.

    (Of course, the DOJ may be doing that, and we won’t know until and unless Steele is charged with something.

    Kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  49. IF, happyfeet, you have some facts to back up your libel of the judges on the FISA court, including my former colleague and friend, then spit them out and we can debate them. She is a public figure. If what you said had a kernel of truth, a whiff of a memory of a fragrance of truth even, that would be a fair subject of discussion.

    But you’re just spewing your hateful nonsense and filth on decent people, and when you do it to someone I know personally, it really antagonizes me. For God’s sake, get control of yourself.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  50. they’re terrible people Mr. Beldar they were entrusted with a great responsibility with regard to safeguarding national security and they blew it and allowed the sleazy FBI to do illegal spying on people

    so nobody can trust the FISA court anymore, and we simply can’t know what the consequences of that will be

    but they won’t be good that’s for sure

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  51. Depends, mg. If your idea of a lawyer’s lawyer is Perry Mason, then I would say no. If your idea of a lawyer’s lawyer is Clarence Thomas or Elena Kagan (your choice), I would say probably. He’s a government lawyer, that’s the career path he took when he could still take a career path.

    nk (dbc370)

  52. Everyone keeps insisting the dossier was verified, but the evidence appears lacking, maybe the last 18 months was a waste of time like the plane case, Rove escaped the previous merrygoround because a very able atty for the patriarcas revised his remarks

    Narciso (d1f714)

  53. Meanwhile flake and ‘the bearded Marxist’ earn their justified contempt

    Narciso (d1f714)

  54. I noticed, immediately, when reading this post that our host was not praising Jim Comey, but rather taking Hemmingway to task for getting her facts wrong.

    Which is to say, even if rcocean had been referring to our host (as Dana suspected) instead of me, he’d have been putting words in our host’s mouth about Comey, too, which words may or may not correspond with our host’s actual beliefs. (Based on his prior writing here about Comey, I’m pretty sure, in fact, that they don’t.)

    As a documentation of one specific instance in which Hemmingway’s reporting is unreliable, this post is a meticulous success. And our host is probably right that it’s the kind of unreliable reporting that the POTUS is prone to republishing; I’m persuaded, in fact, by the reaction of Trump supporters here (rallying around Hemmingway for her blind support of Trump) that it’s more blogworthy than I perhaps originally thought.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  55. In so far as it doesn’t refer to the declassified memo, nor the relation to the appointment of an independent counsel then no.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  56. And to all you “Clinton funded the dossier” folks…
    1. The FISA court was told it was funded by political opponents of Trump. That in and of itself was enough to red flag its credibility. It didn’t matter if it was the Clinton, Cruz, or Kasich campaigns.

    2. The dossier was, for investigation purposes, irrelevant. Trump’s dealings with the Russian mafia/Putin regime were in and of themselves sufficient to not merely justify but make necessary an IC investigation. (My own theory is that the dossier became a convenient pretext to justify an investigation warranted by other information.)

    Always remember, Deep State corruption does mean Trump is not corrupt. It just means Trump is also corrupt.

    Kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  57. Narciso, you have me confused. Who is the bearded Marxist?

    Kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  58. Christopher coons, the victor of macho grande,

    Narciso (d1f714)

  59. Kagan/Comey

    mg (8cbc69)

  60. Corbyn is bearded and a Marxist, but he doesn’t seem relevant to anything here…

    Kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  61. And yet again, Comey wasnt put under oath, so this is an unserious exercise.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  62. Those aren’t facts, happyfeet, and they don’t support your earlier libel. You called my friend “dirty,” “unethical,” and “sleazy,” and then segued from that into saying something nasty about the FBI, which is an entirely different branch of government. If you have any facts to show that Rosemary Collier is dirty, unethical, or sleazy, then state them. If not, then be aware that you’re giving me, at least, very severe offense, and that I shall never forget or forgive it.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  63. He and Fidel o flake want a carbon tax for Christmas,

    Narciso (d1f714)

  64. Coons is cleanshaven, so I remain confused…

    Kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  65. It was the way he self identified at yale,

    They made so much of this in Comey’s briefing, which would have made me doubt any further intelligence product they produced.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  66. Beldar has a point. This business where it is okay to libel, lie, and generally be a childish jackwagon about an individual who is not a commenter here remains a problem. It encourages more childish and gross behavior.

    And I continue to think that, if a person thinks it is fine to call a political figure a pedophile without a shred of evidence, why, it is fine for me to call that person similar names.

    Mind you, if there are facts behind all this, that is different.

    But this childish name calling accomplishes nothing, and generally damages what is valuable about Patterico’s site. You don’t have to agree with me, but I am far from the only person who thinks so.

    Mr. Beldar: I am sorry you had to reply to all of that nonsense. It makes me wonder about other kinds of scurrilous comments made often here.

    Maybe Patterico needs the equivalent of a “swear jar” here to encourage the childish and nasty to behave with more maturity and accuracy. But that is entirely up to him.

    What an unpleasant thing to read. And how much worse to see someone YOU know insulted by someone who does NOT know them at all.

    Simon Jester (78e977)

  67. facts are very arduous things to procure anymore, what with all the CNN Jake Tapper fake news

    all i know is the FISA court judges had one job and they blew it

    they viciously violated the rights of the people they purport to be protecting

    they politicized a process – an anti-terrorism process – the entire existence of which depended on this never happening

    and not a single FISA judge has been held accountable

    this is bad and you now what they say

    you can’t cover the sun with one finger

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  68. Note that there is no apology for childish nonsense. Of course.

    Simon Jester (78e977)

  69. oopers you *know* what they say i mean (the k is silent)

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  70. James Comey fancies himself Joan of Arc in following, as he titled his book, “A Higher Authority” in betraying the confidences (i.e., secret confidential communications) of his principal.

    A lawyer who insists that he has the right to pick and choose which rules of legal ethics he’s going to follow is the polar opposite of a lawyer’s lawyer. He stopped being an attorney, and became a principal actor on his own behalf, following the voices in his head instead of the most fundamental rules of the profession, which is one of service to clients.

    I agree with nk that he’s a desk-bound government lawyer-type, and that that’s a distinct species from the kinds of trial lawyers with whom one rubs shoulders and elbows at the bar before real judges in the real world.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  71. This has been a childish exercise, Simon, fisa warrants should be for the most serious of matters like Orlando San Bernardino Las Vegas the bureau always seems surprised by these events

    Narciso (d1f714)

  72. I have commenters whose comments sometimes annoy me in my blocking script. When I don’t feel like being annoyed, instead of responding to them I click the blocking script and “make their comments never happen”. (Stole that from Larry Niven, Simon.) When I’m in a mood to be annoyed, I annoy them back.

    nk (dbc370)

  73. Trump could, any time he wanted, release the FISA warrant. Why do you think he doesn’t?

    Davethulhu (c2a30b)

  74. Why was he selected to replace Mueller by Obama because he stuck at least three shivs in the previous administration, special counsel stellar wind episode and the matter with the us attorneys

    Narciso (d1f714)

  75. I thought William Shatner characteristic bombast would have been the best narrator on the tapes,

    Narciso (d1f714)

  76. I hope at your funeral, happyfeet, all of the people who’ve ever known and cared for or about you have to sit through a one-hour recital of your comments from this blog.

    And now you’re dead to me.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  77. nk, I really dislike much of the commenting these days, but I have long felt you were straightforward and fair minded.

    I just hate picking through the nonsense. Particularly because so much of it is unnecessary and infantile posturing and insult. But there are a fair number of commenters I follow, you among them.

    Besides, my son starts taking Greek after his Latin courses are over. I have high hopes for his brain. And I have long talked about your classical references over the years with him. So thank you.

    Simon Jester (78e977)

  78. Also, FBI interest in Carter Page as someone possibly compromised by Russia preceded the dossier.

    JRH (fe281f)

  79. that was meant to respond to #57. I was looking at an old version of the comments. in which #57 was the last comment.

    JRH (fe281f)

  80. So why haven’t they apprehended this most fuersome of spies, snorfle, can politics be anymore vapid and meaningless, well that judge in Broward proved the point, this week, judge o’connor showed the opposite.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  81. I could have asked you to compare Comey to Thomas Moore or Thomas Cromwell, mg, but I don’t know which side you’re on regarding the Reformation. 😉

    nk (dbc370)

  82. All i ask is that people remember that i never gave up in Christmas

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  83. oopers *on* Christmas i mean

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  84. Comey is a lot more like Bishop Gardiner of London than he is like Thomas More.

    Kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  85. So who would have been his fool then,

    Narciso (d1f714)

  86. Thank you, Simon. All my best wishes to your son. Classical Greek, and in particular New Testament koine, is beautiful. Modern Greek can be annoying to an American English speaker. Consider that their word for one syllable — monosyllabismos — has six syllables. And when they say it, it does not sound at all like “monosyllabism”. 😉

    nk (dbc370)

  87. I’ve been too busy with work to notice. Which Broward judge did what?

    Actually, O’Connor’s opinion is far from the last word. His reasoning is easily refuted. The real question is whether SCOTUS is willing to refute it.

    Kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  88. nk, he adores ancient history. It’s wonderful to hear how much…and he has done very well in Latin (better than I ever did). Anyway, that’s off topic. I just wanted to say that your comments matter to me.

    Like me, my son wants the Greek word for “vengeance” to be similar to that for “justice.” You politely suggested otherwise to me years ago. That’s one of the things that started him out on his journey, I think: the difference between what he wanted to be true, and what was true.

    Simon Jester (78e977)

  89. So why have a trial, just more kabuki:

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/2360683002

    Narciso (d1f714)

  90. For the edification of those not familiar with him
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Gardiner

    Kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  91. Lately we get neither, no justice and no retribution, the worst of all possible worlds

    Narciso (d1f714)

  92. Narciso, that’s been standard law for…well, nk probably knows better than me how long it’s been standard law. LEO have absolutely no duty to protect you as an individual.

    Kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  93. we might get “legalized” marijuana soon here cause the poop’s starting to get real and it’s pretty much the only thing there’s any consensus on as far as new revenue goes

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  94. “Everybody loves to see Justice done on somebody else.”

    — Bruce Cockburn

    JRH (fe281f)

  95. Like mencken said about democracy;

    https://mobile.twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1074727119576543232

    Narciso (d1f714)

  96. Is this all about why he leaked his memo?

    AZ Bob (885937)

  97. I only vaguely remember that discussion, Simon. (They did something to my brain, you know. 😉 ) If we had that conversation now, I would say that ekdikesis, revenge, defined by the Greek dictionary as “to return evil for evil” is literally “outside justice”; dikaio the word for “justice” being modified by the prefix ek meaning “out”, as in ectopic pregnancy or ectoplasm. Did I say something like that back then?

    nk (dbc370)

  98. It’s more meta then that, but largely.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  99. How would you characterize Comey informing Trump about the Steele dossier so that the media had a hook to run a BS hit job. And Comey admits he didn’t think it important to tell Trump that the dossier was paid for by his political rival. That’s what the top law enforcement officer does, right? In my 32 years in law enforcement, I never saw anything close to what the FBI/DOJ did for political purposes. But hey, the ends justify the means.

    AZ Bob (885937)

  100. More and Cromwell had a rude ending. Will Comey?

    mg (8cbc69)

  101. I wrote “hit job.”

    AZ Bob (885937)

  102. Well, what I meant was More was a “government lawyer” who burned Protestants, and Cromwell was a “government lawyer” who beheaded Catholics. The main difference in their characters was that Cromwell was an ambitious opportunist who could compromise his principles, for example, he personally was a congregationalist but he went with the episcopal structure because that was all he could do; whereas More was a stiff-necked true believer who chose martyrdom over compromise.

    No, I don’t think we should behead poor Comey. Just treat him like another Avenatti.

    nk (dbc370)

  103. Wouldn’t that make Comey more Cromwell, hes not as flexible as machiavelli though.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  104. Thanks for the explanation,nk. I just remember the way More and Cromwell died. I was thinking hard labor for Comey.

    mg (8cbc69)

  105. Niccolo worked for the sociopathic borgia that is the leadership style he commended to the medici

    Narciso (d1f714)

  106. @Beldar, maybe a slight consolation…

    happyfeet regularly tells us that in his world, Donald Trump is wise and good, John McCain is a coward and Mitt Romney is a sex offender.

    The inescapable conclusion is that happyfeet’s world is not the same as ours – in fact, happyfeet must live in the mirror universe where Mr. Spock has a beard and Sulu likes girls.

    That being the case, if he calls your friend unethical, biased, etc in his world that can only mean they are the exact opposite – resposible, ethical, good, etc. – in the real world.

    Or to sum up, happyfeet’s opprobrium is a compliment.

    Dave (1bb933)

  107. Trump could, any time he wanted, release the FISA warrant. Why do you think he doesn’t?
    It’s been released, heavily redacted, but released.

    Paul Montagu (8d207c)

  108. I think we are in the mirror universe, the outrage, eleventy!! gets a little tiring, when real outrage is in short supply.

    Remember when the release of halper (

    Narciso (d1f714)

  109. Was deemed to be a threat to his life (btw he has some pretty tight ties to the fsb)

    Narciso (d1f714)

  110. How would you characterize Comey informing Trump about the Steele dossier so that the media had a hook to run a BS hit job.

    I would characterize it as speculation to say that’s why he did it, and a more likely scenario the one he has testified to — that if he withheld it from Trump and then the media ran with it (as they were looking to do) he would have looked disloyal and dishonest.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  111. Is this all about why he leaked his memo?

    I think the post is very clear, but it’s about whether Comey lied (he didn’t) and whether Hemingway’s theory that he did is backed up by evidence (it’s not).

    Patterico (115b1f)

  112. They could publish it, because they couldn’t verify buzzfeed still couldn’t and gubarev may have their guts for garters.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  113. I don’t have an opinion on Mollie’s work, but lots of people think Comey is dirty and citing the reasons why.

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/12/james-comey-crooked-cop.php

    NJRob (4d595c)

  114. they are citing*

    NJRob (4d595c)

  115. They really thought this was going to make him step down in stead of make him angry.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  116. Suppose they are both self-serving liars?

    Kevin M (cb624b)

  117. This is the guy who said that no prosecutor would have gone after Hillary for mishandling classified information — after his boss met with Bill Clinton in secret — so we already know that he’s a weasel. Not that that is particularly unique in DC, and may be a job requirement.

    I don’t read Ms Hemingway, so I have no way to judge her veracity, but presenting Comey as the last honest man in Washington (as some do) is just nauseous.

    Kevin M (cb624b)

  118. Mr. Ace vouches for Mollie and he’s a very good judger of character (keen observer of human condition)

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  119. @ Patterico – I’m of the opinion that your opinion of why Comey briefed Trump about the dossier is a very generous slant of truthfulness towards a person who has done a lot of shady things to play kingmaker. If Comey doesn’t brief Trump about the dossier and then have that fact reported in the press, how can they report on the dossier itself when they couldn’t verify anything in it? It allows Buzzfeed to “be brave” and publish the dossier verbatim without verification. Comey knows the more left-wing media outlets want to publish the dossier, they just need an excuse to do so. CNN and the rest of the MBM don’t want to publish the dossier themselves because of lack of verification and possible defamation lawsuits but by arranging the brief, Comey allows CNN to report on that, it gives the leftist rags the excuse to publish the dossier and then that gives CNN and the rest of the MBM the reason to report on the dossier itself. It’s a self serving propaganda exercise.

    CygnusAnalogMan (9c66ec)

  120. Has a single Trump supporter actually dealt with the argument made in the post? It’s lovely that everyone has unrelated axes to grind against Comey, but it’s remarkable to me that not one person can mount a defense of what Hemingway actually argued here. I guess my post was so tightly argued that no rebuttal is possible? If so, it’d be nice for you to say so, and then wonder what that means. Instead, most of you just ignore it.

    Was DRJ right? Is it pointless to try to debate issues here in the comments?

    Patterico (115b1f)

  121. Literally the only person I saw taking issue with what I actually wrote in the post was nk, and he didn’t seem to understand my point, which was to debunk Hemingway’s allegation that Comey lied when he said he leaked the memo in response to Trump’s tweet about tapes.

    Even if nk is right that Comey put his associates up to leaking details about the meeting, that still would not prove what she said. And there is no evidence I am aware of that nk is right even about that.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  122. i feel like Mollie should reply and do a good explanation

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  123. So, is that what happened to DRJ? How unfortunate, if so.

    I could be flat out wrong, but I’d like to think that I have made some difference here, even if it’s merely preventing some people from falling for the most egregious propaganda.

    Tillman (61f3c8)

  124. Well looking at the timeline, Comey did leak the memo, through richman and wittes, the substance of which were misrepresented to achieve a certain goal, which was the appointment of a special counsel on spurious grounds

    Narciso (d1f714)

  125. @ Patterico – I think you are nitpicking between the memo and the associates used as a cutout. How do we know that Comey’s cutout who was given the memo wasn’t the associate used as a source in the earlier story? Here’s what I’m thinking – Comey writes the memos after meeting the President as a CYA in case he gets fired. He gets canned and his leaker provides the information used in the 1st story – only he or the Times make it appear that Comey related the details of that meeting in person rather in writing. Trump tweets in response about tapes and makes Comey think there are actual Nixonian tapes that will force Trump from office. Comey goes full bore and allows his associate to leak the whole memo and force the appointment of the special counsel. We’ll never know for sure if the NYT was using the memo as a source in the first story or not.

    CygnusAnalogMan (9c66ec)

  126. And the difference between a ‘Mollie Hemingway’ and ‘Howard Beale’ is?…

    Nothing.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  127. James Comey was only leaking cause he’s an unethical and treasonous piece of FBI filth that almost single-handedly exposed the routine malfeasance of the dirty men and women of the FBI to an incredibly wide audience consisting of the whole entire whirl.

    Yup you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube can you jimmy boy (rhetoric question).

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  128. Patterico (#123)

    Your piece is tightly argued — which would make a challenge to it difficult. Since those of us here in comment land often are stealing time from other demands, you aren’t going to find a lot of willingness to challenge conclusions on a tightly reasoned basis in a comments section.

    I think the best argument a Trumper would have would be to challenge the crux of your argument:

    But Mollie’s evidence does not support her claim, which rests on a false implication that the New York Times article to which Trump was responding was based on a leaked memo from Comey. It wasn’t. Instead, that New York Times article was sourced to two anonymous “associates” of Comey’s. Mollie is dead wrong here and I have called her out.

    To do that — you have to make a leap that Comey’s associates were acting at Comey’s behest, so the NYT story is as good as based on Comey’s leak. This kind of leap doesn’t let you proclaim that Comey was a liar, in a normal world. But Trumpworld isn’t normal.

    Appalled (d07ae6)

  129. They spoke on his behalf, he did not refute their representations, it took another year for the memo to be released so the substance could be ascertained.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  130. did you know that the Megyn Kelly and the George F. Will were both born in Champaign Illinois and their dads were both professors

    this is a true story that really happened

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  131. @ Patterico – I think you are nitpicking between the memo and the associates used as a cutout. How do we know that Comey’s cutout who was given the memo wasn’t the associate used as a source in the earlier story?

    It is not “nitpicking” to note that a claim, which Mollie Hemingway made as a matter of revealed truth (Comey lied about when he leaked the memo), is actually at best a wild-assed guess based on a chain of unproven and totally unevidenced speculation (what if, despite zero evidence to this effect, the story sourced to two associates actually came from a leak of the memo from Comey to those two associates?).

    It’s like you’re telling me I’m “nitpicking” because hey maybe the moon is made of green cheese after all; how do I know it isn’t?

    Patterico (115b1f)

  132. Here’s what I’m thinking – Comey writes the memos after meeting the President as a CYA in case he gets fired. He gets canned and his leaker provides the information used in the 1st story – only he or the Times make it appear that Comey related the details of that meeting in person rather in writing. Trump tweets in response about tapes and makes Comey think there are actual Nixonian tapes that will force Trump from office. Comey goes full bore and allows his associate to leak the whole memo and force the appointment of the special counsel. We’ll never know for sure if the NYT was using the memo as a source in the first story or not.

    If they had the memo, why wouldn’t they publish a story saying they had the memo? Once they actually did have the memo, they actually did publish a story saying they had it. This is wild speculation to make it seem like Mollie’s asspull has a basis in fact. It doesn’t, so just admit it doesn’t already.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  133. i feel like Mollie should reply and do a good explanation

    For once we agree. Instead, she is ignoring me and pretending like she didn’t see my tweets, which were retweeted by many and which I’d bet money she did see. She’s banking on ignoring me and getting away with it. I won’t forget it.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  134. Meanwhile James Wolfe only gets 6 months for leaking sci to nakashima Watkins and company.

    Narciso (d1f714)

  135. She’s banking on ignoring me and getting away with it.

    I think she’s ignoring you because she’s got a lot of other factually questionable tweets out there that she doesn’t want you to scrutinize (like the one above), so she’s laying low, hoping her hyperpartisan a$$ doesn’t face more fact checks. At least, that’s my theory.

    Paul Montagu (e7d63b)

  136. and james wolfe, ends up getting two months for leaking page’s fisa warrant, to Watkins and co, with the clemency requests of warner, burr and Feinstein this is a garbage system,

    narciso (d1f714)

  137. @ Patterico – how do you know that they didn’t have the memo and chose not to publish it right away? The two articles in question are written by the same journalists, correct? The game they are playing is similar to how you as a prosecutor would lay a trap for a defendant. Get them to deny publicly something where you have documented evidence that calls into question their honesty. In this case, get Trump to deny publicly that he demanded personal loyalty from Comey and then lower the boom with the memo alleging obstruction of justice. Admittedly, this is just speculation but Comey is a known master of the DC leak system. He knows how to leak things in dribs and drabs to build public interest in the narrative he’s seeking to create.

    CygnusAnalogMan (9c66ec)


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