Patterico's Pontifications

6/8/2017

James Comey’s Testimony

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:41 am



[guest post by Dana]

Comey’s testimony live:

Comey, regarding the president: “On March 30, I told him we were not investigating him personally. That’s true.”

Untitled

–Dana

159 Responses to “James Comey’s Testimony”

  1. I was able to embed the live feed. Hopefully it will work.

    Dana (023079)

  2. ugh the fbi sewer needs to be flushed out top to bottom

    it’s corrupt and sleazy and even these trashy losers in the senate know it

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  3. Accountable? Is it thought that Comey failed the loyalty test?

    Spartacvs (2db708)

  4. Same loyalty test/request Obama gave Robert Gates, Sparkycuss.

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  5. It’s pretty clear why no one is being held accountable for the many detailed leaks of information related to FBI investigations over the last year, isn’t it.

    crazy (d3b449)

  6. And your assertions that indicate you don’t think nearly all Democrats were pissed off with Comey and thought he should be fired before he became – they think – useful to them, are quite laughable and easily debunked… as are most of your contentions.

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  7. Lol… Sen. Kamaltoe Harris is fun to watch. She out boxers Boxer.

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  8. He wisely decided to make notes– after one meeting. And for good reason.

    “Medical log on ‘Lieutenant Commander X-ray.’ The possibility appears to exist — that the commander of this ship may be mentally disturbed…” – Steve Maryk [Van Johnson] ‘The Caine Mutiny’ 1954.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  9. You know that feeling when you get Comey to testify that Trump asked him to obstruct justice and instead he implicates Loretta Lynch…….

    http://dailycaller.com/2017/06/08/loretta-lynch-pressured-fbi-to-downplay-clinton-email-investigation-comey-says/?utm_source=site-share

    harkin (f611c5)

  10. McCain is either drunk or senile.

    nk (9651fb)

  11. Is McCain on drugs?

    Spartacvs (2db708)

  12. Comet said he lacked the courage to tell Trump that his private discussion were improper.

    Not the first time he failed his duty to police the executive branch.

    AZ Bob (e8857f)

  13. @11- He was trying to get someone to explain to him how the TV remote control worked. All those buttons.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  14. @12. The FBI Director is not the headmaster running a school for presidents.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  15. POTUS sure seemed concerned about Flynn………but Russian influence on the 2016 presidential election, not so much. Very telling.

    Spartacvs (2db708)

  16. “Is McCain on drugs?”

    – Spartacvs

    I have no idea what you are referring to and I usually disagree with your comments, but that’s an excellent – and timeless – observation.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  17. interesting how sleazy-assed fbi slut comey felt fully qualified to evaluate whether or not stinkypig engaged in obstruction of justice

    but today he defers to ex-fbi p.o.s. robert mueller to evaluate that same charge vis a vis President Trump

    not exactly a profile in courage huh

    but then he’s a sleazy fbi slut what do you expect

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  18. Let’s see if the investigation identifies BLM’s, La Raza’s, and Antifa’s funding. Then we’ll know about Russian influence on the election.

    nk (9651fb)

  19. Comey has now testified under oath.

    The main takeaway seems to be that Donald J Trump lies like a rug.

    Spartacvs (2db708)

  20. Comey testimony takeways…

    “Comey admits he leaked his memo to a “friend” for purposes of that friend then leaking it to the New York Times.

    “I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter,” Comey said. “I didn’t do it myself for a variety of reasons.”
    Marco Rubio asks a damn fine question. Noting Comey’s pre-written testimony, Rubio noted that Comey had three big things to say: Trump asked for his loyalty; Trump said he hoped Comey could let the Flynn matter go; and Trump was, just as Trump said, not the subject of an investigation.j

    Why, Rubio asked, did only two of those items leak? Why was the third such a closely-held government secret while the first two were freely shared with the press?

    This wasn’t in Comey’s testimony, but the Daily Caller reports that state officials say that throughout 2015 and 2016 Obama told them there was no threat of Russian hacking.”

    http://ace.mu.nu/archives/370107.php

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  21. When a federal executive, appointed by a President of the other party, is carried over to the administration of a successor President, there is always reason to question the loyalty of the individual. Trump had every reason to believe that Comey was an agent of Obama – especially after Comey’s election season antics. In retrospect, it is quite clear that Comey was and continues to be an agent of Obama and the Left.

    That Trump inquired about Comey’s loyalty, rather than presuming disloyalty (and appropriately so), speaks well of Trump. He wanted to trust Comey and include him in his new administration. This is the behavior of a good boss and a decent human being. It distinguishes President Trump from most of his critics. It most definitely distinguishes him from Comey.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  22. The FBI is a part of law enforcement. Law enforcement officials are supposed to be loyal to the law and the Constitution, not to the politicians in office. Politicians have every right to appoint the people they want to appointive positions, but they do not have a right to demand or expect law enforcement officials to demonstrate loyalty to them instead of to the law.

    DRJ (d35869)

  23. Well said, Thor.

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  24. Trump should have fired every Obama holdover and put his own people in those positions, but he wasn’t prepared to do that because he wasted his transition period. Instead, he stupidly tried to co-opt Obama’s people.

    DRJ (d35869)

  25. @23. DRJ!!!!! ************* Well said!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  26. Good bosses understand the role of each person in their organization. Trump has no clue.

    DRJ (d35869)

  27. You should run for office, DRJ. The country needs a true Christ-like figure.

    Having said that – half in jest – he could definitely be doing better, including getting rid of holdovers.

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  28. “That Trump inquired about Comey’s loyalty, rather than presuming disloyalty (and appropriately so), speaks well of Trump. He wanted to trust Comey and include him in his new administration. This is the behavior of a good boss and a decent human being. It distinguishes President Trump from most of his critics.”

    – ThOR

    The contortions of fact and logic required to write that sequence of sentences are astounding.

    Leviticus (efada1)

  29. People are scared to death that Trump might tweet. How often, in history, has a President been boldly told, by his own constituency, to “Just Shaddup!”?

    Tillman (a95660)

  30. Really looking forward to President Trump’s ‘Ignorance of the law is a ‘yuge’ excuse and here’s why…’ address to the nation.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  31. DRJ (at 23):

    Problem is Comey seemed more loyal to his own mysterious sense of honor (like McCain) than the law or the Constitution.

    This guy has had far more impact on the country over the past year than a person in his position has any right to have. The “Russia” investigation is in far better hands, now that he has finished his testimony, and he hustles off to write his memoirs.

    Aw we learned about Trump was that he acted the part of the “sophisticated” gangster in one of those old Warner Brothers movie, without really doing much. Comey — he was weaving all those sophisticated bureaucratic webs to protect his position, and stupidly fails to realize Trump was unaware or uncaring of all these neat little traps and gets rid of him anyway.

    I’m with NK — I’m at my happiest with Trump when one of his noxious enemies self-destructs when trying to deal with him.

    Appalled (d07ae6)

  32. Also, instead of wisely using his transition period, Ttump wasted oodles of time and energy arguing about the crowd size at the inauguration, how many votes he got, and other ridiculous things. To me that is not the indication of an amateur or one new to the political game who is willing to be advised by experienced personnel, but rather it is an indicator of an immensely insecure individual who is, to everyone’s detriment, unwilling to learn and does not understand that the presidency isn’t about him, but rather something far, far greater.

    Dana (023079)

  33. At any rate, it’s reassuring to see that Trump’s attempted, public blackmail against Comey failed miserably.

    Tillman (a95660)

  34. Demanding that law enforcement officials behave in politically evenhanded ways distinguishes our system for a tyranny. Comey’s politicized approach to law enforcement subverts the law and damages the fabric of the nation. The man is no hero just because he is trying to damage someone you dislike.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  35. @3. Yep. All that and more– he’s sick.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  36. ^ @33. Meant for Dana. Typo.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  37. 29 – “The contortions of fact and logic required to write that sequence of sentences are astounding”

    The only contortions of fact of logic I’m seeing right now are from the MSM trying to resuscitate this expired political hit job/clown car while at the same time attempting to make the damning testimony regarding Loretta Lynch disappear.

    At least both sides can celebrate the true key admission in this hearing, John McCain acknowledging that he’s “deeply disturbed”.

    harkin (f611c5)

  38. That’s on Trump, ThOR. He is the one person who had the authority and power to fire or reassign Comey on Day One and he didn’t do it. He had every reason to do it but he didn’t. It’s Trump’s judgment that is at issue here, and he has only himself to blame.

    DRJ (d35869)

  39. We lost any reason to believe anything Comey says, or to give any weight to any of his “conclusions”, last year.

    nk (9651fb)

  40. Tillerson is a businessman and he has managed to avoid the political minefields. My sense is that Tillerson actually knows how to run a business, how to inform himself about his responsibilities and personnel, and does his homework.

    Trump is a showman. He doesn’t do the hard work, he’s a celebrity, and it shows.

    DRJ (d35869)

  41. @34. Day ain’t over, yet. Look for his lawyer to claim vindication at a presser and paint Comey as a leaker.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  42. “(Trump) stupidly tried to co-opt Obama’s people.”

    – DRJ

    Your right. Trump was a fool, a fool to believe that Obama holdovers were capable of acting in an apolitical, professional way. But to describe his expectation that these holdovers were capable of behaving in a principled way is the furthest thing from co-optation. It shows a generosity of spirit.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  43. Repeated from the other Comey thread:

    The most interesting bits of news to come out of the hearing:

    Comey stated that the following New York Times article was almost entirely wrong:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/us/politics/russia-intelligence-communications-trump.html

    And other leaks were false too.

    Comey said that, back in 2016 (or was it 2015?) Attorney General Loretta Lynch told him to use the word “matter” rather than “investigation” which is the word the Clinton campaign was using. (they had also used “security review”) He said he decided that that was not a hill to die on, and anyway the news reports after the hearing all used the word investigation, (so that turned out all right.)

    This was at a hearing with regard to what the FBI was doing vs a vs Clinton emails.

    He said there was no case against Hillary Clinton. That’s not what he said on July 5, 2016, when he said no prosecutor would prosecute (based on it not fitting some criteria he said were historically used)

    He did not give an answer as to why there was he didn’t ask for a special counsel for Hillary Clinton except to say that that would take months or a year. (which means past the election)

    He said he woke up in the middle of the night three days after Trump’s tweet about how Comey better hoping that there are not tapes, (Monday vs Friday May 12) and realized there could be corroboration of what is in the memoes, and decided to leak them. Or leak from them actually of course. He’s done his best to stop anyone from seeing the full text.

    He said that Benjamin Wittes was not the intermediary he used to leak the memoes to the New York times, but was “a law professor” at Columbia. He said he longer had the memoes (or apaprently copies of them) because he’d turned them over to Mueller, but admitted it was possible that the intermediary did. He said he didn’t do it directly because it would be like feeding seagulls.

    He said some were classified – the memo that he began to type on his laptop right after the meeting in Trump Tower on Friday January 6, was done on a classified laptop.

    One of his telephone conversations with President Trump was on a totally unrelated matter. something the FBI was going to do and Trump wanted him to know how important he should consider it.

    He would not easily say what the Michael Flynn investigation that President Trump hoped he would clsoe was about and some Senators were slow to catch on but eventually did say it concerned statements to investigators.

    Marco Rubio brought out how Trump repeated the Michael Flynn request in public the next day at a press conference. He didn’t bring out how in fact the FBI closed the case, or at least somebody leaked it.

    The Senate committee evidently hasn’t yet discovered this story:

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/politics/fbi-not-expected-to-pursue-charges-against-flynn/index.html

    He did not know exactly why he was fired but he presumed it had something to do with Russia. As John Dickerson says taht would mean

    Marco Rubio asked good questions; John McCain was an embarassment. Kamala Harris fired a few written questions at him which she knew he wouldn’t answer

    Sammy Finkelman (ca4c0f)

  44. We all know people like Trump, at least those of us who have worked with CEOs. He’s lazy. He wants fame and fun and money without having to put himself out with details or grunt work. He has people for that, and he berates them to motivate them. It works for some CEOs. It might even work for Presidents, provided they have enough people willing to be their loyal grunts. Clearly Trump doesn’t.

    DRJ (d35869)

  45. Comey said he didn’t know if he would have been fired had Hillary Clinton become president, which is maybe he on;y answer anyone can give.

    Sammy Finkelman (ca4c0f)

  46. @41- Remmber, DRJ, T-Rex ran a multi-national with a BoD. Trump’s set up was just a ‘yuge’ family business. He’s seldom had to answer to anyone and when he has had to be controlled or disciplined, it was always difficult— for Ol’Dead Fred, for his ex-wifes, his bankers… and now the United States.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  47. The reason for the holdovers is not generosity of spirit. It’s shallowness of bench. Trump has no competent people to appoint as their replacements.

    nk (9651fb)

  48. For better of worse, we have a President who wants to give people the benefit of the doubt – some bully he is! You may disagree, but I see that as a virtue, not a vice.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  49. Do you really think Trump has generosity of spirit, ThOR? He bullies and berates people for a living. He’s proud of it and enjoys it. He brags about getting even. He insults and calls the people on his own side names when he doesn’t have to. He steals from cancer kids. He does not have a generous spirit.

    DRJ (d35869)

  50. He cut off his own nephew’s sick kid from health insurance. Who does that?

    DRJ (d35869)

  51. Trump has a need for celebrity and attention. He is a narcissist. Many politicians and celebrities probably are, but he is not generous.

    DRJ (d35869)

  52. Everything you said about him could also be explained as the product of a lazy narcissist who thinks he is entitled to get whatever he wants. That fits his background and personality. There is no basis to claim Trump is generous except wishful thinking.

    DRJ (d35869)

  53. He needs to get a good chief of staff and turn the country over to him. Trump can set policy and use his bully pulpit to steer the course. He might actually be good at that, but his desire to manage day-to-day government is a disaster. He can’t tweet his way to being an effective manager.

    DRJ (d35869)

  54. And the fact is that Trump thinks he is a good people person. I’ll leave it up to DCSCA to judge that since I have no clue what could possibly make a New Yorker a good people person. Judging by his results, he isn’t one.

    DRJ (d35869)

  55. The NYT was certainly exposed today, and once again we saw just how easily powerful influences can be exercised via media. Not that there will be any correction, retraction, etc.

    The New York Times got it wrong when it reported this year that the Trump campaign colluded with Russian intelligence officials during the 2016 election, former FBI Director James Comey testified Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

    The New York Times story, “Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence,” was published on Feb. 14.

    The story, which was anonymously sourced, alleged that members of Trump’s campaign team communicated with Russian agents at around the same time that hackers published personal emails stolen from Democratic National Committee staffers and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta.

    However, Comey flatly disputed all of that.

    “That report by the New York Times was not true. Is that a fair statement?” Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, asked.

    “In the main, it was not true,” Comey replied. “The challenge, and I’m not picking on reporters, about writing on classified information is: The people talking about it often don’t really know what’s going on, and those of us who actually know what’s going on are not talking about it.”

    He added, “And we don’t call the press to say, ‘Hey, you got that thing wrong about this sensitive topic.’ We just have to leave it there.”

    Dana (023079)

  56. For better of worse, we have a President who wants to give people the benefit of the doubt – some bully he is! You may disagree, but I see that as a virtue, not a vice.

    Lol. Someone’s got the kool Aid on intravenous feed.

    Spartacvs (2db708)

  57. He needs to get a good chief of staff and turn the country over to him.

    Yes. Having Bannon whisper “Remember thou art immoral” in his ear, or Kellyanne smile wistfully into his eyes “You’re the greatest”, may butter his parsnips but not the country’s. He needs competent people to fill the gaps in his administration — not cronies, yes-men, and nodders.

    nk (9651fb)

  58. *immortal* 😉

    nk (9651fb)

  59. 21.

    Marco Rubio asks a damn fine question. Noting Comey’s pre-written testimony, Rubio noted that Comey had three big things to say: Trump asked for his loyalty; Trump said he hoped Comey could let the Flynn matter go; and Trump was, just as Trump said, not the subject of an investigation.j

    Why, Rubio asked, did only two of those items leak? Why was the third such a closely-held government secret while the first two were freely shared with the press?

    the one thing is, I am not sure that didn’t leak. What maybe didn’t leak was that the FBI had told this to members of Congress.

    Comey gave two reasons for not doing that. The first one, included in his prepared statement, was that it would then create a duty to inform the public if it changed. (like he had done wih Hillary Clinton, he didn’t say) He was asked if that wa slikely – he said that another person at
    the FBI had brought up that consideration.

    The other reason he mentioned was the “slippery slope” You say that the president is not under investigation; the vice president is not under investigation – where does it stop and you stop answering whether someone is or is not under investigation.

    Comey almost clearly said that the only way stopping that Mike Flynn investigaton could impede the larger Russia investigation was that if he was indicted, he could be pressured to turn and reveal informtion on an unrelated matter. I mean it was getting pretty obvious what this was about, but the Senators were really slow to to pick up on it. But they were getting there.

    They still didn’t have that CNN story or similar ones derivative of it:

    Here’s hwo it appeared on the KTLA (Channel 5 in Los Angeles) website:

    http://ktla.com/2017/02/16/fbi-not-expected-to-pursue-charges-against-michael-flynn-law-enforcement-officials/

    FBI Not Expected to Pursue Charges Against Michael Flynn: Law Enforcement Officials

    Posted 3:01 PM, February 16, 2017, by CNN Wire

    The FBI is not expected to pursue any charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn regarding a phone call with Russia’s ambassador, barring new information that changes what they know, law enforcement officials told CNN Thursday..

    This was two days after James Comey’s meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

    Sammy Finkelman (ca4c0f)

  60. The vacancies will likely be filled those very types of grunts who are willing to take the abuse and willing to be undercut by their boss. Nobody with integrity and dignity in tact would be willing to put up with such crap.

    Dana (023079)

  61. John Dickerson Republicans would say he was fired because he refused to make it public that he was not udner investigation (at least that’s the complaint Comey knew about)

    John Dickerson said the president came off better legally but his character came off worse.

    Marco Rubip had been focused on, in part, why nodboy told trump he shouldn’t do things like this.

    Sammy Finkelman (ca4c0f)

  62. “Lol. Someone’s got the kool Aid on intravenous feed.”

    Spartacvs (2db708) — 6/8/2017 @ 10:49 am

    Try some via the cup method, Sparkycuss, it should help you wash down that nothingburger.

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  63. Thor:

     But to describe his expectation that these holdovers were capable of behaving in a principled way is the furthest thing from co-optation.

    Trump asked Comey for loyalty and Comey promised honesty. That is a principled response for a law enforcement official.

    Do you believe Obama wanted honesty or loyalty? My guess is loyalty, just like Trump. Neither one of them is principled. I don’t blame them for wanting loyalty. I blame them for being politicians first and Presidents second.

    DRJ (15874d)

  64. By the way, I’m not defending Comey. Trump should have fired him. But once Trump kept him, Comey became Trump’s problem and this is the result.

    DRJ (15874d)

  65. The Trump supporters love him because he tells it like it is and doesn’t hesitate to be decisive. Apparently that’s only on reality TV and in campaign speeches.

    DRJ (15874d)

  66. I’m sorry for so many comments but I am disappointed. It wasn’t enough for me to hope for conservative judges — emphasis on hope, because we never know how they will turn out. I wanted a wall, curtailing onerous regulations, and school choice. I wanted no funding for PP, at least for a year or two. I wanted more from the GOP holding Congress and the Presidency, which may not happen again for a long time. But this is all we will get so I need to accept it.

    DRJ (15874d)

  67. And no ObamaCare. They all could have happened with almost any GOP president, except Trump or Kasich or Huckabee. Anyone else could have done these things.

    DRJ (15874d)

  68. Loretta Lynch trending on Twitter……for all of one minute, before it disappears.

    But no twitter is not biased.

    harkin (f611c5)

  69. Good reason for Trump to ask for loyalty, not blind obedience, when Comey reveals he’s been leaking like a sieve to male the administration look bad, but not leaking thinks that would make them look good.

    NJRob (d9cfb8)

  70. 30. Here is Trump’s response to people saying he shouldn’t tweet:

    Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

    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.

    4:58 AM – 6 Jun 2017

    One response was: (does Trump ever read them?)

    “Unfiltered like Covfefe. Honest like 3-5 million illegal voters.”

    Another noted he hadn’t tweeted about the people killed i Orlando (where it wasn’t terrorism – just someone fired who killed 4 or 5 people at his former place of work)

    Sammy Finkelman (592d97)

  71. “Lordy, I hope there are tapes.” – Comey

    I’m surprised that Comey, as The Top Spy of the WHOLE Country, isn’t wired at all times – at least have a recorder built-in to his shoe or something. But maybe I’ve seen too many movies.

    Tillman (a95660)

  72. Btw,

    NY Times and NBC news both tweeted that Comet said Sessions tried to interfere with investigations, not Loretta Lynch as Comet actually testified.

    Why do some give any credence to these back partisans again?

    NJRob (d9cfb8)

  73. Hack partisans*

    Really tired of my phone autocorrecting words spelled correctly to words it thinks they should be instead.

    NJRob (d9cfb8)

  74. Media continuously beclowning itself… https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/872857525028139011/photo/1

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  75. Most of the things you want that can be accomplished by the executive branch are occurring. The bottleneck is the RINOs in congress, who want nothing of the transformational change Trump campaigned for. Republican attacks on Trump empower the GOPe, who want nothing of the agenda items you are hoping for.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  76. NJRob:

    Good reason for Trump to ask for loyalty, not blind obedience, when Comey reveals he’s been leaking like a sieve to male the administration look bad, but not leaking thinks that would make them look good.

    Do you have any evidence to share that Comey leaked anything prior to being fired by Trump?

    Spartacvs (2db708)

  77. Sammy @71. That’s exactly what we’re talking about. If Trump had competent IT people, like Obama did, he could talk to people subliminally through their microwave ovens. He wouldn’t need either Twitter or the MSM. But the Obama holdovers won’t do that for him.

    nk (9651fb)

  78. Thanks for the link supporting my claim Colonel.

    NJRob (d9cfb8)

  79. You mean like competently constructed executive orders on immigration?

    Leviticus (efada1)

  80. (for ThOR)

    Leviticus (efada1)

  81. Law enforcement officials are supposed to be loyal to the law and the Constitution, not to the politicians in office

    Do you include Obama and Holder and Lynch ?

    Just wondering.

    Mike K (f469ea)

  82. Do you have any evidence to share that Comey leaked anything prior to being fired by Trump?

    Spartacvs (2db708) — 6/8/2017 @ 11:24 am

    His actions after being fired shed light on his behavior and response patterns.

    There were leaks that could have only come from law enforcement.

    If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…

    NJRob (d9cfb8)

  83. What I was saying yesterday after KevinM’s rant, Thor. So the Republican-controlled Congress – and their useless leadership – gets a pass and all blame falls on the new guy?!?! I don’t think so.

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  84. Trump has enough of a stacked deck to deal with without having to deal with friendly fire. The battle lines have been drawn, don’t go the Vichy or Quaker route. That only feeds the leftwing monster.

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  85. 67. Would a wall keep out airplanes? They are being kept out, but not by a wall.

    Regulations is very slow going. You might need to repeal some laws, too. Somebody actually has to know things to be able to plan this.

    School choice is making very very slow progress, but it is making progress. It needs a great deal more attention, and attention is what you don’t get. Whenever school choice is instituted, it doesn’t get reversed except for when Congress got involved with DC.

    No funding for Planned Parenthood is very hard to get, because the Democrats are very strong for that, and will go to the mat for that. It’s a dishonest organzation with good lobbyists and connections. Their bluff was actually called (without realizing it – it was an honest proposal) by Ivanka Trump who suggested it split in two.

    You won’t get too much more from GOP holding Congress and the Presidency until something is done about campaign finance reform, so that candidates can raise money on their own. I suggest dollar for dollar immediate rebates of campaign contributions up to a certain limit per person, and permission for a limited number of very high level campaign contributions – the number low enough that any candidate can always find someone else. Or maybe more self-financing millionaires and billionaires will begin running for office.

    Sammy Finkelman (592d97)

  86. This was a great day for Trump – and for the nation, I might add. Comey corroborated Trump and made himself look bad (perhaps he is worried that there actually are tapes and feels constrained to be truthful). Going down with the Comey ship are all the Trump haters for both their vilification Trump and deification of Comey. What more could Trump have hoped for?

    So what hysterical anti-Trump meme will tomorrow bring?

    I am reminded of “Groundhog’s Day”, except the Bill Murray character never learns from his mistakes.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  87. comey should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law

    anything less would be a disastrous perversion of justice

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  88. It really is a binary choice.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  89. And his co-conspirator(s) at the Bureau.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  90. Operation Clean Sweep

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  91. Have said for months, corruption starts at the FBI and DOJ

    Comey willingly lied to cover up Hillary “matter”

    Comey leaked documents to humiliate POTUS

    We all know leaks have stopped since he was fired.

    Loretta Lynch used her office to help Clinton.

    Loretta Lynch is also crooked.

    Trump is the only honest guy in this discussion

    Blah (44eaa0)

  92. Comey jail

    Lynch jail

    Leakers jail.

    Hillary jail.

    That is a successful first term for me.

    Vengeance for perpetuating a HOAX.

    Blah (44eaa0)

  93. #22 On point but I have to question Trump’s sanity if he thinks the Left is decent in any way. They are to be destroyed.

    Blah (44eaa0)

  94. Trump is learning a rude lesson about the decency of his opponents enemies.

    Sadly, our political world has become one of enemies, not opponents. It is who so many of us have become. Haters gonna hate.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  95. At any rate, it’s reassuring to see that Trump’s attempted, public blackmail against Comey failed miserably.

    Tillman (a95660) — 6/8/2017 @ 10:28 am

    Ahh, is that the next straw you frothing-at-the-mouth lefties are going to grasp at?

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  96. So when will dear leader testify under oath as Comey has just done?

    Spartacvs (2db708)

  97. Really looking forward to President Trump’s ‘Ignorance of the law is a ‘yuge’ excuse and here’s why…’ address to the nation.

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/8/2017 @ 10:25 am

    Since when do you need an excuse for not breaking any laws?

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  98. So when will dear leader testify under oath as Comey has just done?

    Spartacvs (2db708) — 6/8/2017 @ 12:12 pm

    Bless your heart, Sparky! This whole concept of Constitutional government, three separate and co-equal branches of government just flies right over your head.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  99. @34. Day ain’t over, yet. Look for his lawyer to claim vindication at a presser and paint Comey as a leaker.

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 6/8/2017 @ 10:34 am

    Comey bragged about leaking like a submarine with screen doors. How is possible that anyone is going to have to “paint” him as a leaker?

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  100. Marc Kasowitz statement: http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/08/politics/marc-kasowitz-statement-trump-comey/

    http://dailycaller.com/2017/06/08/trumps-lawyer-denies-he-directed-comey-to-stop-investigating-anyone/

    Notes: The New York Times reporter says they never mentioned anything abut a memo till three days after the tweet, not the day before. Kasowitz had said the NYT was quoting from these memos. It would help to look at the actual stories. Kasowitz’s whole point is about whether the leak was a violation of Trump’s right to privileged communications, and that the tweet was not the reason for the leak (but rather the tweet about the possibility of the conversations being taped was in response to a leak.)

    It’s absolutely true that Comey said he leaked to prompt the appointment of a special counsel. I neglected to note that before. Nobody asked him why he thought it was important there be a special counsel.

    Comey also claimed he took Trump’s statement about hoping he can let Mike Flynn go as an order (which he nevertheless disregarded.)

    Sammy Finkelman (592d97)

  101. @87 ThOR

    Or Bill Murray in Caddyshack and the groundhog was never under investigation.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  102. @100 Steve 57

    Comey should be painting runway lines in Diego Garcia.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  103. Wait, paint him? Like, with a brush?

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  104. Pinandpuller@102

    LOL

    ThOR (c9324e)

  105. Have the last 14 years told us nothing about to what the extent the political establishment will checkmate any chAllenge to its power. Besides,Obama has the journolist , the eizzotto tray carrier, rhe while sorosspheew of ngos running interference.

    narciso (f8000f)

  106. This is the pre-tweet New York news story:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/us/politics/trump-comey-firing.html

    This doesn’t quote the memo – in fact nobody has seen it yet, outside of a few people, so how can almost anybody know if it is quoting anything from the memo? Few know exactly what it says.

    The story is consistent with what he says now, but it should be if it is the truth, and he could have relied on the memo. If it quotes something from the memo, that’s not a contradiction of having only decided he could safely leak because of the tweet. I think the contradictory point there is that story means that Comey had already leaked something that couldn’t be corroborated before the tweet.

    Trump and Comey are still disputing over who requested that Jan 27 dinner. In his written statement Comey says Trump had called him saying he was going to invite his whole family, but didn’t seem to remember this in his oral testimony. I mean he said he had to cancel a date with his wife. Why wouldn’t he ask her if maybe instead she would like to dine in the white House with the president? In his oral testimony Comey said somehting about being todld there were seats for six. He says he was surprised he was the only one there besides the twi Navy stewards who went in and out to serve food and drink.

    Comey also seems to be saying someone asked him to call the president at some point, but otherwise he never initiated any ontact with Trump. (Trump has it that Comey requested the meeting.)

    I can see maybe somebody putting the two together telling each one the other one wanted the meeting, but don’t really have an idea who that might be, or what the purpose of that was.

    Sammy Finkelman (39f7be)

  107. The interesting thing about the second leak, is that after the “Comey better hope there are no tapes” tweet, Comey leaked nothing more about the January 27 dinner and the alleged loyalty request.

    But instead leaked something about the Mike Flynn request February 14 asking if he could let him go which he, or somebody else in the FBI, complied with although perhaps they had already really decided not to forward anything but were biding their time in case new information turned came up.

    I wondered why the subject of the leak changed and thought maybe it was because the second leak could be cinstrued as possible obstruction of justice. That is, it was more serious than the first one.

    Comey almost confirmed that in his testimony today, when he said he was trying to get a special counsel apppointed. Comey is probably operating on the assumption theer is a recording of one or more conversations he had wth Trump.

    Sammy Finkelman (39f7be)

  108. DCSCA was right. Now Team Snowflake Trump’s over here cryn’ ’bout Comey being a leaker. Wah!

    Tillman (a95660)

  109. Biggest surprise: Comey fingering Loretta Lynch on the “don’t call it an ‘investigation,’ call it a ‘matter'” testimony. Apparently Comey’s FBI friends took to teasing him as being the “Director of the Federal Bureau of Matters.” If Trump’s “see your way fit” language to Comey was obstruction of justice on the Flynn investigation, then surely Lynch’s “call it a ‘matter'” instruction was a much more clear instance of obstruction of justice on the Clinton email investigation.

    In fact, I’m quite confident that instruction from Lynch is just one of many, many data points which would, collectively, create a vastly better argument for obstruction of justice against Lynch, and probably Obama, than can ever be constructed against Trump: Lynch’s thumb on the scales of justice was hidden (except for when Bubba wandered over to her airplane), strategic, and ultimately successful, whereas Trump’s has been exactly the opposite of all those things.

    But that’s the only “big reveal” of the day, as far as I’m concerned, and it’s unlikely to ever have any practical consequences at this point. Everything else had been leaked in the week after Comey was fired.

    So in that sense, yes, this was a very good day for Donald Trump, strategically and in the long term, when we considered artillery shells dodged. The short-term optics are quite unfavorable to Trump, however. Comey came across as being sincere, intelligent, careful, articulate, occasionally (I’d say calculatingly, but well-calculated) self-deprecating — that is to say, effective as viewed by an open-minded observer (if any exist).

    Still, by next week, having dodged the artillery shells will mean a lot more than just another coat of slime atop Trump’s already-dirty history of misjudgments and stupidity. He was elected despite that history, and unless there’s some stupendous new development from an unexpected quarter, or an even more self-damaging act by Trump on Twitter overnight tonight, most of the wind will have been taken from the Dems’ sails.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  110. @55- DRJ, tell you what is definitely New York; when your bosses’ boss crosses a few levels of management, sits down in your office, closes the door and suggests an “I hope…” something, there’s no ambiguity; he’s telling you to make the ‘something’ happen– and in a New York minute.

    “Git ‘er done.” – Larry The Cable Guy

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  111. My only disagreement is that Comey’s admission that he directed a friend (co-conspirator) to leak the contents of his journal makes Comey seem Hoover-esque. I have no idea if there is a crime here, but his behavior was, to say the least, unprofessional. We learned nothing about Trump that was of like gravity.

    The behavior of these two, Comey and his co-conspirator, legitimizes Trump’s concern about loyalty. How right he was to be concerned.

    As for Comey’s claim of being a truth-teller, why didn’t he offer up Lynch’s interference to the Senate committee when asked? Not very truthful.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  112. “He was elected despite that history, and unless there’s some stupendous new development from an unexpected quarter, or an even more self-damaging act by Trump on Twitter overnight tonight, most of the wind will have been taken from the Dems’ sails.”

    – Beldar

    Except, of course, that there will still be a Special Counsel (and former FBI Director) investigating “the Russia thing with Trump” for who knows how many of the remaining 1-3 years of Trump’s pathetic catastrophe of an administration.

    Leviticus (efada1)

  113. A lot of people were down on VP Pence for not having one on ones with people who like to write “Dear Diary”.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  114. Law enforcement officials are supposed to be loyal to the law and the Constitution, not to the politicians in office

    Do you include Obama and Holder and Lynch ?

    Just wondering.

    Mike K (f469ea) — 6/8/2017 @ 11:26 am

    Of course. They didn’t do that but they are Democrats. Now Republicans are ignoring principles, too.

    DRJ (15874d)

  115. @109 Tillman

    Now that Dick Clark moved on to his reward Comey saw an opening for America’s oldest Millennial.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  116. ThOR,

    I’ll give you credit for practicing what you preach. It really is only about loyalty to you.

    By the way, the Bill Murray character in Groundhog Day did learn. In fact, the entire movie is about him changing with each new day. Have you even seen the movie?

    DRJ (15874d)

  117. Comey is going to try his hand in Wall Street as a day-traitor.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  118. Have Memos: Will Travel

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  119. Maybe ThOR is thinking about Edge of Tomorrow.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  120. Digg collection of “good stuff”

    http://digg.com/2017/comey-senate-hearing-live

    Full video replay:

    http://heavy.com/news/2017/06/james-comey-senate-testifies-watch-full-video-trump/

    The Columbia University law professor who got (and may still have) the memoes was Daniel (Dan) C. Richman.

    Sammy Finkelman (39f7be)

  121. Comey nearly faded away until he went back in time and got Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton together at the school dance.

    Pinandpuller (10eeb1)

  122. 112. ThOR (c9324e) — 6/8/2017 @ 1:13 pm

    My only disagreement is that Comey’s admission that he directed a friend (co-conspirator) to leak the contents of his journal makes Comey seem Hoover-esque.

    Well, the crime, if it is a crime, would be the disclosure of his communications with the president, but that’s not a crime. Comey says those notes belonged to him.

    The president may be entitled (maybe) to claim executive privilege and preclude someone else from testifying udr subpoena, but there’s no law that prohibits anyone from voluntarily saying anything he wants to about what he told the president. (There could be a problem while somebody is still working for a president: he might be fired.) No law against Supreme Court clerks either telling things either, I think. Some things are maybe supposed to be confidential by law.

    As for Comey’s claim of being a truth-teller, why didn’t he offer up Lynch’s interference to the Senate committee when asked?

    It seems like this was previously disclosed somewhere in closed session.

    One of the Senators (Richard Burr R-N.C., the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee) made sure this came out in open session. This was so out of the blue that NBC and the New York Times were confused, probably because they were only half listening.

    http://www.weeklystandard.com/comey-loretta-lynch-attempted-to-influence-clinton-email-investigation/article/2008374

    Comey kept on saying certain things could only be said in closed sessin, and I am not sure taht is limited to intelligence matters. The dividing line would be what was previously disclosed to the public. He wouldn’t say some things everybody knows, like that Mike Flynn’s conversation with the Russian ambassador was recorded (an important point, because that’s how they knew he lied.)

    Sammy Finkelman (39f7be)

  123. DIR. COMEY: There were other things that contributed to that but one significant item I can’t, I know the committee’s been briefed on, there’s been some public accounts of it which are nonsense but I understand the committee’s been briefed on the classified facts.

    The thing that Comey said was nonsense was evidently the story about the fake Russia email that suppposedly had Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch reassuring someone in the Clinton campaign that the investigation into Hillary Clinton would not go too far.

    That didn’t sound right. Loretta Lynch would not be too open about it if that was what she going to do, and it would be too early for Russia to somehow get it out – and if they did they would leak it; and also it hadn’t been leaked in ten mmonths before the Washington Post published a story on May 24 and it would have been leaked had it existed or been dreamed of before May.

    I thought maybe this was a distortion of something else, and maybe that’s what it is.

    As I said about all of that: I think Comey was probably told by Attorney General Loretta Lynch to make the call, and didn’t decide to do this on his own; and while he didn’t tell her, or anyone else at DOJ, what his words would be, he did say what his decision would be (go or no go) before the press cnference July 5; and his statement was co-ordinated with Hillary Clinton’s lawyers and used some of their arguments for non-prosecution.

    Sammy Finkelman (39f7be)

  124. Beldar (fa637a) — 6/8/2017 @ 12:54 pm

    surely Lynch’s “call it a ‘matter’” instruction was a much more clear instance of obstruction of justice on the Clinton email investigation.

    that was not in itself an obstruction of justice, but, it would enable the Clinton people to claim, if things all went their way, that there had never been a criminal investigation at all.

    But that’s the only “big reveal” of the day, as far as I’m concerned,

    Well, what about:

    2. That a specific New York Times article was almost entirely wrong.

    3. That he deliberately attempted to get a special counsel appointed (by leaking the Mike Flynn request at the Feb 14 meetingm evidently.)

    4. That Columbia University professor Daniel C. Richman may very well retain copies of his memos, even though Comey gave all his copies away to Mueller.

    5. That he said he woke up in the middle of the night three days after Trump’s tweet about how Comey better hoping that there are not tapes, (Monday vs Friday May 12) and realized there could be corroboration of what is in the memos, and decided to leak them. Except he never leaked them, but leaked from them, but he done that already before the tweet! The tweet was a response to the first leak (about Tump asking for loyalty, which was neer repswated after the tweet. Trump did try to jusify using that word, though.)

    Not revealed: How the FBI actually did close the case against Michael Flynn after Trump asked him to on Feb 14.

    Sammy Finkelman (39f7be)

  125. I made a memo of McCain’s remarks today. Here’s an excerpt:

    “I like America. Fancy schmancy, go fly a kite. Cat got your tongue? Cool beans!Betty Boop-what a dish. Betty Grable-nice gams! I say can you see, I say can you see…

    F*ck. Donald! F*ck Donald!

    Pinandpuller (10eeb1)

  126. Except for the last part (you could substitute any woman for Trump), McCain sounds a lot like Happyfeet.

    urbanleftbehind (f813c3)

  127. The old adage that if you come after the King, you best get him else he become more powerful now applies to DJT. The Dems and the media wildly overshot on the whole Russian deal, as well. Each are significantly diminished this evening.

    I disagree with those who have written that the transition was blown. Pence did a fantastic job and as a result the cabinet is the best I’ve ever seen an incoming president assemble. DJT gave him a wide berth and boy, did it pay off. Now, the failure to root out the appointed executive staffs has risen to criminal neglect.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  128. Comey purposely leaking. More than a bladder issue.
    With his gastro stomach ailments, being 6’8′ and large, I would never stand behind him in an elevator.

    mg (31009b)

  129. Now, the failure to root out the appointed executive staffs has risen to criminal neglect.
    Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 6/8/2017 @ 3:11 pm

    You deserve a cigar and some fine cognac!

    felipe (023cc9)

  130. The Scout Law

    A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

    Notice the placement of “loyal” in the litany. Loyalty is hugely important to men of my generation and to me. To others, not so much.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  131. I imagine President Trump was also concerned about ‘trustworthy‘.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  132. @130 mg

    So your theory about Comey and the curtains would be a Curb Your Enthusiasm scenario?

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  133. @133 ThOR

    Comey was not Trump-worthy. Of course some consider that the right side of his-story.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  134. Democrats aren’t interested in going for the truth, they’re interested in going for Trump’s threat and in promoting their sick political agenda.

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  135. Throat not threat…

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  136. Yes, we dodged HRC, but this makes me rethink the whole any of the 17 bit:
    http://www.yahoo.com/news/video-ted-cruz-awkwardly-cut-off-faith-conference-205705571.html

    urbanleftbehind (f813c3)

  137. What part of Comey’s oath of office, or of the office of any other government official, includes personal loyalty to the Der Fuhrer the sitting President? We don’t do that scheiss. The FBI Director’s duty of loyalty is to the United States, its Constitution and its laws; and to his family, friends, mentors and whomever else he chooses to give it to.

    It may be different for Trump’s lickspittles like Bannon, Kellyanne and even Carson and Sessions. They got their government positions because of their perceived loyalty to Trump. But Comey made no such commitment and he had no obligation to just because Trump is now sitting in the Oval Office.

    nk (9651fb)

  138. 130, if he simply got rid of what he needed to down there, those stories would rival George Brett’s.

    urbanleftbehind (f813c3)

  139. Democrats aren’t interested in going for the truth, they’re interested in going for Trump’s threat and in promoting their sick political agenda.

    The truth will set the country free from Trumps malignant administration.

    Spartacvs (2db708)

  140. To think we would ever have an ex-FBI director who would leak government documents… in an attempt to have a special counsel named. Seriously, that is how far some have fallen. What a tool.

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  141. @127. And here I thought he was just having a stroke on national television.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  142. Comey gives a whole new meaning to “rat for the FBI”…

    Colonel Haiku (d19b35)

  143. @132. Except the FBI ain’t the 918th.

    “Loyalty’s a fine thing.” -Frank Savage [Gregory Peck] ‘Twelve O’Clock High’ 1949

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  144. Worse than leaking it – he laundered it through his “friend familiar with his thinking.”

    crazy (d3b449)

  145. he’s a scummy dude

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  146. @100 Steve 57

    Comey should be painting runway lines in Diego Garcia.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 6/8/2017 @ 12:30 pm

    We need somebody we can trust for that. Lives depend on it.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)

  147. @54. He needs to get a good chief of staff and turn the country over to him.

    … like Donald Trump, Jr., the Julie Nixon Eisenhower of our time.

    “My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator.” – Michael Corleone [Al Pacino] ‘The Godfather’ 1972

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  148. Comey apparently fingered Sessions in the closed hearing over another unreported Russian meeting.

    Clock’s tickin’ on Jefferson Beauregard… might be dropped by the Fourth of July.

    “Welcome to Earth.” – Capt. Hiller [Will Smith] ‘Independence Day’ 1996

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  149. Keep hope alive, ASPCA! But stay off teh dope, dope.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  150. 142. Colonel Haiku (d19b35) — 6/8/2017 @ 3:57 pm

    142.To think we would ever have an ex-FBI director who would leak government documents… in an attempt to have a special counsel named. Seriously, that is how far some have fallen. What a tool

    It’s an important legal point with Comey that these were not government documents, but his personal memoranda. There is a possible issue with tjhem having been written on government time, but he’s not a salaried worker on the clock.

    He deliberately actually made a misleading leak, in an attempt to get Rosenstein to name a special counsel.

    Sammy Finkelman (a1f34f)

  151. Althouse gave a link to a transcript of the hearing. It’s on Politico, and does not have a Google cache.

    http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/08/full-text-james-comey-trump-russia-testimony-239295

    The Washington Post also has it.

    Sammy Finkelman (a1f34f)

  152. good point Mr. F

    it’s really hard to find a story by any of the CNN Anderson Cooper fake news propaganda sluts that both details Comey’s confession of leaking AND tells the reader what the substance of the leaks were

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  153. just when you thought it was safe to go into the water,

    https://twitter.com/natehale/status/872984952685703169

    narciso (d1f714)

  154. NK-139 Article 2, Section 3: “…he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.”

    DJT is THE constitutional embodiment of the enforcement of law. He necessarily must be given the widest latitudes in so doing. If he gives an order or makes a request that is not plainly and obviously illegal, it MUST be honored by officers of the USA.

    Beyond this, he has absolute authority to pardon or commute any and all criminal sanctions. In short, he is thisclose to being God in and under the law.

    DJT was a damn fool to not have canned Comey ASAP. Then again, maybe he was crazy like a fox. Comey was and is a bad actor who violated his oath in his failures to defend the constitution by giving criminal Executive officers a free pass.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  155. Ed from SFV……… reads better in the original German. Gute Nacht

    Spartacvs (2db708)

  156. He cpuldnt do it at the time, because of Al. The roadblocks they put in the way

    narciso (d1f714)

  157. Yes, Ed from SFV, but that is covered by “obedient” in the Boy Scout Law. 😉

    nk (9651fb)


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