It was the biggest bombshell. It was going to seal Donald Trump’s fate. democrats were visibly drooling. Al Green was writing up Articles of Impeachment. Maxine Waters kept, well, sounding like a complete fool. Morning Joe has gone totally off the rails lately. Sen. Mark Warner shows up every day on CBS This Morning droning on about some magical mystical findings surely to come.
James Comey’s opening testimony remarks were released yesterday between those comments and other testimony democrats are not happy.
US Intelligence officials again testified that Trump did not pressure them on the Russia probe
“In the three-plus years that I have been the director of the National Security Agency, to the best of my recollection, I have never been directed to do anything that I believe to be illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate. And to the best of my collection … I do not recall ever feeling pressured to do so,” Rogers told Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate panel.
“Did the president … ask you in any way, shape or form to back off or downplay the Russia investigation?” Warner asked.
Rogers said that he would not discuss specifics of conversations he had with Trump, but added: “I stand by the comment I just made, sir.”
Coats, a former Indiana senator who was appointed by Trump, also denied ever being pressured to downplay the Russia investigation or any other.
On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that Coats told associates on March 22 that Trump asked him to intervene with former FBI Director James Comey to push back against the Russia investigation.
“In my time of service … I have never been pressured, I have never felt pressure, to intervene or interfere in any way, with shaping intelligence in a political way or in relationship to an ongoing investigation,” Coats testified Wednesday.
Trump claimed that Comey told him on three occasions that he (Trump) was not under investigation and Comey has confirmed it.
In his prepared testimony, released by the committee, Comey says he provided those assurances to Trump during a Jan. 6 meeting at Trump Tower, in a dinner meeting on Jan. 27, and in a phone conversation on March 30.
Comey’s admission backs up Trump’s claim that Comey informed him on multiple occasions that he was not a target in the FBI investigation of potential Trump campaign collusion with the Kremlin.
The claim that Trump obstructed justice does not hold water, especially in light of Comey’s odd behavior:
The former FBI director also addressed why he did not tell anyone outside of senior FBI leadership about the President’s comment. He said he did not pass on that information to others in the FBI because he didn’t want to “infect” the investigative team, and because he did not intend to abide by the request.
He also said he had nothing to corroborate his story (which he still does not), and that he didn’t tell Attorney General Jeff Sessions because Sessions was expected to recuse himself from the investigation. They also decided not to tell the deputy attorney general, who would not long be there in that role.
“After discussing the matter, we decided to keep it very closely held, resolving to figure out what to do with it down the road as our investigation progressed,” he said. Comey said the investigation actually “moved ahead at full speed.”
Comey does not explain why he never told anyone in Congress, including congressional committees that oversee the FBI. He will likely be asked on Thursday why he did not come to Congress.
In fact, he told Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) last month that a situation where the FBI was told to stop something for a political reason has “not happened in my experience.”
Comey was under legal obligation to inform the DOJ if he felt there was an obstruction of justice. Deputy Direct McCabe also testified that no one attempted to interfere with the Russia investigation.
The Wall Street Journal makes a case for why Comey should have been fired:
Mr. Comey says Mr. Trump strongly suggested in February that he close the Michael Flynn file, but after conferring with his “FBI senior leadership” he decided not to relay the conversation to Attorney General Jeff Sessions or any other Justice Department superior. If he thought he was being unduly pressured he had a legal obligation to report, and in our view to resign, but he says he didn’t because “we expected” that Mr. Sessions would recuse himself from Russia involvement.
Well, how did he know? Mr. Sessions didn’t recuse himself until two weeks later. Mr. Comey also didn’t tell the acting Deputy AG, who at the time was a U.S. attorney whom Mr. Comey dismisses as someone “who would also not be long in the role.”
This remarkable presumptuousness is the Comey mindset that was on display last year. He broke Justice Department protocol to absolve Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified material, without the involvement of Justice prosecutors or even telling then Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Mr. Comey’s disregard for the chain of legal command is why Mr. Trump was right to fire him, whatever his reasons.
But there is another good argument for firing Comey and it is this- he had no interest in investigating the source of the discredited “Trump dossier.”:
In a private White House dinner with Trump on January 27, Comey says the topic of the “salacious material” again came up and he reveals that Trump was considering asking the FBI to investigate the origins of the claims. Comey pushed back against that idea.
Comey writes:
During the dinner, the President returned to the salacious material I had briefed him about on January 6, and, as he had done previously, expressed his disgust for the allegations and strongly denied them. He said he was considering ordering me to investigate the alleged incident to prove it didn’t happen. I replied that he should give that careful thought because it might create a narrative that we were investigating him personally, which we weren’t, and because it was very difficult to prove a negative. He said he would think about it and asked me to think about it.
The dossier in question was authored by former intelligence agent Christopher Steele, who was reportedly paid by Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans to investigate Trump, raising questions about his partiality.
And
In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on FBI oversight last month, Comey repeatedly refused to answer questions about his agency’s ties to the dossier.
And then we have the opinion of one Alan Dershowitz, who cannot be thought of as a conservative:
“You cannot have obstruction of justice when the President exercises his constitutional authority to pardon, his constitutional authority to fire the director of the FBI, his constitutional authority to tell the director of the FBI who to prosecute, who not to prosecute,” Dershowitz elaborated.
“You don’t believe he was trying to influence of impede any possible or further investigation into Flynn?” Cooper asked.
“What I’m telling you is that even if he did want it to impede it, and even if he did impede it, that is his constitutional power. He has the right to say, ‘You will not investigate Flynn.’”
democrats, of course, will clutch at straws trying to convict Trump in the court of public opinion as they won’t be able to mount a case with any legal merits. Expect to see smear and innuendo spit through clenched teeth, but nothing more. Today I watched the sad faces of Adam Schiff and the crew of CBS This Morning looking for everything like Trump peed in their cereal.
I could only hark back to a cartoon I watched as a youngster. So sit back, pass the popcorn and enjoy the democrats helping re-elect Trump.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 40 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 45 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter who is in the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
Trump sees Comey’s testimony as ‘complete vindication’ — and his fans agree
So, you believe the reality television host who said Obama is from Kenya, rather than the guy who served honorably for years under both George W Bush and Barack Obama? Comey’s appointment as Director of the FBI was confirmed in the U.S. Senate with only one dissenting vote.
@Greg: It’s been two days and the Dumbocraps are still crying and sniveling. Get over it fellas, you lost this round.
It’s no longer a question of whether or not the right is out of touch with reality. It’s a question of how wide the gap can get.
@Greg: News flash Greggie it was morons like you who drank the MSM kool aid and now they are even admitting they where wrong. Yes you are out of touch!!
@Common Sense:
It’s kind’ve more like he was never in touch. They were so desperately hoping to get something on Trump, now they all know how dumb they all look. All that effort and nothing to show for it (well, maybe a bathtub full of crocodile tears for your failure’s.
House panel demands Trump release Comey ‘tapes’
There are none. They’re just calling his bluff on that point. It’s a distraction that needs to be put out of the way.
@Greg: Trump hasn’t been leaking information to try and keep a bogus investigation going. Trump did not take orders from Lying Lynch to downgrade a criminal investigation to a “matter”. Trump did not follow along with the liberally-politicized DOJ and a corrupt President to support their candidate of choice. So, all things considered, Trump is far more trustworthy than Comey. In fact, lOTS of people are more trustworthy than Comey. He is a liberal hack, as he has demonstrated.
Unless there are some unheard holdouts, your entire party are spoiled little sore losers who cannot accept the fact that Hillary lost because she has PROVEN herself to be incompetent, a liar, corrupt and a criminal. The Russian collusion fantasy is dead. It has been dead so long that it is already stinking, like the entire liberal agenda. Get over it and take up trying to be adults.
@Bill… Deplorable Me, #57:
Why try to convince me? I’m just a private citizen with an opinion.
Maybe you should be trying to convince Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who’s a former Director of the FBI. He’s a straight shooter, and is now leading the DOJ investigation. Then you can try to convince the House and the Senate Intelligence Committees to call the whole thing off. Followed by the Senate Judiciary Committee and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which are also conducting investigations.
Do you really think this is all about nothing?
@Greg:
Bluff? what ‘bluff’ when did Trump say there were tapes of their meeting? He never did. Only the guilty mind of Comey was worried as to whether there were. Distraction? only for the libs that are concerned about all the tears they are shedding after their embarrassment.
You have noticed, by now, that Comey still hasn’t been able to come up with the name of the professor that he gave the ‘memos’ to, has he? Does anyone believe these ‘memos’ actually exist? I think we’re going to find out the ‘memos’ were in the form of a Comey phone call to a newsman.
Does anyone feel sorry for these dumbocraps over playing their hands? So funny.
@Bill… Deplorable Me:
That’ll never work, they’re not capable.
@Greg:
yea, those FBI directors are all filled up with ‘straight shooting’ Remember J Edgar that had JFK knocked off, and then there’s Comey. Nuff said.
I ask you… How could a guy with an expression like this possibly be hiding anything?
@Greg: You left off telling us the price of coal in Saudi Arabia.
@Greg:
I don’t need to convince you. What you think is of little or no consequence. And, Mueller has the evidence; he is already convinced. Just be advised you and any other liberal cry baby are not getting free passes to continue to spread your lies.
There is no collusion. There never has been any collusion. Liberal leadership never believed there was any collusion; it is merely a tool to motivate the weak minds liberals find so useful to promote their rotten ideology. Give it up; stop being made a fool. Stop being such a useful idiot. Allow Trump to carry out his agenda. If he fails, it will allow your beloved liberals to gain their coveted power once again. If he succeeds, though you will have to deal with the truth of how failed your ideology is, the nation and millions of citizens will benefit greatly.
I am beginning to believe Trump is a lot smarter, more clever and more nimble than any of us recognize. He is playing you liberals like a cheap fiddle.
Can it get any better? Comey was afraid he couldn’t trust Trump so he immediately wrote a memo to himself of what took place in their meeting. Then to make sure the word got out, he forwarded the memo to a college professor and asked him to leak them to the NY Times. So instead of the fess forwarding the memos to the Times, he called someone there and told him ‘from memory’ (he didn’t have the memos in front of him as he spoke) what he recalled was in the memo. Then, since all this was for Comey’s protection, he decided he didn’t need his own copy of the memos so he deleted them from his computer. Now it seems that the Fess didn’t need to retain a copy for his protection or Comey’s protection, so he deleted his copies of the memos also.
And then, just to clear things up, it turns out that some of the info that the Fess gave to the Times from those memos was printed in the Times a few days before Comey wrote the memos. Seems strange to me, but we are talking Dumbocraps, many hired for their jobs by Obozo. So anything is theoretically possible. Greg, could you clear this up for us?
Trump-Comey Feud Eclipses a Warning on Russia: ‘They Will Be Back’
If you think that’s not true, you don’t have a clue about the nature or objectives of Vladimir Putin.
@Redteam, #65:
Documenting anything and everything of possible significance with written notes and memos is a fundamental part of FBI culture. That the Director of the FBI would do so immediately following a conversation he thought was “off” or improper is what would be expected.
Trump made a serious miscalculation treating an honest and widely respected professional like James Comey in so cavalier a fashion. The way Trump fired him was deliberately disrespectful. It was a calculated attempt by a man who’s smaller in more ways than one to humiliate him.
Comey made his calculations and launched a precisely-aimed torpedo. It was a hit that may well have sunk the Trump administration. The extent of the damage is yet to be revealed. That all depends on what the trail Comey laid out leads to.
@Greg:
Did you miss the part about “he then deleted the memo from the FBI computer”. If it was of significance, why did he not feel like it would be a good idea to keep a copy of the memo?
I think it’s been fairly well established that he fired a dud. How did the Times get the words of the memo prior to the time the memo was written and forwarded to the Fess? We know they did because they published it prior to Comey writing it. Assuming he ever wrote a memo, so far there is no evidence that he did. He deleted his memo from the FBI computer. If he sent it to the Fess, he deleted it from his computer, without ever showing it to anyone. And the info that he is said to have called into the Times from his memory was done before Comey wrote the memo.
It seems as if any damage was to Comey. He violated several laws. And would you believe an admitted leaker?
Trump leaked classified Israeli intelligence to the Russians, which seems like a far more serious problem.
@Greg:
Now you’re just making up stuff
Why would anyone look at anyone’s skin color? Isn’t their opinion what’s valuable, not the color of their skin? What about the “content of their character, not the color of their skin” ?
http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2017-06-09-US-Black-Minds-Matter/id-c442a2e8bbc64f44a1c3d5ed5c33534a
@Redteam, #70:
From The Times of Israel, May 22, 2017:
That’s not the point, Mr. President. You weren’t supposed to mention the information itself.
@Redteam:
As more is exposed, just who is it that shouldn’t have trusted whom?
@Greg:
No, it isn’t. It is strictly a Democrat thing for they have taken an actual security issue and turned it into a political weapon. Like they did the DOJ and IRS, the left misuses trust and power to advance their own agenda, which the vast majority of Americans want no part of.
Except when they are interrogating Hillary or any of her liberal gang, right? No need to keep notes on anything so insignificant as that. Just think, if they HAD kept notes, they could have documented the proof that Hillary never lied and made classified information available to our enemies. Pity, that.
Trump does not have the time to endure incompetent people. Comey proved incompetent; he would not pursue leakers (of course not… he was ONE OF THEM) and the leakage of classified information was damaging the US. Comey is a guy that comes in real handy when you need a light bulb changed or a liberal Presidential candidate shielded from exposure of her crimes and incompetence. He’s not good for much else.
No, it was smart. Comey did not have access to his office and could not destroy more evidence.
Interesting to see how you view traitors in an administration. However, Comey delivered no torpedo; he fired a warning flare that alerted everyone to the kind of disreputable, cowardly, sniveling traitors Obama had placed in our government… even in critical security positions.
He shared important security information with the Russians. Would you like to see an airliner of tourists go down again? Obama shared information with the Russians that got our allies fighting against ISIS and Syria killed. Did that worry you?
Yes, he can. What he SHOULDN’T do is put it on an unsecured server and email it to someone that sends it to her dick-pic taking pervert husband. But, of course, you have no problem with THAT.
You need a REAL realignment of priorities, Greg.
@Bill… Deplorable Me, #72:
Yeah, I saw a number of talking heads on FOX today attempting to sell such a perception. Most people aren’t buying. Newt Gingrich was advancing the game by trying to preemptively discredit Robert Mueller. He knows something is coming. Trump apologists are going to try to work right up the chain as the investigation progresses and as more details become public. At some point, most of the rats will start putting on their water wings.
@Greg: Here’s another thought to ponder; who is to say that Comey’s memo he made for himself accurately depicted what actually happened? Comey has revealed himself as someone that does not bowing to liberal pressure, but suspects the Republican President is lying to him and about their meetings (without reason, thus far), so why would anyone would assume he is being honest and not lie about the meeting? He once wallowed in liars and never snitched on any of them. I think it is very reasonable and prudent to wonder how honest he is actually being.
The left invented this collusion fantasy. I heard the idiot Schumer saying Trump has an obligation and duty to clean it up. Really? The blubbering left creates something they hope will bring down Trump (better luck next time, losers) then expect Trump to clean it up? No, it should just evaporate away, like a fart. Because that’s all it ever was; a fart in the wind.
@Bill… Deplorable Me:
actually a ‘whirlwind’.
Bharara says Trump phone calls made him uncomfortable
No doubt Jeff Sessions would have been asked about that during public testimony Tuesday, but he has bailed out on that appearance and will now be testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed hearing.
Jeff Sessions to testify before Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday
@Greg: #69 Debunked try again, are u asking for seconds on that nothing burger?
@kitt, #77:
Debunked? Not so far as any credible source has ever reported. No doubt you have a link.
Bharara says Trump phone calls made him uncomfortable
No doubt Jeff Sessions would have been asked about that during public testimony Tuesday, but he has bailed out on that appearance and will now be testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed hearing.
Jeff Sessions to testify before Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday
@Greg: First of all I guess it never occurred to you Newt may be right. Both of you are speculating along your chosen political proclivities.
Second we’ve seen this movie before. The Valerie Plame debacle. Where the Democrat prosecutor knew on day one who the leaker was but the story kept going for a year until it was revealed to the public. In the end NO ONE was charged with leaking. The current story smells of the same rotten political fish.
One last thought. During the time when the alleged election hacking or meddling was taking place who was in charge of our intelligence services and law enforcement? It was the Obama administration. So why aren’t we investigating the massive failure there? They had all the tools and legal power to do something. Why does our news media ignore this angle of the story? How about looking into the cozy relationship the Clinton’s had with Russia? A lot of money changed hands there. So why wouldn’t Russia want HRC as President? I think they would have preferred her as she would continue along the same path as Obama. You know, more flexibility. Trump was a wild card and a bigger gamble.
This won’t end well for you. You’ve got nothing.
@Mully: The Clinton’s have a long history of collusion; remember the Chinese contributions to Bill, then we hand them missile technology? I wonder how much of that found its way across the border to N. Korea?
Meanwhile, liberals (politicians and the media) pursue this boondoggle for which not only is there no evidence of collusion, but no evidence of evidence. The only thing that has instigated the belief in collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians was a desire to cover Hillary’s incompetence.
@Bill- Deplorable Me:
and if they wanted to cover Hillary’s ass, it would take a Yuge blanket
@Greg: Trump makes all you shivering little snowflake crybabies “uncomfortable”. What else is new?