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WASHINGTON — 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.
Mr. Comey declined to make that pledge. Instead, Mr. Comey has recounted to others, he told Mr. Trump that he would always be honest with him, but that he was not “reliable” in the conventional political sense.
...
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.
...
At the dinner described by Mr. Trump in his interview with NBC, the conversation with Mr. Comey was quite different. Mr. Trump told NBC that Mr. Comey requested it to ask to keep his job. Mr. Trump said he asked the F.B.I. director if he was under investigation, a question that legal experts called highly unusual if not improper. In Mr. Trump’s telling, Mr. Comey reassured him that he was not.
...
In announcing Mr. Comey’s dismissal on Tuesday, the White House released documents from the attorney general and the deputy attorney general that outlined why Mr. Comey should be dismissed.
Mr. Trump said in the NBC interview that “regardless of recommendation I was going to fire Comey.”
“In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story,” Mr. Trump said.
did you see this? Tillerson and his Russian counterpart Lavrov, when a reporter asks about the Comey firing Lavrov sarcastically responds, "was he fired?, you're kidding your'e kidding" It's a Putin-Trump world, at least in their minds .
If the ACHA were good, it supporters would be able to support it. Let it get the CBO grading, etc. There's no there there - or we'd be hearing about it. The GOP has said for many years "Let us save you" and now they've Don Knotts'd it. Certainly America needs bailing out from the rising premiums of the past decades. I was hoping they'd have a real plan
Yea, this is how I see it too, but I knew they wouldn't cause its all about winning the game. We are nothing but means to gain points and win the game to them and when I say them, I am not talking about just Republicans or Democrats because I long ago quit thinking in that manner, that is how we got here in the first place, no, I mean all of them. Shit's been broken, man.
So the Democrats, who hold no majority in the house or senate, nor the presidency, nor the supreme court, are orchestrating this to protect the secrets of their past? And Comey, who is one of their croneys, inappropriately announced the extension of the investigation to the detriment of Clinton right before the election, so that she would lose and everyone would focus on Trump instead of the Obama legacy of scandal (HA!)?
I have a hard time believing that anything having to do with Clinton's emails at that stage in the game would have any affect one way or the other. More about her emails is the last thing anyone wanted to hear about. I can't believe that anyone who was paying attention for the past 3 years would not have made up their minds on the subject. And I can't believe that at that time, no one already didn't know about her emails and server either. Clinton still won the popular vote overwhelmingly.
Comey was just out there doing a CYA, trying to look impartial for his own benefit. He failed.
And the Democrats ? Well you have to believe that there is such a thing as 'The Deep State' for the reasoning to make sense. Based upon your long expressed thoughts regarding such notions, you do not agree with the idea that such a thing as TDS could exist in the first place, so we will never agree on that, and that's ok ...
If the ACHA were good, it supporters would be able to support it. Let it get the CBO grading, etc. There's no there there - or we'd be hearing about it. The GOP has said for many years "Let us save you" and now they've Don Knotts'd it. Certainly America needs bailing out from the rising premiums of the past decades. I was hoping they'd have a real plan.
I don't believe (and YMMV) that Trump needs to be delegitimized. He was never legit - and that was his selling point. What he needs to be is effective, and even with Congress and SCOTUS and FOX on his side, there's nothing happening that isn't clunky and very unimpressive. And, if the majority of Americans think you're not a good President, it's not automatically true that they're wrong. He can say "it's the media's fault" but their reporting has its basis in fact, frequently. Should they not be "against" him if he's screwing the pooch? That would be worse.
I agree with you the the ACHA is a total failure to launch. Its pure BS and just makes me beyond angry with the Repubs for them to call this their best after 6 or 7 years to come up with their own plan. There are no excuses, period. Pretty much said this already when it was first put out.
And rising premiums are only half of the problem. The government has a role in regulating the insurance industry to be sure. Governmental interference between patient and doctor is equally important and becoming more of a problem, the more it gets directly involved.
That said, with the reasoning that the D's are going to oppose everything Trump tries to do regardless of merit, things will go nowhere for the foreseeable future. And with the establishment R's in the House pretty much willing to self destruct rather than see Trump succeed, its a double whammy. Like you say, if he is screwing the pooch, then yes, he needs to be opposed. We don't know that yet though. Many think that, but its just a guess or a feeling given that he is still just getting his feet wet.
Trump, imo, is still doing his shake down cruise. Still learning, still growing. And behaving like a businessman in his approach, not like a politician.
Let's pretend for a moment that there is in fact absolutely no truth in that Trump colluded with the Russian's in the campaign. If true, Trump's behaviour could be explained that he is fed up with the BS and knowing that he is innocent is just going to proceed as he sees fit, knowing that whatever he does will be met with fury, but in the end, he has nothing to fear knowing he has done nothing wrong to begin with.
Let's pretend that Comey's last appearance in Congress was a disaster, and was the last straw that Trump needed to finally pull the trigger and fire him. The way he did it was brilliant. Like I already said, he fired him while he was on the road without warning. If someone of stature within an organization must go, they must be blindsided and the consequences of the manner in which they were terminated dealt with after the fact. Comey was unable to hit his delete file panic button, shred anything and prevented from getting to his Rolodex. Systemic damage control comes first. HR and being nice be damned. That can be sorted out after the fact. The show will still go on. I would do it the same way. Its one of the reasons I voted for him in the first place, hoping that he would behave this way.
Because no one can be fired in the Federal Government without moving mountains we have things that couldn't be more screwed up like the VA hospital system.
Although I thought Trump was a terrible choice for the most important political position in the world - and I wasn't wrong - I've said here before that there was the possibility that he'd ignore business as usual in a good way and make some surprising, but ultimately beneficial-for-the-nation choices.
There's no evidence that he's done anything but stumblebum his way through a lot of important issues, and do nothing at all for the Americans that trusted him.
But, a lot of America doesn't sit around and stare at FOX/CNN/CNBC/MSNBC etc (and certainly not Al Jazeera). They just know their town and home and job in are trouble, and it's the damn politicians to blame, and Trump can't get it fixed because he's surrounded by those guys in suits that block his every effort to MAGA.
And that will certainly be the mantra, once his continuing failures are enumerated: it was politicians' fault, and he's not a politician.
"I've said here before that there was the possibility that he'd ignore business as usual in a good way and make some surprising, but ultimately beneficial-for-the-nation choices."
Just as big a possibility that Trump would turn into SNL's Leslie Jones:
Oh wait...
"And that will certainly be the mantra, once his continuing failures are enumerated: it was politicians' fault, and he's not a politician." It's rigged! The Oval Office! The whole federal government!
It'll be that or Trumpers will claim that everything's an amazing record-setting success.
IMO ... All this crap about Trump and Russia is designed to deligitimize Trump beyond repair and stop any real investigations and legislation from moving forward. And to keep all the stuff that Obama and the Clintons were up to during the election campaign secret. Their collective hubris that Hillary had the election in the bag led them to do anything they wanted or could, legal or illegal to squash Trump. They believed that a Clinton victory would make all of it disappear because she would be in charge and prevent anything from ever being discovered. AG Lynch would be retained, etc.
The NSA has everything. It already has all the answers to all the questions that we want answered, including Trump's collusion with Russia. It is simply naive to think otherwise. The NSA is today's equivalent of Nixon's tape recorders in the Oval Office (which was actually installed by LBJ).
All the Obama holdovers and the Democrats are doing everything in their power to obstruct its release and protect Obama and Clinton. I also put Comey in that camp. We could know all the answers in 5 minutes. I truly believe that a lot of people are at risk for serious jail time if the truth ever comes out. These obstructors are fighting for their very freedom and ability to walk the streets free and unfettered.
Yeah, I'm crazy and delusional. But y'all already knew that. Kudos to islander.
So the Democrats, who hold no majority in the house or senate, nor the presidency, nor the supreme court, are orchestrating this to protect the secrets of their past? And Comey, who is one of their croneys, inappropriately announced the extension of the investigation to the detriment of Clinton right before the election, so that she would lose and everyone would focus on Trump instead of the Obama legacy of scandal (HA!)?
kurtster wrote:
Yeah, I'm crazy and delusional. But y'all already knew that. Kudos to islander.
Location: At the dude ranch / above the sea Gender:
Posted:
May 10, 2017 - 1:18pm
kurtster wrote:
Who's putting the ACHA on the back burner ? ...
IMO ... All this crap about Trump and Russia is designed to deligitimize Trump beyond repair...
If the ACHA were good, it supporters would be able to support it. Let it get the CBO grading, etc. There's no there there - or we'd be hearing about it. The GOP has said for many years "Let us save you" and now they've Don Knotts'd it. Certainly America needs bailing out from the rising premiums of the past decades. I was hoping they'd have a real plan.
I don't believe (and YMMV) that Trump needs to be delegitimized. He was never legit - and that was his selling point. What he needs to be is effective, and even with Congress and SCOTUS and FOX on his side, there's nothing happening that isn't clunky and very unimpressive. And, if the majority of Americans think you're not a good President, it's not automatically true that they're wrong. He can say "it's the media's fault" but their reporting has its basis in fact, frequently. Should they not be "against" him if he's screwing the pooch? That would be worse.
No, I think that he wished to point out that this was very clumsy optics - even if you assume no wrongdoing on Trump's part. It's another clunker by someone who is in the Most Political Seat, although he proudly proclaims his lack of experience in that role. Would he, as a businessman, hire someone into an administrative role if they're not familiar with the job requirements? No. Why did we? (Hint: because the GOP was incapable of putting someone better into the nominee position.)
Again, regardless of wrongdoing, he's gradually losing the faith of America that he's an honest man. (Taxes, Russia, firings, Ivanka/Jared, and - sadly - this list could keep going.)
Letting the ACHA be put on the back burner means that the mid terms will vote out a lot of those "We can fix health care!" people. They've had seven years, and weren't ready for the task? The dog ate their homework? Their performance is literally shameful and Americans should never trust their empty promises again. The GOP is a fragmented, unproductive mess.
Narcissistic factoid: I cast my first vote for President for this dude -
permit me to be serious ...
The optics of Trump firing anyone, anytime will never be good in the eyes of the media or his detractors. If he had fired Comey on January 21, 2017, he would have been pilloried. A week later, same. Now, the same. All the people who have been calling for Comey's head are now outraged. Why ? The timing is suspect ? It would be just as suspect anytime it happened. By the reactions shown below, I'm the only one who feels this way.
Who's putting the ACHA on the back burner ? Not Trump. My remarks were facetious. Who is putting up all the distractions ? Who is hellbent on trying to take Trump down on this phony Russian collusion stuff ? Even Maxine Waters has said that there is no evidence of collusion by Trump. But the thinking that there is no evidence only means that it hasn't been found yet, not that there is none in the first place, if you oppose Trump.
Lastly, imo, if anyone is guilty of colluding with the Russians, its Obama. Remember when he told Medveved to tell Vlad that I can be more flexible after the election ? And how about when in the last debate he told Romney to get a grip that the Cold War is over ?
Now to something else ...
IMO ... All this crap about Trump and Russia is designed to deligitimize Trump beyond repair and stop any real investigations and legislation from moving forward. And to keep all the stuff that Obama and the Clintons were up to during the election campaign secret. Their collective hubris that Hillary had the election in the bag led them to do anything they wanted or could, legal or illegal to squash Trump. They believed that a Clinton victory would make all of it disappear because she would be in charge and prevent anything from ever being discovered. AG Lynch would be retained, etc.
The NSA has everything. It already has all the answers to all the questions that we want answered, including Trump's collusion with Russia. It is simply naive to think otherwise. The NSA is today's equivalent of Nixon's tape recorders in the Oval Office (which was actually installed by LBJ).
All the Obama holdovers and the Democrats are doing everything in their power to obstruct its release and protect Obama and Clinton. I also put Comey in that camp. We could know all the answers in 5 minutes. I truly believe that a lot of people are at risk for serious jail time if the truth ever comes out. These obstructors are fighting for their very freedom and ability to walk the streets free and unfettered.
Yeah, I'm crazy and delusional. But y'all already knew that. Kudos to islander.
Location: At the dude ranch / above the sea Gender:
Posted:
May 10, 2017 - 1:00pm
When does this guy have meetings or work on America's problems? You think he's tweeting during meetings? Is that what's on his mind - the Twitterverse? He's making himself an embarrassment.
Location: At the dude ranch / above the sea Gender:
Posted:
May 10, 2017 - 12:25pm
islander wrote:
Also - with all the enemies they are making, I wonder how many will be looking to push them over the edge?
Although I thought Trump was a terrible choice for the most important political position in the world - and I wasn't wrong - I've said here before that there was the possibility that he'd ignore business as usual in a good way and make some surprising, but ultimately beneficial-for-the-nation choices.
There's no evidence that he's done anything but stumblebum his way through a lot of important issues, and do nothing at all for the Americans that trusted him.
But, a lot of America doesn't sit around and stare at FOX/CNN/CNBC/MSNBC etc (and certainly not Al Jazeera). They just know their town and home and job in are trouble, and it's the damn politicians to blame, and Trump can't get it fixed because he's surrounded by those guys in suits that block his every effort to MAGA.
And that will certainly be the mantra, once his continuing failures are enumerated: it was politicians' fault, and he's not a politician.
No, I think that he wished to point out that this was very clumsy optics - even if you assume no wrongdoing on Trump's part. It's another clunker by someone who is in the Most Political Seat, although he proudly proclaims his lack of experience in that role. Would he, as a businessman, hire someone into an administrative role if they're not familiar with the job requirements? No. Why did we? (Hint: because the GOP was incapable of putting someone better into the nominee position.)
Again, regardless of wrongdoing, he's gradually losing the faith of America that he's an honest man. (Taxes, Russia, firings, Ivanka/Jared, and - sadly - this list could keep going.)
Letting the ACHA be put on the back burner means that the mid terms will vote out a lot of those "We can fix health care!" people. They've had seven years, and weren't ready for the task? The dog ate their homework? Their performance is literally shameful and Americans should never trust their empty promises again. The GOP is a fragmented, unproductive mess.
Narcissistic factoid: I cast my first vote for President for this dude -
I'm not sure where we really are on the whole Russia collusion thing. I'm sure they meddled, but I'll give team Trump enough credit to stay marginally on the right side of the legal balance beam.
I generally fall to the simple explanations - Trump was elected because of his outsider status. Because he's an outsider he has little feel for how things should be done or the optics of what he does. He's a walking Narcissistic factoid (family friendly language), so he was pissed that Comey had a bigger and more positive public persona so he had to go.
That said, team Trump has years of getting comfortable with semi-professional corruption. Mix their nepotistic hubris together with the complexities of the Big League (see what I did there?) corruption they now have access to, and I wonder if they really can stay on the right side of that legal balance beam. Also - with all the enemies they are making, I wonder how many will be looking to push them over the edge?
Location: At the dude ranch / above the sea Gender:
Posted:
May 10, 2017 - 10:45am
kurtster wrote:
So can I conclude that you wished to see Comey stay ?
What I see is that the deputy AG Rosenstein was the one who made the actual recommendation and decision. Even Eric Holder was onboard with the decision as were a host of other former AG's from both sides of the aisle.
If anything, it will accelerate ongoing investigations. Which is good for everyone. I'm one who believes that these investigations have been stalled by Comey for the political purpose of creating suspicions, not resolving them. Based upon things that I have seen, Comey was convinced that he was safe and going to finish his term as Director and could do as he pleased. Another J Edgar looney tune type.
We'll have to wait and see who gets nominated to succeed Comey.
As for the AHCA, good let it sit. It sucks as proposed. We have still the ACA after all. Its what everyone wants to keep, right ?
Narcissistic factoid: I cast my first ever vote in an election for McGovern as POTUS.
No, I think that he wished to point out that this was very clumsy optics - even if you assume no wrongdoing on Trump's part. It's another clunker by someone who is in the Most Political Seat, although he proudly proclaims his lack of experience in that role. Would he, as a businessman, hire someone into an administrative role if they're not familiar with the job requirements? No. Why did we? (Hint: because the GOP was incapable of putting someone better into the nominee position.)
Again, regardless of wrongdoing, he's gradually losing the faith of America that he's an honest man. (Taxes, Russia, firings, Ivanka/Jared, and - sadly - this list could keep going.)
Letting the ACHA be put on the back burner means that the mid terms will vote out a lot of those "We can fix health care!" people. They've had seven years, and weren't ready for the task? The dog ate their homework? Their performance is literally shameful and Americans should never trust their empty promises again. The GOP is a fragmented, unproductive mess.
Narcissistic factoid: I cast my first vote for President for this dude -
in this CNN "exclusive" Anderson Cooper said that on any other night would lead this broadcast;
Washington (CNN)Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn seeking business records, as part of the ongoing probe of Russian meddling in last year's election, according to people familiar with the matter. CNN learned of the subpoenas hours before President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey.
The subpoenas represent the first sign of a significant escalation of activity in the FBI's broader investigation begun last July into possible ties between Trump campaign associates and Russia.
The subpoenas issued in recent weeks by the US Attorney's Office in Alexandria, Virginia, were received by associates who worked with Flynn on contracts after he was forced out as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, according to the people familiar with the investigation.
Robert Kelner, an attorney for Flynn, declined to comment. The US Attorney's Office in Alexandria, the Justice Department and the FBI also declined to comment.
. still Spring but D.C. is already having a hot Summer
