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Comey to testify publicly about Trump confrontations as early as next week

J

johnsmith

remember me
Yo wtf. Apparently Trump could put a stop to this?

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will decide whether to invoke his presidential powers to block former FBI Director James Comey from giving congressional testimony next week, White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Friday.

Comey, fired by Trump last month, is due to testify on Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee in both an open session and behind closed doors. The hearings could add to problems facing the president over probes into alleged Russian meddling in last year's U.S. election and potential collusion by his campaign.

In an interview with ABC News, Conway appeared to indicate that the president would allow Comey to testify, saying, "We'll be watching with the rest of the world when Director Comey testifies."

But asked directly whether Trump would use executive privilege to prevent Comey from speaking with lawmakers, Conway added: "The president will make that decision."

Legal experts say Trump could invoke a doctrine called executive privilege to try to stop Comey from testifying. But such a maneuver would likely draw a backlash and could be challenged in court, they said.
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http://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN18T1WZ
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
MechDX said:
Someone on CNN said it could be challenged since Comey is no longer an employee of the government but now a regular citizen
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And because the president has upended his own executive privilege by continuing to blurt out madness on Twitter.
 
Jesus Carbomb

Jesus Carbomb

From Water into Guinness
johnsmith said:
Yo wtf. Apparently Trump could put a stop to this?



http://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN18T1WZ
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Co0igIw.jpg


Mega optic blast
 
T

Tovarisc

Member
Applesauce said:
Didn't he try to do the same thing with Sally Yates?
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It was Priebus poking around and trying to do favor for his boss by getting Yates testimony cancelled, not Trump evoking executive privilege. If I remember right.

If Trump tries to evoke executive privilege he has weak case for it because he has publicly talked and tweeted so much about his interactions with Comey.
 
A

Applesauce

Boom! Bitch-slapped!
Tovarisc said:
It was Priebus poking around and trying to do favor for his boss by getting Yates testimony cancelled, not Trump evoking executive privilege. If I remember right.

If Trump tries to evoke executive privilege he has weak case for it because he has publicly talked and tweeted so much about his interactions with Comey.
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I remember presidential privilege being mentioned in a story about her, for some reason. I think it was in one of the letters their lawyers exchanged. I can't remember.
 
S

Surfinn

Member
Lol I hope he tries it then fails and Comey testifies anyway. How amazing would that be. Then Comey drops bombs
 
C

cameron

Member
Politico: Rosenstein to testify a day before Comey on Capitol Hill
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will testify to a Senate panel next week one day before James Comey does, setting up dramatic back-to-back Intelligence Committee hearings sure to delve into the firing of the former FBI director.

Rosenstein is set to appear at a public hearing on Wednesday alongside other top intelligence officials to discuss the renewal of expiring surveillance powers. Comey is due to testify Thursday.
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L

Leona Lewis

Banned
GoldenEye 007 said:
That's what I meant. Extending current spying powers in the US.
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Sorry, I thought you meant extending as in expanding their scope.

I still chuckle every time I think about that time Trey Gowdy tried to dress down Comey and Rogers.

Luckily, the Senate doesn't seem fraught with those same shenanigans.
 
G

Garlador

Member
smokeymicpot said:
Please be dumb enough to try it.
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It's always the cover up that gets you or the minor mistakes you make.

We got Al Capone for tax evasion, of all things. Nixon took the fall in trying to get rid of the evidence.

Trump's not competent enough to escape punishment or justice forever.
 
L

LycanXIII

Member
If he's testifying about something involved in the investigation, if Trump blocks it, how is that not obstruction of justice?
 
B

Bluenoser

Member
From what has been discussed on CNN, Trump might not be able to block him due to executive privilege, because he has already spoken publicly about what was said in those meetings. In essence, Trump has opened the door for Comey to tell his side of the story.

giphy.gif
 
RPGCrazied

RPGCrazied

Member
And even if he blocks the panel, he can just show up on any news program and at least say he didn't tell Trump on 3 different occasions he was under an investigation, and that he indeed did tell him to stop the investigation into Flynn. None of that is classified.
 
F

Fenderputty

Banned
RPGCrazied said:
And even if he blocks the panel, he can just show up on any news program and at least say he didn't tell Trump on 3 different occasions he was under an investigation, and that he indeed did tell him to stop the investigation into Flynn. None of that is classified.
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To even get this he has to prove there's a reason to invoke the privilege which was detailed in that reuters article.

Legal experts said Trump would face an uphill climb if he asserted executive privilege to stop Comey from testifying before the congressional committee.

Trump likely would argue that Comey's testimony involves confidential conversations or matters of national security. But that claim would be undercut by the fact that the president has publicly discussed and tweeted about his conversations with Comey, said Rozell.

Trump faces another hurdle if he tries to block Comey's testimony. If Trump pressured Comey to drop the Flynn investigation, as Comey is expected to testify, then Trump may have engaged in obstruction of justice, according to some lawyers. Executive privilege cannot be used to "cover up government misconduct," said Andrew Wright, a professor at Savannah Law School.
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C

cameron

Member
ABC News: DOJ never told Comey of concerns before axing him and now he's 'angry,' sources say
In the dead of winter several months ago -- before either one officially joined the Justice Department -- Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein met to discuss replacing James Comey as FBI director. Then in a February meeting at the White House, Rosenstein and President Donald Trump further "discussed" Comey's "deeply troubling" and "serious mistakes," Rosenstein wrote in his now-infamous letter recommending that Comey be fired.

But it turns out Rosenstein and Sessions never discussed such concerns with one key person: Comey himself.

Specifically, according to sources familiar with the matter, at no point in the weeks and months before Comey's termination did Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein or Attorney General Sessions tell Comey they were uneasy about his leadership or upset over what Rosenstein later called Comey's "mistaken" decision to announce the results of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server last year.

The failure to flag any such concerns to Comey before terminating him is part of what makes the former FBI director feel so blindsided. It's also part of the story he's planning to tell lawmakers next week when -- barring a last-minute schedule change -- he testifies publicly for the first time about his axing, and about alleged collusion between Trump associates and elements of the Russian government to influence last year's presidential election.

As one source put it: He's "angry," and he wants the public to understand why.
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Some of what he may discuss seems more personal, such as a recounting of how he learned he was fired -- he saw the news on TV while addressing FBI agents in Los Angeles. His wife also found out by watching TV, while her husband was on the other side of the country.

But most of Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday is expected to touch on grave matters of national security and allegations of espionage and improper influence.

He's expected to echo remarks made last week from former CIA Director John Brennan, who told lawmakers he was "worried" after the U.S. intelligence committee discovered "a number of" contacts between Trump associates and Russian operatives.

Sources familiar with Comey's thinking said he's also ready to discuss whether he felt pressure from Trump or other administration officials to curtail the FBI's probe of alleged ties between the Russian government and members of Trump's circle.

In particular, Comey is preparing to answer questions over memos he drafted detailing some of his conversations with Trump.
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More in the link.
 
C

cameron

Member
Sneak peek of questions to be asked by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME).

Reuters: "Comey to be pressed on whether Trump interfered with Russia probe"
Former FBI Director James Comey will be grilled on whether President Donald Trump tried to get him to back off an investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, key U.S. senators said on Sunday ahead of Comey's testimony this week on Capitol Hill.
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"I want to know what kind of pressure - appropriate, inappropriate - how many conversations he had with the president about this topic?" Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CBS's "Face the Nation" program on Sunday.
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Republican Senator Susan Collins, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she is eager to question Comey to find out more about Trump's allegation that Comey told him on three separate occasions that he was not under investigation.

"We need to hear directly from Mr. Comey on these important issues," Collins told "Face the Nation."

"The tone, the exact words that were spoken and the context are so important and that's what we lack right now and we can only get that by talking to those directly involved," she said.
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S

Skinny Pete

Banned
I just hope Comey gives us something. I can't stand this orange shit stain and would love nothing more than to see his stupid ass impeached.
 
R

rambis

Banned
Tovarisc said:
DBk61L3UIAE-3-s.jpg

https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/871792697572548610

Keep in mind that Trump had lost basically all footing to block Comey by talking about his interactions with Comey publicly.
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He's never had any standing to block Comey. This isn't something that the President can just do on a whim. There has to be justification, and if obstruction of justice is a parameter of this case then there's absolutely no way Trump could've blocked him on this particular matter.
 
S

Sephzilla

Member
Skinny Pete said:
I just hope Comey gives us something. I can't stand this orange shit stain and would love nothing more than to see his stupid ass impeached.
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He's almost certainly going to publicly accuse the President of obstruction of justice under oath. That's pretty big.
 
B

BossDarkseid

Member
rambis said:
He's never had any standing to block Comey. This isn't something that the President can just do on a whim. There has to be justification, and if obstruction of justice is a parameter of this case then there's absolutely no way Trump could've blocked him on this particular matter.
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Yeah but you just know Trumplestiltzkin was asking everyone "How can I ban him?" before having a heart attack when he got told "You can't you fucking idiot"
 
S

Sephzilla

Member
Skinny Pete said:
I'll take it. That's a step in the right direction at least.
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It'll be even bigger if Comey shows up with copies of the memos detailing it. It'll be even bigger if Comey shows up with something we aren't expecting (like more memos)

And of course Trump will angrily go on Twitter and deny it
 
LifEndz

LifEndz

Member
Great news. If he wasn't such an inept clown he may have been able to stop this. Nothing stops this Hype train.
 
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