Support NeoGAF

[Tovarisc]

Then-FBI Director James Comey knew that a critical piece of information relating to the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email was fake -- created by Russian intelligence -- but he feared that if it became public it would undermine the probe and the Justice Department itself, according to multiple officials with knowledge of the process.

As a result, Comey acted unilaterally last summer to publicly declare the investigation over -- without consulting then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch -- while at the same time stating that Clinton had been "extremely careless" in her handling of classified information. His press conference caused a firestorm of controversy and drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.

Comey's actions based on what he knew was Russian disinformation offer a stark example of the way Russian interference impacted the decisions of the highest-level US officials during the 2016 campaign.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that this Russian intelligence was unreliable. US officials now tell CNN that Comey and FBI officials actually knew early on that this intelligence was indeed false.

In fact, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe went to Capitol Hill Thursday to push back on the notion that the FBI was duped, according to a source familiar with a meeting McCabe had with members of the Senate intelligence committee.

....

In classified sessions with members of Congress several months ago, Comey described those emails in the Russian claim and expressed his concern that this Russian information could "drop" and that would undermine the Clinton investigation and the Justice Department in general, according to one government official.

Still, Comey did not let on to lawmakers that there were doubts about the veracity of the intelligence, according to sources familiar with the briefings. It is unclear why Comey was not more forthcoming in a classified setting.

Sources close to Comey tell CNN he felt that it didn't matter if the information was accurate, because his big fear was that if the Russians released the information publicly, there would be no way for law enforcement and intelligence officials to discredit it without burning intelligence sources and methods.

In at least one classified session, Comey cited that intelligence as the primary reason he took the unusual step of publicly announcing the end of the Clinton email probe.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/26/p...tigation-fake-russian-intelligence/index.html

I'm coming Mr. Off-Topic with all my Trump related threads <.<

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

I knew he wasn't foolish enough to take that intel at face value. The rest of the story though... shame

 

[veryslowhand]

I don't understand.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

Punished Comey

A hero denied his agency

 

[TestOfTide]

So basically, Comey made sure he wouldn't be fired too quickly by a Trump Admin by getting ahead of everything relating to Hillary, thus giving him more time to investigate Trump/Russia ties.

 

[Mariolee]

Punished Comey

A hero denied his agency

Agency in more ways than one.

 

[kirblar]

I don't understand.

If the fake document were to leak, it'd be pushed and propped up by the Russia/Wikileaks propaganda network and it wouldn't matter that it was fake. (See: DNC Emails)

 

[sturgboski]

Ok fine, but did he need to go in there and basically say "there is nothing to see here but she is terrible at everything"?

 

[numble]

He did not act on the intelligence, he acted because of the intelligence.

 

[Tovarisc]

So basically, Comey made sure he wouldn't be fired too quickly by a Trump Admin by getting ahead of everything relating to Hillary, thus giving him more time to investigate Trump/Russia ties.

He also rendered drove of false information unusable, by GOP and/or Russians.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Punished Comey

A hero denied his agency

Victorious Putin

A Madman Aching For The Cold War

 

[Electric Eye]

If it was fake and the GOP were informed and they continued to push the email narrative along with the right wing media then we have so so many more questions here. This is really disturbing.

 

[SwiftDeath]

Comey seems incredibly naive if he truly thought him stating the FBI Hillary probe was closed that it would be the end of it when the GOP put her through the damn benghazi circus

 

[x24hrs2livex]

I feel as though this is old news...

 

[Head of Vengarl]

This is going to be an Oscar winning movie one day.

 

[Netherscourge]

Sources close to Comey tell CNN he felt that it didn't matter if the information was accurate, because his big fear was that if the Russians released the information publicly, there would be no way for law enforcement and intelligence officials to discredit it without burning intelligence sources and methods.

It's amazing how tangled up Russia's Fake News Brigade has made American politics.

 

[wesleyshark]

Lmao this just keeps getting crazier

 

[otakukidd]

Didn't we know this from earlier this week? He knew that his investigation would be called suspect if the Russians leaked the fake intel and the Loretta lynch stuff.

 

[subrock]

Can we have an election do-over yet?

 

[AuthenticM]

This is going to be an Oscar winning movie one day.

oh yeah

 

[Chmpocalypse]

If it was fake and the GOP were informed and they continued to push the email narrative along with the right wing media then we have so so many more questions here. This is really disturbing.

An extremely important point!

 

[Derwind]

Damn it, I don't know what to believe anymore.

Comey may have very well prevented a Trump election and had an ally in the highest office, not a whiny, petty, orange adversary he was ultimately left with.

Was it worth it?

 

[jmdajr]

This sure is complicated

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

Damn it, I don't know what to believe anymore.

Comey may have very well prevented a Trump election and had an ally in the highest office, not a whiny, petty, orange adversary he was ultimately left with.

Was it worth it?

Someone didn't read the OP

 

[Tovarisc]

I feel as though this is old news...

It gets samey and there is certain exhaustion because we are bombarded constantly with new stories and, like this, developments and additional information to older (1-2 days ) news.

 

[Lord Frieza]

Didn't we know this from earlier this week? He knew that his investigation would be called suspect if the Russians leaked the fake intel and the Loretta lynch stuff.

No, the earlier story basically painted it like Comey acted on dubious information prematurely without really waiting for the debunking of it even though there was doubts. This story is that he intentionally acted on it, to cut off any potential of it being leaked, sources being burned, and Russia/Wikileaks/right wing media using it to their advantage.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

Comey seems incredibly naive if he truly thought him stating the FBI Hillary probe was closed that it would be the end of it when the GOP put her through the damn benghazi circus

He also just had to give his extra two cents, creating more fuckery in the process of closing it.

 

[Wyndstryker]

This is what real 5D chess looks like.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

This is going to be an Oscar winning movie one day.

Based on a true story.

 

[Neo C.]

This is going to be an Oscar winning movie one day.

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis. He's tall enough for Lincoln, Comey shouldn't be a problem for him as well.

 

[liquidtmd]

Trump fans take note: This is actually 4D chess

Edit: Goddamnit wynd

 

[Electric Eye]

An extremely important point!

Yeah this is what people are glossing over the GOP has known for MONTHS that Russia was causing all this email bullshit and Gowdy and co kept bullshiting the country with email bullshit. THEY are part of the Russian operation the whole GOP is complicit here.

 

[jimmypython]

so he can catch bigger fish?

is he playing 8 dimension chess??

 

[Damaniel]

Based on a true story.

And nobody will believe it. You can't write shit this crazy.

 

[tbm24]

It's amazing how tangled up Russia's Fake News Brigade has made American politics.

I wonder if politics and people's trust in jorunalism can fully recover from this bullshit. Especially with Fake News being tossed out every day by the president and his buddies when it's unfavorable.

 

[Lord Frieza]

Comey seems incredibly naive if he truly thought him stating the FBI Hillary probe was closed that it would be the end of it when the GOP put her through the damn benghazi circus

Yeah, I agree, but at least I understand his reasoning in this case more with this.

He also just had to give his extra two cents, creating more fuckery in the process of closing it.

And this part of it makes Comey insanely irresponsible as well. Even knowing this now, I cannot believe he did what he did thinking that would help anything.

 

[Deku Tree]

That is a click bait headline that's not really accurate but the story is still horrible. So many horrible scandals these days, any one of them would have been devastating all by itself under other circumstances.

 

[theclosetfan]

I'm sure the Trump cult is going to use this article to attempt to smear Comey, but the takeaway here is how badly the Russian cyber and propaganda campaign has breached our national discourse, to the point where the FBI was concerned about its ability to stop forged documents from shaping public consciousness.

 

[Lord Frieza]

I wonder if politics and people's trust in jorunalism can fully recover from this bullshit. Especially with Fake News being tossed out every day by the president and his buddies when it's unfavorable.

As far as the left, and probably most centrists, I doubt it will make a lot of difference. The right, though, I really don't think it ever will.

 

[Malreyn]

This is what real 5D chess looks like.

The problem is that the general public (including Congress) only has the attention span to follow checkers....

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Okay, I wonder if people realize what's going on here? Donald Trump's administration, lawyers, are now actively leaking on their own to the papers to combat and damage the credibility of one of the biggest potential witnesses against him, which we know to be James Comey.

Is it possible that this is indeed true? Yes. It could be true. Or there could be an element of truth, but be very careful that we aren't falling for a well orchestrated campaign by Donald Trump's team of lawyers designed to greatly damage Comey as a witness before he has a chance to speak his piece. And I pray Democrats in Congress don't fall for or get caught up on this, and focus on the what the most important issue is right now, and that's whether or not Donald Trump is guilty of obstruction of justice, and did his campaign act as a willing partner to the Russian government's attempts to influence our election.

And even if he knew it was fake, he's still wisely aware of the fact that even fake information leaked to the press, can be quite damaging if it leaks in an incomplete fashion that doesn't tell the full story. He's not entirely wrong for attempting to get out ahead of this. And let's not pretend as if Bill Clinton's foolish meeting with Loretta Lynch, whether this story is a Russian plant or not (which it likely is), did not add some element of urgency to get out ahead of even a fake piece of information planted by Russia. The media, politicians and many people in this country aren't very well known for their appreciation for nuance. They would ignore or overlook the strong possibility of some of the information clearly being a Russian plant, and would just associate what they know to be true, which is Bill and Loretta Lynch's meeting on that plane, to lend credibility to the idea that Lynch might have actually made the assurances to the Clintons that the Russian planted e-mail suggests.

So, yea, be very careful this isn't a Trump defense team orchestrated leak, just like I fully believe that the manchester bombing leak was also intentionally done by the Trump team to introduce an element of credibility to their constant whining about the danger of leaks. You can fully expect Trump to start up some serious investigation on the very subject of that leak as a distraction.

I feel as though this is old news...

Because Trump's team wants to keep this in the news.

 

[theWB27]

The problem is that the general public (including Congress) only has the attention span to follow checkers....

Congress isn't behaving this way because of their attention span.

 

[MarkMclovin]

What is it with the chess references??

 

[Unison]

I wonder if politics and people's trust in jorunalism can fully recover from this bullshit. Especially with Fake News being tossed out every day by the president and his buddies when it's unfavorable.

Last election season there was a media normalization of Trump that may have lead to short-term ratings boosts, but has clearly created a rift between about 1/3-1/2 of the country and the very concept of the objective free press.

I think it's going to be very hard to pull back from this. It's taken American tribalism to a new level.

 

[How About No]

da fuq

The problem is that the general public (including Congress) only has the attention span to follow checkers....

Hell I can barely think a step ahead in checkers, I might be manipulated by forces higher than me right now

 

[Derwind]

Someone didn't read the OP

I guess I didn't understand the OP, I was making a side comment since I was under the impression it was because of his comments over Hillary's carelessness(at the end of the email probe) that helped make her appear unelectable.

I get that he wanted to get out in front of it and continue the narrative to not be suspected.

 

[TheCochese]

The problem is that the general public (including Congress) only has the attention span to follow checkers....

That triangle tee game at Cracker Barrel.

 

[Lord Frieza]

Okay, I wonder if people realize what's going on here? Donald Trump's administration, lawyers, are now actively leaking on their own to the papers to combat and damage the credibility of one of the biggest potential witnesses against him, which we know to be James Comey.

Is it possible that this is indeed true? Yes. It could be true. Or there could be an element of truth, but be very careful that we aren't falling for a well orchestrated campaign by Donald Trump's team of lawyers designed to greatly damage Comey as a witness before he has a chance to speak his peace. And I pray Democrats in Congress don't fall for or get caught up on this, and focus on the what the most important issue is right now, and that's whether or not Donald Trump is guilty of obstruction of justice, and did his campaign act as a willing partner to the Russian government's attempts to influence our election.

And even if he knew it was fake, he's still wisely aware of the fact that even fake information leaked to the press, can be quite damaging if it leaks in an incomplete fashion that doesn't tell the full story. He's not entirely wrong for attempting to get out ahead of this. And let's not pretend as if Bill Clinton's foolish meeting with Loretta Lynch, whether this story is a Russian plant or not (which it likely is), did not add some element of urgency to get out ahead of even a fake piece of information planted by Russia. The media, politicians and many people in this country aren't very well known for their appreciation for nuance. They would ignore or overlook the strong possibility of some of the information clearly being a Russian plant, and would just associate what they know to be true, which is Bill and Loretta Lynch's meeting on that plane, to lend credibility to the idea that Lynch might have actually made the assurances to the Clintons that the Russian planted e-mail suggests.

So, yea, be very careful this isn't a Trump defense team orchestrated leak, just like I fully believe that the manchester bombing leak was also intentionally done by the Trump team to introduce an element of credibility to their constant whining about the danger of leaks. You can fully expect Trump to start up some serious investigation on the very subject of that leak as a distraction.

None of this is true. This basically matches up with previous stories, making it more of a large piece in a complicated puzzle. This also doesn't really do anything to discredit Comey at all. If anything, this really shows his overall bipartisan attempt, even if it was horribly flubbed in multiple ways.

The idea that the Trump administration is intentionally leaking stuff to damage the reputation of others is also mostly bunk. Very little of what we have gotten from these leaks have done, and almost none of them have done anything helpful at all to the administration. The only time something like this has possibly happened is the tax return thing with Maddow, but I'm even starting to think that was a fluke and something else was going on there.

 

[Fenderputty]

And 30% of the nation won't believe it. .

FTFY ...

Seriously though. If something comes from this and collusion or useful idiot are proven, only his die hard white nationalist fake new fans will stick their head in the sand.