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[ZombiePlatypus]

Just made a thread for it but there's also more to the beginning as well.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1372278

Here's a link to when he starts talking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uTTn9uDZzc&t=7m35s

Awesome, thank you.

 

[SneakersSO]

Now that I have thought about it for a day... ya know what? It really sucks that Comey didn't come out during the election and said that they were investigating Trump & his staff for ties to Russia. However... had that been announced, and Trump still won, Trump would've fired him on day 1. I honestly believe that this will be the act that ultimately leads to Trump's downfall.

 

[Unison]

I think Comey's actions are defensible. There were two ongoing investigations: Clinton, and Trump. If Clinton won the election without Comey divulging that information, it would look conspiratorial and damage the integrity of the FBI. Similarly, if Comey divulged information about the Russia investigation, it would make it look as though Obama were trying to sway the results of the election.

The assumption that Obama and Comey made was that Clinton was going to win the election. Within that context, they had to act in a way that would be retain the integrity of the incoming Clinton administration. If Trump were taken to be a serious contender, the results may have been different.

I am not happy about Trump winning the election, and I am not happy with Comey swaying the election toward his victory. However, I understand why he did what he did, and I don't think his decisions were vile or unreasonable.

I would also add in Comey's defense that if he piped up about the Russian investigation into the Trump campaign they would no longer be able to collect data in the same matter...

... and that Clinton herself was actively pointing out that the Russians were colluding with the Trump campaign and trying to manipulate the election.

The first catch, though, is that they knew of the extent of the election interference so Obama and Comey should have freaked out and not taken the Clinton win for granted... especially after the immediate and universal kickback about the Comey letter became apparent.

He had time to issue a follow-up letter absolving Clinton a few days later, after all... He could have exposed Trump campaign Russian ties after Oct. 28 as well.

The second, and bigger, catch is that Comey broke FBI policy to release that Clinton letter. The post-election backlash could be countered by simply referring back to that policy that states that the Bureau should not interfere in elections.

Ultimately, I think it was a bad call on the part of Comey and Obama.

 

[Unison]

Now that I have thought about it for a day... ya know what? It really sucks that Comey didn't come out during the election and said that they were investigating Trump & his staff for ties to Russia. However... had that been announced, and Trump still won, Trump would've fired him on day 1. I honestly believe that this will be the act that ultimately leads to Trump's downfall.

I would say it's likely to lead to impeachment, ultimately, especially if the Dems take the house in 2018.

It's clear obstruction of justice, especially now that the WH's story has changed to admit that Trump himself ordered the DOJ to come up with reasons to fire Comey.

The legal basis for impeachment seems sound. It's just a matter of political will.

 

[Leona Lewis]

I would also add in Comey's defense that if he piped up about the Russian investigation into the Trump campaign they would no longer be able to collect data in the same matter...

... and that Clinton herself was actively pointing out that the Russians were colluding with the Trump campaign and trying to manipulate the election.

The first catch, though, is that they knew of the extent of the election interference so Obama and Comey should have freaked out and not taken the Clinton win for granted... especially after the immediate and universal kickback about the Comey letter became apparent.

He had time to issue a follow-up letter absolving Clinton a few days later, after all... He could have exposed Trump campaign Russian ties after Oct. 28 as well.

The second, and bigger, catch is that Comey broke FBI policy to release that Clinton letter. The post-election backlash could be countered by simply referring back to that policy that states that the Bureau should not interfere in elections.

Ultimately, I think it was a bad call on the part of Comey and Obama.

In the end, I think Obama was so certain that Clinton would win that he didn't want to risk rocking the boat with any perceived interference.

It was a bad call, but no one could have predicted just how damning that letter would end up being.

 

[Unison]

In the end, I think Obama was so certain that Clinton would win that he didn't want to risk rocking the boat with any perceived interference.

It was a bad call, but no one could have predicted just how damning that letter would end up being.

I agree that Obama's hubris is most likely to blame. Comey released a follow-up letter a few days later, though.

It contained no apologies or major retractions.

Dear Messrs. Chairmen:

I write to supplement my October 28, 2016 letter that notified you the FBI would be taking additional investigative steps with respect to former Secretary of State Clinton's use of a personal email server. Since my letter, the FBI investigative team has been working around the clock to process and review a large volume of emails from a device obtained in connection with an unrelated criminal investigation. During that process, we reviewed all of the communications that were to or from Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State.

Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July with respect to Secretary Clinton.

I am very grateful to the professionals at the FBI for doing an extraordinary amount of high-quality work in a short period of time.

Sincerely yours,
James B. Comey
Director

Its cold tone did no damage control whatsoever.

 

[Maledict]

In the end, I think Obama was so certain that Clinton would win that he didn't want to risk rocking the boat with any perceived interference.

It was a bad call, but no one could have predicted just how damning that letter would end up being.

We know why Obama did this and it wasn't just because of 'optics'. He met with senate republicans, and Mitch McConnel told him if he did anything at all he would walk onto the White House lawn and give a press conference saying the president was lying to try and steal an election.

Blame that fucking turtle if you want, but he boxed Obama in badly.

 

[TheContact]

Has this article been posted and discussed in here already? Because it's some gold

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/10...ment-bill-out-of-spite-over-the-comey-firing/

The one good thing McCain has done and it was in spite

 

[TheContact]

If the lack of full justification on that letter isn't the first thing you notice when you look at it, there's something wrong with you.

The double entendras are on fire in this one

 

[Donos]

Breaking News:

Oh god, that was a good laugh in the office.

 

[RoninChaos]

I'm so disappointed in the republicans. They're so hell bent on getting their agenda through they're willing to let anything slide that Trump does because they know he will sign anything they send to his desk. Party over country. You fucks sold your souls.

 

[Slaythe]

I'm so disappointed in the republicans. They're so hell bent on getting their agenda through they're willing to let anything slide that Trump does because they know he will sign anything they send to his desk. Party over country. You fucks sold your souls.

That's their secret.

They never had a soul to begin with.

 

[JoJo UK]

A Spicer in the hand

This post didn't get enough love.

 

[jellies_two]

Things you can learn from time,com "evening with POTUS" article that came out.

http://time.com/donald-trump-after-hours/

- he thinks Clapper has the last word on collusion
- he uses a TiVo
- he drinks Diet Coke for dinner
- he has extra gravy with his chicken and extra ice cream too
- he works late into the night alone with agent 0, his personal bodyguard, Keith Schiller.
- he gloats at clips on his TiVo showing federal employees "choking like dogs" (his words)
- his family will join him in 4 weeks
- he thinks the media is mean to him

 

[A Serious Man]

- he gloats at clips on his TiVo showing federal employees "choking like dogs" (his words)

What the fuck?

 

[FlutterPuffs]

Nothing wrong with diet coke for dinner tho.

 

[Rebel Leader]

Nothing wrong with diet coke for dinner tho.

Quick someone post his tweets about diet coke!

 

[rmt92]

Nothing wrong with diet coke for dinner tho.

Unless he literally drinks multiple cans of diet coke as a meal

 

[ahoyhoy]

Nothing wrong with diet coke for dinner tho.

But what happened to his anti-Diet Coke stance on Twitter?

Did he cuck up that one too?

SAD!

 

[FlutterPuffs]

Unless he literally drinks multiple cans of diet coke as a meal

I... Sometimes do

 

[so1337]

Things you can learn from time,com "evening with POTUS" article that came out.

http://time.com/donald-trump-after-hours/

- he thinks Clapper has the last word on collusion
- he uses a TiVo
- he drinks Diet Coke for dinner
- he has extra gravy with his chicken and extra ice cream too
- he works late into the night alone with agent 0, his personal bodyguard, Keith Schiller.
- he gloats at clips on his TiVo showing federal employees "choking like dogs" (his words)
- his family will join him in 4 weeks
- he thinks the media is mean to him

Relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8xKAYLXbYA

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

You guys are forgetting outcome C

Obama goes public with the Russian investigation, Trump still wins and now the entire investigation is viewed as a political stunt.

 

[Isaac Otherworld]

Relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8xKAYLXbYA

Don't forget Trump "moves onto them like a bitch."

Whatever that means.

 

[Deku Tree]

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/...n-letter.html?referer=https://t.co/Q6dwI3LsUQ

 

[TheLaughingStock]

I think Comey's actions are defensible. There were two ongoing investigations: Clinton, and Trump. If Clinton won the election without Comey divulging that information, it would look conspiratorial and damage the integrity of the FBI. Similarly, if Comey divulged information about the Russia investigation, it would make it look as though Obama were trying to sway the results of the election.

His poor decision-making torpedoed the integrity of the FBI and made people think he was in the tank for Trump. If the Obama administration spent more time using their brains instead of worrying so much about how x looks and what y might appear like then maybe the US wouldn't be experiencing some of the darkest days in its history. Comey did a fantastic job making the FBI look extremely good.

 

[the_firewithin]

The deputy attorney general threatened to quit after being cast as the impetus of James Comey's dismissal, which was already decided

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Haha of course. If he was dumb enough to think anyone would have his back it pretty hilarious he'd realize so fast he messed up

 

[Beartruck]

Haha of course. If he was dumb enough to think anyone would have his back it pretty hilarious he'd realize so fast he messed up

More than likely sessions strongarmed him into sending the letter. Nowhere in the deputy AG's letter does it literally say to fire Comey, just strong condemnation.

 

[KernelPanic]

The ghost of tweets past visits Sarah Huckabee Sanders as well:

https://twitter.com/sarahhuckabee/status/794255968448020480

When you're attacking FBI agents because you're under criminal investigation, you're losing

 

[Common Knowledge]

The ghost of tweets past visits Sarah Huckabee Sanders as well:

https://twitter.com/sarahhuckabee/status/794255968448020480

At this point I'm starting to think contradictory tweets are a fetish for a lot of conservatives.

 

[boiled goose]

We know why Obama did this and it wasn't just because of 'optics'. He met with senate republicans, and Mitch McConnel told him if he did anything at all he would walk onto the White House lawn and give a press conference saying the president was lying to try and steal an election.

Blame that fucking turtle if you want, but he boxed Obama in badly.

Republicans strong enough to blatantly lie but Democrats too weak to tell the truth?

Pathetic yet pathetically believable.

The Comey conference and the comey letter were out of protocol. Consciously partisan or not, he gave in to pressure from the gop and it clearly influenced election.

Fbi does not comment on ongoing investigations. That's the policy. On the conference he should have said no charges. That's it. Instead he threw Hillary under the bus.

 

[LiK]

Sam Bee's segment about this last night was amazing.

https://youtu.be/3NxenCGfxEk

 

[Maiden Voyage]

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/...n-letter.html?referer=https://t.co/Q6dwI3LsUQ

I hope the DAG is listening to the voice of reason.

 

[Last_colossi]

I don't know if this has been posted yet?: Al Franken SLAMS Trump For Firing Comey To End Russian Investigation (Youtube)

 

[Arttemis]

Comey's "atrocities"

Trump celebrated atrocities during the campaign, then.

 

[KingV]

Not sure if people are aware of it here, but text "resist" twice to 50409 and there is a bot that's been set up to easily fax and even snail mail your senators and representative through a text bot.

I used it sporadically in the last month but have started sending a fax to all three every day to urge them to support a special prosecutor. It takes maybe 5 minutes of my day to compose a message and send it.

It's a pretty cool feature. On some days I call as well

 

[womfalcs3]

This guy has become the most famous FBI director in history. I mean, he's a household name now. I couldn't name a single FBI director before him a week ago, until I read up on when he was selected, and who preceded him.

 

[TheCochese]

This guy has become the most famous FBI director in history. I mean, he's a household name now. I couldn't name a single FBI director before him a week ago, until I read up on when he has selected, and who preceded him.

Wow.

 

[Aaronology]

This guy has become the most famous FBI director in history. I mean, he's a household name now. I couldn't name a single FBI director before him a week ago, until I read up on when he was selected, and who preceded him.

Hoover?

 

[Crimson_Gold]

Wow.

I mean...when you hear Hoover, do you think of the FBI or a vacuum?

I'm not serious

 

[Mac_Lane]

This guy has become the most famous FBI director in history. I mean, he's a household name now. I couldn't name a single FBI director before him a week ago, until I read up on when he was selected, and who preceded him.

Never heard of J. Edgar Hoover ?

 

[kaskade]

So I guess it seems like Trump wanted a few reasons they could use to fire comey. Ron came up with some and pretty much was thrown under the bus having no idea that Trump would do this in the spectacularly stupid fashion that only Trump could.

 

[Isaac Otherworld]

Hoover?

Hoover?

More like "Whoover."

 

[TheOfficeMut]

Hoover?

Dam!

 

[WedgeX]

Despite being in an era of newspaper downsizing, thought I'd do a round up of editorial board opinions. Newspapers appear to fall in three categories. The editorial board wrote a piece. The editorial board has declined to write a piece. Or no editorial board appears to exist in "a giving an opinion way" and so the last opinion piece is included.

Our nation's newspapers:

Miami Herald:With FBI chief James Comey's firing, democracy is officially in crisis

If Americans who believe in democracy were scared before, they should be terrified now.

Tuesday, the man heading the investigation into allegations of collusion between Russia and President Trump's victorious campaign for the White House was fired — by the White House.

FBI Director James Comey was terminated, the Justice Department said in the richest of ironies, because of how he handled — mishandled, the administration now seems to think — the probe into Hillary Clinton's emails. Of course, if that were true, Comey would have been gone Jan. 21.

Baltimore Sun: Comey firing trumps all excuses not to appoint a special counsel

Detroit Free Press: Needed: A Trump-proof Russia inquiry

New York Times: Trump's Firing of Comey Is All About the Russia Inquiry

The American people — not to mention the credibility of the world's oldest democracy — require a thorough, impartial investigation into the extent of Russia's meddling with the 2016 presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump and, crucially, whether high-ranking members of Mr. Trump's campaign colluded in that effort.
By firing the F.B.I. director, James Comey, late Tuesday afternoon, President Trump has cast grave doubt on the viability of any further investigation into what could be one of the biggest political scandals in the country's history.

Washington Post: How to clean up the Comey mess

IT'S FAIR to doubt that President Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey because of his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation — a performance the president had previously praised . But whatever his motive, Mr. Trump has removed an independent official overseeing inquiries into Russia's intervention in last year's election, from which the president benefited, and Moscow's possible collaboration with elements of Mr. Trump's campaign. The firing has undermined the credibility of a vital national security investigation. The priority for Congress and the Justice Department must be to restore independence and credibility to that probe as quickly as possible.

LA Times: Absolutely nothing about James Comey's firing passes the smell test

In some other universe, Americans might be able to take at face value the Trump administration's explanation for the abrupt firing of James B. Comey less than four years into his 10-year term as director of the FBI — that Comey had mishandled the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of State.
But in the real universe, that explanation seems far-fetched. After all, Comey is the official who has been supervising an investigation into possible links between Russia and the campaign of the very president who just fired him. That president, by the way, tweeted this on Monday: ”The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?" Americans can be excused for wondering if Trump hopes that Comey's departure from the scene is the answer to his question.

Wall Street Journal: no opinion

Chicago Tribune: Trump's firing of Comey looks like a politically motivated hatchet job

USA Today: James Comey is now a GOP problem

Detroit News: no opinion

San Jose Mercury News: With the Justice Department fully compromised, Republicans in Congress need to salvage Trump-Russia investigation

Denver Post: The Comey firing stinks; a special prosecutor is a must

Houston Chronicle: Trump's actions underscore the need for special attention on the Russia investigation.

Does he think we're all fools? Does he even care what his fellow Americans think?

The Plain Dealer: Was President Trump trying to shut down FBI's Russia probe in firing James Comey? Editorial Board Roundtable

The Arizona Republic: no opinion

Boston Globe: no opinion

Birmingham News: No editorial
Opinion piece: James Comey firing feels like a huge pain in the Trump

Atlanta Journal Constitution: no editorial
Opinion piece: The problems with Trump's firing of Comey aren't constitutional ones

The most damning detail so far about President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey isn't about the timing. It's that the White House wasn't at all prepared for the blow-back.

It doesn't look good that Trump fired Comey after a grand jury issued subpoenas — not indictments — in the Michael Flynn investigation. But to speak of this as a ”constitutional crisis" is an inapt description of what's really going on here.

Times-Picayune: no opinion

Kansas City Star: In search of Republican profiles in courage on Comey's firing

Citizen-Times: no opinion

Charlotte Observer: With Comey firing, day of reckoning has arrived

The Virginia Pilot: What we need now: a special prosecutor

The Roanoke Times: no opinion

The Herald-Dispatch: no opinion

Charleston Gazette-Mail: no opinion

Portland Press Herald: Our View: Comey's firing not business as usual

Idaho Statesman: no opinion

Bismark Tribute: no opinion

Argus Leader: no opinion

Missoulian: no opinion

The Okalahoman: nothing of its own

Topeka Capital-Journal: Trump shouldn't have fired Comey

The Witchita Eagle: no opinion

The Seattle Times: no opinion

The Oregonian: no opinion

 

[womfalcs3]

Nevermind

 

[The Jackdog]

This guy has become the most famous FBI director in history. I mean, he's a household name now. I couldn't name a single FBI director before him a week ago, until I read up on when he was selected, and who preceded him.

...............hoover? not even hoover?

 

[Elandyll]

I'm really not a fan of Morning Joe and their repeated Tsundere Bro love/ hate relationship with Trump and his proxys, but damn... Scarborough was spitting fire at the Trump administration this morning...

 

[Goldmund]

...............hoover? not even hoover?

...............Hoo--wer?

 

[Tacitus_]

This guy has become the most famous FBI director in history. I mean, he's a household name now. I couldn't name a single FBI director before him a week ago, until I read up on when he was selected, and who preceded him.

J. Edgar Hoover? I mean, I'm not american and I know of the guy.

 

[BronsonLee]

Why are you guys no selling Director Dyson?!