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President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

washingtonpost.com

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Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#131

Post by mwfunk »

self-diversity wrote: post #67
throwaway5752 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The FBI was investigating the president for colluding with a hostile state to influence the election and aid them against the interests of the US. This is the worst thing to happen to the country since Watergate or longer.

Yeah you can tell the Trump-Russia connections are not a quixotic quagmire by how the stories continue to be filled with weasel words and spend 100% of their column inches not presenting any evidence at all.

Your argument would be a lot more plausible had Trump not done absolutely everything in his power to look guilty as hell on a daily basis. This whole thing could've been shut down months ago with the barest modicum of transparency, integrity, leadership, and honesty from the administration.

Trump could have cleared this up in an instant if he had made even a token effort to behave like a responsible, competent, sane adult professional who cares about his his country and the people who live in it. Instead he has escalated this situation at every opportunity, culminating in this moment, which so far is the low-water mark for how low Trump is willing to sink.

None of what I wrote above has anything to do with whether or not Trump is guilty of treason- if he were 100% innocent and the victim of a political witch hunt, every scrap of the criticism above would still apply to him. However, if Trump is as guilty as he appears to be, this whole situation is infinitely worse- not just for Trump himself but for all Americans. I have often disagreed with aspects of my country's governance (under leadership of both parties), but the last 6 months and this moment in particular is a level of shame, embarrassment, and disgust that I have never felt in my 45 years as an American citizen. I love America and the principles upon which it (at least in theory) was founded, and this is just a fucking disgrace.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#132

Post by wonderwonder »

fooey wrote: post #20

Seemed to be confirmed as real, so here are letters being floated as from Trump, Sessions and Rosenstein firing Comey and blaming the Clinton investigation Trump: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apTsDXoAAVKYn.jpg AG Sessions: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg Deputy AG Rosenstein: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apVImXcAIKhfm.jpg Dear Director Comey: I have received the attached letters from the Attorney Ge…

This man cannot help making everything about him. If it was anyone else it would elicit a rueful shake of my head and a comment about a gross display of childishness and saying Na Na Na Na to the bullied kid. But as it comes from the president of the United States, it's terrifying.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#133

Post by kevintb »

jjordan wrote: post #44

Say what you want about the politics, but it's inarguable that Comey, whether he wanted to or not, had become a partisan lightning rod for both sides. The unbiased credibility of the FBI was at stake with Comey at the helm, and this is probably a good move for the country.

Comey was leading an investigation into his campaign and was fired by Sessions who was forced to recuse himself from the investigation after outcries of corruption. You think it's good for the country for him for Comey to be replaced with Trump's replacement?

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#134

Post by the_cat_kittles »

liquidise wrote: post #92
TheBiv wrote: post #4

"Trump just fired the man leading a counterintelligence investigation into his campaign, on the same day that the Senate Intelligence commitee requested financial documents relating to Trump's business dealings from the treasury department that handles money laundering." -Comment from reddit that sums up how strange this is.

The implication of this comment only holds if the replacement FBI Director drops the investigation. The FBI Director themselves are not conducting the investigation, but have instructed the investigation to be conducted. It stands that we should expect the investigation to continue in Comey's absence. Should it cease, this comment would gain merit. The reasons cited for the dismissal appear valid on their face: the h…

sure, he bungled that during the election, but the reasons for dismissal are total nonsense given the timing. im sorry, you really dont find it suspicious? betting markets had comey at 95% change of being FBI director on 6/30 before 3 hours ago. this is a total shock to everyone, please dont act like this makes perfect sense.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#135

Post by anigbrowl »

aaron-lebo wrote: post #48
dekhn wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's not what he did. there already was an investigation. What comey announced right before the elections was that they had found more of clinton's emails in another, unrelated case. That invesigation was into Anthony Weiner, who was married to Clinton's advisor Huma Abedin. Weiner was sexting a 15-year-old, Abedin was forwarding some emails to weiner's computer to be printed out. In investigating weiner's computer…

Yep. If you believe that Comey's final investigation swung the election, you also gotta realize that the election was swung because Anthony Weiner is a sleezeball. The odds that sleezeball would be married to Clinton's top advisor...Bill actually officiated their wedding.

You critique your political opponents without using tabloid language.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#136

Post by rrggrr »

gregshap wrote: post #52
jjordan wrote: post #44

Say what you want about the politics, but it's inarguable that Comey, whether he wanted to or not, had become a partisan lightning rod for both sides. The unbiased credibility of the FBI was at stake with Comey at the helm, and this is probably a good move for the country.

Perhaps the country is better served by someone disliked by both sides than by someone handpicked for their loyalty to Trump.

I have to agree with this, and I want to believe that was the needle Comey was threading. I am concerned, however, that his tone in the last hearing (eg. "mildly nauseous", Abedin email forwarding mistakes, immigrant investigation mistakes, etc.) was so flippant that he was almost asking to be fired. By design or by accident, he's departing more independent now than ever.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#137

Post by awj »

liquidise wrote: post #92
TheBiv wrote: post #4

"Trump just fired the man leading a counterintelligence investigation into his campaign, on the same day that the Senate Intelligence commitee requested financial documents relating to Trump's business dealings from the treasury department that handles money laundering." -Comment from reddit that sums up how strange this is.

The implication of this comment only holds if the replacement FBI Director drops the investigation. The FBI Director themselves are not conducting the investigation, but have instructed the investigation to be conducted. It stands that we should expect the investigation to continue in Comey's absence. Should it cease, this comment would gain merit. The reasons cited for the dismissal appear valid on their face: the h…

> The implication of this comment only holds if the replacement FBI Director drops the investigation.

How can you possibly trust the authenticity of an investigation headed up by someone hand chosen by the person being investigated, who knows the person they pick will immediately be in charge of the investigation?

If Trump is truly innocent, this is literally the worst thing he could have ever done for himself. This action will form the basis for doubt in plenty of people who could otherwise have been convinced nothing happened.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#138

Post by skygazer »

anigbrowl wrote: post #101
liquidise wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The implication of this comment only holds if the replacement FBI Director drops the investigation. The FBI Director themselves are not conducting the investigation, but have instructed the investigation to be conducted. It stands that we should expect the investigation to continue in Comey's absence. Should it cease, this comment would gain merit. The reasons cited for the dismissal appear valid on their face: the h…

So you're saying you find it plausible that Trump fired Comey an excess of administrative zeal on Comey's part might have led to Clinton's loss of the election. I might find your position more persuasive if Trump didn't display an almost-daily disregard for administrative norms and procedures. I highly doubt that his new nominee will be told to not obstruct any ongoing investigations.

That deputy AG letter seemed to imply that the reason for the firing was Comey publicly berating Clinton last July, against policy -- the act that Trump praised Comey for at the time. And lets not forget Trump hugging Comey at their first meeting after he took office.

If these were the actual reasons, they would have been triggered months ago during Trump's early firing sprees. There's clearly an unnamed (but obvious) proximal cause.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#139

Post by sandworm101 »

enraged_camel wrote: post #100
res0nat0r wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The man at the FBI leading the investigation into the Trump / Russia connection was fired upon recommendation from Sessions who said he was recusing himself from all Russia / Trump investigations. Looking corrupt as hell? Most certainly.

At this point Trump is looking more and more like Nixon on fast-forward.

Fast-something. Nixon created the EPA, trump is on rewind there. I think nixon was more his own person, this guy seems a sponge for whoever spoke to him most recently. In that way he is more similar to many historical kings than modern presidents.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#140

Post by booleandilemma »

Filligree wrote: post #110
agumonkey wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe Trump is a genius painter in the closet. A dyslexic Dali channeling is talent through tweets and EOs.

Painters, in my opinion, should not be heads of state. Once was quite enough.

Are you talking about Bush or Hitler?
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