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President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

washingtonpost.com

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Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#261

Post by evan_ »

tw04 wrote: post #150
evan_ wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reply from the MAGA camp is "Trump will appoint someone to go after his political enemies for personal gain" except they're happy about it: https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=comey...

It's astounding Comey was supposedly fired for misrepresenting the Clinton email thing (by grossly overstating the wrongdoing) and yet they follow-up with "and go after Clinton!!!". I'd comment on the mental gymnastics but it doesn't appear anyone on that page is capable of basic reasoning.

His most entrenched base (e.g., people who really support him rather than those who just voted against Clinton) truly believe that anything he does contrary to their expectations is 4-dimensional chess, that will eventually resolve in a fashion that will benefit him and eventually them.

It's like how if you stare at an old TV tuned to static for long enough you can start to see pictures. It's reading intent where there is nothing but random flailing.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#262

Post by ianamartin »

briandear wrote: post #54
Sargos wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't count on it. Trump will likely put someone very right wing into the position and the attack on encryption will intensify.

So the right wing wants to reduce encryption? And the left doesn't? Republican Senator Rand Paul has been at the forefront of fighting for privacy protections. Chuck Schumer sure hasn't.

You're correct that this is an issue that tends to cross party lines.

Franken tends to be pro-encyption, so does Rand Paul.

It's not a right-left issue. It's a bipartisan issue that speaks to almost every U.S. citizen.

And it's equally bipartisan when people hate this.

This is not a right-left issue. It's a pro/against law enforcement at the expense of constitutional rights issue. There are many on both sides of the aisle who can legitimately support this idea.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#263

Post by tannhauser23 »

res0nat0r wrote: post #252
maxerickson wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rod Rosenstein became Deputy Attorney General on April 26th. Having him write the memo recommending the action isn't really all that strange and goes quite a ways towards explaining the timing. People would have complained that it was about the investigation anyway in January.

No one knew of the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign, even former DNI Clapper, until Comey testified as such on March 20th. Trump firing him any time after this date reeks of a coverup no matter the explanation.

That's when Comey publicly confirmed it, but news about the investigation has been leaking since the moment Trump was elected.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#264

Post by mikestew »

pm90 wrote: post #224
anigbrowl wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Minus the intelligence and a number of other factors. I seem to be the only leftie in America that rather admires Nixon despite his numerous flaws and considers him a bit of a tragic figure. In an earlier and scrappier era he'd have been considered a great statesman.

Like another comment pointed out, Nixon created the EPA for chissake....unthinkable thing for a Republican today.

Ooh, if you like that one, you should read up his proposal for health care. Were it not for that little Watergate kerfluffle, the whole ACA debate might have never taken place, and the U. S. might have had decent healthcare. (A lot of supposition behind that, though.)

In other words, comparing Trump to Nixon does a disservice to Nixon, IMO.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#265

Post by tanderson92 »

CalChris wrote: post #237
enraged_camel wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Even the Nixon Library trolled Trump: FUN FACT: President Nixon never fired the Director of the FBI #FBIDirector #notNixonian https://twitter.com/NixonLibrary/status/862083605081862145

A very good Nixon parody account is @dick_nixon: https://twitter.com/dick_nixon

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#266

Post by ak4g »

tannhauser23 wrote: post #263
res0nat0r wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one knew of the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign, even former DNI Clapper, until Comey testified as such on March 20th. Trump firing him any time after this date reeks of a coverup no matter the explanation.

That's when Comey publicly confirmed it, but news about the investigation has been leaking since the moment Trump was elected.

That's just not true. The first credible reporting on the existence of the investigation came from CNN, 10 days prior to Comey's testimony in March.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#267

Post by mcphage »

Shivetya wrote: post #65

Trump had to dismiss Comey. Comey damaged the FBI in his recent sessions with Congress to the point the FBI was on the defensive trying to set the record right. Considering the erratic behavior with both the Clinton and Russia issues it is doubtful that Comey was capable of continuing in such an office. Like or dislike Trump, there have been many on the Democratic Party side calling for Comey to be gone and the odd p…

> Like or dislike Trump, there have been many on the Democratic Party side calling for Comey to be gone and the odd part is many are now rushing to the guy's defense. That and he was fired over incorrect testimony about a Clinton aide, testimony that painted her in a worse position than deserved.

Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing overall is complicated, so no, people aren't just going to be singing "Ding, dong, the witch is dead". But the manner in which it was done was a bad thing.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#268

Post by enknamel »

rwnspace wrote: post #187

381 points, 171 comments, 1 hour ago; as of writing. Why is this on the second page of HN, and not pole position? I assume/hope that there is some mechanism that stops new content from dominating other content too rapidly.

Because this does not need to be posted on HN or even should be. However you stand on this issue doesn't matter. HN is not a site for political discussions. Go to Reddit if you want that.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#269

Post by acdha »

anigbrowl wrote: post #117
acdha wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends on how well the GOP sticks together: they only need a simple majority vote to confirm.

The more hurriedly they rush it through, the more political capital they're putting at risk. This (as in the whole ball of wax) is already shaping up to be a larger political upset than anything in most Americans' living memory.

The interesting part is the “hang together or hang separately” aspect: the longer the Republicans in the Congress vocally support Trump's actions the harder it is for them to break with him without penalties.

I don't think it's a long-term success strategy but I'm betting it'll delay whoever is thinking about making the first move.

Re: President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

#270

Post by ratmice »

Sargos wrote: post #15
mtgx wrote: post #9

Hopefully there's a silver lining and that this means the encryption backdoor push (led by Comey) will slow to a crawl or be forgotten. He was already preparing a push for FISA Amendments renewal together with Dianne Feinstein (who is apparently having a change of heart about her own retirement).

Don't count on it. Trump will likely put someone very right wing into the position and the attack on encryption will intensify.

maybe we haven't explained it to their constituents appropriately, lets protect our 2nd amendment rights to encryption.
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