Donald Trump has fired FBI director James Comey

[Vekseid]

Justin Amash, a Republican who just voted for the AHCA, has an interesting reaction.

My staff and I are reviewing legislation to establish an independent commission on Russia. The second paragraph of this letter is bizarre.

[Vekseid]

Statement from Senate Intel Chairman Richard Burr

WASHINGTON – Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) today made the following statement on the dismissal of James Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation:

“I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey’s termination. I have found Director Comey to be a public servant of the highest order, and his dismissal further confuses an already difficult investigation by the Committee. In my interactions with the Director and with the Bureau under his leadership, he and the FBI have always been straightforward with our Committee.  Director Comey has been more forthcoming with information than any FBI Director I can recall in my tenure on the congressional intelligence committees. His dismissal, I believe, is a loss for the Bureau and the nation.”

Trump done fucked up.

[Blythe]

The second paragraph of that letter is totally bizarre. It gives the impression that Trump's been paranoid of Comey investigating him and that Comey's been reassuring him...but that Trump decided to terminate him for investigating him. That's just...wtf. It's nonsensical.

I mean, bizarre is the nicest word for it. There are other words I have for this, but all of them involve swearing and typing in all caps.

Comey had his issues as an official (who doesn't?), but as FBI directors go, he was a good one, and Trump doing this sort of thing is starting to creepily remind me of the types of political purges of government servants in North Korea. :/

Furious that Sessions recommended the dismissal, though I shouldn't have expected otherwise. Sessions is proving to be a menace, as far as I'm concerned.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Looks like guilt to be honest.  Someone defending themselves before an accusation has even been made.  There's no way this termination has anything to do with the investigations because look he told me three times he wasn't investigating me. 

[Blythe]

Looks like guilt to be honest.  Someone defending themselves before an accusation has even been made.  There's no way this termination has anything to do with the investigations because look he told me three times he wasn't investigating me.

It does give that impression, yeah. I mean, how many times was Comey supposed to say he wasn't investigating? It's a super weird thing for Trump to reference in the termination letter. It doesn't even make sense to me as a reason to remove Comey (if Comey wasn't investigating, why bring it up during the removal?)--that second paragraph doesn't make sense to me when read with the rest of the letter.

[Callie Del Noire]

thing is.. as much as I hate Comey... and I do.. the release in October was an intensely damaging event. Pro or Con.

Director Comey has demonstrated in the past he will do the things that aren't in the best personal interests of the men he works for.

Simply put.. he's a rogue element and the White House won't risk that.

[GothicFires]

Comey never should have said anything more about Clinton than they didn't find any reason to prosecute her. He did violate the rules then... but he should have been fired then. It's May now. He got fired for investigating Trump.

[Lustful Bride]

thing is.. as much as I hate Comey... and I do.. the release in October was an intensely damaging event. Pro or Con.

Director Comey has demonstrated in the past he will do the things that aren't in the best personal interests of the men he works for.

Simply put.. he's a rogue element and the White House won't risk that.

That's honestly the best thing. Several Agencies should be free from influence from either party. They should be about serving the people for the betterment of the community and the country.

No doubt whoever gets put in as a replacement might be a trump stooge :/

[Missy]

the ironic thign about that second paragraph is that I would have formulated a perfect explanation of my own for Trumps reasons without that paragraph. I mean Trumps already done the flip on wikileaks so its not even the least out of character for him.

[Callie Del Noire]

That's honestly the best thing. Several Agencies should be free from influence from either party. They should be about serving the people for the betterment of the community and the country.

No doubt whoever gets put in as a replacement might be a trump stooge :/

This WILL come back to bite them in their collective ass. Comey has in the past stood up to his bosses in other positions and aside from October fuck up.. been pretty a-political.. given the positions he's held.

[Vekseid]

Current pet theory: FBI subpoenas of Flynn associates just revealed.

Jeff Sessions knew this was coming and was freaking out. He is after all tied to this. He suggests firing Comey, "We'll even use a reason the Dems can agree with!" Trump agrees.

Doesn't bother reading Sessions' statement and inserts his own language into his letter.

[Iniquitous]

There is an old saying that applies here.

The guilty dog barks first.

[Missy]

moral for Jeff Sessions: Don't join a conspiracy lead by a preschooler?

[Callie Del Noire]

There is an old saying that applies here.

The guilty dog barks first.

They think they have a problem with leaks now...wait till Sessiins starts trying to kill the investigations

There will be a lot of 'barking'

[Oniya]

This tweet shows an interesting callback to another presidential investigation...

Can I have a real President for my birthday?

[HannibalBarca]

I think the quote that fits Trump the best, on so many occasions, is:  Methinks he doth protest too much.

[Callie Del Noire]

Question: does the new Director have to stand in front of Congress for his/her nomination?

If so I need more pop corn

[Vekseid]

Sessions may appoint an interim, but otherwise yes.

[Valerian]

Speaking of needing popcorn...

White House press secretary Sean Spicer hid behind bushes on the White House grounds for several minutes on Tuesday evening as staffers sought to respond to the frenzy of media questions about President Donald Trump's abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey, according to The Washington Post.

He emerged from the bushes after a press office executive assistant, Janet Montesi, said he would answer reporters' questions so long as they didn't film him, according to The Post.

According to The Post, Spicer spoke with reporters for about 10 minutes, standing in the dark between two hedges as he answered and dodged questions about Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's role in the probe into Comey, the timing of Comey's firing, and grand jury subpoenas reportedly issued in an investigation involving Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser.

I had to keep checking to make sure I wasn't reading The Onion by mistake.  "Standing in the dark between two hedges," seriously?  >.<

[Hemingway]

I have no idea what this really means, but it certainly doesn't help the administration look less suspicious. Heck, even if there were perfectly valid reasons for his firing, the timing alone is just atrocious.

[Callie Del Noire]

I'm guessing that Sessions figured (correctly) that Comey wouldn't white wash this for the White House. He stood up to Bush on waterboarding so I'm sure that he wouldn't quietly kill an investigation into Russian influence with members of the White House.

So, he had to go. Given the GOP moderates, at the moment anyway, and the democrats..I don't see any 'yes man' appointee making the cut.

[Iniquitous]

McConnell is going to obstruct any attempt to get an independent  prosecutor

So, I would say this is going to be a fight, but I am not sure the Dems could win.

EDIT: Sessions and Rosenstein are handpicking Comey's  interim replacement - which is not standard procedure - which will allow them to circumvent a confirmation hearing.   ( http://addictinginfo.com/2017/05/10/breaking-mcconnell-says-hell-obstruct-any-effort-to-hire-independent-special-prosecutor/ ) 

Instead, McConnell said he would leave that up to the FBI – and let Jeff Sessions handpick Comey’s “interim” (read: non-confirmed) FBI head, something that is not standard procedure. By picking the next FBI director outside of the typical process – and circumventing a confirmation hearing – the White House hopes to get an ally in the middle of the investigation – another strong motive for firing Comey in the first place.

[GothicFires]

If there is one lesson we can take away from this is vote in every election in your area, not just the year we vote for President. There are a couple of states with special elections coming up on July 20. SC is one. Check your area to see if you have one too.

[Oniya]

We've got locals in PA next week.  I've already been researching the candidates.

[Vekseid]

Comey memo reveals Trump tried to get the Flynn investigation shut down.

Mr. Comey shared the existence of the memo with senior F.B.I. officials and close associates. The New York Times has not viewed a copy of the memo, which is unclassified, but one of Mr. Comey’s associates read parts of the memo to a Times reporter.
Continue reading the main story

“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

[Iniquitous]

Senate Intelligence Committee invites Comey to testify publicly

Comey has previously said he would only testify in an open session, though the Committee has said they would do both open and closed sessions. Which brings me to my favorite part of this whole article.

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, said he is pretty confident Comey will testify and hopes the "majority" of what the ousted FBI director says will be in an open-hearing setting. But some testimony will necessarily be behind closed doors, because "unlike the White House, we treat classified information with the appropriate respect and follow the rules," Warner said.