Trump finally fires James Comey

[jeffblue101]

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/fbi-direct...opstories.html

"Today, President Donald J. Trump informed FBI Director James Comey that he has been terminated and removed from office," the White House statement reads.

"President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions," the statement said.

In addition to a statement, the White House released the letter that Trump wrote directly to Comey dismissing him at the recommendation of the attorney general and the deputy attorney general, "effective immediately."

"While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau," Trump wrote.

"It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission," Trump's letter states.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions' letter to the president was also released, wherein he states that he has "concluded that a fresh start is needed at the leadership of the FBI."

is essential that this Department of Justice clearly reaffirm its commitment to longstanding principles that ensure the integrity and fairness of federal investigations and prosecutions. The Director of the FBI must be someone who follows faithfully the rules and principles of the Department of Justice and who sets the right example for our law enforcement officials and others in the Department," Sessions wrote.

The acting FBI Director is Andrew McCabe, who was Comey's deputy prior to his firing. The attorney general will likely name an interim FBI Director in the coming days while the search is on for a permanent replacement.

At the White House press briefing today, however, Spicer was reluctant to repeat that statement without first checking with the president. When ABC News' Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl pressed Spicer today about the Comey’s inaccurate statements to Congress regarding Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s handling of emails, Spicer said he’d have to speak to the president first.

"In light of what you are telling me, I don't want to start speaking on behalf of the president without speaking to him first," Spicer said.

it looks like his inaccurate statements about Huma Abedin emails finally did him in. I'm honestly glad his gone after he refused to enforce the gross negligence clause that should have sent Hillary to jail.

[kmoney]

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/fbi-direct...opstories.html


it looks like his inaccurate statements about Huma Abedin emails finally did him in. I'm honestly glad his gone after he refused to enforce the gross negligence clause that should have sent Hillary to jail.

What inaccurate statements?

[jeffblue101]

What inaccurate statements?

https://www.propublica.org/article/c...was-inaccurate

On Tuesday, the FBI sent a letter to Congress correcting inaccurate congressional testimony by Director James Comey, six days after he mischaracterized what the FBI discovered on Anthony Weiner’s laptop. The bureau addressed the matter in a two-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee from its congressional liaison, explaining that it was “intended to supplement” Comey’s testimony, by providing “the full context of what was reviewed and found on the laptop.”

In it, the FBI acknowledged that only a “small number” of more than 49,000 “potential relevant” emails found on Weiner’s laptop had been forwarded from Clinton deputy Huma Abedin to Weiner, her husband, not hundreds or thousands as Comey had stated. The FBI said just two of those messages contained classified information.

The letter was issued shortly before President Donald Trump issued his own letter firing Comey, citing at length the FBI director’s missteps in handling the Clinton email investigation.

[Rusha]

How very Nixonian of him ................

[kmoney]

https://www.propublica.org/article/c...was-inaccurate

Thanks. I hadn't seen that story.

[jeffblue101]

How very Nixonian of him ................

so you think Comey did a good job despite reopnening the Clintion case 11 days before the election?

[kmoney]

so you think Comey did a good job despite reopnening the Clintion case 11 days before the election?

Comey may have taken some missteps but it doesn't look good to fire Comey when there is an investigation going on. The deciding factor may have been his recent inaccurate statements but the administration hasn't said that. And that statement about telling Trump that he's not under investigation sounds really snarky.

[kmoney]

CNN just played some clips showing Trump talking about how much guts it required for Comey to do what he did. Now it was the wrong move?

[rexlunae]

so you think Comey did a good job despite reopnening the Clintion case 11 days before the election?

He didn't have a problem with that for six full months. He's feeling the heat from the FBI, and he used the closest vaguely defensible tool to get rid of the problem. There's something called a "pretext".

Comey has bungled so many aspects of his job, I honestly think he's lost a lot of credibility. But actually the letter Sessions sent to Trump (I would bet within the last few hours) mis-characterized the actions related to Clinton's emails. Sessions claimed that Comey had usurped the roll of Department of Justice prosecutors. However, Loretta Lynch had decided to defer to Comey's decisions, in part because she was perceived to have a conflict of interest. Sessions seems to reopen that decision, but it was a decision undertaken by the previous AJ, and he has no business going back and trying to somehow cancel it retroactively. He certainly can disagree with it, but he can't just change what was ordered at the time.

[jeffblue101]

Comey may have taken some missteps but it doesn't look good to fire Comey when there is an investigation going on. The deciding factor may have been his recent inaccurate statements but the administration hasn't said that. And that statement about telling Trump that he's not under investigation sounds really snarky.

You, Rusha and rexlunae are being purely Triblistic, even Obama officials wanted Comey fired and were likely to do so If Hillary had won. His firing should be a clear cut bipartisan agreement as he violated numerous rules about the handling of investigations and the enforcement of laws

[jeffblue101]

He didn't have a problem with that for six full months. He's feeling the heat from the FBI, and he used the closest vaguely defensible tool to get rid of the problem. There's something called a "pretext".

had Trump fired Comey on day one, you would have still accused Trump of trying cover-up his "Russian connections"

[kmoney]

You, Rusha and rexlunae are being purely Triblistic, even Obama officials wanted Comey fired and were likely to do so If Hillary had won. His firing should be a clear cut bipartisan agreement as he violated numerous rules about the handling of investigations and the enforcement of laws

And I can accuse you of being tribalistic for supporting it. Big deal.

A lot will depend on how the investigation is done going forward. It's a conflict of interest for Trump to now appoint someone who could continue an investigation involving him and his campaign. It would help a lot if an independent investigation is continued.

[Nick M]

This is why I disapprove of Trump. Yet, the polls showing that mean nothing. I do not regret my vote, nor have I changed my mind.

He should already be in prison with Mr and Mrs Clinton and the rest of their circle of criminals. Trump should drain the swamp much faster.

[rexlunae]

had Trump fired Comey on day one, you would have still accused Trump of trying cover-up his "Russian connections"

Had Trump fired Comey on day one I likely would have supported it. Comey mishandled the Clinton email investigation pretty badly. But after six months, it looks pretty bad, and at least part of the rationale is terrible.

[rexlunae]

You, Rusha and rexlunae are being purely Triblistic, even Obama officials wanted Comey fired and were likely to do so If Hillary had won. His firing should be a clear cut bipartisan agreement as he violated numerous rules about the handling of investigations and the enforcement of laws

I supported Comey in the last few months for essentially the same reason I supported Hillary before that. He was the least bad option. He handled the whole email investigation very badly, he broke department policy, and he changed an election. But he was also the best hope for getting the truth out about how the 2016 election was really decided.