Trump fires the FBI director

I will have to get back to this thread in a couple hours but MSN news feed just had a bulletin. Can you say Elliot Richardson?

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired FBI Director James Comey after his attorney general and deputy attorney general recommended his removal.

In a signed letter, Trump informed Comey that he was "hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately," explaining that he reached the conclusion that Comey is "not able to effectively lead the bureau."

"It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission," Trump told Comey in the letter. "I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors."
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said shortly before 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday that Comey was "notified a short time ago," but declined to say how Comey was notified. Comey's dismissal took effect immediately.
Spicer told reporters that Trump "accepted the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general," who both recommended Comey's "dismissal."

"The FBI is one of our nation's most cherished and respected institutions and today will mark a new beginning for our crown jewel of law enforcement," Trump said in a statement.
The White House said it will immediately launch the search for a new FBI director.

Comey was appointed FBI director by President Barack Obama in 2013.
In so doing, he elevated a Republican law enforcement veteran who had been critical of the Justice Department under former President George W. Bush to the top domestic investigative and surveillance organization, among the most powerful posts in the world.

In the decades since former FBI Director J Edgar Hoover, the controversial director who brought FBI into the modern era, law enforcement has avoided the appearance of influencing politics the way Hoover did.
But Comey's decision to thrust himself repeatedly into the 2016 election, put him at odds with the FBI's general decision to stay away from the political spotlight.

Comey made the decision in July to go public with his recommendation that the Justice Department not pursue any charges against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or her former staffers over her email practices as secretary of state. However, he also took the opportunity to rebuke Clinton at length as being "extremely careless" with sensitive information.

Then-candidate Trump had talked up the investigation until this point, at which time he and his campaign derided Comey for the "political" decision.
Just days away from the election, Comey jumped into the race again. He informed Congress, via letter, that the FBI had re-opened its investigation into Clinton. The decision was made because of its investigation into former Rep. Anthony Weiner, who is married to Clinton confidant Huma Abedin. Comey followed up days later with another letter, informing Congress that the FBI didn't find anything and continued to believe Clinton's practices did not merit the pursuance of any criminal charges.

After Clinton's loss, former President Bill Clinton blamed Comey for it, as have many Clinton staffers, at least in part.
After taking office, Trump met with Comey at the White House.
He offered a cryptic remark to the FBI chief.
"Oh, here's Jim," Trump said in January. "He's become more famous than me."



http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/09/politics/james-comey-fbi-trump-white-out/index.html

Hmmm. I would be very nervous if I were Comey and probably would request protection.

How long will it be before he goes missing, commits suspicious suicide or has an unwitnessed medical fatality? Clinton style.

Let's see how many more he gets rid of that have been investigating him, Clinton style.

Well Comey did mess up last week on Huma forwarding emails but this looks a little like the Nixon era, get rid of the ones investigating you.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/102173-2.htm

Saturday Night Massacre? Anyone? Anyone?

Just when we thought it couldn't get any dumber.   Who's next, Bannon?

del.capslock wrote:Saturday Night Massacre? Anyone? Anyone?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/102173-2.htm

Back in October, Trump Praised Comey’s ‘Guts’ for Letter on Hillary Email Investigation

FBI Director James Comey was fired today for his handling of the Clinton email investigation, but last October, the man who is now President of the United States praised his “guts” for his actions in that investigation.

Trump said in his letter to Comey today that he agreed with the DOJ that he is “not able to effectively lead the Bureau.”

But this is what Trump said after that October letter from Comey:

“It took guts for Director Comey to make the move that he made in light of the kind of opposition he had where they’re trying to protect her from criminal prosecution. You know that. It took a lot of guts.”


http://www.mediaite.com/tv/back-in-october-trump-praised-comeys-guts-for-letter-on-hillary-email-investigation/




I guess as of late, president cancer hates guts.

Toobin on Coomey Firing: ‘Grotesque Abuse of Power’ and ‘Kind of Thing That Goes on in Non-Democracies’


Reactions from the bombshell news that President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey are coming in hot and fast, and first on our list of insight and analysis comes from New Yorker columnist and CNN legal contributor Jeffrey Toobin.

The long-time and vocal critic of all things Trump did not disappoint an audience looking for critical insight as he compared this news to “non-democracies.” When asked if this was unusual by host Wolf Blitzer, Toobin did not demure, saying:

“You bet it is, Wolf. And a grotesque abuse of power, by the President of the United States. This is the kind of thing that goes on in non-democracies. That when there is an investigation that reaches near the president of the United States, or the leader of a non-democracy, they fire the people who are in charge of the investigation. I have not seen anything like this since October 20, 1973 when President Nixon fired Archibald Cox, the Watergate Special Prosecutor. This is something that is not within the American political tradition. That firing led indirectly but certainly to the resignation of President Nixon. And this is very much in this tradition. This is not normal. This is not politics as usual. This is something that is completely outside how the American law is supposed to work.”

Toobin finished by drawing in news from Sally Yates‘ testimony yesterday calling this “a political act when the president is under investigation, when his White House counsel was told that his national security adviser was subject to blackmail by the Russians, they fired the attorney general a few days later.” He finished by saying, “Now they fired the FBI director, I mean, what kind of country is this?

Great question.



http://www.mediaite.com/tv/toobin-on-coomey-firing-grotesque-abuse-of-power-and-kind-of-thing-that-goes-on-in-non-democracies/

The Trump Administration, recapped in six seconds:



This is a cover-up, and such an obvious one I'm amazed they weren't too embarrassed to do it.

We need an independent investigation, because Trump's going to install a stooge in there.   This presidency is a joke.   It's got more turnovers than Pillsbury, and it's an attempt to hide massive corruption.

It's surreal that this country's going through this. It's banana-republic bullshit. I don't see any way this goes on for four years. There's got to be some kind of intervention.

Got a feeling Session's was behind this. Got in Trumps ear.

The FBI director has made serious mistakes. If there was no investigation of the President, this would be highly unusual. Typically, there would be some kind of congressional pressure to remove him from office, with hearings regarding his conduct. Tangentially this has in a sense been accomplished, but it was President Trump who gained from his deviation from procedures, and it is President Trump and his administration which has been tied to the Russian interference with the elections which will involve a long investigation. At this point there should be bipartisan support for a special prosecutor, but if the firing has chilled career FBI, this could get much worse than the current optics.

from FB:

Our Government has been corrupted -- something that Trump's base JUST doesn't seem to understand. Worse, they pretend it's not even true, yet they would have burned Hillary at the stake for far less. Hypocrites to the core.
"I don’t know – it’s hard for me to see any Drumpf ties to Russia, except for...
• the FLYNN thing
• the MANAFORT thing
• the TILLERSON thing
• the SESSIONS thing
• the KUSHNER thing
• the CARTER PAGE thing
• the ROGER STONE thing
• the Felix Sater thing
• the Boris Ephsteyn thing
• the Rosneft thing
• the Gazprom thing
• the Sergey Gorkov banker thing
• the Azerbajain thing
• the 'I LOVE PUTIN' thing
• the Sergey Kislyak thing
• the Russian Affiliated Interests thing
• the Russian Business Interests thing
• the Emoluments Clause thing
• the Alex Schnaider thing
• the HACK OF THE DNC thing
• the Guccifer 2.0 thing
• the Mike Pence 'I don’t know anything' thing
• the Russians mysteriously dying thing
• the PRESIDENT’S PUBLIC REQUEST TO RUSSIA TO HACK HILLARY’S EMAIL thing
• the president’s house sale for $100 million at the bottom of the housing bust to the Russian fertilizer king thing
• the Russian fertilizer king’s plane showing up in Concord, NC during his rally campaign thing
• the Nunes sudden flight to the White House in the night thing
• the Nunes personal investments in the Russian winery thing
• the Cyprus bank thing
• the PRESIDENT REFUSING TO RELEASE HIS TAX RETURNS AFTER HE SAID HE WOULD IF ELECTED
• the Republican Party’s REJECTION OF AN AMENDMENT to require him to show his taxes thing
• the ELECTION HACKING thing
• the GOP platform change to the Ukraine thing
• the Steele Dossier thing
• the Leninist Bannon thing
• the Sally Yates can’t testify thing
• the intelligence community’s investigative reports thing
• the PRESIDENT’S REASSURANCE THAT THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION IS ALL 'FAKE NEWS' thing
• the Spicer’s RUSSIAN DRESSING 'nothing’s wrong' thing
• the Chaffetz not willing to start an investigation thing
• the Chaffetz suddenly deciding to go back to private life in the middle of an investigation thing
• the The Lead DOJ Investigator Mary McCord SUDDENLY in the middle of the investigation decides to resign thing
• the appointment of Pam Bondi who was bribed by the president in the Trump University scandal appointed to head the investigation thing
• the The White House going into full-on cover-up mode, refusing to turn over the documents related to the hiring and subsequent firing of Flynn thing
• the Chaffetz and White House blaming the poor vetting of Flynn on Obama thing (LOL!)
• the Poland and British intelligence gave information regarding the hacking back in 2015 to Paul Ryan and he didn't do anything thing
• the Agent M16 following the money thing
• the president’s team KNEW about Flynn's involvement but hired him anyway thing
• the Corey Lewendowski thing
• the Preet Bharara firing thing but before he left he transferred evidence against trump to a state level Schneiderman thing
• the Betsy Devos' brother thing
• the Sebastian Gorka thing
• the Greg Gianforte from Montana thing
• the VP Pence actually was warned about Flynn before he was hired thing
• the Pence and Manafort connection thing
• the 7 Allies coming forward with audio where the president was picked up in incidental wire tapping thing
• the Carter Page defying the Senate's order to hand over his Russian contact list
• NOW the president wants to VETO Sally Yates' testimony thing!
COPY AND PASTE AND SHARE EVERYWHERE. RIGHT NOW!"

**********

Another thing about Sally Yates' testimony.

http://www.salon.com/2017/05/09/did-donald-trump-try-to-threaten-sally-yates-on-twitter-if-so-he-committed-a-felony/

If you are shocked at this event you have not been paying attention . . . . . this was completely predictable . . . . .

How could he not fire him after that recommendation? Geeez... take some deep breaths or sumthin.

I would like someone to explain to me how the President can be stopped from stonewalling an investigation without bipartisan support? Richard Nixon turned over the tapes. President Trump would have burned them. President Nixon tried to fire people, but a Republican congressman from Western Illinois named Railsback simply said NO. Without bipartisan support the coup has been perfected and the Russians have succeeded. Courage is doing the right thing despite the consequences. The right thing is a special prosecutor, but without the FBI on board........a special prosecutor is like a gun with no bullets.

Watch : Rachel Maddow perfectly lays out how Trump’s Comey firing is like Watergate


On the afternoon of May 9, President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. By that evening, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow (and much of the political intelligentsia) were comparing Comey’s shocking sacking to the ‘Saturday Night Massacre’ — the Watergate firings and resignations that began the end of President Richard Nixon’s career.

While others discussed and even briefly explained the ‘Saturday Night Massacre’ and its similarities to Trump’s scandalous firing of Comey, Maddow gave viewers a history lesson, and placed it within the context of what happened with Comey — and, moreover, explained the timeline of the scandal surrounding deposed national security advisor Michael Flynn, the firing of acting Attorney General Sally Yates, and now, Comey’s termnation.

In her opening, Maddow ties together the similarities between Nixon’s and Trump’s scandals, and does so in a chronological manner.

Watch her entire opening segment below, via MSNBC.




http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/watch-rachel-maddow-perfectly-lays-out-how-trumps-comey-firing-is-like-watergate/

2seaoat wrote:  Richard Nixon turned over the tapes.    President Nixon tried to fire people, but a Republican congressman from Western Illinois named Railsback simply said NO.

What the fuck are you talking about? Nixon demanded that his Attorney General, Elliot Richarson, fire the Special Prosecutor, Archibald Cox, who was trying to get the tapes. Richarson and his Deputy, Ruckelshaus both resigned to avoid doing that. Then Robert Bork, the Solicitor General and an unspeakably awful human being, finally, in order to keep his job, fired Cox.

After an enormous public uproar, Nixon had to allow the appointment of a second Special Prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, who finally got the Watergate tapes. It was those tapes, in particular the Smoking Gun tape, that led to Nixon's resignation in lieu of impeachment.

You're old enough to remember this shit, seaoat. Quit spreading bullshit.

Railsback was a typically crooked, bought-and-paid-for Illinois Republican whore of NO consequence whatsoever. Illinois hasn't produced an honorable or even an honest politician since the Civil War. The whole state is a cesspit of crooked politics. There's a reason Upton Sinclair set The Jungle in Chicago.

Telstar wrote: Watch : Rachel Maddow perfectly lays out how Trump’s Comey firing is like Watergate

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/watch-rachel-maddow-perfectly-lays-out-how-trumps-comey-firing-is-like-watergate/

I think Maddow missed one BIG factor. Both houses of Congress had Democratic majorities during Watergate. The whole thing might have been different if, as is the case now, they had had Republican majorities.

del.capslock wrote:

Telstar wrote: Watch : Rachel Maddow perfectly lays out how Trump’s Comey firing is like Watergate

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/watch-rachel-maddow-perfectly-lays-out-how-trumps-comey-firing-is-like-watergate/

I think Maddow missed one BIG factor. Both houses of Congress had Democratic majorities during Watergate. The whole thing might have been different if, as is the case now, they had had Republican majorities.

You may be right, we will see. I'm still wondering to what extant Jeff Sessions was involved with the Comey firing. Didn't Sessions recuse himself from the #45/ Russian investigation?

So who will be the new FBI czar? Jarvanka? It's the summertime so Barron is free. Indeed, Barron may be the only member of the first family that doesn't have ties to the Russians.

Telstar wrote:
I'm still wondering to what extant Jeff Sessions was involved with the Comey firing. Didn't Sessions recuse himself from the #45/ Russian investigation?

Yeah, but the excuse used was that Comey fucked up the Hillary thing, not anything to do with the Russia ties.

Now all the Democrats are screaming for a Special Prosecutor but he or she--HA! Like that's gonna happen--would have to be appointed by the Attorney General or his Deputy and both of them are Trump's bitches.

Congress can also, through an extremely convoluted process, pass a law creating a Special Counsel or an equivalent investigative committee but Trump could veto that or Justice could decline to prosecute after the investigation concluded.

The Comey firing is going to become the Constitutional Lawyers Full-Employment Act.

Is this a great country or what!