Last updated on 2017-06-30
NPR straight-up labels Donald Trump’s firing of James Comey from the FBI yesterday “suspicious” and “convenient.” NPR notes that the former FBI director had just asked for more resources for the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and cahootsification with Team Trump:
Days before he was fired, Comey asked for added resources for the FBI’s Russia investigation, NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly and Geoff Bennett report.
According to two Senate aides with knowledge of the investigation, Comey met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein last week to ask for significant added resources for the Russia investigation. On Monday, Comey briefed key senators about the request.
…Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores told NPR’s Tamara Keith earlier on Wednesday that the reports that Comey had “requested additional resources” were “totally false” [Jessica Taylor, “Trump Defends Comey Firing as Russia Questions Continue to Swirl,” NPR, 2017.05.10].
The Articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon adopted by the House Judiciary Committee on July 27, 1974, include this charge:
…interfering or endeavouring to interfere with the conduct of investigations by the Department of Justice of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the office of Watergate Special Prosecution Force, and Congressional Committees [Articles of Impeachment, Article 1, Point 4, House Judiciary Committee, 1974.07.27].
Legally trained radio producer Todd Epp includes a similar plank in his own draft Articles of Impeachment against Donald Trump:
- Trump has obstructed the administration of justice by his firing of FBI Director James Comey, who was leading the investigation of possible ties among Trump, his family members, his political campaign advisors, and the government of Russia.
- Trump has obstructed the administration of justice by his firing of FBI Director Comey and other acts in preventing or slowing the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 Presidential election [Todd Epp, “Special Prosecutor? Let’s Just Move on to Impeachment, Shall We?” KELO Radio, 2017.05.10].
Epp has predicted Trump’s first-term impeachment based on the Russia affair. I’ve resisted jumping on that bandwagon, but Trump’s canning of Comey tells me we’re there. The President has fired an FBI director who was ramping up an investigation into the President’s collaboration with foreign powers to win his office. Congress needs to stop its presses and get to the bottom of the Trump-Russia case. Trump’s firing of Comey signals that at the bottom of that case, we will find cause for impeaching the President of the United States.
I’ll second the impeachment motion. The sooner the quicker.
Ha, probably be as successful as your attempt to oust the Democratic Party chair.
Have at it.
President Trump’s excuses smell like a toasted lutefisk and limburger sandwich.
It was funny on Colbert last night. He announces that Comey was fired and the crowd cheers. They were supposed to be outraged not laugh. Damn trump supporting dems.
I’d be confused as well, Comey acquits her (good), then reopens the case (GOP hack resign!), then shuts it again (phew, ok again), then expresses sorrow that he might have had an effect on the election (sob!).
So confused…
Well, we have arrived at the impeachment and special prosecutor talk somewhat before I anticipated, but most people felt it would come at some point in the trump presidency.
The White House has been issuing inconsistent reasons for Comey’s firing that raise questions about the timing.
Today the White House has said trump has been considering firing Comey since he was elected yet, trump continued to praise Comey as recently as this past month.
This is what is called the start of a cover up being revealed with trump in the thick of it.
trump has gone against the congress by firing Comey before his 10 year tenure.
trump is the only president to fire a FBI director that was heading a investigation directed at the president. Bill Clinton did fire William Sessions with cause and faced no political fallout.
Additionally, Michael Flynn has just been subpoenaed by the senate committee investigating the Russia-trump connection.
Remember, the Republicans were the real heroes of Watergate and bringing about the resignation of Nixon, are there any current senators or congressmen that have the courage of Senator Howard Baker and others?
Greg, you confuse multiple issues in an attempt to avoid the main one: the President has fired a director of the FBI who was asking for more resources to investigate a scandal implicating the President in foreign influence. That has nothing to do with the SDDP chair scuffle (“your attempt”? No, it was not mine) or Hillary Clinton.
Take Roger’s cue, Greg, and hero up. Tell us, would you consider attempting to interfere with an FBI investigation an impeachable offense?
Henry Kissinger showed up in the oval office for a quick photo, today. Are you old enough to know the implications, ramifications and justifications of that? It ain’t good, Donnie.
Deplorable, I have found that the majority of trump republicans are “so confused”.
Porter, Kissinger’s White House was interesting and perhaps somewhat timely. Since trump lacks a solid foundation of history, maybe Kissinger was explaining to trump how the impeachment process works.
I think you have the issue you should highlight through the 2018 election. He even met with the Russians today.
Cory,
trump surrogates, including scary eyes Michelle Bachman, have been on cable news all day attempting to link Hillary’s emails to Comey’s firing without success.
A full day after the Comey firing trump and the Republicans can’t find a consistent story.
Troy,
trump didn’t just meet with the Russians today, he met with a top Russian spy recruiter.
Roger,
There you go. Go with it. It is your EB-5 and MECC wrapped in a bow.
Impeach Mr. Trump.
Long live Mr. Pence.
Is this really what you want, a far fetched witch hunt doing no more than hurting a Nation already in the throes of rebellion? Do you truly hate this country that much? Your article and the postings are disgusting.
Trump was also meeting with Russians when he fired Comey, plot thickens huh?
OldSarg … With all due respect to your compassion for our USA … payback’s a bitch. You know. Like what happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Your Republicans started it with President Obama. Trump will survive. He’ll squirm, though.
A visit to the White House by Lavrov and Kislyak would be considered routine diplomatic business with any other administration, but Trump managed to stamp it with his brand of duplicity. He banned the U.S. press but allowed a photographer in from a Kremlin-allied Russian medium. The only reports of what was discussed came from a briefing Lavrov held at the Russian embassy.
Trump has answered a question that has bothered high school students since World War II throughout the U.S. and the world. The “Diary of Anne Frank” was taught as an inoculation against another Holocaust. The question it raised is, what kind of person would betray Anne Frank and her family? For the answer, just look at the comments of our friendly, l neighborhood Trump supporters. They are more interested in defaming and oppressing than in freedom, equality, and justice for all. Putin is their revered leader.
Old Sarg, trump is 100% responsible for this supposed witch hunt.
Remember the days not long ago when Russia was our enemy, their meddling in our elections prove they still are.
Now we have a president that is blatantly sleeping with the enemy and can’t tell the truth to save his thin skin.
Comey is the fourth person on the trump hit list of appointees that have been fired because they were investigating the Russia-trump connection.
Maxine Waters: I Don’t Support Trump Firing Comey, I Would Support Hillary Clinton Firing Comey
Which probably sums up the entire crowd here as well.
OldSarg, people like you wanted Hillary Clinton to go to jail because she used her own email server. On the other hand, you are perfectly willing to forgive the Russians for interfering with our sacred democratic processes and overlook all of the smoke coming from the Trump camp. Maybe you should look up the definition of treason. It’s kind of a big deal.
Trump is not a smart man and his advisers are apparently all “yes men and women.” Trump’s letter to Comey is idiotic when he says:
“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’s statement reveals his true motivations backhandedly, as if Trump being or not being under investigation has any bearing on whether the FBI director can effectively lead the Bureau.
All the people that were worried about Trump’s temperament before the election have been proven righteous. The nicest spin on Trump’s conduct was that it sounds like Trump fired Comey because he was just ticked off that Comey expressed dismay that he might have affected the election results with his Clinton email reopening announcement in the days before the election. Trumps’ narcissism knows no bounds.
Trump is hiding behind the Attorney General and Assistant Attorney General, like he just took their recommendations. In fact, Trump asked the two of them to make the case against Comey and then used their words to justify the firing. Trump may not be guilty of conspiring with the Russians, but he could not have done things in a manner that made him look any more guilty. And then he invites the Russian Foreign Minister and the Russian Ambassador for meetings the next day. Crazy times at the Kremlin, err I mean White House.
When you check the facts it was his boss who ask for Him to be fired. Jeff Sessions made the request to the President.
It is amazing a few months ago the liberals where call for the same guy to step down or be fired.
Liberals need to accept the fact Trump is our President.
Sorry, Sam. As a liberal, I will never accept Trump as he does not have even a modicum of respect for the office he holds. I have never been more embarrassed for our country. Trump is a joke and the single most important reason he will never be a good president is because he is not even remotely a good human being.
Sam@
Throughout the presidential campaign and the first 100 plus days of the trump presidency, trump has repeatedly stated his confidence in his FBI director.
As stated in the NPS article trump fired Comey only after learning the FBI had requested additional resources to investigate the Russia-trump connection.
And yes, liberals called for the firing of Comey after he involved himself in the election by his erratic comments about Clinton emails, first clearing her and days before the election announcing that the investigation was back on. President Obama should of fired right than and there.
During the confirmation senate hering of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General he promised to recuse himself from anything related to the Russia-trump connection because of his knowledge about Flynn and related information. Well, Sessions is as big a liar as trump for playing an active role in the Comey firing.
republicans should decide what red, white and blue flag they support. Mine has stars on it, their flag just has horizontal bars. Which flag old sarge, which flag deplorable, which flag sam? Why any republican would not support an independent inquiry into the coup by russia is beyond reality. Before impeachment should ever come into the picture, an independent committee should be formed to get the bottom of this. First thing, release the tax forms of Donald J. Trump for the last 10 years like for any other honest president.
@ Sam@- Sessions perjured himself at his confirmation hearing. How is he even in office?
Sam says “When you check the facts it was his boss who ask for Him to be fired. Jeff Sessions made the request to the President.”
Actually Sam when you check the facts it was Trump who directed Sessions and the deputy AG to come up with reasons to fire Comey.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/09/justice-department-was-told-to-come-up-with-reasons-to-fire-comey-reports-say.html
In fact, the Deputy AG was ready to resign in protest when the White House claimed it was the Deputy AG who pushed for the Comey firing.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/11/deputy-ag-rosenstein-reportedly-threatened-to-quit-over-depiction-of-his-role-in-comey-dismissal.html
Republican Senator Richard Burr, commenting on the Comey firing, said “the timing and the reasons for this decision make little sense to me and I don’t think that I have heard anything since last night that would clarify that in any way.”
TRUMP THE NOVEL (the next hundred days) ~ This is the historical point where in order to avoid detection for their cheating to win the Presidency, the Machiavellian advisor (We’ll call him Bannon) would counsel our addled leader to have his CIA stage a surprise and vicious attack on USA troops somewhere in the world, causing palpable distraction. Let’s watch as it unfolds ….. 💣 🚬 🔫
Porter, I’m really worried about Trump using a military conflict with North Korea as a distraction.
South Korea seems to have already de-fanged trump with their democratically installed new president. President Moon wants dialogue with the North and states his willingness to do so. trump, on the other hand, wants to raise the stakes in Afghanistan by several thousand more gallons of American blood. Meanwhile, we shall have to see what putin wants us to do as he is now our de facto leader according to NOem, rounds and thune who serve at their discretion.
If it Looks like a Duck – and it Walks like a Duck – and it Quacks like a Duck – It probably IS a Duck!!! Impeach him! The GOP should have loyalty to our country before their party!! Impeach Him!!!
Sam – as a liberal – I fully accept that Trump is our president. I also fully accept that responsibility for having elected him to that office is on “conservatives” such as your self. THIS is what your level of “judgement” and political astuteness leads this nation to. Maybe it is YOU who needs to fully accept that Trump is indeed our president – and the responsibility for that being the case.
It’s all toppling for the Republicans and their puppet president.
Who’s bidding a one termer only!
Who’s wishing the Bernie Team would have raised hell at the DNC?
The only candidate of any decency that should have been the Candidate.
I meant on the ticket.
Are we in Russia? It’s hard to tell.
In a post I made on Dakota Free Press earlier in the Trump administration I stated that I didn’t think President Trump is guilty of lying because that means he understands what is true. I now amend my assessment of our president. The deceit he intentionally and recklessly spreads is alarming. Our president has no sense of public service, and no understanding of public-based responsibility. The non-stop deceit issued by the White House in matter after matter is unlike anything in my lifetime. They can’t keep their hodgepodge of lying in a manageable sequence. It’s become a crazy disarray of misleading illogical statements. Trump’s administration is a disaster. It’s almost funny. Almost. In the matter of Russia and Trump: Don’t you think that if there was a bomb to be dropped it would have already been dropped? That means investigative action must continue, because the evidence is too strong that there is something hidden and not yet uncovered. Trump’s actions reflect a paranoia that something is waiting to be uncovered. Let’s start with his taxes.
I’m glad to see Comey go-y. He exhibited poor decision making and seems to have developed a belief in is own impunity and self-importance. President Obama should have fired him before leaving office. That said, President Trump’s timing is questionable, and his multiple explanations are ludicrous. An independent counsel is needed to continue the investigation into the Russian ties of Trump and his associates.
Kissinger, Nixon, Trump, Watergate… interesting historical bumpings! Kissinger, of course, did not appear to participate in Watergate, although he rode through the scandal as Secretary of State from Nixon to Ford. Kissinger’s presence reminds us that Nixon could leave office in disgrace but still inspire debate about his merits as President (going to China, creating the EPA, ending the draft, signing Title IX…), while Trump is facing a crisis of legitimacy before signing, never mind crafting, any landmark legislation or making any great foreign policy achievement.
Impeach Trump by the end of July, and he will have achieved the second-shortest Presidency yet.
Troy, I won’t campaign on impeachment, because we could have impeachment over and done before the primaries next year. I’ll stick with health care as my all-in-one campaign issue, because that will fry every Republican on the ballot in 2018, impeachment or not.
Old Sarg, really? You have to go that far to avoid talking about the problem?
I don’t think one has to hate America to ask that the President not interfere with an FBI investigation. Quite the contrary: one shows love of country by showing love of rule of law rather than tsarism.
Sam, sure, let’s impeach Sessions and Rosenstein as well. But you don’t get to absolve the President of responsibility for a Presidential action. Sessions, Perry, Pruitt, Tillerson, et al. can make all the requests they want; the President signs the orders. Of course, if you really want to make the case that a Cabinet official is really responsible for the firing of a Presidential appointee and that the President bears no responsibility, then we have just as great a problem: a President allowing unauthorized, unelected underlings to usurp his authority.
Liberals and conservatives could accept that Richard Nixon had won re-election but still recognize that using Presidential power to interfere with an FBI investigation is an impeachable offense.
This is not a liberal-vs.-conservative issue. This is an issue of the President’s fitness for office and the integrity of government, law, and the Constitution.
No Trump defender in this thread has taken issue with the dot-connecting that leads to the conclusion that Trump fired Comey for political reasons under the flimsy cover of a complete reversal of his assessment of Comey’s performance last year. Instead, those challenging the thesis of thread have focused on mockery, insult, and label-throwing. The merits of the case against Trump stand, no matter how liberal or disgusting Todd Epp and I are.
I take issue with the entire premise Democrats are asserting today and accept the one they asserted for the past six months- Comey should be fired.
P.S. Acting Director McCabe (husband of active Virginia Democrat) and who headed the Clinton email investigation blew holes in your entire premise.
He refutes Comey asked for more resources on Russia and said the department says the Russia investigation is adequately resourced.
I’ll take issue with it (but please don’t call me a trump defender). Trump reportedly throws tantrums all the time. There is no evidence that this was anything more than a fit of rage. An action done in haste with terrible timing that anyone with any self-control would have avoided. I agree that the reason given makes little sense. And hopefully the investigation is completed quickly. But I’m not holding my breath on an impending impeachment.
Mike Rounds was just interviewed on Yahoo News, but I couldn’t get it because of problems with my Flash Player.
And of course John Thune is standing proud in defending trump and calling the firing of Comey a distraction from the GOP agenda.
It took some sharp Constitutional minds in the Congress and Senate to bring down Nixon, I worry that those Constitutional scholars doing exist in today’s congress.
Can I draw a line of distinction in what is being called partisan hypocrisy: 1) I do think Comey deserved to be terminated for HOW (not that) he dealt with the Sec. Clinton e-mail investigation – the injection of suspicion (previously settled as not illegal then editorialized as reckless) at a crucial moment in the election process that swayed the election. 2) I do not think Comey should be terminated for investigating the connection to the Russian meddling in the US presidential or to the Trump election not should his termination limit the scope or effectiveness of that investigation.
I (and other progressives, Democrats, and elected officials) can hold both evaluations of Comey and his actions clear and distinct. If Come had been terminated for his political intrusion into the last election, I would support whoever next held that post to investigate the Russian/Trump connection. It is neither hypocritical nor purely partisan to believe both these things.
Troy,
Whether or not Comey requested additional resources to investigate trump seems to be at the heart of this matter and comes down to who you choose to believe.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say McCabe blew holes in the entire premise of the Comey request, I would say it is another part of the cover up.
Sam: “When you check the facts it was his boss who ask for Him to be fired. Jeff Sessions made the request to the President”
That’s funny, the man who had to recuse himself from Investigating the President’s Russian connections (because he had purged himself in testimony about his Russian connections) ask for the termination of the man currently investigating the President’s Russian connections is how you look to show there is NOT a conflict/problem?
Welcome to this blog, Troy. This is where there is real discussion about real issues rather than weekly press releases and weakly … well, whatever else is offered.
I notice you’re not defending either Trump or Comey, or even taking a position. It’s fun to throw potshots on a blog that doesn’t block you, eh?
Troy, what are McCabe’s ties to Drumpf and Russia? How do you trust anyone to lead the FBI with close ties to both parties being investigated?
MFI,
I don’t think McCabe has any ties to either. He is close to Clinton and especially McAllaulife (Gov. of VA).
I think Comey should have been gone last summer and fall by Obama and then right after Trump’s inauguration. Reason:
1) I believe he preemptively (whether there was going to be anything there or not) ended the Clinton email investigation because he thought she would win (regardless of the evidence either way).
2) I believe he came out right before the election on the other side because he thought Trump would win (regardless of the evidence either way).
Alternatively, his action last summer and fall are an indication he likes being the limelight more than a good law enforcement officer should.
Thus, regardless of which of my theories are correct, he firing was way overdue because he doesn’t seem to have the “take one where the evidence leads” attitude required for eh job.
It is more likely, Troy, that Comey was fired because he knew precisely where the would lead. Comey’s request for more resources to investigate trump answers that question as to why he was fired.
https://www.palmerreport.com/news/first-raid-annapolis-fbi/2755/
FBI agents raided a wingnut campaign consulting outfit in what is said to be possible FBI payback for Drumpf firing Comey. This could get real interesting real fast.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/new-fbi-director-mccabe-compromised-by-serious-conflict-941110851569
I don’t have sound so I can’t watch Rachel and I haven’t seen the transcript if there is one.
Roger,
But, McCabe said Comey didn’t ask for more resources and he thought the investigation is adequately resourced.
MFI, this is becoming a greek tragedy.
Dem’s loved Comey when he stopped the email investigation and hated him when he restarted it.
Dem’s asserted McCabe had not conflict of interest despite direct Clinton ties when he was investigating Clinton’s email deal and not assert he has a conflict of interest with Trump.
You just can’t make this stuff up. Do you realize how goofy you all look by jumping sides like this?
Dem’s did not love Comey, but all loved Democracy. See Troy, Democrats are patriots, this is something that your party should come to grips with. The matters at hand now have to do with patriotism and if you stand for Democracy or if you stand with putin and trump. Where do you stand Troy? Do you believe in the Constitution as it is written? What flag do you pledge your allegiance to, the russian red, white and blue or the American red, white and blue?
Matthew Yglesias says the obstruction charge is unproven “but the probable cause is everywhere,” and if the charge is true, it is impeachable.
Troy, you and other Trump defenders keep mistaking me for someone else. I never said I loved or hated Comey. My feelings about Comey are irrelevant to the obstruction charge.
True that Cory, the only thing we will wait on soon is the poster picture of this crook leaving by helicopter. Will he be like Nixon or will he be like Noriega or Mubarak, what tin horn wannabe dictator will trump be looking all smug when we throw his arse out of our house?
I’m with Cory on this, as a Democrat I never loved or hated Comey, I always felt that he was playing fast and loose with evidence and didn’t trust him.
Troy insist on returning to what McCabe has said about Comey not requesting additional resources for a trump investigation when that issue has not been fully resolved.
Troy, this scandal is not a republican/Democrat issue, it is a Constitutional issue, I hope you can understand that.
trump came very close to obstructing justice again today in the interview with Lester Holtz by demanding from Comey whether or not he was the subject of an FBI investigation. No other American has the privilege of knowing whether or not the FBI is investigating them.
Cory,
The article you cite is ludicrous. He lists six items which indicate potential obstruction.
#1: There is also a report that is untrue and McCabe says the investigation has adequate resources. Also, the FBI Director doesn’t have to ask for a reallocation of agents and resources. It is within his authority. The assertion on its face is goofy.
#2: Trump fired this guy and expressed concern that in addition to the matters he knew about when he fired Flynn the new revelations are concerning to him. Putting this on the list shows what a dodo this guy is and is just stretching to make the list as long as possible.
#3: The fact the boss asked for a memo justifying a decision is evidence of obstruction. The looniness gets worse.
#4: A summary off-hand assessment of his general performance doesn’t contradict the specifics and certainly isn’t evidence of obstruction. The guy is now beyond loony and getting into stupid.
#5: So what. Trump discussing with a friend/advisor a decision he contemplating isn’t evidence of obstruction. It is evidence of him looking for outside counsel. Obama did it all the time. Sheesh. This guy stupidity and looniness is no longer in doubt.
#6: Not being able to control the political narrative isn’t evidence of obstruction. In fact it is talking about two separate things.
Look, I know you are having trouble with Trump as President and wish it were different. But, it shouldn’t cause you go become so deranged you can’t recognize lunacy which this Matt guy is off the chart. The matters he lists are so far from adding “up to a very clear picture of a president deciding to fire an FBI director to obstruct an ongoing investigation and then stitching together a shaky rationalization for doing so” that if this is the best there is, it indicates the opposite.
mental gymnast troy: wipe that chalk off yo’ hands honeychile!
spinning facts isn’t your suit.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/06/us/politics/hillary-clinton-fbi-email-comey.html?_r=0
“Comey rebuked Mrs. Clinton as being “extremely careless” in using a private email … yahdahyadah….”
quit wasting our time, troll!
http://time.com/4550453/hillary-clinton-james-comey-fbi-emails/
Hillary: “its unprecedented and extremely troubling.” Comey’s announcement on Friday — little more than a week before the Nov. 8 presidential election — has shaken the race between Clinton and Donald Trump, and potentially boosted Republican chances to hold its majorities in Congress.
McCabe’s wife gets campaign contributions-none apparently from HRC- while he says he did not have oversight role in her investigation and he apparently did not have to file his wife’s campaign contributions-by law- so he is a close friend pf the Clintons. Gotcha Troy.
“troy said-Dem’s loved Comey when he stopped the email investigation and hated him when he restarted it. ”
don’t make me come out ‘der and define ludicrous for you.
That convoluted explanation came from Fake Noize-btw.
It gets real simple real fast. Place Drumpf under oath and fire away. He will lie the minute his lips move. Impeach him and Beauregard Sessions for perjury, hang them and let’s get on with kicking rethugs out of congress.
This is a progressive blog, Troy, what do you expect. Your Chump Pat doesn’t even mention the Comey firing.
I don’t really expect Cory to believe that Donny Trump will be impeached, but there is a very decent chance, if progressives raise hell, that he will be out in 2020.
It’s okay for ‘pubs to have hated to the end of the earth and demanded impeachment on Obama but when we do it on Trump it’s not nice.
Face it Troy, Deplorable, Daniel and all the other earth hating pubs out there, Cory has a much more investigative blog than your War dumping Toilet (and the DFP is so much more fun!). Cory works hard to find the answers and is at least willing to stand up and put his name out there to run for office in SD, a state where you’re shunned for being a liberal.
Remember, all voices on the political spectrum is what America stands for, not an one party oligarchy like South Dakota.
Impeachment no longer seems all that unlikely. Republicans have everything to gain and nothing to lose! If the House Republicans impeach and Senate Republicans convict Trump, Republicans will look like heroes, putting Country ahead of party to save everyone from a crazy, dangerous, sick huckster.
Pence would be elevated to President, making federal judge picks safe and the Republican agenda to enrich the wealthy, while restricting voting rights and dominating women, might actually move forward with input and support from a very hard right conservative, rather than crazy, White House.
The single benefit to Democrats would be the avoidance of a perhaps deadly nuclear war with North Korea.
All it takes is a single Dem to block unanimous consent and screw up the wingnut picnic worse than red ants.
Wingnuts will be tarred with Drumpfcare brush and taxcuts for the wealthy and this incompetent debacle that passes as a well oiled machine in the WH.
I think only a 2/3 Senate vote is required to convict. Although keeping Trump in office might actually create a Republican image that will help Democrats with future voters more than Republicans, it would be quite a disappointment to see a Democrat be on record voting to acquit, unless, perhaps, they were not convinced Trump committed the acts he was charged with.
https://www.vox.com/2017/5/11/15628276/trump-comey-fired-russia
Drumpf tells Lester Holt he was going to fire Comey regardless of the AG’s opinion because of Russia story.
The White House walked right up to the edge of admitting today that Trump fired Comey to bring the FBI Russia investigation to a conclusion. Trump issued a kinda-sorta contradicting statement afterward. If a criminal suspect changed his story this frequently and incoherently, the cops would be all over him. We can’t believe a word Trump says. That by itself is reason to throw out a President; such untrustworthiness damages the country.
But I’ll stick with the Watergate line, interference with an FBI investigation, as the legal grounds for impeachment.
Oaths of loyalty to Trump seem to be required to work for him. This wasn’t just campaign rally schtick. It’s very real, and Comey was apparently asked for his loyalty to Trump (not to his own oath to the Consitution). Comey refused, apparently, and that is one reason that led to his eventual firing.
Trump is a scary, evil and mentally sick man, but, like Hitler, Stalin, Amin and others of totalitarian and authoritarian bent, he is an unnaturally inept buffoon. People laughed at Hitler behind his back. Years later he made sure they ended up dead. He got his die-hard supporters to kill them.
Trump’s die-hard supporters, maybe half of the 36 percent of the dead-enders who say they support him in national polls, don’t seem to see what is perfectly obvious to most of us here. This is reflective of cultish behavior, which is perfectly outlined in the interesting article in this link:
https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/05/11/the-trump-cult/
Read the article. It is very enlightening.
I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again. I would hate to see Trump impeached if it meant that he would be leaving office. The American people made their bed, now they need to sleep in it. Trump is today’s Republican party through and through and the longer we suffer through this, the better people will remember what life is like under the COP. Hopefully it will also serve as a reminder to the Bernie or bust crowd that elections matter.
If he were actually somehow ousted, I hope it’s because he’s headed for jail.
By the way, Jenny, I actually do believe the Comey firing significantly increases the chances of a Trump impeachment. I recognize what both Bear and Chip are saying, that we progressives might be better off leaving Trump in office to reinforce in voters’ minds just how awful Republicans are and boost our 2018 and 2020 vote totals… and I will agree that it would be harder to run against Pence than Trump, because Pence is actually capable of doing the job.
However, I’m not looking at this story from a partisan angle. If the President abuses his power to interfere in an FBI investigation that threatens the President’s power, the House should impeach and the Senate should convict that President.
Or that President should resign. And if Donald Trump were a real Republican, really concerned about the his party, he would strongly consider resigning and taking himself out of the way of passing the Republican agenda in Washington, holding Congress in 2018, and holding the White House in 2020.
Another possibility is that Pence will be so involved in this whole mess that he too will be impeached or resign (ala Agnew) along with Trump and we could end up with Paul Ryan as President, as he is third in line.
http://www.salon.com/2017/05/12/mike-pence-is-neck-deep-in-donald-trumps-james-comey-mess/
I’ve never jumped on the bandwagon against Comey. I think he had plenty of opportunity to bury her in BS if he would have chosen to do so. He didn’t. He kept his investigation above the belt and ultimately cleared her of any real wrongdoing. He may have accused her of having a lapse of good judgement, but nothing that hadn’t been done before, and certainly nothing illegal. I think that Democrats may have pounced a bit too hard on him for his actions right before the election, especially considering his previous actions, but that’s a whole different conversation. So I’ve been on Comey’s side all along. That being said, I believe that in letting him go, Trump further proves the level of BS going on in his administration, and the full support he is getting from the GOP. I would call it corruption but I’m not going to dignify this circus act with a term that would imply that there was some level of coherent thought put into it. Most sane people can see right through it.
To Bear’s point about Ryan being third in line.
Being part of the campaign should make Pence every bit as liable as Trump. Unfortunately as you move your way from Trump to Pence to Ryan they get perceptually(is that a word?) more sane as you go. And Democrats would run more of a risk of the GOP getting their act together before the next election. Jabba the Hutt needs to stay right where he is as far as I’m concerned. I completely understand your stance on this Cory, and I want to see him taken down as badly as anybody, but I really don’t want them to get the opportunity to pull their ship back together.
In an ironic twist, IF the President were not part of a grand Russian collusion that warranted impeachment, he now may have handed the grounds for impeachment to his opposition with what seems like a makable case(s) for obstruction of justice. Squelching (or attempting to squelch) an investigation that was not going to find you guilty is still a separate crime of obstruction.
There will also be a loyalty tipping point that this President will learn about; how much he can burn people who have no loyalty to him. Employees, inner circle, surrogates, who will be left when it comes time to circle the wagons and protect the President – much less take the political bullet to protect him?
It more now looks like will be the cover-up that gets him, not the crime.
Chip, here is where I take an opposite, anti-Comey, view from you from the same fact base: 1) his role as FBI is legal only; once he said that Clinton had violated no law, his scope of judgement was over. Instead of a clean slate, he made room for some moral judgement beyond the law. 2) Announcing that there was another Clinton investigation right before the election, especially while not announcing the investigation into the Trump-Russian collusion was partisan.
I do not believe Comey singularly lost the election for Clinton; however, I do believe he was part of a perfect storm (along with her campaign ignoring/taking for granted the Rust Belt, and Russian misinformation campaign) that ALL had to happen to tip the scales to Trump.
Bear, implicating Pence?! Wow! Would you prefer I liken you to Archibald Cox or Leon Jaworski?
Chip, if Bear can make the charges stick to Pence, I might be happy to take on President Ryan in 2018 and 2020. After all, we can hang TrumpCare on Ryan even more directly than we can on Trump—Trump’s the godfather, but he doesn’t even know how much insurance costs, let alone what’s in the House bill. Plus, Ryan crapped out on the trail with Romney.
But I will agree with your point about the progressive sanity from Trump to Pence to Ryan… and thus would take all the more comfort in the thought of Ryan replacing both of them. The country would be in better hands with Ryan than with either Trump or Pence. Bear, keep the evidence coming, and let’s prosecute the President for his abuse of power!
Leave us not forget basic facts of life here- wingnuts can’t seem to find an impeachable offense to charge another wingnut with. Mass murder, crimes against humanity perpetrated by dumbass dubya did not rise to the level of Bill Clinton lying about sex.
Wingnuts were ready to impeach HRC had she won the election. Did I just say that? HRC did win the election by 3 million votes. But, when it comes to their own crooks they are deaf,dumb and blind.
Hey o, I get where you’re coming from, but I think someone a bit more partisan could have/would have sturred up a bigger schit storm to cover up the clear lack of evidence she did anything wrong. But that’s just me. I wish he would have reiterated the fact that she wasn’t the only official to have mishandled her email account though. But then again I’d hate to have had to drag others into the GOP witch hunt.
I think that in regard to the 11th hour investigation mishap, had she won like she was supposed to, everybody would have been thanking him. That would have just turned into yet another manufactured GOP scandal.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/woodward-bernstein-say-comey-firing-different-watergate-132623513.html
“If the President abuses his power to interfere in an FBI investigation that threatens the President’s power, the House should impeach and the Senate should convict that President.”
This entire argument is based on an if.
“No Trump defender in this thread has taken issue with the dot-connecting that leads to the conclusion that Trump fired Comey for political reasons under the flimsy cover of a complete reversal of his assessment of Comey’s performance last year.”
I have no problem with the dot-connecting, but it is merely circumstantial. You know that alone isn’t enough to prove anything.
“But he also said comparisons of Trump’s firing of Comey to Nixon’s firing of Archibald Cox — the special prosecutor investigating the case — are unwarranted because unlike in Nixon’s case, there is no evidence Trump is obstructing justice.
“You have nothing comparable,” Woodward said.
Daniel Buresh, you mean “there is no evidence Trump is obstructing justice” when Trump indicates that part of the reason for Comey’s firing was the Russian investigation.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/12/politics/trump-comey-russia-thing/
If Hillary Clinton was in Trump’s shoes, the Republicans would already be holding impeachment hearings.
Drumpf hisown worst enemy self sez he fired Comey over the Russia investigation. Sounds like a confession, not circumstantial dot connecting.
Darin,
That doesn’t prove anything more than what you had before. I don’t care about Hillary or what would have happened. Sorry. I’m sure the Russian investigation was thought about by Trump. I think that is a given. Trying to turn that into purposeful obstruction….you still don’t have anything. Would it surprise me if he was obstructing, no, but I haven’t seen anything concrete enough to do anything about it.
Woodward and Bernstein are correct, to a degree. At the time of the Saturday Night Massacre evidence was emerging that would justify Nixon’s impeachment.
When Trump fired Comey the FBI was likely in getting close to the evidence needed for a Trump impeachment.
We don’t know the full scope of the investigation or what evidence does exist, that is what we need to know.
How many chances does Drumpf get? The very first second Obama presumed to be the equal of any white person, there were calls to impeach the uppity bastard.
Now Trump not only met with the Russians in the White House last week, he shared highly classified information with them. You can’t make this stuff up!
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/12/politics/trump-comey-russia-thing/
Hillary Clinton had a private email server and Trump said she should be in jail for that breach of protocol. Now we have Trump sharing state secrets with the Russians and I’m sure Trump and Troy will say that is just fine. Trump should get a medal.
Darin,
If the Washington Post and CNN reports are true, and there is no reason to believe they are not, this is probably the most serious charge made a against president that I have ever heard.
Why Russian diplomats were allowed in the oval office was in itself was questionable to begin with, but to add the charge of sharing classified information with them is treason.
Good analysis, Roger .
Roger, Trump couldn’t make himself look more guilty of collusion with the Russians than if he was trying to do so. I suspect it is merely incompetence at the heart of this matter rather than a treasonous mens rea, but the former can be just as damaging as the latter.
But who could have predicted that Trump would be a disaster as President, I mean besides the 70 million people who voted against Trump, right?
Mark my words, he’s getting ready to throw some more of his staff under the bus for his own incompetence.
It falls quite short of treason. The article says it probably wasn’t illegal because he’s the president. Just really really stupid, careless, whatever. The leak to the press seems almost as damaging, assuming the Russians would’ve kept the quiet about it.
Exactly, just like passing secrets to the russians that the white russian did in the Oval Office, or as it is now called in russian Kal’yan-bar or hookah bar in English. Yes, there is no treason, just a love fest with the tin horn dictators. Tyler, ask your grandma why they left the old country. She will tell you in one word, Russians! Hard for me to figure South Dakota German love for the Kremlin, how does that work?
Ya Tyler, nothing to see here. He gave highly classified information directly to the Russians which could expose intelligence sources and put them at risk of being killed and he violated the trust of another country which had shared the intelligence with the US just so he could brag to the Russians. Just another day at Trump’s White House!
For good measure, American reporters were barred from the meeting, so it was a good thing they let a Russian photographer in to the White House to document Trump giving away state secrets! I hope somebody swept the room for bugs after the Russians left. Oh, no need, Trump will tell them whatever they need to know.
Drumpf shared classified info with Japanese PM and guests at Mar-Illegal. There were photos of guests taking phone pics of classified papers. Drumpf allowed daughter and SIL to sit in on classified briefings w/o security clearance and yet, HRC is the one who should be jailed for recklessness.
ps I seriously doubt being bogus potus absolves Drumpf of responsibility for sharing secrets to un secured Russians or anyone else. However, as I have said many times, I doubt there is a crime a wingnut Potus can commit that will arouse these wingnuts in Congress to file charges.
Sorry Mike, I’m probably going to believe the article that broke the story over the legal expertise regarding presidential authority of blog commenter extraordinaire MFI. Yes, what he did was all sorts of wrong. That doesn’t seem to technically make it illegal. “As president, Trump has broad authority to declassify government secrets, making it unlikely that his disclosures broke the law.” (WaPo) You all are acting like I claimed this was no big deal. I’m merely trying to keep things grounded in reality. You’re not going to get him on treason over this.
Finally! https://medium.com/@Tom_Steyer/republicans-set-a-standard-for-impeachment-and-trump-has-met-it-9a600a7d0cd1 Get this done before we have yet another war in the mid east.
The Russians hacked our election and won. Now we have a White House full of billionaire commies.
…and not the nice kind of commies either.
Just a quick one … What Reality Winner leaked was that a month before the election, it’s been proven, that Russia hacked the software for numerous state’s voting machines. (On the SDGOP Facebook page I was ridiculed for suggesting that Trump cheated. How can you hack an election when the voting machines aren’t even hooked up to the internet, was the response. Every voting machine IS hooked up to the internet when it’s being prepared for use and the software used to set up the machine was definitely hacked by Russia. Reality Winner saw this and didn’t believe it should be a NSA secret, not known by all of us.) The reality (pun intended) is that Trump cheated.
Porter, I have not seen any source prove that the Russians succeeded in hacking them, only that they attempted to. Comey just testified that he was confident that Russia did not successfully directly interfere with the election in such a manner. Even if they did, how can you claim that Trump himself cheated, when Comey just testified that Trump himself was not under investigation?
Does Eagle Creek Software Services have the skill and ability to do it?
I believe Comey said they can’t prove a single vote was changed.
What does Drumpf not being under investigation have to do with whether Drumpf cheated?
I doubt Comey has/had access to all info from all agencies. From what little I’ve read and seen of any testimony it appears like a certain political party is more interested in running investigative interference than trying to get to the bottom of this mess.
It is patently obvious Drumpf has lied throughout the campaign and his tenure as liar in chief.
POW! CRACK! ZAP! Batman fights criinals no more. RIP Adam West
Mike, it’s just a matter of proof. Porter claims that Russia hacking the election proves that Trump cheated. But if he wasn’t even under investigation for his Russian ties, that doesn’t really constitute any sort of proof. And the successfulness of the hack hasn’t been proven anyway. And now Porter is just trying to impress? intimidate? me by posting some outdated info he found on my LinkedIn profile. It kind of seems like he’s dealing with some confirmation bias. I’m not a Trump apologist. It wouldn’t have surprised me to find out Trump had done something to cheat. But at this point, the evidence seems to clear him (of things other than brashness and stupidity).
Speaking of Trump lying, give David Newquist’s Northern Valley Beacon, Pathological Lying Destroys Human Possibilities a read.
Trump is so twisted you never know when he is lying or telling the truth, the odds are he is lying.
Yesterday Trump said he will give sworn testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, does anyone even believe that?
He also said that he will reveal whether or not he has tapes between him and Comey’s conversations, this is one is a bit more difficult, if he has tapes they better prove exactly what he has said, if he doesn’t have tapes it was just one more Trump lie, if he destroyed the tapes it is a destruction of evidence.
@MFi … These SoDak Republicans are suffering from Troy Jones misdirection syndrome, due to excessive culpability. It doesn’t matter what Comey said because Comey doesn’t work for the NSA. Even though Obama loosened the rules for sharing classified information among gov’t agencies, once Trump realized they were closing in on him, he stopped that sharing. Repubs next question will be, “If NSA knows about Trump and Russians colluding and successfully hacking several state’s voting machines, why don’t they release the information?” That’s because the Generals would demand a military response to this blatant act of war and providing the vindication of Hillary Clinton isn’t worth WWIII with Russia. Trump will get his due.
~ South Dakota folklore says that Bob wrote this classic line while he was hangin’ in Sioux Falls in the 60’s. Be that true or just lore the implication and appropriateness of the phrase 50 years hence is striking …
Concerning Trump’s cheating to win the election ….. “You don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”
>I’d like to recommend that music fans enjoy this 27 min. speech Bob Dylan gave to the Nobel Prize people, last week. It’s a work of art, in itself and at the end he answers the question he’s received the most. “What do your songs mean?” Cory, as an English teacher you might find Dylan’s oral book report style entertaining. If not, your critique would be entertaining, also.
http://www.lemonwire.com/2017/06/09/bob-dylans-nobel-prize-acceptance-speech-work-art/
There is plenty of time to investigate Drumpf’s role in all this. If nothing else he has run interference for his campaign. The mantra was no one in his campaign had any contacts with Russia during the campaign. That was not true. Now it seems everyone connected to the campaign had multiple contacts with Russians and any number of them have lied about those contacts.
That Russia hacked the election should set off alarm bells all over. Why is Drumpf so cozy with Putin when nearly every intel agency says they are not our ally? Why is Drumpf allowed to run his mouth and criticize the judicial system-that can be seen as obstruction. What are Drumpf’s ties to Russia-the ones he claims he doesn’t have but both older sons have admitted they get their money from Russia?
If Drumpf was a Dem wingnuts in both houses of congress would have shut everything down to investigate Drumpf. Now it seems they want to protect their political party from fallout when Drumpf gets his just deserts.
Later in the hearing, Comey talked about a sophisticated effort by the Russians undertaken with “overwhelming technical efforts.”
Comey, June 8: There should be no fuzz on this whatsoever. The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did it with purpose. They did it with sophistication. They did it with overwhelming technical efforts. And it was an active-measures campaign driven from the top of that government. There is no fuzz on that.
There’re two distinctly different issues in this investigation. We now know through Comey that Russia succeeded in a disinformation campaign through social media. The other issue is that Russia hacked several state’s voting machines and only the NSA has those notes. Some of what NSA knows was leaked by Reality Winner. Only another leaker or hacker will give us the truth because Trump controls the NSA. Hacking voting machines is thousands of times more criminal than media disinformation.
We who want truth can hope that Robert Mueller follows up on Reality Winner’s trail and investigates NSA. Surely, NSA’s done a Pat Powers and wiped the computers clean but Ms. Winner stuck a thumb drive into a big data base and has hidden the thumb drive. Maybe, for immunity from Robert Mueller, she’ll release what is possibly the smoking gun info that NSA gathered, proving that several state’s voting machines were hacked by Russia and aided by Don Trump.
PS … don’t be surprised if Ms. Winner mysteriously ends up like Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby.
we should remember Mueller gave the NFL a pass on sex harassment investigation. thom hartmann
very punny leslie, it took a minute to soak in. Think of trump as a water boy rather than an athlete. trump had to use a golf cart to match the walking of the Europeans he chastised.
It is one of the single truths in life that all ultimate judgments come down to be made by a man named Bob. There are good Bobs and bad Bobs, and a few lost soul Bobs.
Excellent , Grudzie …. As is said in Britain, when the problem has been solved … “Bob’s Your Uncle.” 🐏🐏🐏 …… 🐐
well said porter @17:38 and chip-” a reminder to the Bernie or bust crowd that elections matter.”
btw, speaking of facts, another blogger said: ‘politics has been reduced to a propaganda war to capture the fleeting attention span of low-information voters, i.e., self-identified “independents.”
Republicans understand this fact and have exploited it to their success….anyone who swings back and forth from voting Republican and Democrat, i.e., so-called “independents,” is either voting so incoherently as to be random or is completely ignorant of the two parties’ opposite governing philosophies.
Their refusal to recognize that a large percentage of the American electorate is politically illiterate has resulted in a national political disaster for Democrats.
Democrats still think the 20th Century tactic of knocking on doors wins elections despite the electoral catastrophe they have suffered.’ (as a dem precinct person, I thank your god. :)
ps btw-trump lied and cheated by conducting a successful public media slander falsely characterizing hrc as “lying, crooked”, repeated millions of times by millions.
pps-an editorial and pictorial
https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2017/jun/02/this-week-showed-the-president-has-the-moral-compass-of-a-6-year-old