Comey firing roundup
A few random articles of special interest—
Take a look at the headline of this article by Matthew Yglesias at Vox: “By firing James Comey, Trump has put impeachment on the table.” Ha! That’s pretty funny. Impeachment has never been off the left’s table. Impeachment has been on the table—in fact, it’s been the main course—for the entire Trump presidency.
On the timing of the firing, from Byron York:
The structure was this: The FBI director reported to the deputy attorney general, who reported to the attorney general, who reported to the president. When Trump fired Comey Tuesday afternoon, that chain of command had been in place for all of 14 days.
First, it took a long time to get an attorney general in office. Facing Democratic opposition, Jeff Sessions, one of the president’s first nominees, was not confirmed by the Senate until Feb. 8. Then, it took a long time to get a deputy attorney general in place. Rod Rosenstein, the deputy ”” and the man who wrote the rationale for axing Comey ”” faced similar Democratic delays and was not sworn in until April 26.
Only after Rosenstein was in place did the Trump team move ahead. That was true not only for chain-of-command reasons but also ”” probably more importantly ”” because Rosenstein had the bipartisan street cred to be able to be the point man in firing Comey.
Alan Dershowitz continues in his tendency to drift away from the liberal reservation:
Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz told CNN’s Don Lemon on Tuesday night that President Donald Trump was well within his rights to fire former FBI director James Comey, and that there was no need for a special prosecutor in the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Dershowitz questioned the timing of Comey’s firing, however, and urged a new, independent investigation into the Russia case…
[CNN legal analyst] Jeffrey Toobin had also told CNN’s Anderson Cooper earlier that Trump would likely name a “campaign stooge” as Comey’s replacement at the FBI.
But Dershowitz disagreed.
“Should Comey be the director of the FBI? The answer to that is no,” he said, noting that he had called earlier for Comey to resign. “He lost his credibility. ”¦ A lot of this is his fault.”
A personal observation—
One of the articles on the left about the Comey firing used the word “brazen” to describe it in the headline. Trump is brazen—and generally so, not just in regard to the Comey incident. That’s part of the reason that his behavior so riles up the left (and warms the cockles of the hearts of a large segment on the right) and simultaneously makes the left think their efforts to destroy him will succeed, although so far they have not.
Obama had a very different style, but his word “audacity” meant something quite similar. He wasn’t afraid of making the bold and risky moves, and despite their differences in temperament, presentation, and of course politics, they share that quality.
The Left continues to act the fool. I think it reasonable to ask why the FBI Director, who is in fact a political appointee, although the term is fixed, should be exempt.
There was general consensus across the ideological spectrum in the very recent past that Comey should go. Frankly, he should have offered his resignation on day one, and Trump should have accepted with alacrity.
I know that the Left are huffing and puffing about the phony Russian deal, for which they have produced not a breath of evidence. I suspect that the public, except for the moon bat element, are tiring of this charade.
It is a shame that President Trump cannot act with just a bit more style and grace; but, I will take effectiveness, and constitutional adherence, over style and grace. We just finished eight years of style, although without much grace.
As you say neo, Trump’s impeachment has never been off the table. But absent a casus belli that RINOs will accept, such as Nixon covering up on Watergate, democrats are reduced to hamstringing Trump as much as possible and a pre-impeachment strategy of portraying everything Trump does as beyond the pale. Until the deluge of propaganda cumulatively reaches a point that “breaks the camel’s back” and majority congressional acceptance that Trump must go occurs.
Failing that, the dems are counting on MSM propaganda, democrat ‘resistance’ and deep state sabotage returning the WH to democrats in 2020.
Matt Yglesias is a clown- nothing more and nothing less.
So, we finally have a president who is not a wimp! It’s about time.
Oldflyer: “I know that the Left are huffing and puffing about the phony Russian deal, for which they have produced not a breath of evidence. I suspect that the public, except for the moon bat element, are tiring of this charade.”
No. There’s a lot of people who just read headlines and hear sound bites and will be subjected to the one side, and, although they might have once had heard Comey was no good and had to go, will very soon adopt the new position that Trump fired Comey “because he was getting close to the truth”.
Like “Bush lied, people died” and “hands up, dont shoot”, this will pass largely into the collective memory as the new truth regardless of anything coming from it other than a Scooter Libby type sacrificial offering.
So Dershowitz is against a special prosecutor (good) but wants a “new independent investigation.”? Because the FBI is so political? A congressional investigation is more independent?
OK, I read the link. Dershowitz wants a congressionally appointed independent commission. Yes, then we can rest assured that it will be free from political bias.
My recommendation for Comey’s replacement: Sheriff David Clarke. The Dems would try hard not to consent to his nomination, but they would have a very hard time turning him down.
There’s something else that hasn’t been mentioned which should have been by now. Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, reporting directly to him, and responsible to him. She used that secret e-mail server during all her time in that office. So who else in government knew about her actions during that time? Why didn’t Barack Obama know about this, and why didn’t he do anything about it?
Mr. Comey ruined his own career by trying to take a middle road with people who are dishonest, made all the worse when their wrongdoing is so apparent. He got himself fired by not conducting a proper investigation, and by not following the right procedures.
There have been other failings as well. The media should have been more skeptical of the Obama administration. The Congress should have used its existing powers, with proper hearings, and putting people under oath, and with holding the Executive branch accountable.
At the end of the day, more likely than not, it will be revealed there was a lot of deception and poor leadership going on during the Obama administration.
So the firing occurs the same day as the Rosenstein memo.
Now, something else I read which struck resonance somehow: Comey just happened to be in California on the 9th, not in DC. In that respect, he would be somewhat cut off from his normal in-office resources, and can’t “do damage” before leaving.
Now, at his level, I doubt this really has any relevance, but it still does make me wonder if it weren’t some factor…
The Left would have us believe that the removal of the director would somehow cancel any ongoing investigations indefinitely, and that’s why the firing was ordered. That argument is so silly that it seems surreal. Yet, on the other hand, a few are likely to buy off on it, no matter how unrealistic.
“… Dershowitz continues in his tendency to drift away from the liberal reservation”
The Dersh will never leave. He’s the poster child for “Battered Wife Syndrome” on the left. He’ll always be ready to come back.
I think the Dersh recognizes a losing issue when he sees one. First, protect the Dershowitz brand; second espouse the Liberal line whenever it is safe to do so.
Yankee,
You can safely bet your bottom dollar that Obama knew that Hillary was using a private email server, probably very soon after she started using it and was advised that it might prove useful as leverage should the need ever arise.
Comey’s protection of Hillary also served to protect Obama.
IMO, vanderleun nails Dershowitz’s motivation. His liberal ‘integrity’ is a mask, as much for his own self-deceit, as for others. Had he the intellectual integrity at which he pretends, he would have long ago seen through the left’s pretentions and self-delusions and rejected them as flawed.
its rather simple, all on the left are dangerous to the Republic, as are many who pretend to be on the right. The question about the elephante in the room or the bull in the china shop is what we on the right do about it. I am increasingly convitced correction can not be achieved at the ballot box. So what is next…..?
I read the article linked above as calling Trump “brazen” – at least the author admits his bias, unlike most of them:
Greg Sargent writes The Plum Line blog, a reported opinion blog with a liberal slant — what you might call “opinionated reporting” from the left.
Here’s an interesting take on why the Left doesn’t like Trump’s brassy behaviour:
https://amgreatness.com/2017/05/09/no-guilt-time/
“In the last 50 years of culture wars in America, there has been no stronger weapon than guilt. It is the Left’s great hammer of progress. It figured powerfully in the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-war movement, women’s liberation, and same-sex marriage. Guilt runs through the teaching of U.S. history from 5th grade through college. It colors controversies over affirmative action, transgender bathrooms, and the glass ceiling. The entire careers of Leftist commentators from the self-righteous Bill Moyers to the self-regarding Ta-Nehisi Coates rest upon it. If we add up the successes guilt has brought to progressive causes and identity politics, we realize just how important guilt is to the Left agenda. Without it, in fact, the Left fails.
Which brings us back to Donald Trump. Why do people hate him so?
Because he won’t accept this appointed condition. He has no white guilt. He doesn’t feel any male guilt, either, or American guilt or Christian guilt. He talks about the United States with uncritical approval–“America First”–and that’s a thought crime in the eyes of liberals. It ignores slavery, Jim Crow, the Indian wars, Manzanar . . . Donald Trump would never refer to America as beset by the original sin of racism, as Barack Obama did frequently, and that makes him worse than a conservative. President Trump is a bigot….
That’s what happens when a political leader doesn’t share the guilt, and progressives know it. For decades they have pushed a campaign of guilt in classrooms, museums, movies, books, and newsrooms precisely to forestall those moves. If you can persuade an opponent that he’s wrong about a political issue, you can win the day’s debate. But if you can make him feel guilty about his opinion, you’ve got him on the defensive forever.
Guilt isn’t political, it’s psychological. When you can make someone feel guilty, it’s a powerful temptation, especially among those who already suffer feelings of resentment. When during the course of the campaign Mr. Trump refused to accept any guilt, the frustration and disbelief among the Democrats and the media were obvious. …
Guilt isn’t political, it’s psychological. When you can make someone feel guilty, it’s a powerful temptation, especially among those who already suffer feelings of resentment….
Donald Trump’s success, then, amounts to a calamitous disarmament of the Left. Not his occupation of the White House, but his termination of the game of guilt–for now, at least. Since the election, progressives have only amplified the charges. More and more, the protests look less like political speech and more like tantrums. Yes, but what else could they do? As Freud once said, “hardly anything is harder for a man than to give up a pleasure which he has once experienced.” Until the Left lets go of guilt and begins formulating a political outlook, not a psycho-political one, its steady descent into adolescence will continue.”
The round-up of open tabs on my browser about The Firing are too voluminous to cite, but I got the biggest laugh out of the Colbert faux pas.
And should-be-fatal revelation that the Dems really don’t know what to think until someone tells them.
FreeBeacon report has video.
http://freebeacon.com/culture/colbert-audience-cheers-news-james-comeys-firing/
“Huge story that broke just minutes ago, less than 10 minutes ago. FBI Director James Comey has just been fired by Donald Trump,” Colbert said on his CBS show, as the crowd whooped and applauded.
Colbert chuckled and looked confused, before joking, “Huge, huge Donald Trump fans here tonight.”
Colbert, a fierce critic of Trump, went on to quip that Trump owed Comey a favor for helping him win the presidential election. He then explained why the firing was controversial: Comey was leading an FBI investigation into possible ties between the Russians and Trump’s campaign.
Once Colbert announced Comey’s dismissal came at Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ recommendation, the crowd booed accordingly.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/05/10/nuclear-option-peak-drainage-swamp-thing-comey-deserved-fired/
“Now, of course, Mr. Comey has been sacked and the Democrats are losing their minds. None of them seems to think Mr. Comey should not have been fired. They just think he should have been fired sooner.
Truth is, they really just think he should have been fired by President Hillary Clinton.
Which raises another interesting question. If the Democrats’ only complaint right now is that Mr. Trump did not fire Mr. Comey sooner, then shouldn’t they be mad at former President Barack Obama for not firing Mr. Comey after the election?
Or, even better, before the election?”
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/05/10/exclusive-james-comey-threw-the-reputation-of-the-fbi-under-the-bus-says-bureaus-former-assistant-director/
“The former assistant director of the FBI tells Breitbart News that President Donald Trump fired bureau director James Comey for legitimate reasons.
“He was fired for cause in my view,” James Kallstrom informs Breitbart News. “When the referral came to the bureau close to a year ago, Comey knew at that point, if not soon after, that the Justice Department had no interest in conducting a criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton. They would never approve a grand jury and they would never approve an indictment.”
Kallstrom faults Comey for presiding over a “sham” investigation of Clinton. From granting unnecessary immunity deals to conducting an interview of Clinton not under oath to too slickly issuing a document dump the day after the Fourth of July, the FBI deviated from standard-operating procedure during the investigation of the former secretary of state’s reliance on private servers to send and receive classified material, Kalstrom says.”
Okay, I listed some of them anyway.
Off the usual beat, but concurring in most of the conservative consensus:
http://www.crimeandconsequences.com/crimblog/2017/05/the-comey-firing.html#more
“Third, Comey’s downfall started with his testimony before Congress prior to the election. Comey said that (1) Hillary Clinton should not be indicted, but then (2) condemned her as “extremely careless” with national security information, and laid out what the non-indictment would look like, together with numerous and damning specifics.
Both decisions were serious errors in judgment. It is not the role of investigators to make decisions whether to indict, and still less to announce such decisions publicly. Investigators find the facts and send them to the prosecutor, who then has the sole power and duty to decide whether to seek charges. Comey stepped over a crucial line of authority (and took the heat off Attorney General Lynch, whose job it was to make the prosecute-or-not call on her potential, indeed likely, future boss).
If, however, the chief investigator decides that no indictment is warranted, there are no grounds for his then laying out the factual basis for the charges he finds ought not be lodged. One of the reasons important investigations are generally ex parte and in secret is to protect those against whom it is determined that a case will not be brought. The law does not issue general proclamations about blameworthiness.
It turned out to be all downhill from there. Comey found himself in the dreadful position of seeming to give the advantage to one party or the other as the days counted down to the election.
Fourth, an important fact that’s easy for laymen to overlook is the effect of Comey’s errors on morale inside the FBI. Comey became a polarizing figure, and to an extent a political one, in an agency whose public reputation and effectiveness depend on its long tradition of unity and non-involvement in politics. A divided FBI is not what its Director should be creating, but Comey did.
Fifth, there is a natural question about why President Trump waited until today to act, when the problems with Comey were known months ago. The answer, again, may not be obvious to laymen. The reason, in my view, is that the President needed Rod Rosenstein to be confirmed as Deputy Attorney General, something that did not happen until just a few days ago.
Attorney General Sessions is head of the Justice Department, and therefore quite properly had a role in the decision whether to recommend to the White House that Comey be relieved. But it was better, in terms both of governance and public perception, for someone with new eyes, and prominent for his fair-mindedness, also to be involved in the decision.
Sixth, the complaints about political convenience to President Trump would have been the same if he had fired Comey the afternoon of January 20. The controversy about Russian hacking, which is necessarily caught up with Sec. Clinton’s carelessness with national security information (although surely extending beyond it), long pre-existed inaugeration day.
Last, all-in-all, I regretfully join the conclusion that a fresh start is the better path for the FBI. Comey had become mired in a swamp from which there was no realistic escape. Part of this was his own misjudgment; part was the swamp itself, which the decades-long decline in trust in government has now put in our path.”
And some final clarity from Rushbo:
https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2017/05/10/trump-trolls-hate-filled-democrats-and-i-cant-stop-laughing/
“So they literally believe that the Russians somehow colluded with Trump, even though there’s no evidence for it.
They really believe Trump fired Comey because he might have been getting close, under the assinine belief that firing Comey’s gonna stop the investigation? How many investigations are there? The House has one. The Senate has one. The FBI’s got their own. Do you know who’s running the FBI today? McCabe, a Democrat! His wife ran for the Senate or ran for governor of Virginia. He’s very close to The Punk, Terry McAuliffe. The guy is a hardened Democrat. He’s now running the FBI. He’s in charge of the investigation to get Trump.
Nothing comes to a screeching halt here just because Comey’s been let go. But the hysteria and the panic and the outrage is rooted in raw hate. The Democrats, wherever you find ’em – in the media, think tanks, don’t care where you find ’em – they’re being consumed by it, folks. They’re literally being eaten alive with an irrational, raw hatred literally absorbing them. Nothing good for them can come of this kind of hate and resulting derangement. Nothing good. This is not how you put together winning movements.
This is not how you build or grow anything, this kind of raw, unfettered hate that they now have lost total control over – and Trump is just taunting them. Trump is just feeding it. He’s doing everything he can to drive them even crazier, and they’re falling for it each and every occasion.”
Need a strong organizational guy with integrity the troops respect.
Please dear God, not David Clarke or Christie.
Bill Bratton?
Bring on FBI Director Arpaio!
Trump writes this in his termination letter to Comey. If this statement is false, it would lend credence to idea that Comey’s firing is a coverup.
The WSJ reports that AG Rosenstein “threatened to quit over depiction of his role in Comey dismissal”. If this is true, it would lend credence to idea that Comey’s firing is a coverup.
Yankee:
“Why didn’t Barack Obama know about this?”
GB:
“You can safely bet your bottom dollar that Obama knew…”
No need to bet.
Obama, under an alias, also used that server to communicate with HRC.
Here’s Andrew McCarthy, from Oct. 15, 2016:
“With the president’s knowledge – and involvement – in Hillary’s private e-mail scheme, it’s clear there was never going to be a prosecution.”
And:
“…Obama’s disturbing use of an alias, however, suggests that Clinton was not the only one he was privately e-mailing…”
In:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/441115/hillary-clinton-barack-obamas-e-mails-wikileaks-reveals-john-podestas-concern
Here is another of my OTs, but it is a great analysis of the German worldview:
https://global.handelsblatt.com/opinion/germanys-strategic-frivolousness-763246
Occam’s razor: It’s no secret that Trump is white hot over the Russian probe and anytime he gets angry someone’s fired.
I don’t think he was thinking through the political impact of this as much as he should have. My sense is it’s just going to add fuel to the fire of the Russian probe. So it was a gamble.
The same people in my FB feed who were bleating for Comey’s removal are now wailing over his demise.
I know that many on here believe that there’s a real difference between liberals and leftists, but at some point does it even matter? Useful idiots, indeed.
While I’m real life friends with some liberals, I continue questioning whether they are as morally culpable as the pure leftists are. The old phase “feet planted firmly in mid-air” comes to mind.
As an additional note, Mr. Trump is both smarter and more honest than his critics think he is. That’s why they have a hard time dealing with him, and why they continue to make the wrong assumptions about him.
It was the right thing to do to fire Mr. Comey, and he got himself fired because of what he did, and what he failed to do. Besides the matter of how Hillary Clinton’s secret e-mail server was handled (which was wrong on so many levels), there is also the matter of what surveillance and illegal leaking may have been done to Mr. Trump and his associates.
Was it not just a couple months ago that then-Director Comey pompously declared that only a judge can order a “wiretap”? But since a judge will not do that all on his own, the real question is who made that request in the first place.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/445504/obama-camp-disingenuous-denials-fisa-surveillance-trump
“As an additional note, Mr. Trump is both smarter and more honest than his critics think he is.”
More honest?
He’s one of the most transparently dishonest politicians I’ve ever been exposed to.
It doesn’t matter the issue. For example, the story of why he fired Comey and why now continues to morph – first they pinned it on the assistant AG, who (rightly) pushed back.
You may love Trump because he’s a “fighter”, or he “gets things done” or (as someone upthread said) – he “has no guilt” (sociopath).
But don’t pretend like he’s honest. It’s very important, even if you really like and support him, to understand that the man lies like he breathes air.
It’s very important for Trump to hide his truth behind a bodyguard of lies.
AesopFan @ 12:11 am
Excellent point. Absence of “guilt” is one of the reasons I feel immune to the outrage platform that has become a part of our current culture. I opted out of media manipulation at the time of Hurricane Katrina. I voted for Trump based on my hope that he would appoint conservative jurists and that he was not Hillary Clinton. I have never felt a need to defend or excuse him. I either approve of what he does or I do not–just like when George W. Bush was President. I never understood why liberals didn’t love him, as he enacted policies and supported so many things they uphold. Politics–it’s not everything.
The left’s attitude to the actions by Trump are no more than the right’s reactions to actions by Obama / Clinton. Both sides see conspiracy, crime and treason. Both sides want impeachment. If Hillary had won it is guaranteed the right would be calling for impeachment. Especially if she had fired Comey.
The bottom line is the firing of Comey is interesting and invites speculation unlike the firing of someone else. I don’t know if Trump and his team had anything to do with Russia before the election. But I will say that Trump is most likely unhappy with the distraction of the Russian investigation. Maybe he thought letting Comey go would cut off the investigations? He’s about to find out that is not the case. He added oil to a fire.
Re.
“Sharon W @ May 11th, 2017 at 11:38 am ”
What she said. 👍
With respect to this Russian fiasco, I am reminded of Senator Harkin’s description of the case for impeachment of William J. Clinton; “this is a pile of dung”.
Bill,
You’re making my point about critics with the wrong assumptions, and not being able to see where someone is more honest.
The cited example of Deputy AG Rosenstein and his role in Mr. Comey’s termination: is that something he has actually said in public, on the record, or is it yet another speculative news report from yet another un-named source? Why should we trust what the media has to say?
For the difference between being more honest, and using words to intentionally deceive, then look at the words and actions of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. They are politicians who are willing to lie to advance their interests, or to protect themselves.
Let’s not forget that we would not even be talking about Mr. Comey today if not for a case that originated with real LIES and real WRONG-DOING from Hillary Clinton and others in the Obama administration.
We have to be able to know real deception when it occurs. We can make distinctions between something not being literally true, yet correct in its essential points. We should also be able to recognize a loose manner of speaking, exaggerations, and misstatements, and yet still be able to acknowledge a degree of honesty in someone.
Yankee Says:
May 11th, 2017 at 3:54 pm
Bill,
You’re making my point about critics with the wrong assumptions, and not being able to see where someone is more honest. …
Why should we trust what the media has to say?
We have to be able to know real deception when it occurs. We can make distinctions between something not being literally true, yet correct in its essential points. We should also be able to recognize a loose manner of speaking, exaggerations, and misstatements, and yet still be able to acknowledge a degree of honesty in someone.
* * *
And don’t forget discerning the difference between taking someone seriously but not literally, versus the opposite.
* *
Sharon W Says:
May 11th, 2017 at 11:38 am
I opted out of media manipulation at the time of Hurricane Katrina.
* * *
That was a wake-up call for me also.
Then I really began to watch how often the media invoked double-standards for Republicans and Democrats.
And then I began to observe how much ALL of them flat-out lied on top of the spin, mispeaking, and simple mistakes.
(The Guilt-Free theory was interesting, wasn’t it? I think it’s still operating in Trump’s actions in re Comey.)
Montage Says:
May 11th, 2017 at 1:42 pm
The left’s attitude to the actions by Trump are no more than the right’s reactions to actions by Obama / Clinton. Both sides see conspiracy, crime and treason. Both sides want impeachment. If Hillary had won it is guaranteed the right would be calling for impeachment. Especially if she had fired Comey.
* * *
That opens up lots of interesting “alternate world” scenarios.
However, going with the world we have …
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/05/democratic-situational-ethics-on-comey.php
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/05/a-final-word-about-james-comey.php
AesopFan Says:
You haven’t factored in the Lucifer role on the Left’s strategies of psychological warfare.
If it was just the Left, they wouldn’t be as important or as powerful.
but at some point does it even matter?
Of course it matters. But only to strategists and tacticians.
This is a war not between political bodies of humans, but between divinities that use humans as proxies the way the US used Vietnam and Korea.
So of course it matters where the Leftists sold their soul to in the spiritual warfare realm.
Ymar Sakar Says:
May 12th, 2017 at 9:43 am
AesopFan Says:
You haven’t factored in the Lucifer role on the Left’s strategies of psychological warfare.
If it was just the Left, they wouldn’t be as important or as powerful.
* * *
I know it’s there; I try to keep “secular” blog comments on-topic without going to the religious angle.
Satan’s biggest advantages are that he doesn’t care if anyone gets hurt (on any side, including his own);he gets to use tactics his Opposition is not allowed; he doesn’t really care what the ends or outcomes are so long as people are fighting over them; and he has absolutely no qualms about inconsistency and hypocrisy.
Gee, that does sound familiar, doesn’t it?