Comey
Comey does unto Trump as he did unto Hillary - I’ll Tell You What: Meaty testimony - May, Conservatives count on late surge to carry U.K. vote today - Audible: Troll rating, omega-3 - And she didn’t even know it…
COMEY DOES UNTO TRUMP AS HE DID UNTO HILLARY!
About a year ago, James Comey offered legal reprieve but political punishment for Hillary Clinton. Today, it was Donald Trump’s turn.
Stung by the intentionally humiliating manner of his firing, Comey, whose sense of his own dignity may exceed even his height, today cast long shadows over Trump’s presidency.
Yes, Comey spared Trump an accusation of criminal misconduct, but made plain that the investigation into Trump’s campaign and associates is deep and serious. And, just as he did of Clinton, Comey said Trump did not tell Americans the truth.
Comey even went so far as to let Trump know today that it was because of the way the president had handled the firing – specifically a cryptic tweet about White House tapes – that moved Comey to leak his account of the president’s pressure plays. And the purpose of that leak was to precipitate the special counsel probe that now hangs over Trump's presidency.
It’s a tough spot for Trump’s supporters and Republicans who were under orders to try to crush Comey’s credibility.
They want to tear Comey down, but they also want to do as Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s ablest advocate in the hearing, did and use Comey’s own testimony to cast Trump in the most favorable legal light possible.
If you want Comey’s testimony corroborating Trump’s assertion that he wasn’t the target of a criminal investigation as of a month ago, then you have to also take Comey's word for the rest of his recollections. As the former director himself said today, “you can’t cherry-pick it.”
And just as it was with Democrats in confronting Comey and his investigation into Clinton’s mishandling of state secrets, how Team Trump has handled and will handle this, ahem, “matter,” will have enormous consequences.
While the former FBI director told the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee that it was “not for [him] to say” whether Trump’s leaning on him to lay off former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn or to “lift the cloud” over his administration was an effort to obstruct justice, Comey certainly suggested it could end up being exactly that.
Trump has been absolute and vehement in his denials that neither he nor anyone on his campaign had any inappropriate contact with any Russian operatives. Period.
And if that bears out, or at least it is shown that Trump had no knowledge of any wrongdoing, then the president can rightly be said to have been only clumsy or overeager in efforts to clear his name. But if Trump knew of any wrongdoing, Nellie bar the door.
As Comey warned, “when you start turning over rocks” in an investigation, you sometimes find criminal conduct far beyond the initial probe.
The one turning rocks now is Comey’s friend and predecessor, Robert Mueller. And that is so, as Comey went to pains to demonstrate today, because of the way Trump dealt with Comey before, during and after his firing. Now we wait to see how Trump & Co. deal with today’s slap in the face. Can the president control himself or will there be further reprisals against investigators or the Justice Department?
Trump wanted Comey to lift “the cloud” from his administration so the president could advance his agenda. But no sane person in Congress of either party listening to Comey today could conclude that this storm front is anywhere close to passing.
Like his 2016 opponent learned when she and then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch tried to control Comey, Trump now knows well that the former G-Man understands how to inflict political pain.
THE RULEBOOK: LEAVE IT TO THE EXPERTS
“The danger of disturbing the public tranquility by interesting too strongly the public passions, is a still more serious objection against a frequent reference of constitutional questions to the decision of the whole society.” – Alexander Hamilton or James Madison, Federalist No. 49
Comey does unto Trump as he did unto Hillary - I’ll Tell You What: Meaty testimony - May, Conservatives count on late surge to carry U.K. vote today - Audible: Troll rating, omega-3 - And she didn’t even know it…
COMEY DOES UNTO TRUMP AS HE DID UNTO HILLARY!
About a year ago, James Comey offered legal reprieve but political punishment for Hillary Clinton. Today, it was Donald Trump’s turn.
Stung by the intentionally humiliating manner of his firing, Comey, whose sense of his own dignity may exceed even his height, today cast long shadows over Trump’s presidency.
Yes, Comey spared Trump an accusation of criminal misconduct, but made plain that the investigation into Trump’s campaign and associates is deep and serious. And, just as he did of Clinton, Comey said Trump did not tell Americans the truth.
Comey even went so far as to let Trump know today that it was because of the way the president had handled the firing – specifically a cryptic tweet about White House tapes – that moved Comey to leak his account of the president’s pressure plays. And the purpose of that leak was to precipitate the special counsel probe that now hangs over Trump's presidency.
It’s a tough spot for Trump’s supporters and Republicans who were under orders to try to crush Comey’s credibility.
They want to tear Comey down, but they also want to do as Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s ablest advocate in the hearing, did and use Comey’s own testimony to cast Trump in the most favorable legal light possible.
If you want Comey’s testimony corroborating Trump’s assertion that he wasn’t the target of a criminal investigation as of a month ago, then you have to also take Comey's word for the rest of his recollections. As the former director himself said today, “you can’t cherry-pick it.”
And just as it was with Democrats in confronting Comey and his investigation into Clinton’s mishandling of state secrets, how Team Trump has handled and will handle this, ahem, “matter,” will have enormous consequences.
While the former FBI director told the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee that it was “not for [him] to say” whether Trump’s leaning on him to lay off former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn or to “lift the cloud” over his administration was an effort to obstruct justice, Comey certainly suggested it could end up being exactly that.
Trump has been absolute and vehement in his denials that neither he nor anyone on his campaign had any inappropriate contact with any Russian operatives. Period.
And if that bears out, or at least it is shown that Trump had no knowledge of any wrongdoing, then the president can rightly be said to have been only clumsy or overeager in efforts to clear his name. But if Trump knew of any wrongdoing, Nellie bar the door.
As Comey warned, “when you start turning over rocks” in an investigation, you sometimes find criminal conduct far beyond the initial probe.
The one turning rocks now is Comey’s friend and predecessor, Robert Mueller. And that is so, as Comey went to pains to demonstrate today, because of the way Trump dealt with Comey before, during and after his firing. Now we wait to see how Trump & Co. deal with today’s slap in the face. Can the president control himself or will there be further reprisals against investigators or the Justice Department?
Trump wanted Comey to lift “the cloud” from his administration so the president could advance his agenda. But no sane person in Congress of either party listening to Comey today could conclude that this storm front is anywhere close to passing.
Like his 2016 opponent learned when she and then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch tried to control Comey, Trump now knows well that the former G-Man understands how to inflict political pain.
THE RULEBOOK: LEAVE IT TO THE EXPERTS
“The danger of disturbing the public tranquility by interesting too strongly the public passions, is a still more serious objection against a frequent reference of constitutional questions to the decision of the whole society.” – Alexander Hamilton or James Madison, Federalist No. 49
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