I stayed up past my bedtime to watch the James Comey interview on 20/20. I ended up turning it off after 30 minutes because if I didn’t, I was going to spend half the night tossing and turning and having imaginary arguments with Comey. As everyone knows by now, James Comey wrote a book, A Higher Loyalty, about his life, his time as FBI Director under President Obama, his decision-making during the 2016 election, and how Trump fired him in 2017. Some of what he discussed in the 20/20 interview was already being excerpted from his book: the Pee Tape stuff, how he believes that Donald Trump has already committed obstruction of justice several times over, how Trump behaves like a mob boss, how stupid Trump is in general.
You can read the entire transcript of the interview here at ABC News. One of the big headlines coming out of the interview is that Comey says that he believes Trump is “morally unfit” to be president. Comey shrugged off the conversation about whether Trump is medically/intellectually unfit to be president, saying:
“He strikes me as a person of above average intelligence who’s tracking conversations and knows what’s going on. I don’t think he is medically unfit to be president – I think he’s morally unfit to be president.”
“A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they’re pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it, that person’s not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds. And that’s not a policy statement. I don’t care what your views are on guns, or immigration, or taxes,” Comey said, insisting it’s far more important that “Our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of this country. The most important being ‘truth’. This president is not able to do that. He is morally unfit to be president.”
All of which is fine – I mean, at this point, who is shocked by someone in Comey’s position saying this? All of us have been saying this the entire f–king time. Donald Trump is a pervert, a predator, a white supremacist, a racist, a nativist, a jingoist, and an immoral piece of sh-t.
…But you know what I came away with as Comey equivocated and bullsh-tted his way through the conversations about why he did what he did regarding the Hillary Clinton investigation? I came away with this: James Comey deserved to be fired as FBI Director. He didn’t deserve to be fired for the reasons Trump gave – Comey’s handling of the Russia probe, etc – but Comey absolutely deserved to be out of a job for his poor decision-making skills, for placating the fringe, conspiracist elements in his party (he’s a Republican).
Comey was so terrified that Republican leaders – specifically, Republican leaders, Republican FBI agents and conservative media figures – were going to criticize him or question him that he replaced his own twisted pretzel-logic for what was truly appropriate per FBI guidelines and long-established norms. He’s still arguing that he did what he did in 2016 because he wanted to protect the sanctity of the FBI long-term. He “protected” the sanctity of the FBI by failing to shut down or challenge the leaks coming out of “Trumplandia” – the hardcore Clinton-hating New York FBI field office. He “protected” the sanctity of the FBI by failing to use FBI resources to adequately investigate the true threat to the republic in real time: Donald Trump, the Russian interference in the election, and how those two things correlated.
Nate Silver had some interesting takes on the Comey interview – go here to read Silver’s tweets. Seth Abramson also had a fascinating thread about what Comey knew and when regarding the timeline of Comey’s “October Surprise” announcement. Comey is due to give more interviews this week, including a sit-down with Rachel Maddow. I fully expect Maddow to probe Comey a lot harder on these issues.
Photos/screencaps courtesy of ABC News.
He didn’t say anything that someone with a Thinking Brain didn’t know. But the American People have allowed this Thing to represent our Country. This is a stain on us that will take a very long time if ever to wash away.
One thing he said that kind of ties in with your “American people have allowed this” comment was that he hopes Trump isn’t impeached. He said he felt the American people needed to own this and use their voices at the ballot box to repudiate Trump and that basically, impeachment would be the easy way out for us. I can’t say that I disagree.
I can’t decide.
A solid trouncing in an election would be great, and I get the idea that the voters have to own this and fix it. And then he can’t cry conspiracy and play the martyr forever.
But…I want him gone ASAP, and he deserves impeachment and indictments.
.
He isn’t saying anything everyone doesn’t already think but it is pretty clear that Comey is bitter and has an axe to grind. Next week we will of have forgotten this and we will be on to the next gross thing.
What does everyone think? I generally have a problem with saying something like “All of us have been saying this the entire f–king time” which is not true, because really, if that was everyone, the orange one would not have been President in the first place. So while I think that all the Trump supporters will just discredit anyone who dares to say anything bad about the Donald, I also hold out hope that at least Republicans like Comey who can take a stand agianst this lunatic in the WH may help turn the party around and force them to try and formulate the possition and form an alternative for conservatives in America rather that leaving them the only option of thiking onlybthis lunatic somehow will protect their values and their ideals. There should be a way to be a conservative without having to identify with someone who harrases women or treat a state like your own business.
Precisely, SM. The issue is that the GOP had drifted so far from conservatism that I don’t even think people know what the word means any longer. Conservatism isn’t religious. It isn’t tax cuts for the rich. It isn’t isolationism. And I say this as someone who would have identified as a Republican up until about 2012. I voted for Bill Clinton twice and never voted for Obama. In 2016, I voted for 1 Republican, and I have regretted that vote. A mistake I won’t make again.
Yeah all GOP members and most of the TV press still are not comfortable straight out calling Trump a liar. The use other words but never the words “lie” or “liar”. I mean the journalists at CNN are still having the vapors that Comey called Trump a liar and compared him (truthfully) to the mobsters that he himself investigated as part of his job. They consider it petty and that Comey should be above using such words. Yet Emporer babyfists can get on twitter and insult anyone he wants including calling a female senator a prostitute.
Comey is flawed but no, the GOP, the Democrats and the press still pull back their punches. I’m glad to see someone with receipts finally go on TV and call Trump out in clear language. This is why the GOP have dedicated an entire website to discrediting him, the reason FOX is going 24/7 on attacking Comey and the President spending his weekend on Twitter as well as letting the military push him into the attack on Syria. This is HUGE.
Wasn’t our election tampered with, though?
True, Mr. Comey. Too bad you singlehandedly threw the election his way. No pity for you, and I don’t care to listen to anything you have to say now.
I’m not watching his “Golly, I’m a moral compass” interviews, either.
He’s probably not a horrible person, but he did make some bad decisions that had serious consequences. Not sure he’s fully owning that.
Did he really throw the election though? Did anyone not know who they were voting for at that point?
I’m sorry, I just truly think he’s been somewhat scapegoated in that regard. All it did was further entrench the already decided,
Her freaking emails had been in the news so much, so long and I believe everyone had an opinion about it at that point they weren’t going to change. I think it more probable that people who never really had the cajones to admit they were voting for trump up to that point used it to publicly justify their decision at the end….but they were always going to vote for trump anyway,
Clearly a LOT of people weren’t willing to answer their voting intentions truthfully (and really they don’t have to, but then just don’t participate in the polls).
There are alot of people here in Florida who supported Trump.I can’t speak for the rest of the country ,but these people were never going to Hillary.They just used the emails to try and justify a nit witted decision.
I agree Laura! I just don’t know anyone who was legitimately uncommitted to their vote at that point and find it improbable that yet another round of email hell changed anyone’s vote away from HRC by then,
Most people were firmly in a NeverHRC or NeverDJT no matter about the emails, the pu$$y grab or anything else.
And plenty of folks were in a NEVER either of them camp too.
Blaming Comey is pretty lame. There were many many factors in HRCs loss and JC is among the least impactful on the list.
Nate Silver identified a 2 pt (I believe) swing that directly coincided with Comey’s announcement. Clearly she had other negatives, and it was complex, but Silver believes it had determinative consequences.
@tracking……as I said, they were likely voting for him regardless but we’re embarresed about it and hadn’t admitted it yet. It simply gave them false cover for coming out of the dark.
Like roaches, 👀
He did not single handedly throw the election. One thing that is forgotten was that there were rogue pro DT FBI agents in NY who was working with Rudy G to leak the email story. Comey tried to get ahead of the curve by making an announcement. Whether that was a good idea or not is debatable. The man was caught between a rock and hard place. Who was Rudy G working with? Are those NY agents still with the bureau? Why isn’t anyone unmasking them?
If we want to nitpick, I blame Weiner for this gross behavior. Seriously can’t keep it in your pants?
Por que no los dos? Trump is clearly both morally AND mentally unfit. The sundowning moron boasted about how smart he was for correctly identifying three animals FFS! And financially unfit, given that both Russia and China have a s*** ton of leverage over him.
I don’t blame Comey so much. He HAD to be seen to be reopening the Butterymales investigation because Jason Chaffetz was kicking up such a stink and it’s not his fault that Mitch McConnell refused to agree to appropriate action being taken to prevent Putin’s meddling.
Chaffetz played a huge role in the October bit and has been allowed to slink away unscathed.
And Nunes. I don’t know why he’s allowed to oversee any investigations considering that he was part of the transition team and it behooves him to make sure that there is no finding of impropriety against Trump or his team.
Maybe he has done so, but JC could use this media tour to talk about those other players (including the NYC ghoul) that seem to be hiding in the shadows now.
Christin – if Comey doesn’t talk about Nunes and Chaffetz and the rogue FBI in NY colluding with Giuliani, I would assume it’s because of ongoing investigations. At the time, I think they didn’t know which agents were involved and they had already done their damage anyway by passing info along to Giuliani. But they might have identified them since then.
Comey is undoubtedly not free to talk about a lot of things. He can talk about his conversations with Trump, obviously. I think he finds the discussion of the “pee tape” uncomfortable but Trump focused on it so much himself in those conversations that it would be wrong not to include it. So I don’t think that’s just to sell books. Plus every interview is going to ask questions about it, since it’s a simpler topic than obstruction of justice and inappropriate contacts between the White House and the FBI, which I’m sure are more important topics to Comey himself.
If Trump hadn’t fired him, he’d be saying nothing. I’m not here for these dudes that speak out only cause Trump turned on them.
Comey could not speak out while Director of the FBI. He can now only because the Orange Maroon fired him and he is a private citizen.
Notice that Trump is being blasted by people who are either fired or retired. They can’t do it while on the job, assuming they want to keep their job (which anybody would want to do, especially if trying to quietly hold back the attacks on our country from Tweeter).
Of course. But if these people dislike Trump so much, why take the job to start with? Or keep it until fired? Comey could’ve jumped ship if he thought Trump was so bad. He didn’t. Granted he was fired near the start of Trump’s term, but he was keeping memos knowing Trump was dishonest and immoral. Why keep that job?
Rapunzel – people often try to keep such jobs because 1) they don’t want to be replaced by someone more to Trump’s liking who will not resist and 2) there are other aspects of the job that they feel they can still do properly. There is more to the work of the FBI than having to endure Trumpian conversations occasionally.
At some point, people sometimes decide they can no longer be effective in stemming the orange tide and will be fired anyway for refusing to do yet another dumb thing. Then they may resign before being fired, but they also may stick it out until the Orange Maroon fires them.
The dilemma of do I stay or do I go as the best moral choice occurs in other contexts as well. Physicists have discussed this for years especially in light of the Manhattan Project, when many participants actually stupidly thought that the atomic bomb was too terrible to be used by the politicians and military. They began to realize their mistake too late. Their German counterparts deliberately stalled their own project, being more aware that if the weapon exists, someone is going to want to use it. Back in the 80s and 90s, physicists and other scientists made very different decisions with the same moral concerns: one university professor refused to teach physics majors because half of them would end up working on weapons projects; another scientist decided to stay within the belly of the beast in a national lab on military contracts, in hopes of being a voice for moderation; one in a high position at a research institute resigned rather than work on WMD projects such as that he felt were destabilizing as well as pointless; the leading computer expert on an SDI (“Star Wars”) committee quit because they wanted a million-line computer program to work right the first time without any ability to actually test it as a whole, and of course because the whole idea was pointless.
But the fact is that many people do decide to stay in bad situations with horrible bosses because they feel the situation would be much worse without them and their work is important. This is especially true for high government jobs. We’re really seeing that now in Trump’s White House. He is getting rid of everybody who will stand up to him and who will tell him that he can’t or shouldn’t do that. So Trump is getting more and more unhinged and frankly, more and more dangerous to us all.
@ Rapunzel those that were fired (McCabe, Comey etc) swore an oath to protect the constitution. They take that oath seriously. So would we rather have them quit in a snit and have Orange $hitstain hire a facsimile Pruitt instead?
JWoolman I agree with your assessment for the most part. There probably were German scientists that attempted to thwart the development o f the bomb. However, there were many that were rabid Hitler supporters that worked to get the bomb as quickly as possible. A little-known fact is that they discovered that they needed a substance called heavy water to make it happen, and the only place they could get it was from a plant in Norway where it was produced. It was actually Norwegian resistance fighters that sabotaged the supply of heavy water, repeatedly, that stopped Germany from developing the bomb before America did. There is a great book about called the Winter Fortress and it is a great read if you are a WWII enthusiast.
Comey is bought and paid for.
People will fixate on him and his book, which is a last bit of money grab while the burger goblin takes us into hell.
And the alternative, staying silent about it all, is better? Just because someone can make money with a book is a peculiar reason for it not to be written.
Books are written (and promoted in interviews) because someone has something to say that will be of interest to others. Comey’s book includes not only a detailed account of his infamous interactions with The Donald, but also his own personal reactions and thoughts based on a lifetime in law enforcement, including prosecution of the mob. How exactly is that not a useful contribution to our understanding of the current national nightmare?
By all accounts, Comey is a thorough and meticulous reporter of events and an honest man. The truth is important to him. Rather than turning off the tv in a rage because Hillary didn’t win and you prefer to blame Comey doing his damn job rather than the Republicans complicit with a hostile foreign power and all the lies and disinformation campaigns and smear campaigns aimed at Hillary, I would suggest listening to all the people like Comey who have first-hand experience in government and with the Trumpster and can help sort out what happened and why and confirm how abnormal it all is. They might be able to reach people who ignore my constant “This is not normal” pleadings. Regardless, it’s an important part of the historical record if The Donald doesn’t kill us all.
Excellently started. And wise too.
I believe that Comey is honest, truthful and credible. It’s refreshing. He’s just not honest with himself. And suffers from hubris. “Towering” is the word that comes to mind.
How was Comey’s decision to publicize the investigation into HRC’s e-mails but not the concurrent investigation into Trump “doing his damn job”? He had a moral imperative to announce one investigation but not the other? Riiight.
Jwoolman, I applaud you.
What people don’t seem to get is that the FBI can’t just announce all the people and cases they are looking into. A lot of them are done in secret. The HRC thing was reopened because Comey is trying to get ahead of the narrative. He knew the NY FBI pro DT faction was getting ready to spill on the email debacle.
There were many factors as to why HRC lost: some people flat out didn’t go and vote because they hated both candidates (what a theory!); Anthony Weiner couldnt’ keep his junk in his trousers (which was why laptop was confiscated in the first place); his wife for not getting rid of him sooner etc etc. Blaming Comey as the sole source of why HRC lost is frankly just a pat answer. It was more than that.
Comey brought us Mueller. That is the one good thing.
Comey doesn’t need the money from a “book grab”. He is a multi-millionaire from his days at Bridgewater (a hedge fund).
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2018/01/fascinating-stuff-that-wont-be-in-former-fbi-director-james-comeys-book/
Man, Nate Silver’s tweets are spot on.
I hope Maddow does goes in on him harder- the press cannot be seen as soft balling to him now that he’s saying mean (though accurate) things about 45.
I appreciate the revelations, none of which surprises me and most of which should have been plainly obvious to Comey , but the self righteousness with which he delivers them is stomach churning. He made a disastrous mistake for which he is unwilling to take responsibility and and still tries to shroud himself in some glowy moral cloak – he can get f*cked.
So much more went into her loss than just his poorly timed “re-investigation”of her emails, but he is no hero.
I completely agree his self righteousness is stomach churning, exactly the right words.
He didn’t throw the election alone..hello, Huma A? ..your emails on scumbag hubby’s laptop restarted the whole thing..
I did take some solace in learning Comey’s wife and daughter were among the anti-trump marchers..hopefully they’ve given him grief since…
IMO, there were so many things and so many people that throw this election to the Dotard. IMO, Comey should never have said anything about reopening the investigation only to close it, big mistake. The dotard was working with Russia against her and lying about Hillary every day say calling her crooked H it was relentless, saying if he did not win the election was rigged. He begging Russia to release her emails, on TV. The Russian meeting at TT, 45 tower was another thing working against her. Hillary took a few states for granted by not visiting, lost those 70;000 votes. I read that Chavez’s was giving her hell, ect. Hillary won the popular vote by about 3,000,000. I would vote for her today but there were so many errors and UNDERHAND crooks against her. In other words, Comey played a big part but not the entire reason for her loss.
Sorry you were complicit in this admin so I give zero f*cks about how you feel about it. You owe us an apology for the summer of 2016.
I know that Comey has spent his professional life in service to the country, so I thank him for that. I’m also pretty sure that without his grandstanding we wouldn’t be enduring the idiot in the WH. Sorry, Mr. Comey, but your helping Trump win is unforgivable. The orange idiot is tearing down the WH, and flushing dignity, intelligence, and patriotism into the sewer. I have wondered how much the fact that Comey’s wife was a huge Trump supporter influenced his actions. So thanks for that Mrs. Comey. You,your husband, are just as blame-worthy as the Russians for saddling us all with The Big Fool With Tiny Hands.,
Comey’s wife and daughters were Clinton supporters.
Mea culpa. I don’t know how I got that wrong. In that case I hope she gave him hell for his self-important announcement about HRC 10 days before the election.
Where did you hear that? Because one of his daughters had some op ad in the school newspaper criticizing both Hillary and Trump. She sounded like a Republican.
They are Clinton supporters. It was noted in the ABC broadcast. THey even interviewed Mrs. Comey.
He is so self-righteous and he has no goddamn reason to be. Outside of his inability to shut his mouth about emails (something we know he is able to do, given that he did it so well for the Russia/Trump investigation), he also has a history of anti-black policies at the FBI, with the surveillance of BLM activists. And then, he has the audacity to quote MLK on his Twitter feed. Sit you a** down, Jamie.
Well thank you Captain Obvious!! Now go back to your hole and finish your penance for that stupid email debacle that brought us to the brink of hell.
Whatever Comey. When history records Trump’s reign of terror Robert Mueller will be remembered as one of the heroes. Waiting for Michael Cohen’s time in the barrel in court today.
Today’s appearance should be interesting. He was apparently too busy to accompany his legal team Friday. Sunning on the sidewalk with buddies was just too tempting, I guess.
Sunning with mobsters, a scene straight out of The Godfather.
I get a weird vibe from this man. He just comes across as trying too hard to be “ all honest and strong morals” FBI guy. The one who did what he did for the good of the country and his fellow Americans. If is almost like he is preparing himself for a run at public office and wants to show people that he wants the best for the country.
He has an agenda that is certain
Why do I see Comey’s role as a no win in this bizarre, horrendous election? I first blame the Repubicans who allowed 45 to debase everything and everyone while cozying up to Putin on the campaign trail. I also blame the press who were salivating the entire time and were so gleeful that it had so many outrageous stories.
Also, Hillary was far from perfect with a complex history, but probably the most qualified person to run for president ever. Then factor in people who were complacent enough to stay away from the polls.
Comey isn’t the only person to blame for this mess. I believe he would have had a mess no matter what because the entire scenario was horrendous.
IJ, I totally agree with you. I also forget to mention Bernie and the part he and his followers played played in this mess, I also believe Comey, I believe he was truthful last night. He had some conflicts that he’s wrestling if he did the right thing on some of his decisions, but he’s a truthful person imo.
Yes, the Bernie factor was huge!
Bernie and Jill Stein! I read somewhere the RUssians used them to split the HRC vote. Not sure if those clowns were working lockstep with RUssia but Jill did go to Russia.
I also agree, It was a no-win situation.
Having said that, Comey’s continued comments regarding Cheeto’s appearance disturbed me. I get that as someone trained to observe, he’d assess Cheeto’s hair, skin tone, etc., but to me, it came off a bit catty — it wasn’t relevant to the greater issues at hand.
Comey struck me as someone trying to figure out what was the right thing to do for the country, while upholding the Rule of Law. I couldn’t help but wonder if Mueller would have struggled like Comey did, had he (Mueller) still been heading the FBI. I think not.
Punkymomma – his description of Trump’s appearance didn’t seem odd or mean to me. It would be very odd to write a book about such personal interactions with someone and avoid mentioning anything about their appearance when seen up close. I don’t think I’ve read a book or article of that sort that doesn’t. If Comey’s first draft did not include any such details, I would expect an editor to ask him to put some in. 50 years from now, when aliens are sifting through rubble left by the species-annihilating world wars on Earth and come upon a copy of Comey’s book, they might not have any photos of Trump for reference…
But seriously, such description is normal and considered necessary to personalize it, to help the reader visualize the scene. A friend who wrote a novel said she was told by the editor to add sex scenes even though that really wasn’t a focus of book, which was more in the historical fiction category dealing with political upheaval. (And yes, she did.) Authors don’t operate in a vacuum, they work with editors.
I think the descriptors are without context. The media have to make everything shocking/clickbait; there’s been a massive piling on. Until we read the book, it’s best to reserve judgment.
JW, I agree with your take on Comey’s description of 46’s appearance. That description was an editor’s advice (or requirement) for telling a compelling story, which in this case includes 45’s bizarre appearance as he criticizes others for height, facial features or disabilities.
I didn’t think it was odd. Most likely a byproduct of his profession. Law enforcement is trained to make note of a person’s appearance (any distinct features etc).
Well, the case could be made that Comey’s observations of Trump’s physical appearance are TAME compared to what Trump says about his enemies, including all these women who have come forward about him!
The media holds the biggest part of the blame, IMO, by hyperfocusing on Hillary’s background while failing to investigate the legitimate corruption in Trump’s own history. By giving him a platform to begin with they forced us to take him seriously as a candidate; then they failed to actually treat him like a serious candidate the way they did Hillary.
I think Comey was in a rock and a hard place. Had the leaks come out about her emails after the fact, it would have weakened people’s faith in the FBI and fed right into Trump’s platform of paranoia and conspiracy against him. Comey is exactly right about how dangerous Trump is because he’s just smart enough to know how to manipulate people.
I agree. Coney was totally damned if he did or didn’t.
But for politics, it’s clear.
I wanted Hillary bad, I voted for her, I am horrified by Trump daily.
But if I’d been in Comey’s position I too would have been sickeningly conflicted.
Comey’s timing was bad but in a twisted way I believe what he says. I also think in a twisted way he was trying to clear a path for Clinton.
While I do enjoy watching and reading about what I have dubbed The Trump Files unfold, I don’t think I could have stomached watching Clinton and the congress go back and forth over supposed uranium deals, e-mails, illegal servers or children being sex-trafficked from a pizza joint (not that that doesn’t happen). I’m not saying this because I’m some big fan of Hilary Clinton but as someone who is: (a) old enough to have watched and remembered Clinton 1.0 drama and how both she and her husband have been dragged and attacked ever since they came to D.C, (b) tired of a hyperpartison, do-nothing Congress that sales itself to the highest bidder, and (c) pissed that for the last 16 years (Bush II – 8 and Obama 8) and now what looks to be 20 years (Trump 4) Americans will be held hostage once again either via nonstop war (or whatever it’s being called) in the Middle East, stalled domestic policies or simply because we had a supposed black Kenyan Marxist Muslim masquerading himself as an intelligent, articulate black man who might just support moderate and middle of the road policies or jurists (see Garland) in the White House. I’m tired of all of that. 20 years of nothing but theft by the 1% and ceaseless warmongering. With this Congress, Clinton would have been called in every single day in an attempt to humiliate and publicly shame—be it fair, foul or simply political porn. SMH.
I think I lost the thread somewhere and probably edged into a rant. Anyway, while I don’t think Comey was selfless in this I can believe he was trying to get ahead of some things as well as to clear the ground for Clinton (in some ways).
But here is the real question: has he ever worked as an undercover agent? Cause I want to know how does a man who stands at 6’8 go undercover. That’s it. That’s all.
Peace.
It’s so weird. I have met this dude and liked him as a person before but I cannot forgive what he did to turn the election and am now very, very mad. Our country will never be the same because of what he did.
There are more things in play than him. If you take all of it in, he is only a part of the puzzle. Calling RUdy G and rogue NY FBI agents.
It didn’t take this shill long to whip up a book and get it published. His commitment to the community is commendable.
Trying to paint him as a shill seems like a good way to deflect from what he is actually saying. Rev up the non-Trumpians as well as the Trumpians so they refuse to listen to his interviews or read his book. It’s a blocking tactic.
So I would suggest you look carefully at where exactly this view of Comey is being promoted. What is the source?
People who know Comey, even if they disagree with his decisions, are quite convinced that he is not a shill and that he is honest, what you see is what you get. I’m puzzled by the reactions to him as self-righteous, petty, angling for political office, etc. I really don’t get any feelings like that from him based on Congressional testimony and interviews. I see a man trying to tell the truth and very attentive to detail. I see someone trying to sort out his own thinking about complex situations.
Why is it so hard to believe that some people are motivated by a strong sense of duty and dedication to truth? Are we really that corrupted that we can’t even recognize integrity any more? Is Mueller not being equally blasted only because he hasn’t opened his mouth yet? Will he be condemned also once it becomes apparent that he can’t please everybody and has constraints on what he is actually able to do?
@jwoolman
Sadly, society *is* that corrupted.
This week will be a nice distraction with Comey on the White House of Horrors World Tour.
Avenatti claims none other than Stormy Daniels will make a guest appearance at Michael Cohen’s court date today.
Check out EPIC troller Avenatti’s Twitter. He brings the snark like a few “sass award” winners here on CB.
Enjoy!
I’ve been checking his feed for weeks now. He is sharp as a tack.
Stormy and her lawyer are two people Zero will not cross, so that alone is interesting.
I love Avenatti. Some people think he’s a showboat, grating, etc. I don’t care, I love that he is probably driving Trump crazy.
Drumpf has met his match. Only much, much smarter.
I love watching Avenatti. He’s so hot, sexy, and smart and is making the Trump disaster enjoyable to watch. Good thing that Trump doesn’t have an intelligent lawyer like that
Avenatti is the definite winner in his battle of the wits against an unarmed Cohen.
He’s great!
He’s a very flaw human being (as most of us are) but I found him to appear honest. Some of his answers were too maddening not to be honest. George S didn’t ask enough of the needed really tough questions.
Here’s something I don’t understand. I’ve heard repeatedly about Comey being a republican but he said last night he didn’t vote as he didn’t want to appear biased. (“I’m the director of the FBI. I’m trying to be outside of politics so intentionally tried not to follow it a lot.”). FYI many legit political reporters also don’t vote for the same reason I understand.). So …..?? If you don’t vote ….how can he be a republican? Or was it just THIS election he didn’t vote in?
Just fyi, it’s been reported that Stephanolpolous interviewed Comey for 5 hours, so 4 hours of it are on a disc.
Comey is a capital R rebublican, and this issue of whether he votes, or for whom, is immaterial (except to Emperor Zero and the MAGAts/bots).
If GS has 4 more hours …then we got the best of the interview ….so it’s unlikely he asked any more tough questions than the few we saw. He’s got the first interview and the first shot. If he has better Q&As left in his pocket, why keep it there given JC is hitting the interview trail and others now get their turn to ask the questions they want.
As far as JC, I think we are parsing language here and it’s a matter of,opinion. Does Having conservative opinions make you a republican or does voting make you a republican? It’s a chicken / egg discussion in all likelihood and NOT a factual, definitive one.
When you register to vote (in all elections, not just Presidential), many states ask you to declare a Party. My state requires it if you want to vote in the primaries for a particular Party. My previous state did not, you could choose a primary ballot at the time of voting and I was able to register as an Independent. Registering as a Democrat or Republican does not obligate you to vote for that Party.
That’s how Comey got tagged as a Republican, when he registered to vote. It doesn’t mean that he is at all active in the Party and it doesn’t mean he has always voted for Republicans. His wife is probably a registered Democrat, she and his daughters were supporting Clinton. It’s a very minor thing to many people.
People can switch their Party affiliation any time at the Registrar’s office. Trump and his adult children used to be registered Democrats, and his kids still were when daddy was running in the primaries.
I think refusing to vote to avoid the appearance of bias is pretty stupid, though. We have a secret ballot. Public record only says you voted, it doesn’t reveal the people you actually voted for. The sky won’t fall if you vote for the other Party in some offices when you are registered to one Party. I’ve split my ballot many times. A better solution might be to simply switch your registration to independent or undeclared to avoid people like folks here from assuming you must be in bed with Republicans because of your voter registration. Of course, actually Comey is in bed with a Democrat (his wife!).
LOL @ your last sentence! Good points.
I agree that not voting to avoid appearance of bias is illogical. I spent a long career where my role was to often arbitrate between people, policies, laws, right and wrong,
Sometimes I disliked the people, the policies and the laws — but I still did my job regardless.
I believe a political reporter —and a FBI director — can have political opinions and leanings, vote and still be unbiased in how they do their jobs, And clearly NOT voting doesn’t guarantee unbiased job performance in them either.
Okay all of that makes sense, except Comey is a resident of Va. and in Va. you don’t register by party at all. If you wish to vote in a primary you select that ballot at the time, so you don’t vote in both. You can switch party from election to election too. I spent all my time as a voter in Va. not registered under any affiliation, and I didn’t vote in the primaries at the time. If he is registered as a Republican in VA., which from the slight google search I did he is and has been since college, then this means he went out of his way to register as a Republican. You have to fill out something from the party directly it’s not as simple as filling out the voter registration card. Most people who aren’t politically active in VA, which is probably the majority of Va. don’t register with the party at all.
He didn’t just get tagged as a Republican. He is a Republican.
I don’t care what party he is, or whether he voted for that matter. It’s irrelevant.
Actually I agree….it is irrelevant. I’m just tired of hearing it bantered about when he’s discussed when it is largely immaterial. The likely root of my post is “why does it matter” the man didn’t even vote …..
It doesn’t matter because of the Hatch Act. Federal employees have to be impartial and they do not publicly endorse a candidate or party. I don’t know why this is a big deal but I guess we can thank orange $hitstain and his conspiracies for that.
Comey is definitely one of the FBI guys that would have laughed at and hated Mulder (the only lends through which I have to understand the inner workings of the FBI) . Trying way to hard to be a self righteous rule follower with absolutely no nuance.
Comey is saying the Trumpkin is unqualified for the presidency. He is advocating for the value of honesty in public life and politics. He is raising the issue of moral standards and ethics in society. So he sounds more like a theology professor than a prosecutor, but if it helps get rid of Trump’s corrupt administration, then I am supportive of his efforts.
I don’t mind that his thesis is about morality. That’s a facet that’s been missing from the conversation for a very long time. It’s nice to see it front and centre for a bit.
Same here. The amount of lying that Trump does is epic.
Comey is like a unicorn- he knows nothing about human nature.
Thank you for this article, Kaiser. Im Australian, and there is so much for me to learn about American politics, so I really appreciate getting to read grass-roots articles. Sure, we get your “big” news, and we have a great TV program (done by two Aussies) called Planet America, where they cover all the week’s political news, but getting these day-to-day reports is very helpful.
His big mistake was how he told America the truth. I dont think he can be compared to Trump and his lying friends and the WH.
I don’t really have a problem with Comey. To say he threw the election is ridiculous. There are so many factors that impacted that election and to blame him is misguided. Think about all the people who couldn’t be bothered to vote. Think about how the Electoral College works……and the list goes on and on.
Is nobody ever going to call him out on his anti black stance and using the FBI to target black activists? I guess morals and ethics only apply to some citizens.
He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t release the info on the email. If he didn’t and it came up after she won, the right has the discrediting goggles they need to continue their path of blind obstruction and constant investigations to parade on Fox News. 8 more years of screeching and govt. gridlock.
Now, we sit back and watch what happens when a party who did nothing but obstruct for the past almost decade is given complete control of the government to lead as they see fit and make things ‘great’ again. They can really show us what a mess things have been, and they can fix it.
spoiler: they had no plans. they had no effective legislation. they are retiring in droves to avoid this political train wreck. Nobody has locked Hilary up, or even found anything to charge her with. Obamacare isn’t repealed, though it’s gutted. There’s no wall. The GOP is broken, and DFT was the proverbial straw. He golfs while others are frantically trying to polish the brass on the Titanic.
Nailed it. +1,000 to everything you said.
The WH is probably glad that JC’s interviews are distracting from a Stormy situation in NY right now. Third client of the “lawyer” just revealed as a certain Faux News talking head.
The money trail is the real story. And I think we’re closer to unraveling the many shady dealings every day.
😀