If you couldn’t tell from the increasing hysteria from the cable news media, former FBI Director James Comey is going to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee today. This will be Comey’s first public appearance and public statement since Donald Trump sh-tcanned him one month ago. I should say that this will be Comey’s first official statement – I generally believe he’s been leaking information to the NY Times and Washington Post here and there. Comey’s testimony starts at 10 am EST, and this is our Open Post on the situation. Personally, I don’t think we’re going to be getting a lot of massive bombshells – Comey will likely be confirming, on the record, several pieces of information which have already been reported in the media.
Ahead of his testimony, Comey released a seven-page statement on Wednesday. This will be his opening statement before the committee, and as you can imagine, I’m not going to cut-and-paste the whole damn thing. You can read the full document here. Lawfare Blog calls Comey’s written statement “the most shocking single document compiled about the official conduct of the public duties of any President since the release of the Watergate tapes.” NY Mag says that Comey’s statement shows that Trump truly behaves as if he is an autocratic dictator, someone with no respect (or knowledge of) the checks and balances of power. Comey details the extent of which Trump overstepped the traditional POTUS-FBI Director relationship, and how Trump repeatedly asked him for “loyalty” and to do something about the Mike Flynn investigation.
Trump’s lawyer released a statement about Comey’s prepared testimony, saying: “The president is pleased that Mr. Comey has finally publicly confirmed his private reports that the president is not under investigation in the Russian probe. The president feels completely and totally vindicated. He is eager to continue to move forward with his agenda.” Vox breaks down this part of the discussion here.
And this was the official GOP response to Comey’s written testimony. Sad!
Trying to find something of substance in Comey’s opening statement like pic.twitter.com/igLC4JPREg
— GOP (@GOP) June 7, 2017
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I have a feeling this will all be very anti-climatic.
With that being said, after reading his statement, I would totally read a novel written by James Comey.
His open testimony isn’t going to give us the smoking gun, it never was. It might be entertaining, but it’s not going to be all that.
Well Comey did a great job for Team Comey. By confirming Trump isn’t under investigation he made it very difficult for Republicans and the White House to undermine the veracity of his claims. Can’t call him a lying nut job if he is saying what you desperately need him to say.
The written testimony proves Trump is an a-hole, but little more. He was clearly more concerned with his own reputation than Flynn’s criminal deeds. I am really worried this is the Democrats Benghazi. I don’t think the contacts with Russians were about the election.i think they were about shady biz deals.
Oh, I think there’s business involved here as well: money laundering, etc. But I think the election interference was also part of that. The questions is do the investigations find that, or find something damning enough that even if you wouldn’t get a conviction you’d forever have suspicion?
“I am really worried this is the Democrats Benghazi.”
Same. Wish MSM wasn’t hyping this so much. It really sets us up for a disappointment as well as validation for the Deplorables.
It’s possible that perception wise, it may initially appear to Benghazi-like. But, unlike Benghazi, there appears to be more here than just Republican congresscritters wanting to go after Hillary.
This is a lot more complicated than Benghazi. Or Watergate. And it’s going to take a while to find out what’s there.
cr, yes that’s an important distinction. Benghazi truly was, as Bigly likes to say, a witch hunt. This is not a manufactured scandal. Not that the deplorables will realize this or care.
what cr said.
consider, people, that Nixon’s ouster took a fairly long time, from Watergate break in to resignation.
he even got re-elected before he quit…so, yeah, this could take a while, but it’s no Benghazi. it’s bigger than Watergate was, it’ll just take time to get it all out.
I disagree. There is a lot of information that we know through media, but this puts facts into congressional record. The actions described, confirmed as accurate by the Trump tweet, are obstructions of justice. This will be harder for members of congress to ignore now that it isn’t just rumor.
I agree. He’s covering up his shady business with the Russians-I don’t think he told them directly to interfere with the election.
“I don’t think he told them directly to interfere with the election”
But didn’t he do that publicly? He told Russia to hack Hillary’s emails right before the DNC and Podesta were targeted. His campaign staff were meeting regularly with Russian officials, including his campaign manager. They even met at the Republican National Convention, the event that gave him the party’s nomination.
I just don’t see how we can conclude that there was no direction to interfere with the election. It certainly hasn’t been proven to the fullest yet, but there is are many different events that would support that it did happen. Trump publically encouraged Russian interference. His top campaign staff met with Russian officials. Then the Russians actually interfered with our election. The dots do seem to line up on that point.
Let’s please not forget- the RNC- removed a platform regarding Russia. Isn’t that CURIOUS?? The problem here is the Dr Evil Putin has put republicans in -ALL THREE HOUSES OF US GOV’MT- with those greed heads in full tilt power, we won’t ever see the obvious. McCain may have been drugged, but he was trying to point out that Hillary got a fair and fast investigation…but the orange thing’s issue will take CENTURIES to resolve!!
He can reveal only so much in a public hearing.
Meanwhile, while we’re distracted by the hearings, Congress is still voting on bills. The Senate may be trying to fast track their version of the AHCA and Medicaid phase out.
Call your senators!
https://twitter.com/IndivisibleTeam
This is so important!
I think the hearings are incredibly important, but so are the movements of the Senate on healthcare. Yes, there can be more than 1 important issue at one time (not to say that you were suggesting there could be only one).
Call your Senators re: AHCA! Calls matter!
Don’t forget the bill to repeal Dodd Frank- this is to protect consumers from predatory lending and THE VERY SAME PRACTICES THAT PUT US INTO THE 2008 RECESSION!!
Comey is a scumbag politician who cares only for his own
safety and survivl.
That said, I have to say, from years of as an intel officer, I believe this guy is lying piece of shit.
He is protecting himself and it bugs the hell out of me, as an for intel officer, that he won’t be truthful. People just need to listen. They need to open their minds and listen to more than
mainstream medium. You really do have to examine more thaan what exist i yout comfort zone..
The impression I got from reading it was sadly, there’s nothing concrete but clearly something was very very wrong. A LOT of red flags in Trumps comments and behaviour that would indeed indicate that he was trying to influence an investigation.
Also that Comey was clear that at the time Trump wasn’t under investigation but he didn’t say he never would be
As you point out, he made it clear that Trump was not under investigation for counter-intelligence AT THAT TIME, but he doesn’t make it clear that Trump was not under investigation for anything else at that time either.
Comey doesn’t have to tell the truth about that anyhow. Isn’t law enforcement allowed to lie to suspects about whether they’re being investigated?
And let’s not forget that the President shouldn’t even be asking the FBI about this, cause if it is true, it can lead to potential obstruction.
Comey admitted he was so coffeved regarding trumps constant (guilt) pestering “am I being investigated”, “are we there yet?”, “am I being investigated”…this put the not so strong Comes in a tough place. HE couldn’t say yes or no without somehow being implicit in a complex coffeve.
My take away is that Comey was fired for not publically stating Trump was not under investigation. Flynn was a single mention. Trump is clearly very concerned about the cloud of Russia hanging over him and he expected Comey to lift it.
Personally, I don’t understand why people expect Comey to be particularly forthcoming on this matter, as he has shown himself to be just flaky in general. I don’t trust him, not after that stunt he pulled days out from the election brining up Hillary’s emails AGAIN.
Do you not remember Trump saying straight out to Lester Holt that he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation??
Trump is literally lying and stealing right to our faces. In the debate he asked the russians to hack hillary’s emails. To Lester Hold he said he fired Comey because of the Russia issue. HE literally had two Russian officials in the oval office (no american press) the day after he fired Comey. I’m barely smarter than my 5th grader and IT’S SO OBVIOUS!
Read the text. It’s clearly obstruction of justice.
It isn’t obstruction of justice. It’s improper. It’s an abuse of power but it isn’t obstruction. This is going to have to play out a lot longer to bring him down.
It’s obstruction. Trump put pressure on Comey to drop the Flynn case. Comey refused. Trump fired him. To stop the investigation. He admitted it. That’s obstruction.
Trump fired Comey for refusing to publically announce he wasn’t under investigation. That is unethical, but not illegal.
No, Megan. He wanted to shut the whole Russia thing down. This includes not just himself but Flynn. He was mad Comey didn’t declare his innocence, yes, but he admitted it was the Russia thing he wanted stopped. That includes the Flynn investigation, which is obstruction.
Rapunzel, read the written testimony. His final conversation with Comey is about clearing his name.
Megan, listen to what he said after Comey was fired. It was about getting rid of everything Russia. That includes Flynn, even if he didn’t mention it in the last convo.
and, frankly, I’m not sure his firing Comey even matters.
he interfered to try to get law enforcement to drop an investigation. repeatedly. THAT, in and of itself, meets the definition of obstruction.
when you add that he then FIRED the law enforcement that he tried to influence but couldn’t, it adds another layer to the obstruction charge.
The guys on Pod Save America (all former Obama staffers) said in reference to Trump putting pressure on Comey, and I quote: “this is a TEXTBOOK example of obstruction of justice.”
No offense to my fellow C/Bers but I trust people who worked in a presidential administration for 8 years over any commenter’s personal interpretation.
It’s definitely improper but for an obstruction charge to stick you have to prove intent. How do we even know what the intent here is when Trump lies, repeatedly.
Obstruction of justice doesn’t mean that a crime needs to have been committed. The standard of “illegal” doesn’t need to be met for impeachment.
Trump said he fired Comey because he’s a nut job and show boater who pursued the Russian investigation. The republicans are poking holes in the obstruction by twisting -the way- he asked Comey. HE said “I hope” you end the investigation and supposedly it doesn’t mean “you will do it now”. Ugh.
THIS. going by the legal definition of obstruction of justice, where it doesn’t matter how the defendant (drumpf) made Comey FEEL, or about whether or not the defendant’s actions actually LED to obstruction or influenced the investigation.
what matters in that charge is the defendant’s ACTIONS, and his actions were clearly that of a person trying to obstruct an ongoing investigation(s).
but the GOP congross (typo and it stays) won’t do jack sh*t about it.
I move that Congross becomes the new title of that particular elected body until further notice. Seconded? All in favor? Excellent, motion carried.
I agree, doofus.
He build a case for impeachment. Impeachment can just be abuse of power. And Trump does that every day. It’s politic. If the GOP doesn’t support Trump in today’s hearings he is done.
Hi. Lawyer here. I read the federal statute on obstruction and witness tampering. Trump did it. All that is required is a knowing attempt to persuade another party to halt or alter the course of an investigation. Trump did that much. The attempt at obstruction doesn’t need to be successful nor does the object need to have felt pressure for it to be obstruction. Just a knowing attempt to persuade.
Also, correct, no crime needs to have been committed for obstruction to have taken place.
The media hype scares me. I saw last night that CNN had a countdown clock, FFS. I watched a bit of Anderson Cooper’s show and while Jeff Toobin seems to think this is clearly obstruction of justice, I was discouraged and frightened by Alan Dershowitz’s repeated insistence that the POTUS can basically do whatever he wants with no repercussions. Not holding my breath for any smoking guns or even any small steps toward justice.
I share some of the uneasiness,but this process and where it leads, is going to take a long time.
I hear you. But seeing how far Trump has gotten so far with no repercussions — and how the GOP and his supporters have no problems supporting him — just makes me think he and his appalling, disgusting family are not going anywhere for at least 4 years.
I was watching last night too. Is Alan Dershowitz vying to be on trumps dream team??? I didnt understand how two legal experts can see the facts so differently about this.
Yeah, I didn’t get it at all. If he’s not vying to be part of Trump’s team, he seems to be on board with the administration’s insistence on innocence no matter how much the facts or circumstances might say otherwise. Grr. I almost never watch CNN so it was interesting to see the dynamics between all those people. I had to finally just turn it off in disgust.
I think Dershowitz is arguing for the sake of argument and to be contrarian, which is part of how one gets on TV.
Legal experts see things differently all the time. It isn’t that they were seeing the facts differently, they were applying the law differently. And in court, lawyers write extremely detailed briefs with arguments and counter arguments before they ever get to a hearing on such topics – and the hearings usually consist of answering questions. You rarely get to make your whole speech and you never get to do so without interruption and challenge.
lightpurple, always glad you are here for these questions.
Dershowitz also said OJ was innocent. Just saying.
Thank you so much LP!
Agree with third ginger, Dershowitz is known for adopting contrary positions to garner maximum publicity.
Dershowitz also got Claus von Bulow off…..so……
Dershowitz was buddies with Epstein, who was alleged to have gotten the underage rape victim of Trump’s. Do with that what you will.
Ignore Dershowitz. He was on the plane with Epstein with the underage girls. This guy thinks being contrarian will get him more media, but what it will probably get him is unwanted police attention. Not all lawyers are the same.
“do whatever he wants with no repercussions.” If that is true, why did BC go through an impeachment for a bj from a consenting female of legal age? I know about the “lying under oath” yada, yada and so forth. Then trump needs to be hauled into court for his obvious obstruction of justice so that he can lie under oath.
Blow job versus obstruction of justice-I’m not a lawyer, but I know which is more important.
I hear you, believe me, and Dershowitz admitted that. He said a POTUS could be impeached for jaywalking if he’s got the votes. As I understand it, impeachment is a political process not a legal one.
* “do whatever he wants with no repercussions when his party has control of House and Senate”
Fixed.
Remember that GOP had majority of House and Senate from 1997-1999 when Clinton faced impeachment.
After a 21 day trial, the vote of 55 Not Guilty/45 Guilty on the perjury charge and 50 Not Guilty/50 Guilty on the obstruction of justice charge. Both votes fell short of the Constitutional two-thirds majority requirement to convict and remove BC from Office but even then it was very, VERY close. BC was barely vindicated but it likely would have been a larger margin if Dems had majority..
@ Esmom & Kitten. I know all that, but during Watergate there were many Republicans who valued country over party and did their duty. This, imo, is worse than Watergate. How did our country come to the point where the majority of elected Congresspeople see their duty as protecting a crook, a criminal, an incompetant, a person trashing our allies while praising dictators, a person who knows nothing about the U.S. Constitution or governing, a racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, pu$$ygrabbing moron? How can they look in the mirror? WTH has brought us here?
@SusanneToo-I suspect your questions are rhetorical but “what happened” was 8 years of a black POTUS….
…a black POTUS who happened to be competent, effective, thoughtful, measured, and articulate—in other words, everything that DJT is NOT. They voted for the anti-Obama and they sure as f*ck got what they wanted.
Yeah, rhetorical. I can somewhat understand the trash who voted anti-Obama, they will always be among us, unfortunately. But, one would expect when someone has risen to the position of Congressperson they would feel a higher calling, would feel the weight of the job.
Or maybe I’ve just watched Mr. Smith Goes to Washington way too many times.
Oh I know it. These are questions I ask myself everyday: HOW can they continue to plunder this country with no regard for the health, prosperity, welfare, and basic civil liberties that every American is entitled to?
There is no low too low for these folks and I absolutely agree that the current incarnation of the GOP is the worst we have ever seen. I have no idea how these people sleep at night, how they can look their family members in the eye…it’s f*cking appalling.
@SusanneToo, one of those Watergate era Republicans who put country before party and called for Nixon’s resignation was Senator Ed Brooke of Massachusetts, an intelligent, elegant black man (sound familiar?) who cared about affordable, good public housing, expanding Medicaid, and a woman’s right to control her own body. There are no Ed Brookes in today’s GOP.
There’s still a part of me, a very tiny part nowadays, that still contains that idealistic 16 year old who listened as JFK said “Ask not what your country can do …” I hope that part is not completely extinguished.
The media hype is one example of how those networks are not doing their job. They should be using resources to research and report news and analysis to help solve problems and expose corruption. Instead, they place six people around a table and argue about an isolated event. It might as well be a game show. It is an abdication of their fourth estate responsibility.
Yes! The media needs to get it’s head out of it’s arse……You have a job that pays you money, which is great, but there should be more to a journalist’s job then money.
Here’s why the media hype scares me: because McConnell and the Rethugs in the Senate are trying to stealth pass the AHCA under the cover of Comeygate. They are also voting on repealing Dodd-Frank today.
They’re going to get away with it if people don’t raise hell, and people won’t raise hell if they’re distracted by the testimony. Which, as people have pointed out, is unlikely to cause an impeachment from a Republican-controlled Congress. See: @GOP’s response to Comey’s written testimony.
The GOP are twisting themselves into knots of lies to try and deny reality here. I think my brain is malfunctioning from all the gaslighting.
Mine, too. I’m seriously starting to lose it.
It’s really disconcerting. It’s hard for me to have normal conversations sometimes because we’ve lost the basic understanding of what’s real and what isn’t.
I’m with you, ladies.
It’s become a bizarre world divided into two forces: Good v. Evil.
And if you are still supporting Trump at this point, just punch yourself in the face.
It’s all so wrong. The blind eyes. That party lines can be counted on for predictions instead of facts.
That it’s SO Obvious nothing is on the level here…
And the elected officials are almost entirely untouchable. Protests are ignored or twisted. Even voting is no guarantee. The popular vote isn’t the counted vote. Tech meddling. Manipulations. Gerrymandering.
I’m so disenchanted by my goverment and people of this nation that support Trump or simple acquiesced to his role.
I have a tough time too. It’s like an alternate universe. It’s one thing to disagree on different issues: taxes, social programs, abortion, foreign policy–it’s another thing entirely to try and defend this treasonous, grafting dictator-wannabe.
I was just going to say the same. The thing that just baffles my mind is why they are so intent on defending everything he does or says. Their argument that he is not a Politician and doesn’t know makes me want to vomit. I’m not a politician and I know that the POTUS should not be doing these things. It is disgraceful the way the GOP is behaving. How they will twist and spin to justify whatever this fool does. They should be ashamed; but they don’t care. I guess after having to live with Obama for 8 years they have lose their minds and since of right and wrong to have Trump in office. Just gross beyond words.
“The thing that just baffles my mind is why they are so intent on defending everything he does or says.”
Power, plain and simple. They’re all deeply corrupted by a lust for power. We’re getting a first-hand look at what true corruption looks like.
Exactly. Mitch McConnell cares about only one thing: the accumulation of power. He cares not about what vehicle (in this case 45) is used to achieve this, only that he can have complete control and authority to pass the GOP agenda.
He knew. It was explained to him multiple times by multiple people. Trump just always has thought that anything he wants to do is ok. Now he thinks nothing he does can be unethical or illegal because he’s President. He just tunes out when people say he’s wrong about that.
My bet is that money laundering and illegal campaign funding by foreigners will take him down, though.
Decided I’m not watching. Drinking a beer and making chocolate chip pancakes. Cheers, y’all.
There is actually an attack ad [by a pro-Trump group] out against Comey. It’s virtually unheard of to attack someone who is now a private citizen. Trump’s approval rating now 34%.
Does anyone know if the ad could be considered libel?
And who paid for this ad?? I hope it’s not our tax dollars!!!!
This is going to end not with a bang but with a whimper I’m afraid.
Unfortunately, we’re all going to be really disappointed at the end of the day.
45’s opponents don’t care what he’s going to say because they’re never going to believe he isn’t being singled out unfairly for stuff he didn’t even do (in their eyes) and everyone else has built up this testimony to unrealistic dimensions. There is no smoking gun – just a testimony full of information we already have that has done little to 45 except make him even more disliked than he already was and unfortunately, that has had zero effect on anything.
I said this on the other thread, but I’ll say it again. Democrats don’t have the numbers to stop anything right now and the GOP isn’t going to stop anything unless they’re forced to. Better to prepare for midterms rather than banging our heads against a wall that isn’t going to give. It isn’t going to help anyone to continue to pin so many hopes on something that isn’t going to produce.
Yeah, I’ve already worked myself up into disappointment, I guess in an effort to brace myself for the nothing that’s going to come of this.
Haha..yeah me too. I’ve actually bypassed the whole *optimistic excitement thing* and gone straight to disappointment. This administration has trained me well in that regard.
I think it is important to get all of this information out of the press and verified into congressional record so that WHEN the dems win control of the House, they can hit the ground running. A lot of ground work has to be done before the bigger actions of impeachment can take place. That work is important, but not super exciting. I am still glad it is being done.
Can’t wait to see if trump tweets during Comey’s testimony.
He hasn’t tweeted all morning. My guess is that someone has the phone on lockdown.
I my guess is they have dummy phones. Someone swaps out trumps phone and all he sends goes to a bot response chatroom.
Trump doesn’t strike me as someone that can go a day without the internet for mindless social media cravings. Much like a child.
Maybe they’ll give him a coloring book or play dough to distract him. Since he hasn’t tweeted all morning, someone might have removed the battery from his phone while he wasn’t looking
Maybe the Secret Service has jammed his phone. That would be hilarious if he has been madly tweeting and they aren’t getting out.
His lawyers are stopping it and waiting to see that Comey says. He will tweet. He can’t help himself. And he is going to a Rally or something. So if that is still happening then he will use that as his platform to respond.
But STOP! We’re not supposed to pay attention to that very tall man over there! JUST STOP! Princess Nagini the Corrupt of the Most Sacred Horcruxed Vagina commands us to look away! We must look away from all this drama and gaze upon the plastic countenance of Princess Nagini as she learns code with daughter Arabella and poses for a photo op with a group of teenage girls touring the White House on a school program that she and daddy propose to eliminate in their magic budget. There, don’t we feel better now? Princess Nagini will save all us womenfolk from the drudgery of day are an school lunches and learning STEM!
This is so freaking.. I’m reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows right now to my little one.. And there are so many things in that book that makes me think about Trump and his mindset. You have to view him in a child’s universe not in an adult one. He thinks like a child. A juvenile. And until we get that we are not going to be able to see his agenda.
LOL. She is silently disagreeing with him – she’s doing all she can !!! What a #feminist #workingmother
Trump and co’s insistence that this vindicates him is so dumb. Nobody denied that Coney told him he wasn’t under investigation. And it doesn’t matter anyway. The fact Trump put that in the firing letter is proof that he thinks it’s key, but it has nothing to do with obstruction of justice in the Flynn case. Bigly is so stupid.
And it doesn’t even touch on the obstruction of justice issue, just the treason issue. But Trump is a moron and expects everyone else to be just as stupid.
Are trump and his supporters(including those in Congress)so stupid they don’t understand that he was not under investigation AT THAT TIME? He could very well be under investigation now and should be, given all the information that’s come out.
That was actually a rhetorical question. I know the answer.
I didn’t get to see the live hearing but read Comey’s declaration. It’s classic textbook obstruction of justice, pay for play (if you do this you can keep your job). This is totally separate from the Russian deal. If his morons think that vindicated him ok. But AT THAT TIME, he wasn’t investigated. Doesn’t mean Mueller isn’t quietly building a case now.
Lindsey Graham is also saying that the Russian thing is moot since Mueller let Comey testify. Omg. The amount of crazy and idiotic reasoning is too much. Graham should retire. He lost his mind.
The Q and A portion may be where the fireworks are (or at least a sparkler or two).
The point I hope someone hits home, is that having multiple one-on-one conversations is not normal. And what is the constant concern about Flynn? Why does he care so much?
I’m guessing because Flynn has massive dirt on drumpf.
and Flynn is not the type, from what I know, to fall on his sword for the king. when pressed (or threatened with a charge of treason), Flynn will likely sing. and drumpf wants to stop that at all costs.
Good luck my American friends! I will offer this thought. I’ve wondered why the GOP hasn’t turned on Trump and just made the move to put Pence in office. My suggestion would be that the GOP had knowledge of what was transpiring with the Russians, perhaps the party as a whole received money from Russia. Anyhow, my thinking is that the GOP themselves are complicit.
The Russians have been working for a long time to not just have the head of the snake in heir pocket…..they have financial dealings & dirt on a lot of the GOP party. And the rest just don’t care- they see this as a sports game that their team needs to win no matter what to line the bets they made.
It’s possible that several Republicans in Congress are compromised either by Russian blackmail or bribes or both. It is naive to think the Russians only hacked Democrats. They only publicized material from Democrats (possibly some altered).
Hacking other countries is a common government activity. What is really unusual is making the information public, and so obviously doing it to promote a particular candidate for high office. I think originally the Russians just saw Trump as a useful propaganda tool – he has the arrogance and lack of ethics intel looks for in stooges. A little flattery and he’ll think you’re his bff. Plus he needs money, also a useful characteristic in a stooge. Probably the Russians assumed Trump would lose the election and were just trying to reduce Hillary’s effectiveness when she won.
But at some point, they realized Trump could win with a little help. Then instead of just pushing public opinion against the sanctions, he could actually lift them. Trump actually tried to do that soon after his inauguration, but he asked existing State Department staff to pull the package together for reversing all of Obama’s actions in response to Russian activity here and in Ukraine. The staffers were alarmed at the idea, contacted the right person (maybe the acting Secretary of State?) and Congress was notified and passed legislation making it necessary for Trump to send any proposal for lifting the sanctions to Congress for review. I think such a proposal would have a snowball’s chance in Hell in Congress at the moment, but Trump is trying to return the two Russian compounds Obama forced them to evacuate. He can probably do that without going through Congress.
Important facts from Comey’s letter:
1. Too much contact- Trump’s hounding of Flynn (9 convos in 4 months!) shows he’s worried about Flynn, himself, and whether the FBI director will be his lap dog.
2. Demands of loyalty- no President should be asking for the FBI director’s loyalty. They are only supposed to be loyal to the law.
3. Secrecy- Trump inviting Comey for a private dinner is ethically wrong, and was used to pressure him. Trump clearing the Oval Office to talk to Comey was ethically wrong and used to pressure him. This pressure is obstruction.
4- knowledge of guilt- Trump getting Comey alone for dinner and clearing the Oval Office show he knew what he was about to say was inappropriate. He was conscious he was doing wrong.
5. Fishing- Trump talking about Russian hookers/the pee tape was an attempt to fish for information from Comey, imo. Which convinces me the tape is real and Trump was trying to see if the FBI had it. No innocent person would behave like this, imo.
6.- Jeffy Beau Sessions needs to go. WTF was he thinking letting Trump be alone with Comey? So wrong.
7- Jared K- Trump even dismissed him from the Comey convo, which makes me wonder: Does Trump really trust Jared that much?
I’m alternating shots of coffee and sambucca when Cheeto Covfefe Mussolini tweets. But sadly, his twitter is quiet this morning.
He won’t be able to go all morning without tweeting. I wonder if his lawyer threatened to quit if Bigly started rage-tweeting his reaction to the testimony.
I read he’s huddled in the WH dining room watching TV with his legal team.
I’m so disappointed he’s not Tweeting. That would have been a terrible idea (for him) and I was looking forward to seeing him shoot himself in the foot again.
I can picture him talking/yelling so much that no one else can hear the audio. Hopefully that big screen he installed in the dining room has a closed caption option.
LOL Christin. Good GOD that visual is just too accurate. F*cking TODDLER-IN-CHIEF.
I’m sure they took his phone from his small, orange hands.
Hope he is wearing extra absorbent diapers today. I hope Jared and the princess have to change them.
It would be the first time for Princess Nagini
Curious to see what qualifies as being worthy of being adequately big/salacious enough to qualify as significant for some of you. You’d have to be wholly ignorant to not grasp the magnitude of the revelations in Comey’s statement and the 2-3+ hour tribunal to come.
Everybody grasps the significance of the revelations. Everyone also grasps that the asslicking Rethugs in Congress don’t give a flying fvck.
MSNBC just showed that Preet Bharara is there! If Trump just saw him too he probably had a rage stroke!
Unfortunately this will probably just turn into a “he said-he said” situation. Even though Comey documented all of his conversations with Trump, it is his recall only. It’s not like Trump signed off on it as well nor was there a voice/video recording of the conversations. And we all know he will lie and blast disparaging remarks about Comey to get around this too. I think it clearly shows a pattern of unethical and abusive behavior, but I don’t think that is enough to impeach or charge him with anything.
The difference is Comey’s account was in REAL TIME. Trump is the one that is “recalling” things.. and we know how he can’t recall what he said or did yesterday. He changes his stance and opinion on the spin of a dime.
While this shows a pattern of behavior that is unethical and surely unlawful, I don’t believe that it actually Proves it.
Other people can confirm Comey’s discomfort being alone with Trump, including Jeff Sessions who had been in the room but was asked to leave for the loyalty discussion. Comey asked Sessions to make sure he and Trump were never alone alone, but Sessions said he couldn’t guarantee it.
Likewise Comey discussed some of it with others at the time. They could testify to that.
Also there’s case law that allows FBI written recollection to be used as legitimate evidence. I think that was pointed out in one of the news channels.
Pete Souza’s photo shade today is BHO standing near the door by the Grandfather’s Clock. The very door sessions and jared exited through before the infamous conversation.😊😊😊
Comey just called trump a liar! Woohoo!
They really need to stop giving a seat to McCain. He brings nothing and does nothing and his invite is vanity and tells me the GOP do not plan to do nothing after this.
Also, where do you think Comey is going next. I think law professor is next.
I believe Comey will write a book and make millions of dollars. Trump just turned him into a multi millionaire, jmo. I like that he called 45 a lie in front of the entire world.
Any comments about what is going on are greatly appreciated!! I am at work and can’t watch, but I can check in here now and again. So thank you in advance!!!
Same. I’m checking Twitter for the leatest but I wish I was watching it 🙁
Check out Reddit if you can, they have a live stream of the hearing going on now!
Awesome! Just got on there. Thank you!
Check out the Guardian’s liveblog!
I’ve been on that site all day. They are doing an AMAZING job with their updates.
That statement may not nail him for Russia but there’s obstruction of justice written all over it in RED LETTERS.
agree. written statement was basically saying here’s a pattern of attempts to influence and stop the investigations. not sure what the legal definition of obstruction of justice is but seems pretty damning.
love mark warner’s statement and questions. comey’s opening was great – concise and pointed.
Comey just said he documented their meetings because “I was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our dealings”, he also confirmed he never did or felt the need to do that with Hilary, Obama or Bush. DAYUM
SHOTS FIRED!
Awesome! Thank you.
Wow. That’s good stuff right there.
Also that “the nature of the person” (Trump) made him feel he should document them… lol
he’s also said Trump never asked about any other FBI investigations, only Russia
“No doubt” Russia were involved in elections
Trumps comments about the FBI being in disarray “were lies, plain and simple”, basically said the public were mislead in why he was fired
This is actually WAY better than I thought it would be
Finally, someone is publicly calling him out on his lies!
Yes, it is refreshing to see someone call Trump out on his lying ways…yet my general takeaway is that this is such a f^cking farce because the elephant in the room, TODDLER-IN-CHIEF, is regarded as a rational, or at least semi-rational, adult. I don’t know when/how journalists and pundits and congress can just drop the filter and call out Trump for what he really is, but I’m hoping this is a start.
The “Or Bush” part seals a lot.
Now, Trump just needs to incriminate himself via tweets… which… I’m actually hopeful is the way he will be brought down. By his own stupidity.
Yes it covers those who will argue he’s siding with the Dems.
I would honestly say Trump is going mental wherever he is, but his Twitter is being kept away from him for this very reason
Don’t worry once he gets his phone back he’ll tweet his rebuttal late at night or early morning. I hope that orange fat bastard incriminates himself on twitter.
One thing’s for sure, he’s no dumb dumb.
Qusay (or is he Uday?) was Tweeting up a storm though with excuses for Daddy.
Check Don Jr Twitter.https://twitter.com/Jordanfabian
ETA: I guess this is old..? Maybe from a couple days ago but very relevant.
Junior is trying to win Bigly points with Daddy.
Feinstein: “why do you think that you were fired.” Comey: “well I assume, going by the president’s own words, it was the Russia investigation.” Love it.
I’m most interested in the 4 other meetings/conversations with Trump that Comey didn’t detail in his statement from yesterday.
…and here come the Republicans with sarcastic, passive-aggressive questioning. [Paraphrasing Sen. Risch]: “Do you know of anyone who’s been charged with a crime who didn’t hope for a particular outcome?”
I wonder if Sen. Risch realizes that he’s just implied that the President is a criminal?
Don’t look at the comments on the Daily Mail! How any of those morons can hold down a job is beyond me! Doesn’t look like the hearing is having any influence. Just Comey is a liar, Comey did everything he could to not prosecute Hillary. Etc, etc
Both Rubio and Collins [and now Blunt] are seemingly blaming Comey for not remedially educating a sitting President on the inappropriateness of his behavior toward Comey.
And Blunt is telling him that he should refuse to let his boss’ boss contact him.
Blunt’s an idiot. I can say this as he is from my state. He won’t have any communications with his constituents and votes party over what his constituents want.
and what’s funny is that HE DID EDUCATE HIM.
Comey made it clear to drumpf what the proper procedure is, a couple of times, more forcefully and spelled out more clearly each successive time.
and drumpf, like the wannabe-dictator that he is, ignored it.
this is putting aside the whole “THE PRESIDENT SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE TOLD THAT!” issue…
On Trumps tweets about recordings of their conversations: “Lordy I hope there are tapes!”
The right seem to be grasping onto Trumps “I hope” phrasing when asking about the Flynn investigation going away, as in he didn’t directly say “drop it”.
That’s clutching, no matter what side you’re on, it’s obvious what he meant. It was a veiled threat.
It’s implied. Sorry you don’t have to spell it out to know. These people must be inbred uneducated booger eaters.
Damn, this is incredibly telling, he didn’t trust him from the get go “I was concerned he might lie”.
Also, I see what he means by Trump sort of giving him an “order”, when he said “I HOPE you can let this go.”. This is a man that’s the president of the USA and honestly that sounds like an order to me, without actually having the wording of an order.
Wording is everything in this case, especially when they’re in such a position of power.
ETA: is it normal that they’re asking him the same questions or is this a tactic to try and trip him up?
It is an order, by a man smart enough not to directly say it (probably because he’s been investigated before and is wary of incriminating himself)
I’m shocked that he was smart enough to make his order sound so transparent.
And I completely understand Comey’s response to it.
Comey said ” Lordy, I hope there are tapes.” Come on Bigly, where are they?
I’m at a restaurant with a TV with no sound, so I’m relying on the comments here and the CNN headlines. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
– Comey documented his convos with Trump because he didn’t trust him, never felt with Obama, Hilary or bush.
– stated he believes he was fired over Russia
– says trump lied (surprise surprise)
– he’s hoping the tapes exist.
– he felt he was given orders, even if trump used transparent wording to try and cover his ass.
Did I miss anything?
So far it seems better than I thought, but I do not want to get excited!
Yeah, that’s basically it, and Rubio trying to blame him for being logically shocked by Trump.
There’s an argument (circumstantial) to be made that the pee tape or something similar is real.
Yes, I agree that Trump was on a fishing expedition with that denial. He was hoping for confirmation that the FBI did not have the tape. But Comey must be an excellent poker player.
Anyway, Trump denying the hooker thing is pretty good evidence that the hooker thing is real. That’s what he does. When he accuses someone else of doing something wrong, that means he is doing it himself or did it in the past. When he spontaneously denies doing something wrong, that means he did it. He really does act like a small child.
Yes, coney said Russians did interfere in the election.. Hillary was not found criminally responsible for her emails just careless. McCain basically said if you believe the Russians are responsible for interfering in the election why was Hillary cleared? Comey said she was cleared of the email investigation. Again McCain asked why she was not still being investigated for the Russians and their part in the campaign since she was one of the candidates. obviously trying to frame it like comey is biased and this is a Witch Hunt for Trump. Just my opinion.
McCain was making no sense at all. There was no reason to believe Hillary or her campaign were involved with the Russians, she was the target of the hacking and the disinformation campaign. I hope nothing is wrong with him medically.
REMINDER, Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio had dinner with Trump exactly 2 days before this trial, on the 6th.
Cotton’s line of questioning is…interesting. He’s trying to show that Trump did not collude with Russia.
Comey says he gave all his memos to the special counsel. “I don’t have any of them anymore, I gave them to the special counsel.”
On why he had a friend pass on the memo to the press – Comey compares media to hungry seagulls:
“Because I was worried, the media was camping at the end of my driveway at that point… I was worried that it would be like feeding seagulls at the beach.”
Makes sense to me. Comey is coming across well…seems to have a rational and restrained answer for everything. Not that I had any doubt, but I’m happy that he’s so prepared.
ITA Kitten – in October I was cursing Comey, but now I think (hope) he may save us all.
I still think Comey was trying to reduce the impact of the coming leaks from the New York FBI office about these emails in October. Giuliani was dancing around like a four year old who needs to use a toilet, he was bursting to tell the secret. Trump also was saying things at a rally showing he had a secret also. Chaffetz is the one who publicized and spun the letter. Comey is a stickler for the rules, which also explains his remarks last summer. I don’t think he was trying to sabotage Hillary in either case. He doesn’t like Trump. But I think his reputation for integrity and fairness is correct.
I’m kinda swooning over Angus King. Smart, literate, good looking. Sorry to digress, Guys.
Haha, you’re not alone! I’m getting Sam Elliott vibes.
That’s it, exactly!!
I need distractions too. Please digress.
I always find Angus interesting
Yes! When he began talking about Henry II and Thomas a Beckett (Will no one rid me of this priest?) I fell into a swoon. Honest, I want to see more of him! I loved it when he raked those guys over the coals yesterday too.
Dear Tom Cotton,
Since you took it upon yourself to write an open letter to the leadership of Iran without going through proper channels (and thereby risked our national security in an unprecedented way), we hardly think it’s your place to grill Comey. Ever.
Sincerely,
America
P.S. How was dinner with Tr*mp this week?
Exactly, that dinner with Trump should have made him recuse himself from this hearing.
HONKS FOR KAMALA HARRIS
+1
love her
OH man.. she is amazing. Future President for me.
That’s my girl!
Isn’t it supposed to be about Trump and Russia not Hillary’s emails?!
p.s. Comey reminds me of Mr Rogers.
Would someone please tell Sen. Cornyn that Hillary Clinton is not the central issue of today’s hearing? I don’t think he got the memo. In a way, it’s kind of flattering how obsessed he is with her.
None of the GOP knows that this isn’t about Obama (black president) or HRC (almost a female president). They will never get that memo- for them this is all about revenge for their racism & sexism. I can only be glad that their true colors are showing.
well how else you gonna get Republicans riled up and remind them that it’s all about Killary and Benghazi. Doesn’t matter that she is not the prez
But, but Hillary.. is something they’ll never let go. Kind of funny that they don’t realize how dumb they sound
Comey on his firing: “There was an explanation, I just don’t buy it.”
YASSSS Comey!! #truth
McCain is senile. and scum.
Truth!
Yes this!!
He was repugnant.
I’m thinking he’s has some sort of stroke — something really off with him.
When they film this, Michael Shannon needs to play Comey
All the yeses!
Absolutely perfect! But who to play Princess Nagini?
Has McCain completely lost it?
I think he has
I think he has either completely lost it OR he is messing around trying to confuse everyone because whatever was coming out of his mouth made me go all like WHA….?!?! even Comey looked all baffled
OMG F*CK MCCAIN.
John McCain is a bumbling fool. He’s so confused, wasting time talking about Hillary.
What is McCain going on about?!
John McCain is sounding like a loon.
Wow, John McCain appears confused and mumbling. He has mentally lost it. Has he always been this way? He even called Comey President Comey when he meant baby fists. Very hostile towards Comey and keeps dragging Hillary Clinton into the questioning.
Is McCain going senile? I’m not trying to be mean or rude or anything, but he seems absolutely confused about totally simple concepts.
I can’t listen at work but my husband sent me a text saying he sounded crazy.
He’s not senile, he’s playing a game. He’s acting like he’s confused that the Trump administration is still being investigated for the Russian interference but why isn’t Hillary, she was a candidate also so how can you say the investigation is closed in regards to her? He’s trying to portray Comey as biased.
I beg to differ. It’s both. It’s obvious to all of us that he was playing cat-and-mouse.
That doesn’t preclude him from being senile. These are not mutually exclusive.
I’d like to add…he’s always been obvious in his clumsy political maneuvering. Selecting Palin in his attempt to pander to women.
What a weasel McCain turned out to be. He implied that the Hillary campaign may have colluded with Russia. As someone on twitter stated: She colluded with Russia….to lose?
Some hero.
He’s blaming lack of sleep! Statement from McCain – “I get the sense from Twitter that my line of questioning today went over people’s heads. Maybe going forward I shouldn’t stay up late watching the Diamondbacks night games.”
The whole time McCain was babbling nonsense, he had me a little confused. Why the hell is he there? Time for him to go home
Nothing here. Starting to accept it: Trump, 2020.
Trying to imagine our country after 8 years of Trump “leadership.” Chilling.
I really don’t think we have to worry about Trump being around that long.
It was never meant to be a smoking gun, though?
It is on record that Comey, a very well-respected former member of the FB- was fired because of the Russia investigation. That is NOT nothing.
From the Guardian:
*Comey said there was information about attorney general Jeff Sessions “that would make his presence in a continued Russia investigation problematic” but he wouldn’t say what it was.
*Comey raised an alarm about Russian tampering in the election, saying the effort was major, continuous and that “they’ll be back.”
*Comey said he believes when Trump fired him, “the endeavor was to change the way the Russia investigation was being conducted. That is a very big deal, not just because it’s me…”
*Comey said it was “a really significant fact to me” that Trump had asked senior White House officials to leave the room before bringing up Flynn.
*Comey did not report the scene widely within the FBI for fear of “a real chilling effect” on the Russia investigation, he said.
These things, while not an immediate indictment or Trump, are part of a bigger picture. On a cumulative level, they point to intimidation and cover-up on the part of Trump and his administration.
Remember we still have Mueller investigating and this is not the end by any means.
If the Dems win the House in 2018, it could have a major impact.
Just listened to Ryan’s defense of Trump. Specifically, I get irrationally pissed when Ryan continues to defend Trump’s blatantly horrid behavior. It’s not surprising anymore but somehow still upsetting. Isn’t Ryan the one who would have to begin impeachment proceedings if it came to it? It will never happen. At some point Ryan completely bent over for Trump and kissed the baby fist or whatever. He sold out whatever humanity he may have had. He did not Comey up.
They’re all traitors. Every…last…Republican.
I cannot listen to the republiCONs – I put the tv on mute to turn it — I just can’t
Well we both have had a few, but now Bill agrees with me. Nothing here,Trump 2020.
Paul Ryan is crazy. Defending Trump by saying Trump is “learning as he goes ” and that Trump didn’t realize the FBI doesn’t work for the WH is ridiculous. That’s more proof that Trump doesn’t belong anywhere near the WH
Paul Ryan I said an asshole. Even if rump roast doesn’t know that the FBI independent, his advisors, mainly evil Keebler could have pointed that out. Hell anyone in the Justice Department could have told him. That argument is hilarious.
Then let’s kick Paul Ryan out of the Speaker’s position! We must do everything possible to make sure the Dems win back the House. It is of vital importance to our democracy.
McCain trying to act like Hillary should be investigated for Russia ties is so dumb…like HRC would help the Russians cost her the election!
McCain is Cray Cray.
Adam Schiff is going to be on Pod Save America today. So excited to go home and have a vodka soda on my patio with my cats and listen to my fave podcast.
ETA: Yes I am a nerd.
Their pods are the highlight of my days, so I’m a nerd right along with you. Last week I told my friend and fellow Pod nerd that I am in love with Lovett at the moment (and yes I know he’s gay, lol).
Lovett is so effin funny and his comedic timing is just unreal. Why doesn’t he have his own TV show?
But I love Favs and Tommy so much. I think it’s because they’re from Massachusetts–it just always feels like I’m listening to my friends talk. I mean, obviously they’re more knowledgeable about politics than my friends but the way that they speak, the slang they use and their general sensibility is so Mass to me. It makes me feel at home 😉
They’re gonna be on fire tonight though. Can’t wait!
I know, I’m about to fire up the Pod right now. I said I was in love with Lovett at the moment but Tommy is my first love, lol. I love them all, including Dan P. They are so smart and funny and my friend and I talk about how we wish we could just hang out with them and be their friends!
And funny, I thought Favs and Lovett were from Long Island. I have a friend from there and that was the hint of accent I thought I was detecting from both of them. Guess I was wrong!
Sometimes I feel like you are my long lost (other) twin!
I will be listening to Pod Save America on my way home. Recently I have been mixing my vodka with La Croix. I do a mix of the grapefruit sparkling water and the lime sparkling water, and it is so refreshing. And damn, do I need some refreshment right about now!
Well, that went about as poorly as I expected it to. We learned nothing new, what we did hear was already dismissed and once again we have not furthered our cause in any way.
Yeah, listening to Trump’s attorney made it clear that this wasn’t anything remotely resembling a victory. I wanted to throw my radio out the window.
I thought trump’s lawyer lied just as much as trump habitually does. I don’t have the whole statement before me, but Comey did not REPEATEDLY assure him he was not under investigation. He did not leak classified information(sounds like another threat to me).
Some have said it’s a he said/he said situation. Sure, a lifelong habitual liar versus a lifelong straight arrow. No contest.
Agreed, he was lying his ass off like the shameless pig he is. But the deplorables are already using his words to claim victory and vindication. I can’t anymore.
We haven’t furthered our cause? Because Comey didn’t come out with a smoking gun? Because Trump’s lawyer put out a badly spelled missive contradicting it?
Were you expecting something spectacular right off the bat? That the die hard supporters would go’ oh, right this is bad”. That’s going to happen anytime soon, if at all. But this isn’t really about winning over the die-hards.
And this is not a sprint, this is a marathon and we’ve only taken the first steps.
It doesn’t matter if the public learned anything “new”…it matters that previously unverified information that was in new reports was confirmed as fact and entered into congressional record. Having Comey state on record that Trump told him to squash the investigation and that Trump said that Comey was terminated because of the Russian investigation is huge.
Don’t buy the spin the Trumpsters are putting out there. They are all con men.
Respect to Comey but what’s going to happen as a result of this?
Nothing, I suspect, and US life will just carry on as (ab)normally tomorrow and the day after and the month after and the year after because the American media at large seems to value trump-as-news over trump-as-president.
The closed session stuff will be most interesting. Comey implied there was closed session stuff on Sessions and Trump colluding with Russia. I’m thinking there’s bombshells to come.
Yup. However, I don’t trust any good results. We never thought tRump would be POtuS.
If they don’t conclude anything, we’ll never know. If they do, it could take months…a year.
I’d love to see Mrs. POtuS move to D.C. just in time to have to pack her (and Mr. POtuSs) bags back up. HAH!
Really damaging info from Comey:
1. Trump never asked about Russian interference.
2. Trump never asked about any other FBI investigation.
3. Trump made Comey feel cowardly. His admission of not being strong enough was intentional. He’s making a case for intimidation, as part of obstruction.
4. He could not say no when asked if Trump colluded.
5. He said there’s secret dirt on Sessions
But of course the Repubs aren’t interested in this. They’re attacking Comey for “leaking” though his leak wasn’t classified anyway.
And saying he should have dodged Trump’s calls…cause we should have a Pres. law enforcement ignores.
And going. “But her emails” and “But Loretta Lynch!”
I swear, the Repubs are morons who, seeing their house on fire, would call an exterminator for the termite infested house next door.
So as usual the GOP deflected(bringing up Hillary, Obama, and Loretta Lynch) and made excuses for Trump. Shouldn’t Rubio and Cotton been removed from the hearing since they had dinner with Trump just the other day and you know that Trump instructed them to give Comey a hard time? Why are the GOP so complicit? Why are they saying that Trump didn’t commit obstruction of justice when he stated from his own mouth that he fired Comey to make the investigation stop. It’s just sad how everyone is so complicit with Trump’s bad behavior. You have to assume that every member of the GOP has been compromised by the Russians.
The media says that Trump didn’t tweet today, but his son Donald Trump Jr was tweeting up a storm today. Which means that Trump was tweeting from his son’s twitter account!
What about Nunes? Are they not even going to address the fact that he has tried to hijack the HIC investigation again by starting an investigation into unmasking and issuing subpoenas to Susan Rice, Brennan, and another person.
There is evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians: Trump went on tv and asked the Russians to hack Hillary and they did.
The Trump supporters are calling Comey a leaker, but the problem is that these memos are Comey’s notes and are not classified information. Comey can’t be charged for leaking information, especially since they keep making so many excuses as to why Trump can’t be charged with obstruction of justice, even though you have Trump admitting that he tried to interfere with the investigation by firing Comey.
Are we going to ignore the fact that he flat out admitted that Russia hacked most of our government agencies including people and companies close to the government like non profit organizations??? That to me is the real smoking gun here. Where is the outrage? At one time an action like that would have been seen as an act of aggregation towards the US. The fact that our president hasn’t come out and condemned Putin speaks far more about his involvement with Putin than anything else I’ve read about. I can’t believe the state of our government. This is all a sh*t show and embarrassing as f*ck. Our relations with the rest of the world are slowly dying. The republican party is slowly killing the country and for what? Say good bye to being top dog America, we’re done unless the GOP decides to put the country first and salvage what we can while we still have a chance. My family has money saved up so we can move out of Florida to another state, but the way healthcare is going and seeing the budget proposal for education and other things, I’m seriously considering going to Canada. Take me Canada!! I’ll be a good immigrant! I swear!!!!!!!
“Say good bye to being top dog America”
I’m learning Chinese.
We would welcome you here with open arms! Most Canadians are utterly aghast at what’s happening south of the border. We are one of America’s biggest trading partners but Trump seems hellbent on destroying relationships with just about every country in the world with the exception of Saudi Arabia (and covertly Russia). However Canada could certainly benefit from an increase in immigration from the U.S. of skilled workers as our population is below what’s needed to sustain a healthy economy if poorly thought out trade sanctions are imposed.
Thanks Jaded! I can’t even tell you how much thought I’ve put into moving there. I know it’s a long and hard process to get citizenship, but it would be worth the trouble. So many times I’ve thought about just crossing the border and never coming back. I’m really concerned about healthcare and education here. My daughter has developmental delays and even though we have insurance through my husbands job she has medicaid as a secondary which might get taken away if Paul Ryan has his way. The medicaid basically only covers her co-pays, but with her weekly therapies and million other doctor appointments I’d be completely broke without the help. The way things are going I just can’t imagine actually raising my children here anymore. Their health and education are at risk and I’m just not sure how long I’m willing to ride this out to see if it will improve.
In the NSA leak the other day, the document said that Russia:
1. Attempted to hack into gov’t and private voting entities.
2. Got an employee of a private voting machine company to fall for the phishing.
3. Used that breach to attempt to hack STATE VOTING mechanisms in 8 states.
THIS IS HUGE! I wish the media would bring attention to it, instead of focusing on the female leaker and her unusual name.
Did anyone else think it seemed as if Comey was on the verge of saying he didn’t believe HRC would have fired him if she had become POTUS?
Maybe I was just seeing what I wanted…have to watch again.
Kelly Odonnell is making her rounds of trying to normalize Trump. She is reporting that Trump didn’t watch Comey’s testimony because he was busy, that he happened to catch some of the testimony when he was moving from room to room with his lawyer, that every one in the WH is in good spirits and that they were too busy doing important things to focus on Comey’s testimony, that it was a typical Thursday. Does Kelly Odonell really think that we are that stupid? Trump watched Sally Yates testimony, so we know that he was glued to Comey’s testimony. Trump was tweeting, but he was using his son’s twitter account. No one saw that coming. We all thought he would be tweeting from his account. His lawyer’s statement, which was filled with lies, following Comey’s testimony is even more proof that Trump was watching Comey’s testimony.
As usual the press is celebrating because the DOW is up and hit a record high, but once again what they failed to mention is that Trump’s administration is filled with billionaires and millionaires who still haven’t divested from their business. Tom Price is the perfect example. He was supporting laws and bills that would help his stocks do well. The rise would be a false positive.
Things are getting worse. There are reports that Mitch M is trying to fasttrack the AHCA and Trump’s pr people are spinning the headlines. Claiming that Trump was vindicated.
What will it take for the GOP to wake up and do something about Trump?
Trump wisely made sure his conversations with Comey were one on one. Thus making it Comey’s word against his. This won’t go anywhere. But hopefully the wider investigation into Russian interference in the election will.
But Trump stated on national television that he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation. So really, it isn’t just Comey’s word against Trump. It is Comey and Trump’s words against Trump.
Really? I only heard Trump say that he fired Comey because he was doing a bad job.
Trump told Lester Holt that he fired Comey to get rid of the Russian investigation.
So what do you think the ramifications will be then?
I think it will lead to articles of impeachment being filed eventually. Reps. Brad Sherman and Al Green last night said they would file articles of impeachment eventually if no one else does. It will take time to get ducks in a row. I think Dems would be wise to be precise and orderly and hopefully they take back the House in 2018. Then they will have the power to start the impeachment process.
California Rep. Brad Sherman compared the impeachment process to a criminal investigation. Think of it like the grand jury that precedes the actual criminal trial. The House is like the Grand Jury. They only need probably cause, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt. If the House agrees there is probably cause and passes articles of impeachment, then it goes to the Senate for a trial that is overseen by the Supreme Court.
If the Dems don’t take back the House….well then, we are probably screwed.
Tangerine didn’t tweet today. I guess someone tranquilized him with a dart gun. Comey opened a few doors but we have a long way to go. I am glad because it won’t overshadow coverage of the AHA shenanigans.
He didn’t tweet only because his staff had to take 4 phones & 1 ipad away from him.
He did tweet, he just did it under his son’s twitter account. Trump goes completely silent on twitter while his son’s account becomes more active than usual. It was Trump tweeting, not his son.
Yeah, I have to agree. Cheeto Jesus was tweeting from his sons account. I think some are beginning to realize this as well. Heat Street, whom I’ve never heard of, did a pretty good job of explaining the similarities between Cheeto and his son. It’s only a matter of time I think before more MSM run with this.
Trump is now using the DOJ to respond to Comey’s testimony(just like he used Devin Nunes and NSA to support his lie about being wiretapped by Obama) since his lawyer’s false statement completely backfired. He had them leak an email that Sessions/Rosenstein supposedly sent to Comey notifying him that he was fired. Trump and his administration complain about leakers and then they leak emails? Are the GOP going to hold them accountable for their hypocrisy? Trump also talked Sessions into challenging Comey’s testimony, Sessions is now saying that Comey’s request to not to be left alone with Trump didn’t happen the way Comey described.
Do these people understand what they are doing by sheltering Trump and covering up his lies and bad behavior? Trump and the GOP have 2 different standards. When Comey and Loretta Lynch, according to them it’s obstruction of justice. When it’s Trump and Comey, with Trump telling Lester Holt that he fired Comey to stop the Russian investigation, then according to them, there is no proof of obstruction.
Trump’s lawyer’s statement is ridiculous. He accused Comey of perjury, saying that the NY Times wrote about his leaked memo before Trump’s tweet about tapes. When in fact the Times didn’t write about it till days later.
And the moronic Trumpsters fall for it.
Keep focusing on how Comey said Trump wasn’t under investigation, Trumpsters. You’re missing that Comey basically said he never said this publically because he knew it would change.