The Comey testimony

vraiblonde

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http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/08/full-text-james-comey-trump-russia-testimony-239295

My first impression is that Comey sounds like Miss America giving a farewell speech before turning over the crown. That aside, here's what happened:

CLARIFICATION: This is my interpretation of what was said, minus the blah blah and stuff that has nothing to do with the task at hand.

Questioning by Burr:

Did the Russians try to interfere with the 2016 election?
Yes.

Did they succeed?
No.

Did the President ask you to stop the investigation into the Russian involvement in the election?
No.

Did anybody in the Trump administration ask you to stop?
No.

Was General Flynn in legal trouble at that time?
Yes.

Do you think President Trump was trying to obstruct your investigation and cover for Flynn?
No idea, but it was concerning and I'm sure special counsel will get to the bottom of it.

Is it possible that special counsel will find evidence of criminality not tied to the election?
Sure.

So there *could* be something there?
Sure, that's always a possibility.

Is it normal for foreign governments to reach out to incoming administrations?
Yes.

But you had to investigate anyway?
Yes.

At what point did you become aware of Russian cyber intrusion attempts?
Happens all the time.

How many entities were targeted?
Hundreds, if not thousands.

Did you notify Obama? And how did he respond?
Yes, and he was still trying to decide what to do.

Did Loretta Lynch influence your investigation into the Hillary Clinton email issue?
Yes, in a number of ways.
 
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terbear1225

Well-Known Member
thanks for the summary. All of those answers seem fairly innocuous and not worth the hysteria that seems to be taking place. Would be interested in hearing opposing views if anyone cares to share (in a reasonable manner :razz:)
 

b23hqb

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
And all that will not compel the left, the media, and some Republicans still, that there is nothing there, nor convince them to just move on with the business of the country.
 

vraiblonde

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Questioning by Warner:

Why did you take notes when meeting with President Trump?
Because I thought he was going to lie.

Why didn't you take notes when meeting with Obama or Bush?
Because I didn't think they were liars.

You assured President Trump that he personally was not the target of the investigation. Did anyone on your team object to that?
Yes, one guy did because he hates Trump and was convinced that the potential for misdeed was there. I decided that "potential" wasn't enough to investigate.

Did he ever change his mind?
No, he was still hoping that something incriminating would come up regarding Trump.

Did you feel like President Trump threatened your job at the January dinner?
Yes.

What made you think that?
It was just an impression.

Has any other President requested loyalty out of you?
No. FBI is supposed to be independent and non-political.

Were you nervous when Trump asked you to meet with him privately in February?
Yes.

Why?
Because.

Why did you take notes?
Because I figured I'd have to cover my ass at some point.
 

vraiblonde

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Questioning by Risch:

I applaud your stellar note taking abilities.
Thank you. I'd like to thank my parents, and my teachers, and....

President Trump was not under investigation, is that correct.
That is correct.

So the report by the New York Times that Trump was colluding with the Russians wasn't true?
That is correct. I don't even know how they came up with that crazy story.

Did Trump direct or order you to shut down the investigation into Flynn?
No. But I took it as an order anyway.

Do people normally get charge with a crime for hoping something?
No.
 

PsyOps

Pixelated
My take-away from the whole spectacle is this:

1) There is nothing there on Trump for obstruction or collusion.

2) Comey obviously was not comfortable with Trump and didn't trust him.

and most importantly

3) Comey needed to voice his outrage over Trump’s trashing of him and the FBI and firing him, and needed to restore his reputation.

#3 is most important because it seems that’s what Comey was most focused on. When said the Trump trashing was “a lie”, the first thing I thought was “It wasn’t a lie, it was Trump’s opinion”. The FBI was a mess under Comey. His decision not to indict outraged many within the FBI. He lost a ton of trust within the agency. Trump was right to fire him; but he should have never kept him on in the first place.
 

vraiblonde

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Questioning by Feinstein:

Why do you think you were fired?
I don't know. I think it was because of the Russia investigation.

Do you think you were fired for not pledging your loyalty to Trump?
I have no idea.

Do you think it was because of the Russian investigation?
Yes - Trump said so on national television.

Tell us about how you think Trump was trying to pressure you into dropping the investigation.
He wasn't, but I felt like he was.

Why didn't you tell Trump that his pressure, or not pressure, or whatever it is, was wrong?
Because I'm a weakling and a toadie and I was intimidated.

Trump called you and told you to come clean because all this media innuendo and accusation was causing a "cloud" over his presidency. What did you think of that?
I thought he was annoyed at all the false reports the press was putting out there and wanted me to go public with the fact that he wasn't under investigation.

Did you?
No.

The President asked you to stop an investigation, even though you just testified that he did no such thing, but forget that a moment. Were your colleagues freaked out about this?
Yes, we all freaked out that Trump would ask us to stop an investigation, even though I just testified that he never did that. We didn't tell anyone, just kept it under our hat in case we needed to use it later.
 

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
You assured President Trump that he personally was not the target of the investigation. Did anyone on your team object to that?
Yes, one guy did because he hates Trump and was convinced that the potential for misdeed was there. I decided that "potential" wasn't enough to investigate.

Did he ever change his mind?
No, he was still hoping that something incriminating would come up regarding Trump.

whomever this ass clown is, he needs to be working somewhere else
 

RareBreed

Throwing the deuces
My take-away from the whole spectacle is this:

1) There is nothing there on Trump for obstruction or collusion.

2) Comey obviously was not comfortable with Trump and didn't trust him.

and most importantly

3) Comey needed to voice his outrage over Trump’s trashing of him and the FBI and firing him, and needed to restore his reputation.

#3 is most important because it seems that’s what Comey was most focused on. When said the Trump trashing was “a lie”, the first thing I thought was “It wasn’t a lie, it was Trump’s opinion”. The FBI was a mess under Comey. His decision not to indict outraged many within the FBI. He lost a ton of trust within the agency. Trump was right to fire him; but he should have never kept him on in the first place.

I heard co-workers rarely would speak to him. Not even a Hello in passing. Also when it was announced on TV that Clinton wouldn't be facing charges, co-workers were throwing food at the TV.
 

vraiblonde

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Questioning by Rubio:

You understood Trump to be asking you to drop the Flynn investigation, is that correct?
Yes.

Was that the only time he ever expressed that to you?
Yes.

When you felt he was pressuring you to drop the investigation, did you tell him you couldn't do that?
No.

Why not?
Because I was scared.

When Trump asked you to clear up the erroneous NYT reports, you refused to do that. Why?
Because I thought later we might actually *be* investigating him personally, and I didn't want to have to go back and correct myself.

Did you think Trump was asking you for a favor because he'd taken your advice when you vouched for McCabe?
No, not really.

Trump told you that he was in favor of a thorough investigation to clear this matter up once and for all, is that correct?
Yes. He even said that if we *do* find something on one of his underlings, it would be great to have that information (ostensibly to get rid of that person).

So Trump expressly encouraged you to continue with the investigation?
Yes.

So this is pretty much a tempest in a teapot?
Pretty much.
 

vraiblonde

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Blah blah blah, more along the same lines. The Dems ask loaded questions, designed to have a gotcha moment on Trump; and the Republicans ask questions designed to have a gotcha moment on Comey. The ones who I'm not familiar with and you can't tell whether they're Ds or Rs, I like those guys. :yay:

What I came away with:

Comey says Trump never pressured him, then he says he did.

Comey refused to tell the American public that the NYT story was a lie.

Senators are a bloviating pack of grandstanders. You can tell they're all lawyers. Some of them clearly drink or smoke dope before these things.

There's nothing to see here, unless they want to redirect their investigation toward Loretta Lynch and the Clintons.
 

vraiblonde

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Why would someone that is doing his job to the best of his ability be frightened by his boss?

To me it seems a very simple thing to say, "Mr. President, I appreciate your position but, as a sworn officer of the law, I cannot promise anything other than honesty and fairness."

Why the fear? Why the waffling? There was a respectful and reasonable response, if indeed Trump asked for his loyalty (at this point it's Comey's word against Trump's).

There's a lot about Comey's testimony that has me questioning his truthfulness and integrity. First Trump didn't pressure him to stop the investigation; then he did; then Trump specifically encouraged him to be thorough in the investigation. So which one of those is the truth? And why didn't any of the Senators pick up on the changing story and challenge it?
 

Hijinx

Well-Known Member
To me it seems a very simple thing to say, "Mr. President, I appreciate your position but, as a sworn officer of the law, I cannot promise anything other than honesty and fairness."

Why the fear? Why the waffling? There was a respectful and reasonable response, if indeed Trump asked for his loyalty (at this point it's Comey's word against Trump's).

There's a lot about Comey's testimony that has me questioning his truthfulness and integrity. First Trump didn't pressure him to stop the investigation; then he did; then Trump specifically encouraged him to be thorough in the investigation. So which one of those is the truth? And why didn't any of the Senators pick up on the changing story and challenge it?

Why didn't he write Memo's when Loretta Lynch and Obama told him to drop the Hillary case?
We all saw that fiasco, there is no way he can say he wasn't instructed to tell Loretta Lynch to not prosecute.
Sure: He was set up, he was made the fall guy, but he complied.
Did his job mean so much to him that he would lower himself to that level?
Obviously it did.

But then he let the media screw over Trump when he knew all along of the lie.
Got damnit he should not only be fired he should be prosecuted for malfeasance.
 
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