Official James Comey testimony thread

Tony Stark

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Tony Stark
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James Comey will be publicly testifying in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee tomorrow at 10am Eastern. It will be televised live on the major networks, cable news, and online.

A written statement to the committee from Comey has already been posted online. It is recollections of conversations he had with Trump.

https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/os-jcomey-060817.pdf

some quotes:

January 27th dinner said:
A few moments later, the President said, “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.” I didn’t move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence. The conversation then moved on, but he returned to the subject near the end of our dinner.
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February 14th Oval Office meeting said:
The President then returned to the topic of Mike Flynn, saying, “He is a good guy and has been through a lot.” He repeated that Flynn hadn’t done anything wrong on his calls with the Russians, but had misled the Vice President. He then said, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” I replied only that “he is a good guy.” (In fact, I had a positive experience dealing with Mike Flynn when he was a
colleague as Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the beginning of my term at FBI.) I did not say I would “let this go.”
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March 30th phone call said:
On the morning of March 30, the President called me at the FBI. He described the Russia investigation as “a cloud” that was impairing his ability to act on behalf of the country. He said he had nothing to do with Russia, had not been involved with hookers in Russia, and had always assumed he was being recorded when in Russia. He asked what we could do to “lift the cloud.” I responded that we were investigating the matter as quickly as we could, and that there would be great benefit, if we didn’t find anything, to our having done the work well. He agreed, but then re-emphasized the problems this was causing him.
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April 11th phone call said:
On the morning of April 11, the President called me and asked what I had done about his request that I “get out” that he is not personally under investigation. I replied that I had passed his request to the Acting Deputy Attorney General, but I had not heard back. He replied that “the cloud” was getting in the way of his ability to do his job. He said that perhaps he would have his people reach out to the Acting Deputy Attorney General. I said that was the way his request should be handled. I said the White House Counsel should contact the leadership of DOJ to make the request, which was the traditional channel.

He said he would do that and added, “Because I have been very loyal to you, very loyal; we had that thing you know.” I did not reply or ask him what he meant by “that thing.” I said only that the way to handle it was to have the White House Counsel call the Acting Deputy Attorney General. He said that was what he would do and the call ended.

That was the last time I spoke with President Trump
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Writing the synopsis of his meetings with Trump immediately after and sharing with others at the FBI was a smart thing to do. I don't doubt that Comey's description of the events are basically accurate representations. I expect he will come across as honest and unflappable at tomorrow's Senate hearing.

It was interesting that Comey mentioned they spoke about the Russian hooker story. Trump asked him to investigate and prove it wasn't true and Comey said it may appear that they were investigating Trump personally. Is this where Trump conflated in his mind that Comey told him (three times!) that he wasn't under investigation for the Russian election interference?
 
On the morning of April 11, the President called me and asked what I had done about his request that I “get out” that he is not personally under investigation. I replied that I had passed his request to the Acting Deputy Attorney General, but I had not heard back. He replied that “the cloud” was getting in the way of his ability to do his job.
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Getting in the way of what?
 
"“I need loyalty, I expect loyalty"


Personal Loyalty to Me Above the Law and the Constituion.

Shades of Louis the 14th : L'etat'c'est Moi.
 
dudalb said:
"“I need loyalty, I expect loyalty"


Personal Loyalty to Me Above the Law and the Constituion.

Shades of Louis the 14th : L'etat'c'est Moi.
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If you expect loyalty, you'd better both show loyalty AND conduct yourself in a way that shows you deserve loyalty.
 
Border Reiver said:
If you expect loyalty, you'd better both show loyalty AND conduct yourself in a way that shows you deserve loyalty.
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ANd he is expecting personal loyalty to Donald Trump, not loyalty to office of POTUS, two different things.
Harry Truman's made a famous statement that he did not give a damn what people thought about Harry Truman, but they needed to show the office of POTUS some respect. What a freaking difference from Trump.
 
dudalb said:
That is a dead issue.That is one of the few things the GOP in Congress have been very emphatic in opposing Trump on.
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Yeah, but he is probably dumb enough to think he can get away with doing it if the whole Russia thing dies down a little.
 
dudalb said:
ANd he is expecting personal loyalty to Donald Trump, not loyalty to office of POTUS, two different things.
Harry Truman's made a famous statement that he did not give a damn what people thought about Harry Truman, but they needed to show the office of POTUS some respect. What a freaking difference from Trump.
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Although I am a republican, I do like the fact that our head of state doesn't have day to day power (although theoretically she can do quite a lot) because I prefer the executive to not have such respect due to their office.

I dislike our second chamber - and would prefer it to be chosen by lot.
 
Argumemnon said:
That tells you all you need to know about Trump's future.


*Also: that doesn't mean Louis wasn't competent.
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He was a competent ruler until the last 25 years of his rule where he engaged in a series of wars that did not turn out well for France and petty much bankrupted the country...in fact, the Bourbons never really recovered from the mess that Louis the 14th made in his last two decades of rule.

But one interesting thing:Louis had the ruler of one of his main traditional opponents....Great Britain...on his payroll for a number of years.....

No kidding. Charles the Second received a "pension" from Louis for a number of years.

So he might have been a bit of Putin as well as Trump.
 
“I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.”

How can any Trump appointee for FBI director be approved with this removal of independence?
 
Stacko said:
“I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.”

How can any Trump appointee for FBI director be approved with this removal of independence?
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Because an independent FBI and DoJ is a myth not actually set out in the rules. While it is not tested, it is an option for the president to simply not appoint an FBI director and exercise those duties himself.
 
Stacko said:
“I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.”

How can any Trump appointee for FBI director be approved with this removal of independence?
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It will be funny if Trump expects Wray to interfere with the Mueller investigation, and then gets infuriated when it doesn't happen.
 
BobTheCoward said:
Because an independent FBI and DoJ is a myth not actually set out in the rules. While it is not tested, it is an option for the president to simply not appoint an FBI director and exercise those duties himself.
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I hope Trump tries to be his own FBI director. The backlash and leaks would be glorious.
 
dudalb said:
He was a competent ruler until the last 25 years of his rule where he engaged in a series of wars that did not turn out well for France and petty much bankrupted the country...in fact, the Bourbons never really recovered from the mess that Louis the 14th made in his last two decades of rule.

But one interesting thing:Louis had the ruler of one of his main traditional opponents....Great Britain...on his payroll for a number of years.....

No kidding. Charles the Second received a "pension" from Louis for a number of years.

So he might have been a bit of Putin as well as Trump.
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That was the Secret Treaty of DoverWP and it involved Charles in his capacity of King of England, not yet Great Britain. But do you think Trump would be as unscrupulous as this?
The King of England will make a public profession of the Catholic faith, and will receive the sum of two millions of crowns, to aid him in this project, from the Most Christian King, in the course of the next six months. The date of this declaration is left absolutely to his own pleasure ... The two Kings will declare war against the United Provinces [ie the Netherlands]​
You could have a good night out on two million crowns in those days.
 
BobTheCoward said:
Because an independent FBI and DoJ is a myth not actually set out in the rules. While it is not tested, it is an option for the president to simply not appoint an FBI director and exercise those duties himself.
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I don't know. Hoover was pretty independent, in that he did whatever the @#$% he felt like...
 
Does this rise to the level of Obstruction of Justice?

I read that Trump must have shown some form of criminal intent. He had to know that what he was asking was possibly illegal and definitely inappropriate.

Did he know it was inappropriate? Surely.

Did he think it was illegal? He's such an arrogant ******* that he might have thought it was ok.

Though the fact that he asked Sessions to leave the room suggests he may have been aware his request could be possibly illegal.
 
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/boro...-will-be-too-sick-to-work-on-thursday-morning
C.D.C.: MILLIONS OF AMERICANS IN AREAS COLORED BLUE WILL BE TOO SICK TO REPORT TO WORK THURSDAY MORNING

ATLANTA (The Borowitz Report)—In a mysterious epidemic that has spread rapidly in the past twenty-four hours, millions of Americans will be too sick to report to work on Thursday morning, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Releasing a map of the United States on Wednesday, the C.D.C. indicated that the highest concentrations of people suffering from the baffling ailment occur in the areas colored blue.
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:D
 
Hercules56 said:
Does this rise to the level of Obstruction of Justice?

I read that Trump must have shown some form of criminal intent. He had to know that what he was asking was possibly illegal and definitely inappropriate.

Did he know it was inappropriate? Surely.

Did he think it was illegal? He's such an arrogant ******* that he might have thought it was ok.

Though the fact that he asked Sessions to leave the room suggests he may have been aware his request could be possibly illegal.
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Ignorance of the law is no excuse - last I heard!!! And Trumpf is certainly ignorant!!!
 
Hercules56 said:
Does this rise to the level of Obstruction of Justice?

I read that Trump must have shown some form of criminal intent. He had to know that what he was asking was possibly illegal and definitely inappropriate.

Did he know it was inappropriate? Surely.

Did he think it was illegal? He's such an arrogant ******* that he might have thought it was ok.

Though the fact that he asked Sessions to leave the room suggests he may have been aware his request could be possibly illegal.
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Whether the president can commit obstruction is a political question.
 
BobTheCoward said:
Whether the president can commit obstruction is a political question.
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It is a political question whether he will be impeached over it. Because Republican scum care more about their party than they do the country, probably not.
 
Tony Stark said:
It is a political question whether he will be impeached over it. Because Republican scum care more about their party than they do the country, probably not.
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It is political as I argue the president cannot obstruct justice. He has ultimate authority to determine what cases warrant examination....even about him. There is no independent executive investigative body.
 
BobTheCoward said:
It is political as I argue the president cannot obstruct justice. He has ultimate authority to determine what cases warrant examination....even about him. There is no independent executive investigative body.
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Your argument is ridiculous.
 
If the president can just obstruct justice with impunity why did Nixon attempt to do it through the CIA rather than ordering the FBI to do it directly? Why was he about to be removed from office for doing that? Why did Ford even bother pardoning him?
 
Tony Stark said:
If the president can just obstruct justice with impunity why did Nixon attempt to do it through the CIA rather than ordering the FBI to do it directly? Why was he about to be removed from office for doing that? Why did Ford even bother pardoning him?
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Why does Trump complain about his DoJ not defending his travel ban when it is undisputed he has the power to order them to defend it as he wishes?

To answer your questions in order he wanted to do it secretly, he wasn't about to be removed under executive power so it doesn't actually say anything about executive power which is why I called it a political question, and after removal from office an ex president no longer has the power to determine investigation priorities.
 
Tony Stark said:
Nixon believed he was above the law. Turned out he was wrong.
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There was a complete lack of criminal charges filed against Nixon while he was in office and he resigned to avoid a political impeachment.

Nixon is a supremely dumb example for saying a president is not above the law. He suffered no executive legal reprecussions for his actions.
 
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Regnad Kcin said:
I've had a sense for days that Comey's testimony will prove anticlimactic. Time will tell.
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Yeah, I am getting the feeling that these televised hearings are all a
dog and pony show.

There was a whole lot of talk about what they wouldn't or couldn't say.

Still, the chaos is obvious, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
 
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