Latest from TPM on FBI request - "It was Reince!"

[NRaleighLiberal]

Priebus Asked FBI Official To Deny Trump/Russia Stories

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/priebus-asked-fbi-official-to-deny-trump-russia-stories

By JULIE PACE Published FEBRUARY 23, 2017, 11:46 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked a top FBI official to dispute media reports that President Donald Trump's campaign advisers were frequently in touch with Russian intelligence agents during the election, a White House official said late Thursday.

The official said Priebus' request came after the FBI told the White House it believed a New York Times report last week describing those contacts was not accurate. As of Thursday, the FBI had not stated that position publicly and there was no indication it planned to.

The New York Times reported that U.S. agencies had intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trump's 2016 campaign team.

Priebus' discussion with FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe sparked outrage among some Democrats, who said he was violating policies intended to limit communications between the law enforcement agency and the White House on pending investigations.

"The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the president and his advisers," said Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

A 2009 memo from then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations "only when it is important for the performance of the president's duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective." When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department.

snip - more to read

[Brother Buzz]

1. Will he be forced to take the fall for this?

I understand Trump's inner circle (read Bannon) has been wanting to lose Priebus for some time, so I expect to see him to fall on his sword real soon, like the good soldier he is.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. These suckers are trying to

out do Nixon. Remember,it took 900 days for Watergate to finally take out Tricky Dick.

[herding cats]

3. This is interesting.

If this plays out like I expect, Bannon just won a massive victory. Damn. I'm not sure how to react here.

[Amaryllis]

4. Don't like this part:

the FBI told the White House it believed a New York Times report last week describing those contacts was not accurate. the question is, did the FBI tell them that or are they just saying the FBI told them that? The whole thing is convoluted.

[deminks]

11. That part has been updated in the CNN report

(snip)

The discussions between the White House and the bureau began with FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on the sidelines of a separate White House meeting the day after the stories were published, according to a US law enforcement official.

The White House initially disputed that account, saying that McCabe called Priebus early that morning and said The New York Times story vastly overstates what the FBI knows about the contacts.

But a White House official later corrected their version of events to confirm what the law enforcement official described.

(snip)

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/politics/fbi-refused-white-house-request-to-knock-down-recent-trump-russia-stories/index.html

The report that the FBI called Priebus and told him that the news reports were inaccurate came from a white house source. It has been changed.

[Demsrule86]

13. Trump is such a liar.

His people are liars too.

[Amaryllis]

14. OH, good. Thanks. Too much happening too fast to keep up with it all in spite of tooo many hours

online reading stuff.

[Cracklin Charlie]

5. Is there any chance that Rancid is doing this to set Trump up for charges?

He made the phone calls to the FBI this week!!!

I find it very hard to believe that Rancid Penis didn't know that he was setting himself up for charges. He had to have known that calling the FBI for PR help with an ongoing investigation, in a week that featured some fairly startling revelations in said investigation(s), would not be a great idea.

I contend that Rancid's boss angrily ordered him to call the FBI to ask for support from the bureau. Rancid did so, knowing full well that he could, in turn, implicate his boss, who had given him the order to obstruct justice in matters of the utmost seriousness.

Rancid avoids jail time, Trump gets impeached, Pence is installed in the Oval Office.

Easy peasy.

[triron]

6. He needs to resign

[ginnyinWI]

7. "there is a cancer growing on the Presidency..." n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. You mean that big orange blob that ate his brain???? n/t

[StrictlyRockers]

9. When do these rat-fuckers start lawyering-up and turning on each other?

I need to go read some more Watergate books. It really took 900 days? I need to go to the library and check out All the Presidents Men, or something.

Anyone have any Watergate reading recommendations?

[Cha]

10. I saw Rachel online talking about this tonight..

interesting.. gave us some of the history on the fallout of the bush2 admin, too, that culminated in AG Martinez to resign

It sounded like she was pronouncing his name "rance" as in rancid.

[nitpicker]

12. Link to Politico

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/democrats-trump-fbi-russia-communications-235332