General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsShit, the GOP is hammering the "wasn't under investigation" part
BREAKING: Corning (R-Russia - TX) will be asking Comey about Benghazi cause we haven't had enough of that shit
GetRidOfThem
(869 posts)Qutzupalotl
(14,302 posts)YCHDT
(962 posts)awesomerwb1
(4,267 posts)As I was reading it I went 'oh crap, that's one opening for the traitors'
anneboleyn
(5,611 posts)mreilly
(2,120 posts)... and what does it matter? He's under investigation NOW.
YCHDT
(962 posts)anneboleyn
(5,611 posts)the issue here with Comey. This is NOT a new revelation, so the GOP can hammer it all they want to as it is a pointless red herring.
bigtree
(85,991 posts)...a major part occurring at the dinner.
Considering most of the jeopardy Trump's in today is over obstruction, it's a thin reed to argue he wasn't under investigation at the time of the dinner.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,681 posts)But one reason Comey told Trump he was not at that time being personally investigated is that the FBI wouldn't want to have to change that statement later if the situation changed. Context is everything. Here's what he said:
"When the FBI develops reason to believe an American has been targeted for recruitment by a foreign power or is covertly acting as an agent of the foreign power, the FBI will "open an investigation" on that American and use legal authorities to try to learn more about the nature of any relationship with the foreign power so it can be disrupted.
In that context, prior to the January 6 meeting, I discussed with the FBI's leadership team whether I should be prepared to assure President-Elect Trump that we were not investigating him personally. That was true; we did not have an open counter-intelligence case on him. We agreed I should do so if circumstances warranted. During our one-on-one meeting at Trump Tower, based on President Elect Trump's reaction to the briefing and without him directly asking the question, I offered that assurance.
During the dinner, the President returned to the salacious material I had briefed him about on January 6, and, as he had done previously, expressed his disgust for the allegations and strongly denied them. He said he was considering
ordering me to investigate the alleged incident to prove it didn't happen. I replied that he should give that careful thought because it might create a narrative that we were investigating him personally, which we weren't, and because it was very difficult to prove a negative. He said he would think about it and asked me to think about it.
I explained that we had briefed the leadership of Congress on exactly which individuals we were investigating and that we had told thoseCongressional leaders that we were not personally investigating President Trump. I reminded him I had previously told him that. He repeatedly told me, "We need to get that fact out." (I did not tell the President that the FBI and the Department of Justice had been reluctant to make public statements that we did not have an open case on President Trump for a number of reasons, most importantly because it would create a duty to correct, should that change.)"
beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)Xolodno
(6,390 posts)...Is the President under investigation currently? And his response will be they have to refer to the special investigator. Thus leaving the cloud up there.
YCHDT
(962 posts)procon
(15,805 posts)Don't believe the propaganda. Republicans cherry picked the parts the liked and omitted the rest. Comey was careful to say that Trump was not a subject of an open investigation at that time. That's not to say he wasn't a person of interest or there were suspicious activities where he was named. As Comey remarked:
of Justice had been reluctant to make public statements that we did not have an
open case on President Trump for a number of reasons, most importantly because
it would create a duty to correct, should that change.)
Given the speed of how things are unfolding, what might have been true back a few months ago, is very likely quite different today.