UPDATED Comey hearing: Former FBI director says Trump administration told lie...
Source: The Washington Post
Comey hearing: Former FBI director says Trump administration told lies when they explained his firing
By Devlin Barrett and Ellen Nakashima June 8 at 10:39 AM
Former FBI Director James B. Comey blasted the Trump administration for bad-mouthing the bureau and his leadership to justify his firing, saying those were lies, plain and simplea stark challenge to the presidents rationale for his ouster.
Comey said he took careful notes about his conversations with Trump because he was concerned (the president) might lie about the nature of the meetings.
Comey sat grim-faced at a witness table before the Senate Intelligence Committee shortly after 10 a.m. as the committee chairman, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), began the hearing by calling for a very open and candid discussion about the strained relationship between the president and Comey. Comeys written account of those discussions, made public on Wednesday, have fueled the debate over whether the president may have attempted to obstruct justice by pressuring the FBI director about a sensitive investigation.
This is not a witchhunt, this is not fake news, said the senior Democrat on the panel, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) This is an effort to protect our country from a new threat that quite frankly will not go away anytime soon.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/comey-testimony-trump-senate-hearing/2017/06/07/afadf87c-4bd0-11e7-bc1b-fddbd8359dee_story.html
-------------------------------------------------------------
Comey: I Documented Trump Meetings Because Of The Nature Of The Person. I Was Honestly Concerned That He Might Lie
By MATT SHUHAM Published JUNE 8, 2017 10:43 AM
Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner (R-VA) asked fired FBI Director James Comey why he decided to meticulously document his meetings with Trump after their first encounter.
A combination of things, Comey said. I think the circumstances, the subject matter and the person I was interacting with.
Circumstances: First, I was alone with the President of the United States, or the President-elect, soon to be president. The subject matter: I was talking about matters that touch on the FBIs core responsibility and that relate to the President-elect personally. And then the nature of the person. I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, and so I thought it really important to document. That combination of things I had never experienced before, but it led me to believe I got to write it down, and I got to write it down in a very detailed way.
Warner responded in part: I think thats a very important statement you just made.
###
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/comey-concerned-trump-might-lie
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comey: Bill Clinton Meeting With Lynch A Factor In Email Probe Announcement
By ESME CRIBB Published JUNE 8, 2017 10:40 AM
Fired FBI Director James Comey on Thursday said his decision to announce the result of his bureaus investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server was ultimately influenced by former President Bill Clintons tarmac meeting with then Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
That was the thing that capped it for me, that I had to do something separately to protect the credibility of the investigation, which meant both the FBI and the Justice Department, Comey said.
He said the meeting influenced his decision in an ultimately conclusive way. Comey said Lynch asked him not to call it an investigation, but instead to call it a matter, which confused and concerned Comey.
That was one of the bricks in the load that led me to conclude, I have to step away from the Department if were to close this case credibly, he said.
###
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/comey-lynch-clinton-email-server
calimary
(80,693 posts)LOVE hearing it asserted. It needs to be part of the public record.
thesquanderer
(11,954 posts)It may be bad PR, but it is certainly not, say, a high crime or misdemeanor.
J_William_Ryan
(1,736 posts)Impeachment is a political - not legal - process.
A president may be impeached, convicted in the Senate, and removed from office absent criminal wrongdoing.
thesquanderer
(11,954 posts)(if it wasn't under oath), that's the point.
And while you're right that impeachment does not technically require criminal wrong-doing, I think it is hard to see where you get much support for impeachment without it. (And certainly not for "merely" lying.)
George II
(67,782 posts)riversedge
(69,716 posts)SCVDem
(5,103 posts)When any military officer, including POTUS express a desire for something which may fall into a 'personal servitude' or other grey area, the officer will express an Officers Wish.
I wish I had a cup of coffee, I wish the Flynn thing would go away, etc.
While not orders per se, they are taken as such by a subordinate.
Trump expressed an officers wish and that's what Comey is explaining.
FailureToCommunicate
(13,989 posts)CountAllVotes
(20,854 posts)tRump was too busy coming up with more reasons to avoid Vietnam, chickenshit that he is!
DK504
(3,847 posts)"Former FBI Director James B. Comey blasted the Trump administration for bad-mouthing the bureau and his leadership to justify his firing, saying those were lies, plain and simplea stark challenge to the presidents rationale for his ouster. "
So telling the truth is grandstanding.... good to know.
He is still a douche and handed a traitor the presidency, but at least some parts of the truth are coming out.
StevieM
(10,499 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)He's a facts man, all right. And that's a good thing. He did NOT make memos about conversations he had with Obama or one he had with George Bush, because he didn't have concerns about them trying to misrepresent the conversations.