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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Thu Jun 8, 2017, 10:45 AM Jun 2017

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 simple’’—a stark challenge to the president’s 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. Comey’s 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



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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 FBI’s 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 that’s a very important statement you just made.”

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/comey-concerned-trump-might-lie

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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 bureau’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server was “ultimately” influenced by former President Bill Clinton’s 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 we’re to close this case credibly,” he said.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/comey-lynch-clinton-email-server
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calimary

(80,693 posts)
1. I LOVE hearing the public use of the word "lie" here.
Thu Jun 8, 2017, 10:47 AM
Jun 2017

LOVE hearing it asserted. It needs to be part of the public record.

thesquanderer

(11,954 posts)
6. Also, though, lying is not illegal (except under oath).
Thu Jun 8, 2017, 11:23 AM
Jun 2017

It may be bad PR, but it is certainly not, say, a high crime or misdemeanor.

J_William_Ryan

(1,736 posts)
10. Actually, this is incorrect.
Thu Jun 8, 2017, 12:41 PM
Jun 2017

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)
11. Yes, a political process, but no one will consider lying to be an impeachable offense
Thu Jun 8, 2017, 01:05 PM
Jun 2017

(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.)

 

SCVDem

(5,103 posts)
3. To any non veterans
Thu Jun 8, 2017, 11:08 AM
Jun 2017

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.

DK504

(3,847 posts)
5. So he says James Giant Peach is a grandstander. Which of course Twitty has been repeating.
Thu Jun 8, 2017, 11:21 AM
Jun 2017

"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 simple’’—a stark challenge to the president’s 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.

Honeycombe8

(37,648 posts)
7. Comey is being VERY honest and using factual, direct words.
Thu Jun 8, 2017, 11:26 AM
Jun 2017

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.

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