FBI Director James Comey has been fired

[Darth Credence]

Short write up here.

"President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions," the statement said.

As a note, if I type Comey into my browser, "Comey fired" is the first filled in, with "Comey fired snopes" coming in second.

[DrRocket]

Just saw it on the local daily blab web site.

[erwins]

It's interesting that both sides may be pleased by his firing, which in some instances might suggest that a person has been even-handed, and has just ticked off both sides in doing his job.

In this case, though, I certainly think he badly mishandled the secondary Clinton email probe, could have affected the election, and then made false statements to Congress about it. The fact that Trump was angry at him for not prosecuting Clinton is what made the firing now possible, even though there was nothing wrong with that decision.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Was he fired for not going after Clinton or for not stopping the investigations into Russian activities/ties to Trump, though?

[diddy]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

Was he fired for not going after Clinton or for not stopping the investigations into Russian activities/ties to Trump, though?

Ive seen sources that state the reasoning was due to the secondary investigation of Huma Abadien and of Hillary Clinton and not the Russian investigation.

Not that I trust what the Trump admin says mind you. It's very suspicious in my book

[crocoduck_hunter]

Trump's only concern over the Clinton investigation is that she was never charged with anything. If that's why he fired Comey, I'm a ninja turtle.

[thorny locust]

I doubt they'd say it was because he's been insisting on investigating the Russian interference, even if it was.

-- if he actually was trying to tip the election to Trump by the last-minute announcement about finding new emails, as opposed to just being somehow so politically clueless that he didn't realize he might be doing that, then I suppose we can add him to the long list of people who may be getting what they voted for and not liking it.

[erwins]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

Was he fired for not going after Clinton or for not stopping the investigations into Russian activities/ties to Trump, though?

Yes, that is the more immediate reason. I forgot about that one.

[Errata]

The new FBI director will be Tiffany Trump's boyfriend, whose initial priorities will be countering "fake news", cracking down on leaks by executive branch employees, and saving the taxpayers money by slashing the budget for Russian counterintelligence.

[diddy]

Originally Posted by thorny locust

I doubt they'd say it was because he's been insisting on investigating the Russian interference, even if it was.

-- if he actually was trying to tip the election to Trump by the last-minute announcement about finding new emails, as opposed to just being somehow so politically clueless that he didn't realize he might be doing that, then I suppose we can add him to the long list of people who may be getting what they voted for and not liking it.

Yea. Outside of the fact that Trump has such a poor track record of honesty, the fact that the FBI was already investigating the Trump campaign (which I know is different from Trump as an individual and different from the Trump admin) makes this stink to high hell and reminds me of what I have heard about the Nixon administration. Not something I would like too be compared to.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Someone on another forum I follow pointed out a few things that I think are important:

One: this isn't just "Trump sacks James Comey." This is "Trump, who previously sacked Sally Yates and Preet Bharara, sacks James Comey." There is definitely a pattern here.

Two: Trump said he did this in part on the advice of Jeff Sessions. Sessions publicly recused himself, on tape, from any matters concerning Hillary Clinton that had arisen during the campaign. Now, as I've already said I don't think that this was the reason for Comey's firing, but it's still an issue.

There is a lot that is wrong here.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Darth Credence

As a note, if I type Comey into my browser, "Comey fired" is the first filled in, with "Comey fired snopes" coming in second.

I wasn't fired; I quit.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Kellyanne Conway On Comey Firing: ‘It’s Not A Cover Up’

Senior White House aide Kellyanne Conway said emphatically Tuesday that President Donald Trump firing the FBI Director was “not a cover-up.”

Guess that settles it: there's absolutely no chance left that it wasn't a coverup.

[Richard W]

Originally Posted by Darth Credence

As a note, if I type Comey into my browser, "Comey fired" is the first filled in, with "Comey fired snopes" coming in second.

Whereas I get these autocomplete suggestions:

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

Guess that settles it: there's absolutely no chance left that it wasn't a coverup.

And they're definitely not going to eat his brains! ... For example.

[mbravo]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

Kellyanne Conway On Comey Firing: ‘It’s Not A Cover Up’



Guess that settles it: there's absolutely no chance left that it wasn't a coverup.

"I am not a crook."

[ChasFink]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

Kellyanne Conway On Comey Firing: ‘It’s Not A Cover Up’

Guess that settles it: there's absolutely no chance left that it wasn't a coverup.

Wait. Kellyanne Conway is still around? I guess Trump did fire a lot of people if they had to drag her into the sunlight again.

Anyone see SNL's "Where in the World is Kellyanne Conway?"

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by diddy

Yea. Outside of the fact that Trump has such a poor track record of honesty, the fact that the FBI was already investigating the Trump campaign (which I know is different from Trump as an individual and different from the Trump admin) makes this stink to high hell and reminds me of what I have heard about the Nixon administration. Not something I would like too be compared to.

https://twitter.com/NixonLibrary/sta...83605081862145

[erwins]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

Someone on another forum I follow pointed out a few things that I think are important:

One: this isn't just "Trump sacks James Comey." This is "Trump, who previously sacked Sally Yates and Preet Bharara, sacks James Comey." There is definitely a pattern here.

I don't remember now, but was there anything in the request for US Attorneys (including Bharara) to resign after Sessions's appointment that was inconsistent with how other administrations have tended to handle US Attorney transitions? I thought it was one of those things that sounds nefarious but turned out to be totally normal, but I may not be recalling it all.

Two: Trump said he did this in part on the advice of Jeff Sessions. Sessions publicly recused himself, on tape, from any matters concerning Hillary Clinton that had arisen during the campaign. Now, as I've already said I don't think that this was the reason for Comey's firing, but it's still an issue.

There is a lot that is wrong here.

I'm totally chagrined that I brain glitched the Russia connection in my earlier reaction. Luckily, in addition to being reminded of it here, President Trump also helpfully made a reference to it in his letter, even though it totally had nothing to do with that. So.

A friend who is far braver and stronger of stomach than me visited a Trump supporter Facebook group yesterday, where they were gleefully talking about how Trump could now appoint someone who will prosecute Hillary. So, it is important to note that standing between the US and a huge step into authoritarianism (criminally prosecuting political enemies) will be Senate Republicans. My mind is not at ease.

[E. Q. Taft]

I'm wondering if Trump will try to spin this to his adherents as firing Comey for not actually charging Hillary Clinton with anything, while surrogates just keep talking about it being related to Comey's "mishandling" of the case.

I just wonder how the administration thought people would react to this. If Trump had fired Comeny shortly after assuming office with this excuse, he might actually have come across as caring about the integrity of the FBI with respect to the election process (albeit too late to actually affect the outcome). Of course, the media are digging up lots of clips of Trump applauding Comey for having the "guts" to make his October revelations, so it seems a hell of a lot more likely that, whether it relates to the Russia investigations or not (psst: it does), Trump wants to put his own man in charge of the Bureau.

I only hope that the Senate will take its job seriously when it comes to the confirmation process. Yeah, the whole Comey affair has lowered public confidence in the FBI, but putting an obvious Trump toady in charge would make it a hell of a lot worse.

[crocoduck_hunter]

Originally Posted by erwins

I don't remember now, but was there anything in the request for US Attorneys (including Bharara) to resign after Sessions's appointment that was inconsistent with how other administrations have tended to handle US Attorney transitions? I thought it was one of those things that sounds nefarious but turned out to be totally normal, but I may not be recalling it all.

Well, Trump made a big deal about talking about how he wasn't going to fire Bharara, while Yates was the one who had pointed out issues with Flynn's ties to Russia.

We need an independent investigator put in charge of the Russia investigation right now. Even Senate Republicans are starting to call for it. Heck, the Nixon Presidential Library took a jab at Trump on Twitter over this.