Wednesday, May 17, 2017

The Comey Memo Is A Big Thing

President Trump greets Director of the FBI James Comey as Director of the Secret Service Joseph Clancy (L) watches during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Mike Allen, Axios: After Comey memos, Trump's survival at stake

Republicans close to the White House fear that yesterday's revelations could take President Trump into a legal or constitutional realm where his staff and supporters can't save him.

"A whole new door has opened," said a well-known Republican operative who has worked hard to help the Trump White House.

"A week ago, we were talking about the agenda grinding to a halt," the Republican said. "Now, the train is going down the hill backwards."

More officials are likely to need lawyers, and could face subpoenas for texts and emails off personal devices. They could be asked questions like: "Did the president ever talk about this in your presence?" ... "Were you in the room?" ... "Is there a record?"

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Predictions of President Trump's destruction have been non-stop since he declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President almost 2 years ago .... and they have all been wrong. But this time .... they may be right. This blogger never understood why President Trump did not fire FBI Director Comey when he won the election .... or why did he not fire him after the inauguration. I lost count on how many times I said in this blog that he should be dismissed .... even raising the question on why is he still there on the morning before he was terminated. That is why I am not surprised that the deliberate and timely leak of the Comey memo confirms to me not only how extremely politicised the former FBI Director is .... but more importantly .... how Washington itself is gearing itself up to stop President Trump's agenda. The Comey memo is the excuse that many have been looking for to open up multiple investigations into the Trump administration that will .... I predict .... put the focus away from pushing his agenda to instead answering questions to Congressional investigations. This is going to get worse .... and this little leak will be one of many. And speaking of former FBI Director Comey .... I regret not posting this commentary a few days ago because it does explain a lot on who and what former FBI Director Comey really is .... Good riddance to James Comey, Obama's enabler (Matt Schlapp, The Hill).

Update: A regular reader just asked me on what is it about former FBI Director Comey that made me suspicious/distrustful of him from the beginning. The answer is simple .... experience and instinct. I survived years working and rising in the Soviet bureaucracy (foreign affairs) .... I developed a good nose on who to avoid and who not to trust. In the case of the FBI Director .... it started last year with the Hillary emails .... all the alarm bells started to ring loud for me. On a side note .... I am surprised that President Trump missed this. He is always bragging that he is good at reading people .... I say that he is not .... especially on how ideology plays in government. And while I know that he is not ideological .... here is an easy prediction .... he is going to get a schooling now on how ideological Washington really is.

Update #2: I am laughing right now .... someone just emailed me his comment that people who write contemporary memos like how FBI Director did are just nothing more but "weasels who practice CYA". And just now I have another reader who says she is a lawyer and is telling me  that even if President Trump did say "I hope" you will drop the investigation to FBI Director Comey .... saying you hope is not "obstruction of justice" .... and that is why "Comey who is a top lawyer before he started to work for the government did not raise this issue when questioned by Senators weeks ago".

OK .... :)

Earlier this morning I mentioned to regular reader and commentator Jay that when I post on U.S. politics, traffic for this blog increases 3x. I should have also added that my email box fills up very quickly.

Update #3: Trump Faces Deepest Crisis of Presidency With Comey Memo (Bloomberg)

14 comments:

fred said...

Trump is going to get a schooling? Alas, Trump is a blowhard who thinks he knows more than anyone, and you,dear editor, seem unable to see how much Trump is central to the mess he has embroiled himself in. Comey should have been fired? Perhaps.But as you note, Trump did not do this. Fact: he fired Comey at a time when the issue of Russia influence came up. Smart, right? Blame the press and the Democrats etc all you will, but I am afraid that where Trump as great as Trump says he is, there would not be this day after day chaos, the likes of which I have never seen, and I am nearly 88.

War News Updates Editor said...

Sorry Fred .... but I did predict this.
I have always said that President Trump is an unconventional politician .... and he used what he had to defeat the Republican establishment, and from there to defeat the Democrat candidate who had the establishment, a unified party, the mass media, and God only knows how much money to push her campaign.

A lot of people did not predict this .... and they are not happy about it. President Trump has embarrassed all of them, and he is now a danger to their status quo. "To get even" is also a mantra in politics .... and the knives have been out since the election.

President Trump should have seen all of this .... but he did not. The reason why .... at least to me .... is that he is not an ideological person. A dangerous vulnerability .... especially if you are the President. But to attract voters ... clearly enough to win the Presidency.

fred said...

Pres Trump does not read, is in fact this and that. I wont bother going into details. But I did want to point out that for those who wonder why Comey said nothing earlier but kept memos, recall JEHoover who had files on every elected official plus others that he kept for himself to get what he wanted.
A problme with Trump, like him if you will, is that he screws things up daily and so whatever agenda he may have in mind, or the GOP, nothing getting done. And that is mainly his fault as leader of his party

fred said...

If there is not a lot out there about Trump ties to Russia, it may be because of this

Blackdog said...

You talk like you believe in an American "deep state"? That is my question to you, do you believe in an American "deep state"? And please maybe a comment on what a "deep state" is.

fred said...

I am not sure Blackdog, if you are replying to me or....?
Not sure what you mean by a deep state. You tell me what you mean and I can then tell you what I belive or do not believe in

Blackdog said...

That reply was to the editor. But I would read your opinion also. You seem level headed. Your replies to the editor are not full of derogatory comments. Like some of the replies on this post.

fred said...

thanks, BD
I believe the deep state refers to a govt of some kind that operates in secret from the elected govt. I do not believe that though I do from time to time find that various intel groups, ie, CIA, do things not allowed or not reported but later discovered to have taken place.
We have put in some military that is fighting in places where we claim we are not involved except perhaps for training, and yet foreign press has noted this though the facts ignored in our media...

fred said...

Dear Editor

It seems that it is not just the press or the Dems out to get Trump but now a drifting away from him by members of his own party, as noted here.

aaa said...

What memo? We don't even know that this memo exists. There is no proof of it, only gossip from anonymous 'friends' of Comey. The NYT article itself admits that the NYT has not viewed a copy of the memo, but "one of Mr. Comey's associates read parts of it to a Times reporter". Neither Comey nor the FBI have confirmed or denied the NYT allegation.

Let's assume there is a memo. Acting director McCabe stated last week that NOBODY has tried to impede the investigation. If the memo does exist, that would imply one of three things:

1. McCabe was unaware of the memo
2. McCabe was aware of the memo but for some reason decided not to mention it
3. The memo was taken out of context by the NYT report

Based on the media's recent history on Trump leaks, I'd bet on #3.

Additionally, if the memo does exist, does its existence alone prove beyond a doubt that Trump indeed made those statements? NO, it doesn't. Comey could have created it as 'career insurance' to bolster his reputation if fired by Trump.

The question I have is, does Trump really have recordings of his meetings? And if so, will the recording from this meeting be found and released?

Now...I'm not saying the memo doesn't exist and I'm not saying it does. All I'm saying is take a deep breath and look at the facts. Quit screaming impeachment until we know more.

Jay Farquharson said...

Comey called Trump's bluff about the White House taping their conversations and raised him contemporaneous written notes. The dealmaker really doesn't get how this Washington deal works.

fred said...

I for one hope Trump stays in office in order that the Democrats can take over the White House, Senate, and House.

Chase jones said...

Lol keep dreamin better chance of gayiforna succeeding witch im all for.

Chase jones said...

Thats your cue jay lets hear some poll numbers lol because they are so accurate