I'm surprised, Chaffetz has asked the DOJ's Investigator General to start a probe into the firing of FBI director Comey. Apparently he was turned by something that also involved him not running for re-election. Not sure what yet.
Quote:
The chairman of the House Oversight Committee is calling for the Justice Department's inspector general to look into the circumstances surrounding President Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.
"Previously I asked Inspector General Horowitz to review the FBI’s actions in advance of the 2016 election," Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said in a statement Wednesday.
"Today I sent a letter urging IG Horowitz to expand the scope of his review to include the decision to fire Director Comey. I look forward to receiving the IG’s findings."
The inspector general is also probing the Justice Department's and the FBI's handling of their investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server in the months before the 2016 presidential election.
The White House also demanded that Comey give them a preview of what he was presenting to the investigation before his testimony. Comey refused. Trump then issued the order to have him fired.
Claude Taylor is now saying Comey was fired on his trip to LA so they could have immediate access to Comey's computer. If true this is utter and blatant obstruction and they should all be thrown in jail. https://twitter.com/TrueFactsStated/...60693383184388
Unlike President Man-child, Comey is a respectable & mature adult, so his diplomatic response here isn't surprising at all. But I'm betting he's absolutely seething on the inside, considering his Russia investigation was just getting warmed up.
Deputy AG General Rod Rosenstein is threatening to resign after the Trump administration tried to throw him under the bus by painting him as the architect of the Comey firing. All other reports indicate this was Sessions and Trump.
Quote:
While President Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI director James Comey came as a shock for many, one of the alleged architects of the dismissal was also reported to have been surprised after the hammer came down.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who wrote a three-page memorandum detailing the reasons behind his recommendation for Comey's dismissal on Monday, was painted as the main arbiter of the decision.
Trump had asserted that he acted based on Rosenstein's and Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recommendations.
But as Rosenstein was thrust into the spotlight shortly after news of Comey's dismissal broke, he was reported to be taken aback and even threatened to resign, according to an unnamed person close to the White House who was cited by The Washington Post.
According to multiple news reports on Wednesday night, Trump himself had grown increasingly angry and frustrated with Comey over his handling of the Russia investigation. The New York Times reported that Trump was also bothered by his inability to gain assurances of loyalty from the now-former FBI director.
"[Comey] wasn’t doing a good job," Trump said on Wednesday. "Very simple. He wasn’t doing a good job.
Comey was further criticized by the White House after deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Wednesday that he had committed “atrocities” for his handling of Hillary Clinton’s email server scandal.
But sources cited by CNN said that Rosenstein’s alleged role in Comey's firing seemed out of place.
Incidentally, Rosenstein is probably the one in the administration that has the most power to bring down Trump. He can be the one that appoints a special independent of the White House and the DOJ to run the investigation. NYT editors are calling for this and if Trump pisses Rosenstein off enough, I suspect we'll see something happening.
Quote:
You have one choice: Appoint a special counsel who is independent of both the department and the White House. No one else would have the standing to assure the public it is getting the truth. While a handful of Republican senators and representatives expressed concern at Mr. Comey’s firing, there is as yet no sign that the congressional investigations into Russian interference will be properly staffed or competently run. And Americans can have little faith that the Justice Department, or an F.B.I. run by Mr. Trump’s handpicked replacement, will get to the bottom of whether and how Russia helped steal the presidency for Mr. Trump.
In theory, no one should have a greater interest in a credible investigation than the president, who has repeatedly insisted the suspicions about his campaign are baseless. Yet rather than try to douse suspicions, he has shown he is more than willing to inflame them by impeding efforts to get to the truth.
Given your own reputation for probity, you must be troubled as well by the broader pattern of this president’s behavior, including his contempt for ethical standards of past presidents. He has mixed his business interests with his public responsibilities. He has boasted that conflict-of-interest laws do not apply to him as president. And from the moment he took office, Mr. Trump has shown a despot’s willingness to invent his own version of the truth and to weaponize the federal government to confirm that version, to serve his ego and to pursue vendettas large and small.
FBI sources say Trump repeatedly tried to slow down, derail and end the Russia investigation and that Comey refused to comply. They point to this as the real reason Comey was fired.
Quote:
Multiple FBI insiders have claimed the real reason the bureau’s former director James Comey was fired by Donald Trump was because of his refusal to end the investigation into links between Russia and the US leader's presidential campaign team.
The president claimed Mr Comey “wasn’t doing a good job” and documents provided by the White House suggested he was fired for his poor handling of the bureau’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
But speculation has mounted that the director was deposed because of his refusal to end his investigation into allegations that individuals involved with Mr Trump's presidential campaign had undisclosed links to the Kremlin and whether Russian hacking influenced the outcome of last year’s presidential election.
What? You mean it wasn't just a coincidence that the third person who was seriously looking at Trump and his teams ties to Russia was also the third person unceremoniously and incompetently fired?
I'm shocked. Shocked I say!
The incompetence will likely continue with the appointment of a Giuliani, Chritie or some other similarly incompetent sycophant. Given people dislike working for incompetents you'll start to see major leaks from both the WH and the FBI.
Last edited by ernie; 05-11-2017 at 08:35 AM.
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The president claimed Mr Comey “wasn’t doing a good job” and documents provided by the White House suggested he was fired for his poor handling of the bureau’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.
He really does think everyone is as stupid as he is.
Also, apparently Comey asked for more resources, money/people for the Russia investigation, so Trump knew it wasn't going to go away.
Listened to a Radiolab podcast recently on the steps needed for the Americans to launch a nuclear weapon and it's surprisingly concerning the lack of checks and balances the process has on the President himself if he decides to go for it... While there are two guys responsible for "turning the switch", which provides checks and balances at that point, a launch command from the President cannot be negated by anyone and it is the President's decision alone.
