Previous Comey Testimony Shows Nobody at DOJ Asked Him to Drop Russia Case
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Posted: May 18, 2017 2:30 PM
MAY 3, 2017:
In light of the New York Times story alleging President Donald Trump told FBI Director James Comey to stop the bureau's investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, testimony from a May 3 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is getting attention.
According to Comey, who testified under oath, he was never pressured by Department of Justice officials to stop the investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election. Transcript from WAPO, bolding is mine:
[SENATOR] HIRONO: Yes. And so speaking of the independence of not just the judiciary but I’d like you to clarify the FBI’s independence from the DOJ apparatus. Can the FBI conduct an investigation independent from the department of Justice. Or does the FBI have to disclose all it’s investigations to the DOJ? And does it have to get the Attorney General’s consent?COMEY: Well we work with the Department of Justice, whether that’s main justice or U.S. attorney’s offices on all of our investigations.And so we work with them and so in a legal sense we’re not independent of the department of justice. We are spiritually, culturally pretty independent group and that’s the way you would want tit. But yes, we work with the Department of Justice on all of our investigations.HIRONO: So if the Attorney General or senior officials at the Department of Justice opposes a specific investigation, can they halt that FBI investigation?COMEY: In theory yes.HIRONO: Has it happened?COMEY: Not in my experience. Because it would be a big deal to tell the FBI to stop doing something that — without an appropriate purpose. I mean where oftentimes they give us opinions that we don’t see a case there and so you ought to stop investing resources in it. But I’m talking about a situation where we were told to stop something for a political reason, that would be a very big deal. It’s not happened in my experience.
Now, this doesn't disprove that President Trump asked Comey to drop the Flynn investigation during a private meeting at the White House earlier this year, but it does show that nobody inside Trump's DOJ was asking him to do so. The Times story alleges Comey has a memo with notes about the President asking him to stop the inquiry.
President Trump asked the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote shortly after the meeting.“I hope you can let this go,” the president told Mr. Comey, according to the memo.
In March Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, leaving Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in charge. Rosenstein has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel on the case.
Last week during testimony in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said there has been no interference in the FBI's Russia investigation since Comey was fired.
Note the Date: 3 May 2017
ReplyDeleteBACKGROUND
In February, former FBI Director James Comey reportedly drafted a memo highlighting areas where he felt President Trump acted improperly concerning influencing an ongoing FBI investigation. That investigation centered on his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. After a meeting on terrorism threats, Trump reportedly asked Vice President Pence and Attorney General Sessions to leave the Oval Office, where the president told Mr. Comey that Mr. Flynn was a good guy, and that he hoped he could “let this go.” The allegations of obstruction of justice are now ripe—with impeachment calls growing louder, except we don’t know if this memo exists. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), chair of the House Oversight Committee, has sent a letter demanding the FBI turn over all documents relating to communications between Mr. Comey and the president.
Has Comey impeached his own testimony?
ReplyDelete.
DeleteHow?
.
.
DeleteWe are not even certain there is a memo.
If there is one we are not sure what is in it.
However,
If there is a memo,
If it says Trump tried to interfere in an ongoing investigation,
How would the fact that DOJ didn't also try to interfere in the investigation change anything?
.
If Trump tried to interfere in a criminal investigation when he met met with then-FBI Director James B. Comey in mid-February and asked him to end the bureau's investigation into retired Gen. Michael Flynn, and then
DeleteComey wrote a memo for his files describing the meeting with Trump, which took place on Feb. 14. That would be the day after Trump fired Flynn from his White House job. The memo is reported to state:
“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Trump told Comey, according to the article. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
A memo of that sort would be consistent with a practice Comey is known to have established earlier in his career of writing memos to document incidents that he found noteworthy or disturbing.
THEN ON MAY 3, Comey was asked
HIRONO: So if the Attorney General or senior officials at the Department of Justice opposes a specific investigation, can they halt that FBI investigation?
COMEY: In theory yes.
HIRONO: Has it happened?
COMEY: Not in my experience. Because it would be a big deal to tell the FBI to stop doing something that — without an appropriate purpose. I mean where oftentimes they give us opinions that we don’t see a case there and so you ought to stop investing resources in it. But I’m talking about a situation where we were told to stop something for a political reason, that would be a very big deal. It’s not happened in my experience.
Under 18 U.S. Code Section 4, Comey is required by law to report any attempt - including by the President of the United States - to obstruct a federal investigation.
Quirk's point is it's FAKE NEWS.
DeleteHe knows the MSM to be...
Fair and balanced.
.
DeleteDoug, you're a flaming idiot.
Most people recognize that fact but you insist in continually making comments that prove it.
.
.
DeleteHas Comey impeached his own testimony?
I still don't see the connection.
If the memo exists and is written as quoted, it raises questions about why Comey didn't report what looks like Trump's attempt to interfere in an investigation to his bosses in the DOJ. Those questions are likely to be looked at by Meuller.
However, from what was quoted from the testimony in May, it appears Comey answered truthfully to the questions he was asked. The line of questioning established the lines of authority between the DOJ and the FBI and established that the FBI is subordinate to DOJ. Comey was then asked if anyone in DOJ had tried to stop one of his high profile investigations and he answered truthfully that they hadn't.
My original question was because I didn't see any connection between the Trump incident in February and Comey's testimony in May. I still don't.
.
I still don't see the connection between the May testimony and the alleged memo written in
Memo to myself:
ReplyDeleteNor do we know if the memo if it exists is a truthful memo.
Memos are very easy to write, and very easy to back date too, we must remember that as well.
Quirk once attempted to weasel out of a civil fraud case - it was about 'goods and services' - which, allegedly, he had not delivered - by introducing into evidence memos to myself which, he claimed, proved he had indeed provided the 'goods and services' in dispute.
DeleteThe Court, in summary judgement, didn't buy it, so Quirk absconded out to Idaho for the five years until the Judgement against him lapsed.
Why anyone in the world, particularly anyone of sane mind, would give any credence to a memo written by Comey on a political subject, is beyond me. He ran interference for Hillary, betrayed the trust placed in him by society on behalf of the liar Hillary, and richly deserved his dismissal. He showed himself to be basically a Democrat Party operative, a Hillary enabler, must have thought she was going to win the election, and is basically a lanky scumbug liar with a huge ego.
ReplyDeleteTo hell with him.
And there I was once believing the crap I had seen about how incorruptible and upstanding - 'a straight shooter' I had read - this ass hole was described as being.
DeleteThat all came crashing down in under thirty seconds when he excused all of Hillary's crimes.
Poor Mazie has advanced Kidney Cancer.
ReplyDeleteMaybe she got stuck w/my wife's "doctor."
https://www.google.com/search?q=mazie+hirono&rlz=1CAACAO_enUS720US720&oq=mazie&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l4.7760j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
...born in Fukushima.
DeletePete Hoekstra: 'AG Sessions Made A Cataclysmic Mistake Picking Rosenstein & Recusing Himself'
ReplyDeletehttps://www.podcastone.com/The-Laura-Ingraham-Show-Podcast
===
Major league Stupid
Rosenstein an Obama holdover.
Mueller, Comey's mentor and Lifetime FBI Shill.
Rosenstein rose up in California.
DeleteProbly Alt Right.
Must be Bannon's pick.
“I hope you can let this go,”
ReplyDeleteIs NOT "asking him to stop the inquiry"
It is an expression of desire.
DeleteI know, because Quirk, our English Language expert here, told me so.
It appears some of the military in the upper reaches are going to break for the 'government' in Venezuela - already have, in fact -
ReplyDeleteVENEZUELA
MAY 18, 2017 3:46 PM
In secret recording, Venezuelan general pushes for snipers to control demonstrators
BY ANTONIO MARIA DELGADO AND SONIA OSORIO
adelgado@elnuevoherald.com
Claiming to be primed for civil war, a Venezuelan general issued orders to prepare for the future use of snipers against anti-government protesters, according to a secret recording of a regional command meeting held three weeks ago at a military base in the northwestern Venezuelan city of Barquisimeto.
On the recording, obtained from a Washington source that has provided el Nuevo Herald with information on Venezuela for previous stories, the generals discuss the legality and risks of using snipers during the massive demonstrations taking place almost daily against President Nicolás Maduro.
The military, however, insists publicly that it is not using lethal force against demonstrators, a claim that was repeated on Wednesday by Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez.
The meeting, chaired by Division General José Rafael Torrealba Pérez, took place in the last week of April as Venezuela’s socialist government continued to try to contain the unrest. Local news reports said at least four demonstrators were killed by gunfire this week, raising the death toll to at least 42, with more than 700 wounded.
“Begin to make preparations with those individuals that can serve as snipers, beginning with psychological and aptitude tests” to make sure the unit commanders are in control of them, Torrealba instructed the military gathering. Torrealba is head of the Lara-state based Integral Defense Operational Zone (ZODI), one of several regional military operational zones.
The generals at the meeting included representatives of the army, air force and national guard, according to the Washington source.
“There will come a time when we will have to employ them [the snipers] and I want us to be ready for the moment that we have to employ them because the president will not remain at a green [preparation] phase, gentlemen,” Torrealba said, a likely reference to Maduro’s activation of the Zamora Plan, a war plan to be activated in the midst of imminent foreign invasion. “He [Maduro] has already signed a range of operations and as I said here [previously] … we could be at the beginning of a subversive urban war.”
DeleteThe recording of Torrealba’s voice matches the one appearing in videos of his public speeches available on YouTube. His voice also was identified by the Washington source that supplied the tape to el Nuevo Herald.
Some of the others present were National Guard Brigadier General Hernán Enrique Homez Machado, Air Force Brigadier General Carlos Enrique Quijada Rojas, Army Brigadier General Dilio Rafael RodrÃguez DÃaz, Army Brigadier General Joel Vicente Canelón and Army Brigadier General Iván DarÃo Lara Lander, according to the source that provided the recordings to el Nuevo Herald. El Nuevo Herald could not independently verify their presence at the meeting....
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article151329772.html
During The Spanish Civil War nearly the entire officer corps broke for the Nationalists and General Franco.
But not General Rojo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicente_Rojo_Lluch
Spanish Civil War[edit]
When the Civil War started (July 1936), Rojo - a devout Catholic,[3] and linked to the conservative Unión Militar Española[4] - stayed loyal to the Republican Government[5] and was one of the military professionals who participated in the reorganization of the Spanish Republican Army.
In October 1936 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was designated head of the General Staff of the Forces of Defense commanded by General Jose Miaja,[6] head of the Junta de Defensa de Madrid created to defend the capital at all costs after the transfer of the Republican government from Madrid to Valencia. In this capacity he prepared an effective defense plan for the city that prevented its fall.[7] Afterwards, his fame as an organizer increased. As head of the Central Army HQ, he demonstrated outstanding performance in the planning of the main operations developed by the mentioned Army, in the battles of Jarama, Guadalajara,[8] Brunete[9] and Belchite.[10]
On 24 March 1937 he was promoted to colonel,[11] and after the formation of the NegrÃn government in May, was made Head of the General Command Staff of the Armed Forces and head of the General Staff of the Ground forces. From this new position he was in charge of directing the expansion of the People's Army, and created the denominated Mobile Army, that served as the offensive advance force of the Republican Army.
On 22 September 1937 he was promoted to the rank of general.[12] Throughout that year he planned the offensives of Huesca, Brunete, Belchite, Zaragoza and Teruel.[13] He was awarded the highest Republican decoration, the "Placa Laureada de Madrid" on 11 January 1938 for his planning of the last mentioned operation.
The most ambitious operation he carried out throughout 1938 was the offensive of the Ebro,[14] a plan that grew from the previously mentioned tactical assumption developed in the Superior War School, that gave rise to the long running battles of the Ebro that developed from 25 July to 16 November 1938. In these battles the Republic gambled its international prestige, its endurance and the possibility of being able to give a favorable turn to the course of the war. In December 1938 he planned an offensive in Andalusia and Extremadura in order to halt the Nationalist offensive against Catalonia, but the generals Matallana and Miaja rejected the plan and the offensive didn't start until January 1939 and failed.
DeleteImages for General Vicente Rojo Lluch
https://www.google.com/search?q=pictures+of+General+Vicente+Rojo+Lluch&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS698US698&oq=pictures+of+General+Vicente+Rojo+Lluch&aqs=chrome..69i57.22974j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Close up
https://www.google.com/search?q=pictures+of+General+Vicente+Rojo+Lluch&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS698US698&tbm=isch&imgil=1Q7ZqNA-wWIc-M%253A%253BH4DtWe9w1BnIsM%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.pinterest.com%25252Fpin%25252F313844667767788915%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=1Q7ZqNA-wWIc-M%253A%252CH4DtWe9w1BnIsM%252C_&usg=__8S_jycW9SdvFMtmrpRYAC0UhH9s%3D&biw=911&bih=425&ved=0ahUKEwi-jO6H4frTAhUFS2MKHchlAEsQyjcIRg&ei=_kMeWb6VBIWWjQPIy4HYBA#imgrc=1Q7ZqNA-wWIc-M:
Return to Spain and death[edit]
DeleteIn February 1957 he returned to Spain, where most of his family already lived. This return was made possible through a series of negotiations which involved several Nationalist military officers in Madrid, F. José LuÃs Almenar Betancourt S.J., a Jesuit who was in contact him during his stay in Bolivia, and the Bishop of Cochabamba, a former military chaplain who had served under Rojo.
Although he was not bothered in the beginning by the Francoist authorities,[citation needed] on 16 July 1957 the Special Court for the Repression of Masonry and Communism informed him that he would be prosecuted for the crime of military rebellion, in his position as ex-commander of the Army. This was the customary charge for professional military officers who had not joined the rebels in 1936. He was sentenced to 30 years, but did not serve a single day as the sentence was suspended, and he was soon pardoned.
Vicente Rojo died at his home in Madrid on 15 June 1966. Of the obituaries appearing in the Spanish press, only the one in El Alcázar, -mouthpiece of the Francoist ex-combatants- and the one by noted Falangist writer Rafael Garcia Serrano in the party press, amply eulogized his military achievements.[citation needed]
He wrote several books detailing his military experiences in the civil war, which were published in the following order: ¡Alerta a los pueblos! (1939), ¡España heroica! (1961) and Asà fue la defensa de Madrid (1967).
Do you see, Ash ?
ReplyDeletePlans have already been laid down there in BernieLand, Venezuela to shoot 'the people'.
What will The Catholic Church do ?
ReplyDeleteIn Spain, almost all of it went with Franco.
The Spanish Civil War by Hugh Thomas
ReplyDeleteA masterpiece of the historian’s art, Hugh Thomas’s The Spanish Civil War remains the best, most engrossing narrative of one of the most emblematic and misunderstood wars of the twentieth century. Revised and updated with significant new material, including new revelations about atrocities perpetrated against civilians by both sides in this epic conflict, this "definitive work on the subject" (Richard Bernstein, The New York Times) has been given a fresh face forty years after its initial publication in 1961. In brilliant, moving detail, Thomas analyzes a devastating conflict in which the hopes, dreams, and dogmas of a century exploded onto the battlefield. Like no other account, The Spanish Civil War dramatically reassembles the events that led a European nation, in a continent on the brink of world war, to divide against itself, bringing into play the machinations of Franco and Hitler, the bloodshed of Guernica, and the deeply inspiring heroics of those who rallied to the side of democracy. Communists, anarchists, monarchists, fascists, socialists, democrats — the various forces of the Spanish Civil War composed a fabric of the twentieth century itself, and Thomas masterfully weaves the diffuse and fascinating threads of the war together in a manner that has established the book as a genuine classic of modern history.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spanish-civil-war-hugh-thomas/1101092162
including new revelations about atrocities perpetrated against civilians by both sides
DeleteErnest Hemingway in For Whom The Bell Tolls had this right.
In his scene where the civilians are pushed over the cliff it is the 'Republicans' doing the pushing, the local 'fascists' doing the falling from the cliff to their deaths.
That's why the bell might well toll for thee, regardless of the side you end up supporting.
DeleteAfter the war the Francoists shot anyone of working class identity with bruises on their shoulders, assuming they had fired weapons in the war.
Images for the cliff at Ronda, Spain
Deletehttps://www.google.com/search?q=pics+of+the+cliff+at+Rhonda%2C+Spain&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS698US698&oq=pics+of+the+cliff+at+Rhonda%2C+Spain&aqs=chrome..69i57.30520j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
For a writer a civil war is the best war, the most complete
DeleteErnest Hemingway
An impotent move -
ReplyDeleteU.S. sanctions Venezuelan Supreme Court judges
POSTED AT 9:21 PM ON MAY 18, 2017 BY JOHN SEXTON
The Trump administration revealed new sanctions against members of Venezuela’s Supreme Court on Thursday. The U.S. has sanctioned Venezuelan leaders before, but always in connection with drug trafficking. In this case, the sanctions are a response to the Court’s attempt to take over the constitutional responsibilities of the opposition-run National Assembly back in March. That move was dubbed a coup by many inside and outside Venezuela and was reversed a few days later after large protests. From the Miami Herald:
“They call it the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, and it’s packed — literally packed —with puppets who do [Maduro’s] bidding,” Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said on the Senate floor Wednesday, urging for sanctions.
Targeted by the Treasury Department sanctions are [Supreme Court President Maikel] Moreno and the seven principal members of the court’s Constitutional Chamber: Juan José Mendoza, Arcadio de Jesús Delgado, Gladys Gutiérrez, Carmen Zuleta de Merchán, Luis Fernando Damiani Bustillos, Lourdes Benicia Suárez Anderson and Calixto Ortega.
Miami is home to the largest Venezuelan community in the U.S., and Venezuelan government officials are known to keep assets in — and frequently travel to — South Florida and Orlando on vacation. Past sanctions have denied members of the Venezuelan government travel visas and frozen their U.S. bank accounts, properties and corporate entities.
Meanwhile, things seem to be spiraling further out of control. President Maduro sent 2,000 troops to the western state of Tachira to quell protests and looting. Wednesday a man was shot and killed by National Guard members while walking home with diapers he had just purchased. From Reuters:....
http://hotair.com/archives/2017/05/18/u-s-sanctions-venezuelan-supreme-court-judges/
-but I suppose better than nothing.
ReplyDeleteChaffetz to resign, "raising doubts about Trump probe
Chaffetz is the second House Republican who is stepping away from a Trump investigation. Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, had to recuse himself from that investigation after a bizarre incident where he emerged from the White House and seemed to suggest he had evidence backing up Trump's groundless contention that he had been surveilled by the Obama administration. Republican Rep. K. Michael Conaway is now overseeing that probe.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Utah-s-Chaffetz-expected-to-leave-office-by-end-11156119.php
Trump gave Putin the Launch Codes.
ReplyDelete...but he didn't intend to do harm.
Carry on.
Yup, Trump is a Russian agent, for sure.
DeleteEven though Trumpf sounds German, and he has a lot to lose if New York is vaporised.
Trump is basically an old style red, longing for the return of the glorious Soviet Union, like his pal Pooty.
It's obvious to those with the type of eyes needed to see such things.
On Wednesday, former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed Special Counsel for the investigation into links between Trump’s campaign and Russian election hacking.
ReplyDeleteBut, while Democrats have begun discussing the prospect, including Rep. Al Green on the House floor, an impeachment remains some way off. It would require the support of a majority of members in the House of Representatives and two-thirds of Congress.
Republicans currently have a majority in both chambers.
But the decision Wednesday by the Justice Department to name the former F.B.I. director Robert S. Mueller III as special counsel for the investigation into Russia’s interference in last year’s election has complicated their position.
ReplyDeleteThe appointment drew praise from many quarters of the party but also statements that it was not enough.
“This latest move by the Trump administration is too little, too late,” declared Charles Chamberlain, executive director of the liberal advocacy group Democracy for America. “We cannot afford to have Congress sit back and watch this play out the same way it just did, with Trump and his stooges obstructing another investigation into their corruption and high crimes. Congress needs to act now to impeach Trump.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/18/us/politics/democrats-trump-impeachment.html
Unnamed White House Official Says Trump Is ‘Completely Fucked’
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/the-wrap/article/Unnamed-White-House-Official-Says-Trump-Is-11154012.php
:-)
DeleteNow where do they go?
1) To the woodshed
Delete2) To the outhouse
3) Up Shit Crick without paddle
4) All of above
5) Coeur d'Alene
Delete6) Join Quirk at Sun Meadow Nudist Resort outside of Worley, Idaho
Delete"Trump doesn't just hope that Flynn will beat the rap. Several sources close to Flynn and to the administration tell the Daily Beast that Trump has expressed his hopes that a resolution of the FBI's investigation in Flynn's favour might allow Flynn to rejoin the White House in some capacity - a scenario some of Trump's closest advisers in and outside the West Wing have assured him absolutely should not happen."
ReplyDeleteAll this could happen only in Donald Trump's Washington.
And that noise you just heard, a bit like a gale-force wind? That was a sigh of relief from Trump as he readied to buckled himself in on Air Force One.
He is due to leave early Friday, on his first overseas trip as president.
Reason to Worry
May 18, 2017, 2:39 am
ReplyDeleteWitch Hunting For Trump
There’s no evidence whatsoever of any crime, so expect major convictions.
I have heard about “Witch-Hunts” all of my life. When I was a small child, Senator Joe McCarthy (R-Wis.) and the House Un-American Activities Committee were said by the left-wingers to be on a “witch-hunt” for Communists in the government. That’s what the left alleged against Richard Nixon when he was a young Congressman from Yorba Linda, too. The allegation was a bit misleading, though, because as far as we know, there are no such things as witches. There’s Maxine Waters and Nancy Pelosi and they are not nice, but no one could prove that there are even such things as witches, let alone that there are witches in high office.
But there were Communists and Communist sympathizers and friends of our murderous enemy, Stalin’s Russia, in high places in government. One need only mention Alger Hiss and Harry Dexter White, at State and Treasury respectively, to make the point. There really was something worth looking for — traitors who were demonstrably agents of an enemy.
Now, we have a new kind of witch-hunt going on against the administration and the person of Donald Trump. The allegation is that there was some kind of control of the 2016 Presidential Campaign exercised by the Russia and that the control ran by some kind of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump. And now, with the appointment of Mr. Mueller as a Special Prosecutor in this case, we see a REAL witch-hunt hit high gear. This one is a REAL witch-hunt because there is no evidence at all of any kind whatsoever that there was any collusion with the Russians by Trump. There is no evidence that the Russians controlled Trump or anyone in his campaign.
It’s all about a fantasy. So, now we have a hunt for something that is non-existent, as far as anyone knows. In Watergate, there was at least one little crime — the break-in at the Watergate. Here, there’s nothing. The Democrats are going on a witch-hunt for a woman who can ride her broom stick and cast spells that turn men into animals. There’s no evidence of it, but as Dr. Goebbels said, if you make the lie big enough and repeat it enough, people begin to believe it....
https://spectator.org/witch-hunting-for-trump/
I can always speak for myself and the Russians
DeleteThe Donald
:)
A little out of context, but it does catch the ear.
“I respect the move, but the entire thing has been a witch hunt. There is no collusion – certainly myself and my campaign – but I can always speak for myself and the Russians – zero,” he said at a joint press conference with the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos.
Donald Trump
Trump denies collusion with Russia but says I 'speak for myself'
The president, at a remarkable press conference, was forced to deny he had done anything worthy of criminal charges – calling Russia crisis ‘a witch hunt’
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/18/trump-strays-white-house-message-mueller-witch-hunt
He might be better off if Melania were doing his talking for him.
She always has the excuse that she's new to the language.
Mr. Trump’s sense of grievance over the Russia investigations had been deepening even before the naming of a special counsel. On Thursday, he arrived in the East Room primed for confrontation.
ReplyDeleteRather than call on a reporter from a conservative-leaning news organization, as he has in the past, Mr. Trump pointed to Jonathan Karl, an ABC News correspondent known for his close questioning during White House briefings.
When a second reporter, Scott Thuman of the broadcaster Sinclair, asked Mr. Trump whether he had urged Mr. Comey to drop the Russia investigation, Mr. Thuman could not finish the question before the president interrupted. “No. No,” Mr. Trump snapped. “Next question.”
Meanwhile, The Donald is on his way to the Sunni countries, and Israel, to repair the damage done by O'bozo's pivot to the Iranians.
ReplyDeleteI predict a successful trip.
And Melania will be a hit everywhere.
And I am on my way to the Casino.
DeleteCheers !
At the end, at the airbase in Sicily where Trump will take off for America once again, he is supposed to speak to “American and Allied servicemen and their families, recapping highlights and accomplishments of the trip.”
ReplyDeletePerhaps he can borrow a line or two from Nixon in 1974: “It is always good to come home to America,” said Nixon. “That is particularly so when one comes home from a journey that has advanced the cause of peace in the world.”
One month and five days later, Nixon delivered his resignation speech. “I have never been a quitter,” he declared, and then quit he did.
World Tour
Erik Prince: Russian to judgement.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/search?q=erik+prince&rlz=1CAACAO_enUS720US720&oq=erik+p&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.6462j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=erik+prince+left+loved+the+soviet+union
President Trump defended his conduct related to the investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia and made several misleading claims on Thursday afternoon.
ReplyDelete...
Mr. Trump contradicted Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein and his own earlier statement on firing Mr. Comey.
Explaining the ousting of Mr. Comey, Mr. Trump again pointed to Mr. Rosenstein’s “very, very strong recommendation,” adding that he believed it had resulted from Mr. Comey’s “poor, poor performance” in a congressional hearing this month.
But just hours earlier on Thursday, Mr. Rosenstein told the full Senate that Mr. Trump had made his decision before Mr. Rosenstein wrote the memo. Mr. Trump himself claimed full responsibility a week earlier.
...
He misleadingly claimed that ‘everybody, even my enemies, has said there is no collusion.’
Mr. Trump may have been referring to testimony from James R. Clapper Jr., the former director of national intelligence, but if so, he is distorting Mr. Clapper’s words.
In a March interview on NBC, Mr. Clapper said that, “to my knowledge,” there is no evidence of collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election and stood by it in a congressional hearing on May 8. A few days later, he explained on MSNBC that “it’s not surprising or abnormal that I would not have known about the investigation, or even more importantly, the content of that investigation” because he always deferred to the F.B.I. on such matters.
...
He misleadingly compared his proposed border wall to Israel’s West Bank barrier.
Asked whether his border wall would stop drug trafficking into the United States, Mr. Trump emphatically said: “Walls work. Just ask Israel.”
This comparison is not particularly apt, as the goal of Israel’s “wall” is to deter terrorists, not drugs.
Misleading on Russia