Donald Trump has fired FBI's Director James Comey

[Cheshire Cat]

Trump is apparently very nervous.  The Comey firing comes after yesterdays testimony by Sally Yates and James R. Clapper, both former U.S. governmental officials who spoke yesterday before a special committee led by Republican Lindsey Graham. The committee is looking into the issue of Russian interference in our last presidential election.  They are also concerned with individuals potentially involved that may be connected to U.S. government or it's agencies.  The FBI is currently doing their own investigation about the Russian Connections, something Trump has denied.  Looks like Trump wants to shut some doors.


http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/09/politics/james-comey-fbi-trump-white-out/


http://www.businessinsider.com/james-comey-fired-fbi-trump-2017-5

[Cheshire Cat]

And the guy supporting Trump in his firing of James Comey is none other then Attorney General Jeff Sessions who himself is working very hard to undermine our laws and practices with a special eye to our investigative agencies.  Note: Sessions has been forced to recuse himself from the investigation of Russian interference.  He just impacted that investigation in the letter firing Comey.


By Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller March 1
Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) spoke twice last year with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Trump's campaign and representatives of Moscow during Sessions's confirmation hearing to become attorney general.

One of the meetings was a private conversation between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in September in the senator's office, at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race.

The previously undisclosed discussions could fuel new congressional calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russia's alleged role in the 2016 presidential election. As attorney general, Sessions oversees the Justice Department and the FBI, which have been leading investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Trump's associates. He has so far resisted calls to recuse himself.

When Sessions spoke with Kislyak in July and September, the senator was a senior member of the influential Armed Services Committee as well as one of Trump's top foreign policy advisers. Sessions played a prominent role supporting Trump on the stump after formally joining the campaign in February 2016.

Click link for full story:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sessions-spoke-twice-with-russian-ambassador-during-trumps-presidential-campaign-justice-officials-say/2017/03/01/77205eda-feac-11e6-99b4-9e613afeb09f_story.html?utm_term=.a58f7861f13d

[Cheshire Cat]

Lets be clear that Sessions who had been "forced" to recuse himself from the investigations regarding Russian interference just made it his business to join with Trump to fire the man in charge of the same investigation that he was not to be involved in.    So yes indeed he influenced the investigation. This is not how America is supposed to run.  There is now a demand out by Dem. Chuck Schumer and others that the Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein now appoint an "independent special prosecutor" to hand the ongoing investigation or else this firing will be seen as an attempted "cover up".

https://www.c-span.org/video/?428270-1/senate-democratic-leader-calls-special-prosecutor-wake-comey-firing

[Cheshire Cat]

Preet Bharara
James Comey
Sally Yates

[spuwho]

While I applaud Comey's effort to stay above it all, he really flubbed it up, especially on the Weiner email stuff.  Hilz has to be pretty happy right now. She blames him for losing.

I watched re-runs of much of his testimony up on the hill, and frankly, I didn't get a lot of confidence from what he said or tried not to say.

Only former AG Loretta Lynch set a lower bar on legal relativism.

BTW, this doesn't stop the FBI investigation or the hearings. I say investigate it to the high heavens and out everything, but don't give me that baloney of "there was no criminal intent".

This will get worse before it gets better.  But when I get more details in the NYT or WP than I can from a hearing, tends to make me think the roaches are headed for the cupboard.

[Cheshire Cat]

Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued a statement late Tuesday in the aftermath of President Trump's sudden sacking of FBI Director James Come.   In the curt but detailed missive, he made his condemnation of the President's machiavellian move clear and unambiguous:

"I am troubled by the timing and reasoning of Director Comey's termination.  I have found Director Comey to be a public servant of the highest order, and his dismissal further confuses an already difficult investigation by the Committee.  In my interactions with the Director and with the Bureau under his leadership, he and the FBI have always been straightforward with our Committee.  Director Comey has been more forthcoming with information than any FBI Director I can recall in my tenure on the congressional intelligence committees.  His dismissal, I believe, is a loss for the Bureau and the nation."
Sen. Burr's committee is leading the Senate's investigation into the Russian intelligence operation to undermine the 2016 Presidential Election.  Director Comey is scheduled to testify in hearings before that committee, and according to Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) Sen. Burr's intel committee co-chair, said

[Cheshire Cat]

Questions posed by the Washington Post.

If Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, how and why did he make the recommendation to fire Comey?
Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein laid out a convincing case as to why Comey acted improperly and unfairly to Clinton last July. However, Trump thought Comey should have prosecuted her, so why would Trump now object that Comey had been unfair to his nemesis?
How is Trump to select the person who will be investigating whether his campaign colluded with Russia during the campaign without invalidating the entire process?
When was the decision to fire Comey made: before or after this week's testimony?
Will Comey be able to preserve evidence he collected so as to defuse suspicion this is a giant coverup?
Will Comey testify about the status of his investigation as of Tuesday?
Will the demands for a special prosecutor now become too loud to ignore?
Will Comey, once fired, feel free to reveal information about the Russia investigation? If so, why would Trump risk firing him now?
Will Republicans snap out of their partisan stupor to demand answers about Comey and insist on a replacement who is above reproach?
Will the administration — which has now fired a national security adviser and an FBI chief and has been plagued by conflicts of interest and infighting — take on the aura of complete chaos and instability, impairing the GOP's agenda and America's international standing?
The only thing we can say with any confidence is that this will never be a "normal" presidency without controversy, scandal and a fair amount of mayhem.

[spuwho]

Preet Bharara
James Comey
Sally Yates

I might add, Preet Bharara was actually asked by Trump to stay on after the usual notification of desired resignations when there is a change in the White House. But instead of getting a clarification from the WH staff, he responded to the resignation request with a "fire me instead", so they did.

He would still be prosecuting in the Southern District of NY if he had just stayed cool and responded with a clarification request. But his ego couldn't handle clawing back to Trump, so he decided to go out in a flash. Trump gave him a rope, he hung himself with it.

[Cheshire Cat]

Former speechwriter to President George W. Bush, David Frum, says this smells like a "coup" to impend any investigations into Trump. Anyone Trump appoints to the F.B.I will be in his back pocket, and no one at the Justice Department is going to be able to distance themselves from the White House.http://news.groopspeak.com/how-trump-fired-fbi-director-comey-gets-leaked-its-deeply-troubling-and-disgraceful/

[Cheshire Cat]

Prosecutors issued Grand Jury subpeonas today in connection to FBI Russia probe.

[KenFSU]

What a shitshow.

Dear God let this domino into impeachment proceedings.

[spuwho]

Prosecutors issued Grand Jury subpeonas today in connection to FBI Russia probe.

It looks like Flynn clearly did not graduate from the Clinton School of Sheltering Assets.

Instead of hiding behind a flimsy foundation, he merely got sloppy in his accounting. It will cost him now.

Tried to play both sides to his advantage. He will get lots of bad press before he is found guilty of perjury and failing to properly register as a foreign agent (for Turkey). I am guessing he will be fined for improper filing and get probation for the perjury and lose his credentials.

Either way, his number is up now, time to retire.

The market for influence peddling never ends.

[MusicMan]

The Trump Presidency has started out in an unbelievably bad way. It will end much as Caesar's reign ended. By then even Republican Senators will be plunging knives into The Donald. 

[spuwho]

Former speechwriter to President George W. Bush, David Frum, says this smells like a "coup" to impend any investigations into Trump. Anyone Trump appoints to the F.B.I will be in his back pocket, and no one at the Justice Department is going to be able to distance themselves from the White House.http://news.groopspeak.com/how-trump-fired-fbi-director-comey-gets-leaked-its-deeply-troubling-and-disgraceful/

Comey already told Trump he is not the focus of the Russia investigation. So everyone making those connections is a false narrative.

[Adam White]

Former speechwriter to President George W. Bush, David Frum, says this smells like a "coup" to impend any investigations into Trump. Anyone Trump appoints to the F.B.I will be in his back pocket, and no one at the Justice Department is going to be able to distance themselves from the White House.http://news.groopspeak.com/how-trump-fired-fbi-director-comey-gets-leaked-its-deeply-troubling-and-disgraceful/

Comey already told Trump he is not the focus of the Russia investigation. So everyone making those connections is a false narrative.

According to Trump. But as an investigator, I can tell you that the focus of an investigation can change at the drop of a hat, based on the evidence that you uncover. And you should never, ever focus solely on one theory.