Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Director Comey fired

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Director Comey fired

    Just breaking in the last few hours.

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/09/politi...out/index.html

    We're living in interesting times.
    "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

  • #2
    Damn if you do, damn if you don't

    Click image for larger version

Name:	18448151_10155442713659668_576258435_n.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	53.9 KB
ID:	1470867
    No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

    To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

    Comment


    • #3
      MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

      FROM: ROD J. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL SUBJECT: RESTORING PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN THE FBI

      The Federal Bureau of Investigation has long been regarded as our nation’s premier federal investigative agency. Over the past year, however, the FBl’s reputation and credibility have suffered substantial damage, and it has affected the entire Department of Justice. That is deeply troubling to many Department employees and veterans, legislators and citizens. The current FBI Director is an articulate and persuasive speaker about leadership and the immutable principles of the Department of Justice. He deserves our appreciation for his public service. As you and I have discussed, however, I cannot defend the Director’s handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken. Almost everyone agrees that the Director made serious mistakes; it is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives. The Director was wrong to usurp the Attorney General’s authority on July 5, 2016, and announce his conclusion that the case should be closed without prosecution. It is not the function of the Director to make such an announcement. At most, the Director should have said the FBI had completed its investigation and presented its findings to federal prosecutors.


      The Director now defends his decision by asserting that he believed Attorney General Loretta had a conflict. But the FBI Director is never empowered to supplant federal prosecutors and assume command of the Justice Department. There is a well-established process for other officials to step in when a conflict requires the recusal of the Attorney General. On July 5, however, the Director announced his own conclusions about the nation’s most sensitive criminal investigation, without the authorization of duly appointed Justice Department leaders. Compounding the error, the Director ignored another longstanding principle: we do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation. Derogatory information sometimes is disclosed in the course of criminal investigations and prosecutions, but we never release it gratuitously. The Director laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial. It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do.

      In response to sceptical questions at a congressional hearing, the Director defended his remarks by saying that his goal was to say what is true. What did we do, what did we find, what do we think about it. But the goal of a federal criminal investigation is not to announce our thoughts at a press conference. The goal is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a federal criminal prosecution, then allow a federal prosecutor who exercises authority delegated by the Attorney General to make a prosecutorial decision, and then if prosecution is warranted - let the judge and jury determine the facts. We sometimes release information about closed investigations in appropriate ways, but the FBI does not do it sua sponte.

      Concerning his letter to the Congress on October 28, 2016, the Director cast his decision as a choice between whether he would speak about the decision to investigate the newly-discovered email messages or conceal it. Conceal is a loaded term that necessitates the issue. When federal agents and prosecutors quietly open a criminal investigation, we are not concealing anything; we are simply following the longstanding policy that we refrain from publicizing non-public information. In that context, silence is not concealment.


      My perspective on these issues is shared by former Attorneys General and Deputy Attorneys General from different eras and both political parties. Judge Laurence Silberman, who served as Deputy Attorney General under President Ford, wrote that it is not the bureau’s responsibility to opine on whether a matter should be prosecuted. Silbertnan believes that the Director’s performance was so inappropriate for an FBI director that [he] doubt[s] the bureau will ever completely recover. Jamie Gorelick, Deputy Attorney General under President Clinton, joined with Larry Thompson, Deputy Attorney General under President George W. Bush, to opine that the Director had chosen personally to restrike the balance between transparency and fairness, departing from the department’s traditions. They concluded that the Director violated his obligation to preserve, protect and defend the traditions of the Department and the FBI.

      Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who served under President George W. Bush, observed that the Director stepped way outside his job in disclosing the recommendation in that fashion“ because the FBI director doesn’t make that decision.” Alberto Gonzales, who also served as Attorney General under President George W. Bush, called the decision an error in judgement. Eric Holder, who served as Deputy Attorney General under President Clinton and Attorney General under President Obama, said that the Director’s decision was incorrect. It violated long-standing Justice Department policies and traditions. And it ran counter to guidance that I put in place four years ago laying out the proper way to conduct investigations during an election season. Holder concluded that the Director broke with these fundamental principles and negatively affected public trust in both the Justice Department and the FBI.

      Former Deputy Attorneys General Gorelick and Thompson described the unusual events as real-time, raw-take transparency taken to its illogical limit, a kind of reality TV of federal criminal investigation, that is antithetical to the interests of justice. Donald Ayer, who served as Deputy Attorney General under President George HW. Bush, along with other former Justice Department officials, was astonished and perplexed by the decision to break with longstanding practices followed by officials of both parties during past elections. Ayer’s letter noted, Perhaps most troubling is the precedent set by this departure from the Department’s widely-respected, non-partisan traditions. We should reject the departure and return to the traditions. Although the President has the power to remove an FBI director, the decision should not be taken I agree with the nearly unanimous opinions of former Department officials. The way the Director handled the conclusion of the email investigation was wrong. As a result, the FBI is unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a Director who understands the gravity of the mistakes and pledges never to repeat them. Having refused to admit his errors, the Director cannot be expected to implement the necessary corrective actions.
      In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

      Leibniz

      Comment


      • #4
        I liked Comey. He seemed to me to be a man of integrity trying to do the right thing, with no where but missteps to make navigating these minefields, being forced, as a requirement of his job, to investigate obviously guilty politicians who have zero integrity.

        In DC there are the crooked politicians who play these games of character assassination and the politics of personal destruction, and down Comey went. He may yet though be even more powerful and capable in his position as ex-Director.

        I think his honest testimony, in time, combined with being freed from the constraints of his position as director, will be quite interesting.

        I'm looking forward to Comey Unchained.
        Last edited by Ironduke; 10 May 17,, 11:17.
        "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

        Comment


        • #5
          Comey seems to be someone you want as a #2, not a #1. his congressional testimony where he went through his thought process had a bunch of logical gaps-- and it was clear he was more concerned with Republican blowback (even in an assumed Dem administration!) than anything else.

          in any case, the cream of the jest for Dems is that now someone they detest is gone and at no political cost to them; Trump just turned a slow burn of a Russia investigation into a full-fledged four alarm fire; and just from a procedural view, will now have to burn valuable legislative time for the new Director nom.

          oh, and Trump just pissed off a bunch of FBI agents and probably made a new personal enemy seeing as how he very publicly humiliated Comey.
          There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

          Comment


          • #6
            Lavrov just stole the day
            No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

            To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

            Comment


            • #7
              Drip...drip...drip. Was that a ghost I saw lurking in the back?

              Comment


              • #8
                ....
                I'll say this for the suddenly departed FBI honcho James Comey: He's caused enough cases of whiplash to collapse Obamacare before the end of the week. The left in particular likes its cardboard heroes and cartoon villains drawn in bright Sharpie colors, and Comey insists on jumping back and forth between one role and the other like a movie stuntman leaping the roofs from northbound to southbound train.

                Comey's not going to charge Hillary? What a stand-up guy! The very model of a dedicated public servant!

                Comey's re-opened the Hillary investigation? What a partisan hack! He's just thrown the election to Trump! This is literally a police state!

                Comey's investigating Trump's ties to Russia? Thank God! This career civil servant is all that stands between us and that fascist dictator!

                Comey's fingering Huma Abedin for forwarding emails to Carlos Danger? God, this Trump stooge won't let up, will he?

                Trump's fired Comey? How dare he? This is a crisis for the integrity of our institutions...

                Not surprisingly it's hard for these poor folk to keep up - to the point where Stephen Colbert had to rebuke his audience for cheering his announcement that Comey had been fired. That would have been the appropriate reaction had Obama done it circa November 1st last year. But now it's a constitutional outrage.

                Amusing as all this is, I felt after his most recent diva turn in Congress that this guy is just too weird to be a policeman - even for one of those Brit telly coppers where the guy comes overloaded with traits: Inspector Comey Investigates, and Prosecutes, and Convicts (or, If He Doesn't, Trashes Your Reputation in Public). He'd be better off cast as one of those witnesses who can never stop talking, and keeps digging himself deeper and deeper.

                As it turns out, he misspoke somewhat on the matter of Huma Abedin sending classified emails to her spambot penis of a hubby to print out during breaks from sexting middle-schoolers. Which is how we arrive at the brain-exploding scenario of Trump firing Comey for being unfair to Hillary. Boy, that Putin is always nine chess moves ahead, isn't he?

                Back in the real world, the memorandum from Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General, outlining the case for firing Comey, lays bare the FBI Director's brazenness:

                The director was wrong to usurp the Attorney General's authority on July 5, 2016, and announce his conclusion that the case should be closed without prosecution. It is not the function of the Director to make such an announcement. At most, the Director should have said the FBI had completed its investigation and presented its findings to federal prosecutors. The Director now defends his decision by asserting that he believed attorney General Loretta Lynch had a conflict. But the FBI Director is never empowered to supplant federal prosecutors and assume command of the Justice Department.

                That's true. If the County Attorney has a conflict of interest, the Sheriff doesn't unilaterally step in and assume the role of prosecutor.

                Furthermore:

                We do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation. Derogatory information sometimes is disclosed in the course of criminal investigations and prosecutions, but we never release it gratuitously. The Director laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial. It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do.

                That's also true. In a functioning legal system, the accused has the right to confront his accuser in open court. If you're not going to bring it into court, you don't do a drive-by prosecution at a press conference.

                And more:

                In response to skeptical question at a congressional hearing, the Director defended his remarks by saying that his "goal was to say what is true. What did we do, what did we find, what do we think about it." But the goal of a federal criminal investigation is not to announce our thoughts at a press conference. The goal is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a federal criminal prosecution, then allow a federal prosecutor who exercises authority delegated by the Attorney General to make a prosecutorial decision, and then - if prosecution is warranted - let the judge and jury determine the facts.

                True yet again. It is for the jury to decide "what do we think about it" and thereby determine the truth of the matter - not a copper by public proclamation. So, having usurped the role of prosecutor, Comey was also adding one-man jury to the many arrows in his quiver.

                And another:

                Concerning his letter to the Congress on October 28, 2016, the Director cast his decision as a choice between whether he would "speak" about the FBI's decision to investigate the newly-discovered email messages or "conceal" it. "Conceal" is a loaded term that misstates the issue. When federal agents and prosecutors quietly open a criminal investigation, we are not concealing anything; we are simply following the longstanding policy that we refrain from publicizing non-public information.

                All true. Indeed, it ought to be the assumption of a civilized justice system that, unless the matter is laid before a court, the information collected in a criminal investigation remains undisclosed - or, as Comey would have it, "concealed".

                I know from my own experience that there are too many procedurally capricious aspects to American justice. It is extraordinary that both major-party candidates should have come under FBI investigation during a presidential campaign. It is even more extraordinary and deeply disturbing that the FBI director felt he could wing it with a breezy l'état, c'est moi approach to policing norms that evidently discomforted him not a whit save for retrospective feelings of "mild nausea". Way too mild.

                I have disliked James Comey ever since discovering he was the fellow who sent Martha Stewart to jail for supposedly lying to the FBI in a matter in which there was no underlying crime. Comey, whatever one feels about him, is no liar: He's been entirely upfront about his bizarre trashing of procedural norms. The only mystery is why he chose to do it, other than for some freaky narcissistic need to make himself the most famous FBI director since Hoover.

                Mission accomplished. It's good to see the back of him. When the lefties stop prancing up and down about constitutional coups, they might agree with that.
                In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                Leibniz

                Comment


                • #9
                  So the day after firing Comey, the guy leading an inquiry into Trump - Moscow ties in the election interference, fired allegedly on the advice of Sessions (who 'recused' himself), just after Comey had asked for more funds for his inquiry (having been told to hurry up by the Senate Committee) Trump had some visitors:

                  Click image for larger version

Name:	C_ejC4yXgAA1pSL.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	114.7 KB
ID:	1470868

                  Click image for larger version

Name:	C_edIkmXoAE91xC.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	71.2 KB
ID:	1470869

                  These photos come exclusively from the Muscovite press as no US 'fake news' journalists were allowed in. America First or the 'art of the deal'? This is beyond laughable and only an independent investigation can now satisfy the need for justice - followed by a swift impeachment I hope.
                  Last edited by snapper; 10 May 17,, 21:00.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I don't know about impeachment but at a minimum this is going to get good. Seems every talking head in the White House has a different version of the story starting back when Trump praised Comey, re Clinton, before the election. Can't wait to see who he nominates for the position. I know he is very big on loyalty to him but talk about a large can of worms going down that road. One thing for sure with all this going on the health care bill is going to take months and months in the Senate.

                    other than for some freaky narcissistic need to make himself the most famous FBI director since Hoover.
                    I did like this for over the top. At least if you are going to say he is narcissistic then compare him to the best and that isn't Hoover but your's truly, Trump.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Parihaka View Post
                      I'll say this for the suddenly departed FBI honcho James Comey...
                      Everybody's got a narrative. The guy obviously doesn't like Comey, so define him as imaginatively as possible assigning him whatever motive and angle that randomly comes to mind just as your fingers hit keys whilst typing out a hit piece.
                      "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        re: Pari's article: I happen to agree that Comey acted very unprofessionally in terms of what he did 11 days before the election. that was the basis of Deputy AG Rosenstein's memo.

                        and if we had a POTUS whose associates were NOT under investigation by the FBI, then i'd say this was a great, statesman-like move-- particularly because it would be seen as giving ammo to the opposition party's claims.

                        but that's not our reality.

                        and it's clear from Trump's tweets and even Trump's very -letter- to Comey, that Comey being unfair to Clinton was absolutely the last thing on Trump's mind. this was merely the excuse that Trump needed to axe Comey.
                        There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          When you want to hide your objective, create a distraction!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by astralis View Post
                            re: Pari's article: I happen to agree that Comey acted very unprofessionally in terms of what he did 11 days before the election. that was the basis of Deputy AG Rosenstein's memo.
                            A bit impulsive of him to say some of the things he said. "Mildly nauseous" certainly didn't play out well when it hit the cable news circuit.
                            "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              So glad he is gone. He was cowardly, partisan, and corrupt. He did untold damage to the republic. From refusing to act on Contempt of Congress cases given to him, willingly running interference for a politicized DoJ and openly admitting on national tv that the elites have a different set of laws from everyone else, that justice isn't blind. Next to Gorsuch, this is the best move Trump has made so far in so far as long term health of the republic is concerned.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X