General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFinally watched the Comey interview. My takeaways:
1. Comey's actions during the Clinton email investigation will continue to baffle and frustrate me; however, I do think there was more going behind the scenes at the FBI than what we were privy to.
2. Frustrations aside, Comey strikes me as being inherently trustworthy and believable regarding his interactions and observations of Donald Trump.
3. Donald Trump is a pathological liar. Period.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,112 posts)of rump is telling the truth, how I know that is the other person in the conversation was rump, and he never tells the truth.
I dont have to all of a sudden become a fan of Comey, because I am not, to know that between these two he is the truth teller.
oasis
(49,389 posts)hunker down at his Florida retreat to get his shit together.
Demsrule86
(68,586 posts)grantcart
(53,061 posts)Kirk Lover
(3,608 posts)speak for everybody in the country on this one...both right, left and indifferent.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Maybe good thing we're not in school here, too, and that we're not being graded on this test?
LisaM
(27,813 posts)Just because they located another device, ex post facto, doesn't mean that Anthony Weiner threw the election. Comey did.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)1) They were investigating a criminal complaint against Weiner that involved him using that laptop in a crime, a crime that he was sentenced to 21 months in prison for.
2) Huma was at fault for using an unsecured device for work product, not controlling it and leaving classified emails on a lap top that was used by someone other than herself.
Had Huma followed the standard rules for handling classified materials or even regular work product they wouldn't have been on the shared laptop. If Weiner had not been involved in criminal activity with the device the FBI wouldn't have been looking for it.
There was nothing "ex post facto" about the discovery
Following a report from the Daily Mail in September 2016, the FBI investigated Weiner for sexting with a 15-year-old girl. His laptop was seized and emails related to the Hillary Clinton email controversy were found on it, causing a controversy late in the presidential election.
What makes this especially egregious is that he got caught in 2011 and lost his seat, got caught again in 2013 and lost his bid for NY Mayor.
The emails were also not "ex post facto" because while they had been on the lap top prior to Weiners illegal activity they were still not supposed to be on his lap top at the time they were found. Having classified emails on that lap top was still contrary to government regulations at the time they were found. The key finding, which took some time was that there were no NEW emails, something that would not be immediately relevant at the time they were found.
To make it even more frustrating is that Secretary Clinton had been handling the email matter for over a year and Huma still had not gone back to her private lap top and made sure it was all deleted, or even better given it to the FBI when they were initially investigating it to ensure that all devices had been covered in a timely matter.
Think about it, a year after the email issue became a big issue and 6 years after Weiner first broke the law with his sexting with a minor classified emails were still on that computer. It was stupid on a massive scale. Huma and Weiner did a big disservice to Secretary Clinton.
LisaM
(27,813 posts)They found another computer that might have had access to them. If you think that's grounds for taking more punches at Hillary and letting Comey off the hook for election interference, that's fine. I just see it differently.
mikeysnot
(4,757 posts)fuck comey...
grantcart
(53,061 posts)But until they went through the emails they didn't know that they were duplicates.
Huma allowed classified emails to be uploaded to a device that was used by someone who was not supposed to have access to them. This person turned out to be involved in criminal activity.
When you get your security clearance they have a very careful one on one discussion about what can and cannot be done with classified material, and Huma knew that she was going around the rules.
Also when the FBI interviewed Secretary Clinton about the emails at the end, right before she left, they would have thanked her for being honest and forthright. They would also have asked her to double and triple check all of her devices and devices of key subordinates just to make sure that anything might have been innocently overlooked because getting it all in the system at that time was the best option. They probably did look at all the devices but Huma forgot that she had used Wiener's. That was a terrible mistake.
The carelessness of Wiener (and necessarily of Huma) was correctly noted by John Olliver at the time
Leave it to John Oliver to come up with the perfect response to the FBI's annoucement it is renewing its investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails. The 'Last Week Tonight' host began with a series of jokes about Iceland's Pirate Party and declared that, We did not want to talk about the election at all this week. We so wanted to give everyone a break, but relented given the recent news.
Oliver joked, It seems Anthony Weiner is forcing the nation to relitigate the entire email controversy, and putting Hillary Clintons chances of winning the presidency in serious dangerCarlos Danger."
Oliver went on to rip into the absurdity of Anthony Weiner being the catalyst surrounding the controversy that could lead to a Donald Trump presidency.
Carlos Danger was one of the names Weiner used to text underaged girls.
Nobody is letting anybody, including Comey, off the hook. The point is if it weren't for Huma and Weiner there wouldn't be any hook at all.
LisaM
(27,813 posts)There was absolutely no indication that they were going to find anything new.
Look, I'm still hurt that Hillary lost in 2008, much less 2016. It smarts. It's a wound. I feel the pain deeply; it's difficult for me to even watch the news sometimes. And I knew that her lead was fragile in 2016. The second Comey brought this up in October 2016, I got a sinking feeling that's never disappeared.
He was careless. It cost her. It cost us. I hope he does feel heartsick over it. I hope he feels pangs over it every effing day. The situation did not need to exist. They cleared up the non-issue very quickly. That could have happened without all the phony baloney alarm bells.
bigbrother05
(5,995 posts)When she pulled her DoS emails on that machine, it became a storage site for them. Another case of someone not being careful enough with their emails.
Only look at your gov't emails on a gov't machine and that won't happen. Don't think anything nefarious was done, but not really a smart thing in such a partisan political world.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)Kirk Lover
(3,608 posts)Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)Tried to play it safe, turn of events kicked him the mouth for his efforts
RandomAccess
(5,210 posts)I thought Comey's explanation -- much better in the full interview rather than the excerpted interview pieces that were broadcast -- were understandable. I think it was a mistake, but an honest one.
Here's the full interview, for anyone interested -- MUCH more info, and much better:
Transcript: James Comey's interview with ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos
http://abcnews.go.com/Site/transcript-james-comeys-interview-abc-news-chief-anchor/story?id=54488723
peggysue2
(10,830 posts)Though I don't fully buy into what sounds like a gross rationalization after the fact--he did what he did to defend HRC's legitimacy in an expected win--I do think Comey comes across as basically truthful, something of an idealist, a man with an ego and reputation to protect but overall an honest broker.
There's no comparison between James Comey and Donald Trump when it comes to credibility or anything else for that matter. The former is a seasoned law enforcement officer with counterintelligence expertise; the latter is serial liar and fraud.
I do believe that Comey self-censored his remarks and comments in the book so as not to impede the on-going investigations. We may not agree with his decisions or even like him but this is generally a careful, thoughtful man. No one should be surprised that he did not throw a hand grenade into the mix. I base that on his other comment about 'having no regrets.' He knows far more than he's telling at the moment.
Finally, I think he would have been better off without the petty remarks about the Trumpster's appearance. We make those comments here; that's one thing. But James Comey didn't need to stoop to the Trumpster's level to make his points. Of course, it does exemplify Comey's other statement: that Trump soils and stains everything around him. Or as Rick Wilson repeatedly exclaims:
Everything Trump Touches Dies
LuckyCharms
(17,444 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Trump every time they watch him perform.
Do Comey's MULTIPLE severe violations of JD rules over several months, any ONE of which would be reason for removal, mean nothing?
Maybe he wasn't given a copy of the procedure manual when he was hired? Or were they all just mistakes anyone could make?
HOW STUPID DO WE WANT TO BE???!!!
StevieM
(10,500 posts)I should point out, however, that I believe that correct acronym is DOJ, not JD.
I suppose I could be wrong. Maybe both are acceptable and I just haven't seen JD used before.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Our own right wing and the Kremlin use confusion as swords to mow minds down. Not good to add to it.
And yes, threads like this ARE scary to me also. This added to what those on the right are excusing suggests a huge majority turning a blind eye to FBI subversion of our election. The FBI!
LisaM
(27,813 posts)That should be a warning bell, rung loud and clear.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Ashcroft's a top lobbyist whose firm represents a number of nasty right-ring political players, including billionaire libertarian Trump supporters Larry Ellison and Peter Thiel (who are both computer/software technocrats and otherwise connected) and whatever Blackwater is calling itself at the moment. And of course Ashcroft is the kind of religious right-er who prides himself on his morality while facilitating war crimes.
I thought I remembered -- Ashcroft's legal firm famously and strangely represented and still represents a Russian who was "convicted in a Manhattan federal court of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and officials, delivery of anti-aircraft missiles, and providing aid to a terrorist organization." (went and found that in Wikipedia).
itcfish
(1,828 posts)That Comey has a big guilty conscience because he helped elect Chump. He never should have revealed anything about Hillary without revealing about the Trump/Russia investigation. I don't know how he sleeps at night.
njhoneybadger
(3,910 posts)disndat
(1,887 posts)they steal them - Nixon/Johnson Kissinger offer to the Vietnamese to continue the war until Nixon's election. Reagan/Carter - October Surprise, Al Gore/Bush - the Supreme Court 5, Bush/Kerry early in the morning concession, and the Clinton/Trump - Electoral College with help of Putin.
bucolic_frolic
(43,176 posts)I also think there was no way Comey or anyone else knew the effects of his email revelations on the 2016 elections. The electorate was weak-minded from all the TV advertising and the Russian social media mind control. Not even the pollsters got it right, though we still don't and most likely won't have a full accounting of the integrity of the vote tally. I think the winners took every advantage they could get with many multiple strategies and just squeaked over the finish line. And of course they did tell us it was a rigged election - because they knew!
Perseus
(4,341 posts)and of course that I am not biased...yeah right...
When he was asked about "Impeachment", he said he does not agree with Trump being impeached, he also said that people had to go out and vote.
My take:
He doesn't want trump to be impeached because the two waiting in line (pence and ryan) are worst, and I say worst because trump is an ignorant buffoon, but the other two are intelligent enough to cause more damage, more than they have already caused so, he wants people to vote and take ALL of them out of politics.
LisaM
(27,813 posts)And the person whose presidential win he enabled seemed to be in bed with hackers who were trying to thwart, disrupt, manipulate, and suppress the vote.
I just can't put Comey on any kind of high road. He lay down with dogs, and he woke up with fleas (which is an insult to dogs, but you get my drift).