Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMore TPM/Marshall "The Timeline Gets Tighter"
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-timeline-gets-tighterBy JOSH MARSHALL Published MAY 11, 2017 10:31 PM
As is no surprise, were now hearing the first accounts of James Comeys recollections of his interactions with the President. Today, President Trump (not terribly plausibly) claimed that Comey three times assured him he was not under investigation. The first assurance came in a private dinner; the next two came in phone conversations. Comeys version, not surprisingly, differs from Trumps. But just as interesting as the recollections is the date.
According to Comeys version, relayed to the Times through people close to Comey, the two men met for a private dinner on January 27th at which Trump asked Comey to pledge to him his personal loyalty. (Yes, this is a mindbogglingly inappropriate thing to have happened; all but unimaginable. But here we are.) Comey says he pledged his honesty but could not pledge loyalty. In Comeys telling, the two further interactions had Trump again pushing and Comey again resisting.
I want to come back to some of the nuances of the Times piece and thoughts about each mans relative credibility. But for now, lets look at this timeline, adding this new information to dates we already know.
January 2oth: Trump inaugurated as the 45th President.
January 24th: Michael Flynn interviewed by the FBI at the White House, reportedly with no lawyer present.
January 25th: Acting Attorney General Sally Yates briefed by the FBI on interview with Michael Flynn.
January 26th: Yates visits the White House to give White House Counsel Donald McGahn a heads up about concerns that Flynn had been compromised by his dealings with and deceptions about contacts with Russian government officials.
January 27th: Yates returns to the White House for further discussions with McGahn.
January 27th: Trump has private dinner with James Comey at the White House.
An additional detail is that various published reports, in addition to statements by Sean Spicer, say that McGahn briefed Trump about the Yates discussion shortly after he met with her. That would appear to be on January 26th, though Im not sure we know for a certainty that it was within hours of the first meeting rather than the second.
We need a lot more information. The most immediate question is: what had the President been told when he sat down with Comey for the loyalty dinner? Assuming Comeys version is accurate and Trump requested the dinner, when did the request come? Did he contact Comey on the 26th or 27th or earlier?
It seems highly probable that Trump went into the dinner with Comey having just learned about the DOJ warnings about Flynn, indeed that the FBI was investigating Flynn. We cant know for sure. But it seems possible that the dinner request came after Trump learned of these things and may indeed have been triggered by that new information.
There are many questions.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
6 replies, 3108 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (32)
ReplyReply to this post
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
More TPM/Marshall "The Timeline Gets Tighter" (Original Post)
NRaleighLiberal
May 2017
OP
Cha
(297,275 posts)1. K&R!
MontanaMama
(23,319 posts)2. K&R
And bookmarked! This is all important.
iluvtennis
(19,861 posts)3. Thanks for the post snd outlining the timeline
AgadorSparticus
(7,963 posts)4. Knr
ATL Ebony
(1,097 posts)5. K&R for visibility
oberliner
(58,724 posts)6. A Republican needs to step forward and come out against Trump
That's the only way anything will get done.