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calimary

(80,693 posts)
35. Hmmm... that's always been my understanding, although I certainly could be wrong.
Sun Oct 30, 2016, 05:43 PM
Oct 2016

FBI director is appointed by the President, so I believe that means the appointee serves at the pleasure of the chief executive.

But in thinking about this I did get curious, honorable Chairman. My husband and I disagreed about whether Obama (or a President) could fire Comey. So I looked it up. Turns out I was correct. They get to it in Point 1.

Can FBI Director James Comey Be Fired? 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
http://heavy.com/news/2016/10/james-comey-fired-fbi-director-hillary-clinton-email-private-server-influence-election/

Point 2 is an interesting little factoid that I did not remember - the only FBI director to be fired by his President?
"But only one of those directors was ever fired by a president — William S. Sessions who had been appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, but who was beset by allegations of ethics violations, such as disguising private vacations as law enforcement business, and using a chauffeured government limousine for personal transportation."

Point 3 is MOST intriguing and might lead to some more sleepless nights for James Comey...

“There’s a longstanding policy of not doing anything that could influence an election,” George J. Terwilliger III, who was deputy attorney general in the George Bush administration told The New York Times on Saturday. “Those guidelines exist for a reason. Sometimes, that makes for hard decisions. But bypassing them has consequences.”

“There’s a difference between being independent and flying solo,” the former Bush administration official added.

Comey also directly defied the wishes of Attorney General Loretta Lynch and her deputy, Sally Yates, who wanted the FBI director to stick to long-established tradition and keep his comments about matters that could have a bearing on the presidential election to himself, CNN reported.


The story goes on, according to CNN, that "Comey made an independent decision to alert the Hill." An unnamed current Justice Department official is quoted in the story as saying Comey is “operating independently of the Justice Department. And he knows it.”

I wonder if he, or if top Republicans and Democrats in Congress will let the American people know Farmgirl1961 Oct 2016 #1
I'm really wondering who will be talking first. NWCorona Oct 2016 #8
SO now Comey is pretending to do his job DK504 Oct 2016 #24
It's predictable... getagrip_already Oct 2016 #26
Something tells me.... Helen Borg Oct 2016 #2
Wonder how that would work? His position is for 10 years. Equinox Moon Oct 2016 #4
The President can fire the FBI director at any time. n/t PoliticAverse Oct 2016 #5
Wonder if Obama will have him step down? Equinox Moon Oct 2016 #9
That would be a nice parting gift to a President Clinton. n/t PoliticAverse Oct 2016 #10
It is also at the discretion of the President still_one Oct 2016 #23
I believe the FBI Director, and all other department heads, serve at the pleasure of the President. calimary Oct 2016 #29
NO NO NO! ChairmanAgnostic Oct 2016 #31
but... but... but... Comey chose not to follow agency protocol, Equinox Moon Oct 2016 #32
All true, and disheartening. ChairmanAgnostic Oct 2016 #37
Comey supports the GOP ...the constitution...no. Demsrule86 Oct 2016 #34
Hmmm... that's always been my understanding, although I certainly could be wrong. calimary Oct 2016 #35
I'm wondering if President Obama will shit-can him as a lame-duck action? PearliePoo2 Oct 2016 #6
Yes. Yes he can. elehhhhna Oct 2016 #27
You know what? You can't put the Genie back in the bottle. Equinox Moon Oct 2016 #3
he took a shit in public but is apologizing for it in private. nt TeamPooka Oct 2016 #19
What apology? calimary Oct 2016 #30
You know what pisses me off about this now - we the people asiliveandbreathe Oct 2016 #7
Can't help my sarcasim - but he will say it is top-secret because it is within the FBI Equinox Moon Oct 2016 #12
LOL - thanks for that...top secret my arse.... asiliveandbreathe Oct 2016 #13
thanks for lightening up my mood with your comment Equinox Moon Oct 2016 #15
Not good enough. He needs to issue another letter explaining WTF he meant by the first letter. SunSeeker Oct 2016 #11
I stand by my prediction that we will have some sort of official update by Monday afternoon NWCorona Oct 2016 #14
Yep - and it should be televised as I mentioned earlier - and asiliveandbreathe Oct 2016 #16
He needs to make a public statement. Otherwise we just get repub said/dem said reporting. Jim__ Oct 2016 #17
Why would you expect him to control the damage? LisaL Oct 2016 #18
He has an obligation to remove the innuendo from his letter. Jim__ Oct 2016 #20
It's up to high ranking Dems and Pukes to keep pointing this stuff out, keep asking him public anamandujano Oct 2016 #21
So the first post I see on FB after the news broke Friday mountain grammy Oct 2016 #22
People like that were going to vote for Trump spooky3 Oct 2016 #25
Probably not True_Blue Oct 2016 #38
Me too. Do you think it's fired up Dems or Independents? spooky3 Oct 2016 #39
I think it has fired up the Dems True_Blue Oct 2016 #40
He's going through the motions. That's about all we can expect these days. TonyPDX Oct 2016 #28
Comey can go fuck himself. He has been a terrible director even before this. Demsrule86 Oct 2016 #33
So he's continuing to violate the Hatch Act. The man just doesn't know when to stop. Disgusting. Native Oct 2016 #36
Reached Out??? rpannier Oct 2016 #41
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