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James Comey Tag

Congress will have to wait for Former FBI Director Comey's first public statements since being canned by Trump. After he met with Comey Monday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz announced via Twitter that the hearing originally schedule for Wednesday would be postponed.

I'm so old, I remember when the breaking news was that James Comey was fired because he sought additional resources from the Department of Justice for the Russia investigation. The New York Times broke the story on May 10, 2017, Days Before Firing, Comey Asked for More Resources for Russia Inquiry:
Days before he was fired as F.B.I. director, James B. Comey asked the Justice Department for more prosecutors and other personnel to accelerate the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election. It was the first clear-cut evidence that Mr. Comey believed the bureau needed more resources to handle a sprawling and highly politicized counterintelligence investigation.

Another day, another series of NY Times and WaPo stories based on leaks. The NY Times reports that Trump told the Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador that Comey was a "nut job" who had politicized the investigation, and that his firing relieved "great pressure". The report was based on someone reading a memo about the meeting to the Times reporter. Here is the White House's response, issued in Sean Spicer's name:

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein stands by the memo he wrote which listed former FBI Director Comey's alleged offenses. The White House cited the memo as a reason for canning Comey. Rosenstein briefed both the Senate and House in the last two days.

*UPDATE* Weiner has pleaded guilty and the judge said "he would have to register as a sex offender. Former Rep. Anthony Weiner has decided to enter a guilty plea in federal court for sexting with a 15-year-old girl. He might have to register as a sex offender. From NBC 4 New York:
Weiner surrendered to the FBI Friday morning, officials familiar with the matter said, and will plead guilty to one count related to transferring obscene material to a minor. Prosecutors are expected to recommend two years in prison, though Weiner's attorneys are likely to ask for probation.

Joe Scarborough has painted a no-win portrait of VP Pence. On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough said that Vice-President Pence "is either a sucker and a dupe for Donald Trump . . . or he's a liar. There is no middle ground." Giving Pence the dubious benefit of the doubt, Scarborough advised, "if it is the first, I think it's about time for Mike Pence to go to Donald Trump and say, as I think most of us would, if you set me up to be your liar again, I'm walking."

George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley is often a voice of reason in a sea of media hysteria. Last night he spoke with Martha MacCallum of FOX News about the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel in the FBI Russia investigation. Turley suggested this could work out well for Trump. From the FOX News Insider:
Prof. Turley: Special Counsel Mueller 'Healthy Dose of Tylenol' For US Turley said that until Muller was named, President Trump could not fully clear his name in the face of ongoing leaks and allegations.

I can't recall a media feeding frenzy quite like has been directed at Donald Trump. What's remarkable about this frenzy is that it takes place in the absence -- as of now -- of any actual evidence of Trump wrongdoing, much less illegality. More on that later in the post. Sometimes I think it resembles how the media swarmed all over Mitt Romney after Benghazi in September 2012, accusing him of politicizing the deaths of four Americans. The media purpose plainly was to help Obama escape political damage by making the story about Romney. I wrote about it at the time, Dead Ambassador dragged through streets, MSM furious at Romney criticism of Obama:

Earlier this month, President Trump fired FBI director James Comey.  Since then, a number of people of have withdrawn their names from consideration for the post, with the latest being Former Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher. The Hill reports:
A former Justice Department official has withdrawn her name from consideration to replace former FBI Director James Comey, according to multiple reports.

The most egregious part of the Trump administration is the media's coverage of the Trump administration. Dating back to campaign season Trump, political media disproportionately focused on Trump's every coming, going, meal, and insignificant oddity. Not much has changed post-election.

Joe Scarborough likes to make himself out to be a simple country lawyer. But on today's Morning Joe, he ran afoul of a cardinal lawyering rule: never ask a witness a question to which you don't know the answer. Scarborough laid out a lengthy timeline for the purpose of teeing up law professor Jonathan Turley to agree with Joe's conclusion that there was a prosecutable, federal case of obstruction of justice against President Trump. But Turley hit Joe between the eyes with his response:

"This isn't going to be real popular, but I don't think so . . . The fact is, I don't think this makes out an obstruction case."

According to The New York Times, former FBI Director James Comey wrote a memo on February 14 that President Donald Trump asked him to let go of an investigation into Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor. However, the NYT admitted that the reporters did not see the memo and "a Comey associate read parts of it to a reporter over the phone." The source (remember the source isn't even Comey) claimed the memo said this:
“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

Early in Obama's first term, completely peaceful Tea Party protests happened around the country. The liberal media routinely denounced the Tea Party as dangerous and hostile. Since the night of Trump's election, the left has been engaging in protests which often look more like riots. Windows have been smashed, people have been punched and the media sits by ignoring the whole thing. In 2010, Tea Party protesters showed up at town hall meetings to protest the passage of Obamacare. Again, the media called them racist and dangerous. Now leftists are showing up at town halls, but the media coverage is vastly different.

The Impeach Trump Now organization, an effort begun on Inauguration Day, has added a new feather to its cap: former Massachusetts' Supreme Court Justice Justice Fernande (Nan) R.V. Duffly. She will serve, they state in their announcement, on their legal advisory board.
The Campaign to Impeach Donald Trump Now, a growing national movement for an impeachment investigation of President Trump, announced today that Justice Fernande (Nan) R.V. Duffly, who retired last summer from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, has joined its Legal Advisory Board. The campaign, launched on Inauguration Day and led by two public interest organizations, Free Speech For People and RootsAction.org, is calling on Congress to start this investigation based on the President’s direct and ongoing violations of the two anti-corruption provisions of the US Constitution and based on the President’s apparent interference with a criminal investigation by his improper attempts to influence, and his ultimate firing of, FBI Director James Comey.