James Comey “had become too much of a media celebrity”
My appearance on the Crane Durham show: “People need to stop hyperventilating. There is no constitutional crisis.”
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I was a guest on the Crane Durham Nothing But Truth radio show on Wednesday night, May 10, 2017, talking about the firing of James Comey the prior Tuesday.
My interview is almost 30 minutes, and is embedded at the bottom of this post. In the day since the interview there have been further developments which support many of the points I made.
In particular, Donald Trump has been interviewed on NBC and focused heavily on Comey’s media presence: “He’s a showboat, he’s a grandstander.” That’s a point I made in the interview in similar (but not identical) terms.
Additionally, Acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe testified before Congress, and confirmed that the investigation is continuing uninterrupted, there has been no attempt at interference, the FBI has adequate resources, and the FBI would notify Congress if there ever were an attempt to interfere. In other words, removing Comey has no substantive impact on the investigation.
Here are excerpts from my interview.
On the issue of timing, and complaints by Chuck Schumer that the timing was political:
“There’s no good timing that would satisfy Chuck Schumer. You could pick any point in time from the day Donald Trump was sworn into office until today, and there’s no day when Chuck Schumer would not have objected, would not have said it’s political. Whatever investigations are going on have been going on for months, so there’s never a good time to do it. I think the timing was ripe in that now President Trump has his team in place at the Department of Justice, it took a while to get Jeff Sessions confirmed, now this other person [Rod Rosenstein] is there, the Deputy Attorney General who wrote that memo suggesting that Comey should be fired, so now is the time. It could have been next week or it could have been a week ago, but there is no time that the Democrats would not have objected. Which of course is ironic since they’ve been screaming for Comey to be fired at least since October.”
* * *
“I don’t think the timing issue is significant at all. Can you imagine if he had fired the day he was inaugurated or the next day? The headlines would be screaming “His first act in office was to remove the person investigating him. There’s no good time to have done it. Could it have been done earlier? Maybe. Could it have been done later? Maybe. Those are judgment calls that the executive branch gets to make for an FBI Director, and I see no issue with it now.”
On whether the firing interfered with the investigation:
“People are acting like just because James Comey is gone, the FBI comes to a standstill, whatever investigation their doing no longer takes place. That’s a presumption which is simply not true…. The entire premise, that terminating Comey terminates the investigation, is faulty. So this is just layer upon layer of what the Democrats are doing to come up with excuses.”
* * *
“Whatever investigation was going on yesterday is going on today and will go on tomorrow. There is no reason to think it has been interrupted because James Comey is no longer there.”
On Comey’s public personna:
“He made himself a media celebrity. Everybody’s waiting on what is the next thing James Comey is going to say…. What did he say? How did he say it? What was the tone of voice? What was his expression. It’s like the whole political arena was being run by the Director of the FBI. That’s not the role of the Director of the FBI. So it was long past time for him to go…. He had become too much of a media celebrity, and he was driving the news cycle way too much.”
On the July 5, 2016 press conference announcing no charges against Hillary:
“He did a very effective job. I remember watching it live because we were covering it live at the website, and for the first 14 minutes or whatever the exact time was, it was, oh my goodness, he’s going to announce that he’s recommending prosecution, this is unbelievable, he has just filleted Hillary in public …. And then at the very end, he used the word “but,” and as soon as he used that word, I knew what was coming…. When he announced it [no prosecution recommendation] with all the cameras there, he effectively made the decision…. He usurped the role that others have in the process ….”
On the big picture and “constitutional crisis” hyperbole:
“People need to stop hyperventilating. There is no constitutional crisis here. The FBI is still intact. The Justice Department is still intact. The normal processes are still intact.”
Here’s the full interview. Can you handle 28 minutes and 26 seconds of nothing but truth?
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Comments
Professor Jacobson is right. Comey had become the consummate narcissist. He was also frenetic and hyper in his appearance in Congress last week. He must have known something was up.
Good riddance
Comey will now cash in.
He will be on all the late night shows and be treated like a heroic martyr.
He will be invited to all the best parties/yachts/vacations by the wealthy and pretentious liberals and Hollywood types.
He will get a big book deal for large $$.
If Hillary had won, he would have been fired and would have had to leave the Northeast or be treated like a leper forever.
If he had acted up with Hillary the way he did with Trump, prison or death (maybe both like McDougal) would have been in his immediate future.
So let him cash in.
So long as he’s cashiered out.
BEST ELECTION EVER.
Agreed!
And we are all having so much FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kudos to Comey for making it so far up the food chain and lasting this long. He’s an incompetent boob, and worse, a corrupt incompetent boob. Peter Principle in action.
Buh Bye
Can we start re-naming the “Peter Principle” the “Hillary Principle” now?
Commie Comey is a Clinton Family stooge.
He would answer every question in public, but whether Trump was being investigated. Yet he told Grassley and Feinstein Trump was not.
He was trying to have a hold on Trump. 10 months? You don’t get that long against the President. That is obscene.
Hillary Clinton is still not president.
It’s killing her. Hopefully not before she’s taken the perp walk.
What I find fascinating is how so many had nothing but good things to say about Comey as he was rising. Now, this man who was renown for his brilliance, for his professionalism, and so forth, is being redefined as him being a complete failure and worse.
Down rating was accidental and won’t let me undo.
Many people(and things look spectacular, successful and wonderful until they are actually put to a true stress test whereupon they fail spectacularly.
True true.
It’s like a flea on a blue ribbon winning “best in show” dog
exclaiming “I’m a blue ribbon winning flea!”
Comey didn’t get this far by not being the very competent professional he was reported to be. It looks to me like his character flaws (ego and ambition) were is ultimate undoing. The Peter Principle. He fell in love with the power and the spotlight. He was soon over his head and everyone knew it.
Presented with a way out, he eschewed it and so he is gone. It’s now all about politicians fighting over political advantage and whether the Clintonistas can keep an operative (McCabe) in place before a key component in Trump’s plan to drain the swamp is replaced with an anti-Clintonista.
Methinks his “competence” and “expertise” is only in “selling out” his country.
(Sorry about the “thumbs down” vote, I meant to press “reply”.
But I just learned that Comey is the NY Attorney who sent Martha Stewart to prison and that seems to be his most notable accomplishment before becoming FBI director.
http://nypost.com/2017/05/13/comeys-firing-is-a-gift-to-the-fbi/
Grassley who met with Comey with Feinstein stated Trump was not a target of the investigation. Feinstein did not deny this and said Grassley gave “good information”. The media continues to portray a false narrative and they have to know it’s false.
“I don’t think the timing issue is significant at all…”
Actually, I think it might be. I believe Hillary gave Trump the big opening by repeating her headlines-grabbing blaming of Comey and the Russians for her loss. It could very well be that Trump had prepared for this event by collecting the tweets and videos of prominent democrats calling for Comey’s being fired and was just waiting for the moment that catch the Dems wrong-footed. THAT part worked. The shrill hyperpartisan reaction has embarrassing for many Democrats who are beginning to voice their embarrassment.
I also believe Trump was waiting to play his “trump” card against what everyone in DC fears: Comey’s extensive incriminating files on those swamp creatures. “Comey better hope there are no tapes” of that dinner conversation might have been the checkmate that only HE possesses.
And McConnell switched from signalling that he was concerned about the firing then quickly declaring that there will be no special prosecutor appointed? It’s those little things that are often the mot revealing. Something big may have just changed. McConnell siding with Trump over the FBI guy with the files?
As the days roll on, it is becoming apparent that there is a method behind the madness. Maybe Trump has more on Comey than Comey has on Trump? That would be a very big advantage for draining the swamp. Now he needs to appoint a replacement before that Clinton loyalist McCabe takes root.
Trump is famous for saying that he always plans at least two ways
to victory…………..
FYI
Donald J. TrumpVerified account
@realDonaldTrump
James Comey better hope that there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/863007411132649473
ROTFL!!!!!!!
FYI?
https://theconservativetreehouse.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/preistap-mccabe-2.png