Trump fires FBI Director James Comey.

[townsend]

I seriously doubt they gave Trump a heads up of this sort of thing. Or at least I sure as hell hope the FBI wouldn't.

I hope that too. Comey asking for more money to investigate might have tipped them off though.

 

[2233boys]

I seriously doubt they gave Trump a heads up of this sort of thing. Or at least I sure as hell hope the FBI wouldn't.

According to the president's letter to Comey, they do exactly that.

 

[townsend]

According to the president's letter to Comey, they do exactly that.

The President lies so frequently it's pretty safe to believe the exact opposite of whatever he says.

 

[L.T. Fan]

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/05/11/fbi-investigation-annapolis/amp/

I think this investigation is building up steam. Gotta wonder iif that's what caused Trump to act.

Little consequence to Trump. The Republican Party didn't finance his campaign. This has some other target in mind I think.

 

[L.T. Fan]

Little consequence to Trump. The Republican Party didn't finance his campaign. This has some other target in mind I think.

I really don't think this is tied to the Russian thing. I think it may be about contributors.

 

[Angrymesscan]

Maybe whoever trumped up the whole Pizzagate thing had taken a writing course where they told him to write about what he knows...

 

[skidadl]

What ethics issues are you getting at? The FBI investigation is not dealing with ethics. Sessions recused himself because of the Flynn matter which he thought it best not to be involved with the FBI investigation. Your statements are all over the board and making claims that are structurally nonsensical.

Comey getting fired will not impede the investigation at all. The Bureau is self sustaining without a director because the DOJ is their supervision group.

This is sort of my take on it. Maybe I don't understand, but how is firing one guy going to suppress all of this supposed evidence? That doesn't even make sense to me.

 

[townsend]

This is sort of my take on it. Maybe I don't understand, but how is firing one guy going to suppress all of this supposed evidence? That doesn't even make sense to me.

The question isn't how effective it will be. It's what was the president's intention. I'm not going to pretend that I know the inner workings of law enforcement. Although this kind of shake up literally has to impact everything going on at the FBI. But even if the investigation hasn't been compromised, Trump is guilty of trying to compromise it. How effective he is at it isn't really very important.

 

[skidadl]

The question isn't how effective it will be. It's what was the president's intention. I'm not going to pretend that I know the inner workings of law enforcement. Although this kind of shake up literally has to impact everything going on at the FBI. But even if the investigation hasn't been compromised, Trump is guilty of trying to compromise it. How effective he is at it isn't really very important.

It seems like such a joke that it would even help his potential cause that I can't get on board with that line of thinking. Saying he is guilty of that seems like a bold statement.

 

[townsend]

It seems like such a joke that it would even help his potential cause that I can't get on board with that line of thinking. Saying he is guilty of that seems like a bold statement.

Well I'm not saying his guilty of it in a criminal sense. I have no idea if this counts as criminal obstruction. I do think it's apparent that the Russia investigation was the motivation for the firing, and even if a criminal case can't be constructed around it, it should be enough to start impeachment. Which isn't a criminal proceeding.

 

[2233boys]

This is sort of my take on it. Maybe I don't understand, but how is firing one guy going to suppress all of this supposed evidence? That doesn't even make sense to me.

For what its worth they said on the news, firing the director will slow the investigation down. Whether that makes a difference in the long run I don't know. What will make a difference is who then ends up in to replace Comey. If it is a Trump acolyte, I am sure it will affect the investigation.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Well I'm not saying his guilty of it in a criminal sense. I have no idea if this counts as criminal obstruction. I do think it's apparent that the Russia investigation was the motivation for the firing, and even if a criminal case can't be constructed around it, it should be enough to start impeachment. Which isn't a criminal proceeding.

This only works if Trump was the target of the Russian Investigation

 

[2233boys]

This only works if Trump was the target of the Russian Investigation

Really so he can obstruct an investigation with impunity, because he isn't the subject of the investigation? That doesn't sound right.

Maybe I am missing something.

 

[townsend]

This only works if Trump was the target of the Russian Investigation

So if Obama had fired Comey during the Benghazi investigation that would have been okay?

 

[townsend]

(CNN)The White House said Thursday that removing FBI Director James Comey from his post may hasten the agency's investigation into Russian meddling.

"We want this to come to its conclusion, we want it to come to its conclusion with integrity," said deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders, referring to the FBI's probe into Moscow's interference in last year's election. "And we think that we've actually, by removing Director Comey, taken steps to make that happen."

The statement was a surprising admission from the White House that Comey's sudden dismissal on Tuesday may have an effect on the Russia probe. Officials have insisted the removal came because of Comey's handling of an investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server, and was unrelated to his oversight of the look into Russia's election hacking and possible ties between Trump advisers and Russian operatives.

Sanders said Thursday that Trump would "love nothing more for this investigation to continue to its completion."
But Trump himself has cast doubt on the investigation, suggesting any question of ties between his campaign and Russia are a "hoax."
Earlier in her briefing Thursday, Sanders claimed that Comey's firing had not altered the Russia investigation at all.
"Any investigation that was taking place Monday was taking place today," Sanders said, suggesting that was an indication that Comey's firing would not impact the ongoing probe.

 

[L.T. Fan]

The question isn't how effective it will be. It's what was the president's intention. I'm not going to pretend that I know the inner workings of law enforcement. Although this kind of shake up literally has to impact everything going on at the FBI. But even if the investigation hasn't been compromised, Trump is guilty of trying to compromise it. How effective he is at it isn't really very important.

I assure you nothing has been compromised on the investigation. The people actually doing the investigative work work are tied directly to the DOJ legal. There is an established Attorney Client relationship on all the investigative work product. You are spewing Hollywood style drama. It doesn't work like that.

 

[boozeman]

I assure you nothing has been compromised on the investigation.

Whew. As long as you are assuring me, I feel better.

 

[L.T. Fan]

I have been there in another agency capacity.

 

[townsend]

I assure you nothing has been compromised on the investigation. The people actually doing the investigative work work are tied directly to the DOJ legal. There is an established Attorney Client relationship on all the investigative work product. You are spewing Hollywood style drama. It doesn't work like that.

Maybe so. But Trump believes he's made a difference. See the press briefing above. So even if the investigation is perfectly insulated, there was still an attempt to interfere with it.

 

[L.T. Fan]

Maybe so. But Trump believes he's made a difference. See the press briefing above. So even if the investigation is perfectly insulated, there was still an attempt to interfere with it.

What's your basis for saying that? I watched the briefing and I don't get where you are going with that. The DOJ legal department oversees these type investigations. It is a completely different set of circumstances than other FBI investigations..

The FBI Director is supposed to be mun on these matters. That's what got Comey in trouble initially. He was duped or mislead into disclosing the Clinton investigation and making a disposition on the outcome. That is a no no for the Investigative side of the system The head of DOJ and Bill Clinton probably hatched that up with the tarmac meeting. The Director of the FBI normally oversees criminal matters and other investigative matters for the agency.

I feel for the guy in some ways because his boss railroaded him by recusing herself and tagging him. She should have passed that responsibility to the next in line at the DOJ.

At any rate the Russia investigation will proceed with or without a Director because nothing changed on this particular matter as far as the working process is concerned.