Comey: I Was Fired In Order To Influence Probe Into Russian Election Meddling
Source: Talking Points Memo
By ESME CRIBB Published JUNE 8, 2017 12:40 PM
Fired FBI Director James Comey testified Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee that he thinks he was fired to influence the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Its my judgment that I was fired because of the Russia investigation, Comey said. I was fired in some way to change or the endeavor was to change the way the Russia investigation was being conducted.
He called it a big deal, a phrase he also used to describe the possibility of any collusion with Russian officials to influence the election.
If any Americans were part of helping the Russians do that to us, that is a very big deal. And Im confident that if that is the case, Director Mueller will find that evidence, Comey said, referring to former FBI Director Robert Mueller, the special counsel appointed to oversee the probe.
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Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/comey-says-fired-to-influence-russia-probe
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)he indicated the problem was over, nope, it was not, the FBI is still in existence and the investigation continues.
Abouttime
(675 posts)Obstruction of justice. Trump MUST leave office immediately, Pence is also in on it and he too should resign.
ALL Democrats in congress should unite and demand a change in government, walk out, make a scene until our demands are met.
If all our representatives united we could rally behind them and force a nationwide general strike, no business until we get the government we deserve, this election was stolen!
Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,011 posts)Timing as to when Republicons gets sufficiently panicked about 2018 that they try to salvage their brand.
Timing as to when Democrats get professional at framing the language and irrevocably tying the Republican and Trump brands together in the public's mind with the phrase "Republican sabotage of the Affordable Healthcare Act" thrown in for good measure.
onetexan
(13,043 posts)The key issue is whether what Agent Orange did constitutes obstruction of justice. According to this Intercept article, the definition of the phrase "does not require that there be a direct order that would quash or affect the investigation...The key question here is whether the president acted with corrupt intent"...
https://theintercept.com/2017/06/08/obstruction-of-justice-heres-the-legal-definition/
Calista241
(5,586 posts)He has to have made an affirmative act and actually tried to do something to shut down an investigation. As Comey himself said, the President can fire him for any reason or for no reason at all. He may have intended to shut down the investigation, but if he made no effort to actually shut it down in the aftermath of Comey's firing...
Unless McCabe, Rosenstein, or Sessions gets up there and changes their story or adds Something we aren't aware of, it isn't obstruction.
I expect one of the next steps for Trump will be to try and make the appointment of Mueller a conflict. Maybe they'll hold it in their pocket, but I'll bet there's an army of lawyers going through every public utterance, public photograph, rumor, innuendo, everything Mueller has ever thought of to try an generate a conflict of interest for him.