President Trump demanded “loyalty” from former FBI Director James B. Comey and asked him to drop at least part of the bureau’s investigation of former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, Comey plans to testify to Congress Thursday.
In a prepared statement posted on the Senate Intelligence Committee website, Comey says that in a private dinner with Trump on Jan. 27, the president asked him if he wanted to remain as head of the FBI and told him “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.”
“I didn’t move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence,” Comey says. He told Trump that he could promise “honesty,” he says.
Sen. Ron Wyden: Comey’s testimony describes "almost a Watergate-level effort to interfere” with the investigation https://t.co/CIMcqnUWZF
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 7, 2017
When Trump responded “honest loyalty,” Comey said “you will get that from me.” The two men may have “understood the phrase ‘honest loyalty’ differently,” he said.
The testimony, largely confirms media reports about the content of memos that Comey wrote after his meetings with Trump.
But going beyond those previous accounts, the testimony, describing nine one-on-one conversations between Comey and Trump paints a picture of a president intensely focused on having the FBI publicly say that he, personally, was not under investigation.
https://twitter.com/rjoseph7777/status/874054458258333702
I truly believe chimp is borderline retarded. Looking at his eyes and how they are placed and those facial expressions if one can call them that.
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/873693251072643072
https://twitter.com/Mikel_Jollett/status/873289235884724225
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/873481186164658177
Enough of Grandstanding from Comey, the senate & media ratings. Impeach #45!!!!
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/873206968198070273
https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/873305019646431236
https://twitter.com/funder/status/863402967105511425
https://twitter.com/RWPUSA/status/873350776911011841
https://twitter.com/NoahAbel/status/873217210042400769
https://twitter.com/MikeScarcella/status/873178227203862528
Did Rubio trade the integrity of U.S. for a Cuba-policy shift from Trump?
BY FABIOLA SANTIAGO
It may be hard to fathom outside of Miami, but the faraway island of Cuba and Cuban-American politics could have played a role in Thursday’s historic hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Did the influential Republican senator from Miami on the committee, Marco Rubio, trade the integrity of this country for the pledge of a U.S. policy shift on Cuba from President Donald Trump? The optics — and the timing of a yet unscheduled visit by Trump to Miami to announce a rollback advocated by Rubio of President Barack Obama’s engagement policy — certainly make it seem that way.
Before Rubio’s intervention, the testimony by former FBI director James Comey had grown impressively damning to President Trump in the same manner a steady, thoughtful, and detail-oriented prosecutor builds a case.
Comey testified that, in a series of uncomfortable conversations before Trump fired him, the president had given him high praise and demanded loyalty. Trump made it known to him that he wanted the criminal investigation into National Security Adviser Michael Flynn dropped and the “cloud” of the investigation into Trump’s campaign ties to Russian interference “lifted,” Comey said.
There’s no understating the moment — it was grave.
Obstruction of justice easily came to mind — but then, it was Rubio’s turn to ask Comey questions.
Or, more like it, to turn Comey’s testimony around and ask rhetorical questions that inserted doubt into Comey’s candid revelations. Rubio shifted the attention from Trump to leaks to the media. As for information, Rubio seemed most interested in getting Comey to publicly admit that President Trump “was not personally under investigation” than in obtaining any new evidence for the Senate investigation.
It was as if Rubio — who has become a fixture at the White House and has voted to confirm all of Trump’s controversial appointments — was acting as Trump’s defense attorney instead of as member of a bipartisan committee investigating crucial national security issues.
https://twitter.com/TPM/status/873227883946364930
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/873004261935919105
Found this at BJ:
Mike in DC says:
June 9, 2017 at 12:21 pm
Contra Kasowitz, Mueller is assembling the legal team equivalent of the 2017 Golden State Warriors. Though it seems like Alan Dershowitz and Jonathan Turley are auditioning for Team Trump
@RepTedLieu 👉BOSS!
https://twitter.com/RepTedLieu/status/873212631162728449
https://twitter.com/JohnCassidy/status/873218111297769473
https://twitter.com/4everNeverTrump/status/872945463418208257
https://twitter.com/TrueFactsStated/status/873197483408621568
May Flower Hotel?
https://twitter.com/TPM/status/873178464047828992
Trying to get DOJ to go after Comey –a material witness– over “leak” is yet more obstruction of Justice.— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) June 9, 2017
What leaks? They were his personal notes. Another buffoon on full display.
https://twitter.com/TPM/status/873190698236956672
They REALLY don’t understand the position they’re in.
They think Comey is one of the contractors that they can just sue until they give up.
This is his personal attorney, and this has been his MO.
They REALLY do think that they can do this.
They don’t understand that this is a whole other ballgame.
Comey’s not some subcontractor.
And, he’s not playing with you.
https://twitter.com/ReignOfApril/status/872880395120934912
https://twitter.com/ReignOfApril/status/873190602829070337
https://twitter.com/realhomie4life/status/873186843100983297
Stay focused, people. Thug has played this game his whole life. Comey was a private citizen. Information not classified. No there there!
https://twitter.com/danmericaCNN/status/873159801773195266
https://twitter.com/Newsweek/status/873084787367436289
https://twitter.com/matthewamiller/status/873179321975832577
https://twitter.com/MikeScarcella/status/873178227203862528
https://twitter.com/MalcolmNance/status/873185068675674113
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/873156117152620544
https://twitter.com/backdoordrafts/status/873071989564391424
https://twitter.com/bmangh/status/873183099227709440
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/8/17
Trump lawyer botches NYTimes Comey memo timeline
Michael Schmidt, New York Times reporter whose work was central to today’s Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, talks with Rachel Maddow about how Donald Trump’s lawyer got the Comey memo timeline wrong in his accusation against the New York Times.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/8/17
Largely corroborated report under fire at Comey hearing
Rachel Maddow shows how a New York Times story criticized as false by James Comey is largely corroborated by other news outlets’ reporting as well as Senate testimony by former DNI James Clapper. So what is he saying they got wrong?
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/8/17
Comey testimony fortifies Trump obstruction case
Rachel Maddow looks at how former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony in the Senate raised questions about A.G. Jeff Sessions, and created a serious obstruction of justice evidence problem for Donald Trump.
(THREAD) The GOP falsely says today was a win for Trump. In fact, here are some of the BOMBSHELLS that emerged from James Comey’s testimony. pic.twitter.com/5qg9Mrgpcp
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
(2) The brass at the FBI, based on classified intel, decided AG Sessions COULD NOT participate in the Russia probe OR get key intel from it.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
(4) Comey told Trump he WASN’T under *counter-intelligence* investigation but KNEW that that assessment could well change—and STILL might.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
(6) Not only did Comey take ON-SITE NOTES about Trump’s Obstruction, and testify about it UNDER OATH, he INVITES Trump releasing ANY tapes.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
(8) A lawyer himself, Comey has GRAVE concerns on HOW, WHETHER, and WHY AG Sessions remained involved in the Russia probe AFTER his recusal.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
(10) When Trump decided to OBSTRUCT the Flynn investigation he was going ROGUE—as he’d told NO ONE (even Kushner or his DNI) about his plan.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
(12) Comey’s recollection of these events is SO IRONCLAD he knew who sat where, which doors he used—SO MUCH DETAIL he CANNOT be impeached.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
(14) There is SUBSTANTIAL evidence that OTHER witnesses not yet called—Sessions, Kushner, and Priebus—KNEW Trump was acting inappropriately.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
(16) The former FBI Director thought the U.S. president intended to—and was in a POSITION to—”infect” (his words) a MAJOR FBI investigation.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
(18) Of the THOUSANDS of open FBI investigations, the ONLY one Trump ever asked his FBI Director about was an investigation of HIS campaign.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
(20) Trump’s OWN TWEETS—especially one described on this feed as “witness tampering”—led to the appointment of a Special Counsel by the DOJ.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
(BONUS) The MI6-derived Steele Dossier, SUBSTANTIAL sections of which have been independently CONFIRMED, is UNDER INVESTIGATION by the FBI.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 8, 2017
The whole world is watching mouth agape, as some in America fret, and with a straight face, exasperatedly demand that the incurious, incompetent, ignorant, conniving, deceitful, corrupt, hollow, treasonous buffoon, aided and abetted and illegitimately installed by Russia, do a better job of using his much touted wily skills to hide his con and treasonous actions..
These folks are not upset that the buffoon willfully committed/is committing all manner of brazen crimes including treason, they only wish he’d do a better job of the art of the con…of hiding it all…be more ‘smooth’ and ‘dignified’ while he perpetrates his con and treasonous crimes…Like, dressing up his vapid, lying, plagiarizing, uneducated, imported, gold-digging birther 3rd wife in designer clothes, falsely declare that she speaks 5 languages – when she barely speaks discernible English, and obviously doesn’t speak any other language besides her native tongue …and with the internet awash with tons of her sleazy nudes, have her – exaggerated silicone bits and surgically altered and stretched face on full display – faultily read the Lord’s Prayer, ‘hug’ a solitary black kid placed right next to her for a highly-choreographed photo-op, and voila! instantly declare her ‘classy’, ‘caring’ and ‘respectable’…
All these exasperated folks really want is to quickly normalize and force-feed Americans and the world this fraudulent buffoon, and get on with their agenda….which is to focus their efforts on using his ‘working digits’ to sign and push through the many dubious wicked laws, tax breaks, privatization of thriving and profitable government-owned institutions, multiple deregulation and arms deals etc. that they’re desperate for..
When you hear these exasperated folks keep talking and writing op-eds…not about removing this illegitimate treasonous buffoon, but unbelievably, about how the buffoon’s ‘tweeting’ and ‘lack of discipline’ is distracting from his ‘agenda’….what they really mean is, *their* agenda…
They have plans, and country be damned, they intend to carry it out…and they’ll make the best use of the treasonous buffoon and see it all the way through…even if it kills them – and the rest of us..
https://twitter.com/LouiseMensch/status/872910581048774656
https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/873015572048609280
What’s there to ‘soul-search’..? If the tables were turned and this was a Democrat, and even with a minority congress, the republicans would’ve shut this thing down ages ago…we wouldn’t even be having ‘hearings’ or passing bills…they would’ve cancelled the pretend-inauguration to begin with…
Come on folks, enough of the dilly-dallying, get on with it already..
http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/oh-lord-no.gif
https://twitter.com/TrueFactsStated/status/872962989166649344
https://twitter.com/christinawilkie/status/872833891601715200
But when..?
UH HUH
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/872938320543842305?
He’s such a lying thug. I loathe this mofo with everything in me….
https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/872983672160485376
uh huh
https://twitter.com/charlie_savage/status/872561718802735104?
nope
https://twitter.com/EvelynNFarkas/status/872911146856185856?
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/872997527192317952
uh huh
https://twitter.com/Mikel_Jollett/status/872900584076058624?
https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/872955906388086784?
Here’s a good twitter thread:
https://twitter.com/AoDespair/status/872966218738741250?
https://twitter.com/yashar/status/872807420384296960?
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/872939680005857280?
all the pundits trying to grade the inadequate White Man in the White House ON A CURVE….
Here’s what you call breaking it down to the muthaphuckin’ fraction by Pookey with the gold teeth.
” In the Dope Game, it’s called CONSPIRACY”
https://twitter.com/plies/status/872956528378204160?
Wonders shall never seize..
Vexed Jonathan Thurley suddenly hates ‘leaks’ now…? LOL..
Really..? Really, Mr Thurley..?
What really gives with Bob Woodward, Alan Dershowitz, Jonathan Thurley et al..
It wouldn’t matter much if we all hadn’t been paying attention all these years to their various intense faux-righteous outrage and dubious shenanigans that now mostly contradicts their sudden running interference on behalf of the buffoon…
I LOATHE Turley. The hate he has for President Obama was & still is sooo TRANPARENT. Screw Woodward and that Zionist Dershowitz.
I loathe him too…And mostly for the very same reason Ametia..
Remember when he was the go to resource for, and a permanent fixture on Rachel Maddow’s show..? But Rachel’s seen the light now, and I bet she cringes at the thought that she helped create this monster by propping him up on her show…I remember how much Keith Olbermann hated Turley..
For years, Turley and Bob Woodward where so obsessive in their anti-Obama spewing and their hate was palpable …
It’s really something watching these same opportunistic, bitter, jealous, alt-right, faux-patriots/faux-scholars and faux-keepers of the ‘constitution’ and our ‘democracy’, now suddenly alternately defending and demurring in the face of actual treason…And effusively defending and actually running serious interference on behalf of greedy Russian-owned traitors actually perpetrating some serious treasonous stuff right now..
you’d think Woodward would have some semblance of decorum in such matters, but NOPE, he straddles the fence between being o fucking self-righteous and boot-licking these filthy, lying, racists, greedy, power-hungry fucks. I.CAN’T
Dan Rather: Comey put DAGGER near Keebler Elf-CaC Sessions’ HEART today. LMBAO
Joy Reid: He’s a marked TARGET
get the living FUCK.ALL.THE.WAY OUTTA HERE, Granny-starving, zombie-eyed, Eddie Munster Ryan. We’re not buying the “trump aint know nothin’ bout how to be president.”
Hopefully, Paul Ryan and his self-serving, cowardly, weak, unpatriotic b*tt, has now being sufficiently exposed for all to see, as the hollow loser he really is…And there are no more GOP-think-tank purveyors and their oligarch-benefactors left still cheerleading this empty shell of a politician now…
The idea that this soulless, vacuous, zero-weight has been touted for years as some serious ‘wonk’ and budding ‘star’ by the republicans, can only make those of us who always saw through the crap, chuckle..
Hopefully, we don’t sleep on that other slimy opportunist Ben Sasse…I see him meandering his transparently slick, hardened, soulless, entitled, self-aggrandizing, alt-right behind, in and out of so-called ‘liberal’ circles…with so-called ‘liberal’ folks yucking it up with him …
The guy is very much equal parts Paul Ryan, Tom Cotton, and Tucker Carlson…and his being ‘against’ the buffoon should not confuse folks…he’s still supported and voted for every last evil the buffoon and his alt-right cohorts support and have put forward…
I was quite amused watching folks confused about why Sasse laughed and ‘did and said nothing’ when the Bill Maher N-word exchange happened last week…And I’m thinking, are folks really seriously confused about who this soulless republican opportunistic twerp is..
Even with Maher’s transgressions, he’s still a far cry from this hardened, alt-right, soulless, Nebraskan republican …
Hopefully, even as we are aligned with some so-called ‘moderate’/’sensible’ republicans in wanting the treasonous buffoon and his cohorts thrown out of the People’s House, we must never lose sight of the fact that that is where our common interests start and end…
Beyond that, their agenda is as far from ours and mostly still in line with much of what they’re trying to use the buffoon’s ‘working digits’ to sign off on…Their only problem is that the indisciplined, impulsive, dumb, megalomaniac buffoon unnerves them…and they’d rather have a more stable, soulless, evil, but reliable republican believer robot like Pence, in his place…they need someone who nods, follows instruction well, recites prescribed talking points well, and pretty much stays in his lane and does just as he’s told..
5 Clues James Comey Just Left Behind
The ex-FBI director hinted the Trump-Russia investigation could be bigger than previously thought.
Noah Shachtman
Spencer Ackerman
06.08.17 4:08 PM ET
SNIP
Mike Check
Vice President Mike Pence has been portrayed as the main victim of Michael Flynn’s perfidy for lying to him about his call with Kislyak about sanctions. However, Comey said it’s his “understanding” that Pence was aware of the concerns surrounding Flynn prior to or during his tenure as national security adviser. Those concerns included Flynn’s non-disclosure of his lobbying on behalf of Turkey and his payment for a speech to Kremlin-owned network RT. Rep. Elijah Cummings sent a letter to the Trump transition team on Nov. 18 — the day Flynn was announced as national security adviser — informing them of Flynn’s foreign problems. Pence was the head of the transition team, but despite that has claimed he was unaware Flynn was a non-registered foreign agent until Flynn registered with the Justice Department in May.
And it’s not just Pence. Questions also surround what and when CIA Director Mike Pompeo knew about Flynn – whom Comey confirmed on Thursday has been under active criminal investigation.
That investigation stemmed from Flynn lying to FBI agents about his conversations with Kislyak, something that then-acting attorney general Sally Yates first warned the White House about on January 26. Yates’ concern, she would later testify, is that the national security adviser was vulnerable to Russian blackmail, the most serious counterintelligence concern a senior U.S. official can face. Yates testified that her concerns were discussed within the U.S. intelligence community. One of the officials who might be expected to have been looped in on that is CIA director Pompeo.
On May 11, during Senate testimony, Pompeo told Wyden he had no “first-hand” knowledge of Yates’ concerns – nor even any “second-hand or third-hand knowledge of that conversation either.”
But Comey suggested otherwise on Thursday when Wyden asked if Yates’ fears about Flynn would have been discussed with “anyone at the CIA or Dan Coats’ office, the DNI?”
Comey was far from definitive, but nevertheless answered: “I would assume, yes.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/5-clues-comey-just-left-behind?via=newsletter&source=DDAfternoon
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/872957873856360449
https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/872955543475937280
The LIE that #45′ cabal put out about CaC session & orange PO #45 on the outs was as true as my wanting the good old day of jim crow to return!
https://twitter.com/NBCNightlyNews/status/872945577016918016
LOL #45 says “we’re under siege.”
LORDY, I hope there are tapes!
James Comey certainly has a lot of faith in Robert Mueller, so at this point we just have to hope that he’s right.
This f***ery has got to end.
W.O.R.D!
Kamala Harris: “The oath was to the Constitution of the U.S. Not to an individual. It’s completely inappropriate.”” pic.twitter.com/tDvc5zarLv
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 8, 2017
Speak! And ALWAYS remember, the rabid #45 base is touted to make it appear they’re his only loyal supporters. BULLSHIT, the ENTIRE GOP supports this shithead, because he is helping them dismantle our DEMOCRACY, OUR BASIC HUMAN & CIVIL RIGHTS.
Comey: Reasonable to ask why Sessions, who should have recused himself, was nonetheless involved in my firing. #ComeyHearing
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) June 8, 2017
My thread explaining why Trump admin was faking Trump/Sessions feud in advance of Comey hearing https://t.co/d1WTY4F6dz #ComeyHearing
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) June 8, 2017
FBI’s Comey raises the stakes in Trump’s Russia scandal
06/08/17 01:59 PM
By Steve Benen
It was a day much of the political world had circled on its calendar, and for good reason. As the investigation into Donald Trump’s Russia scandal intensifies, former FBI Director James Comey gave sworn testimony this morning before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
And what, pray tell, did we learn? Quite a bit, actually.
1. Comey thinks Trump is a liar. Comey’s opening statement called out Trump for making “plain and simple” lies about the FBI, and his testimony made multiple references to Comey’s concerns about the president’s habit of dishonesty, including the explanation about his contemporaneous memos: “I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting.”
This may not have been surprising on a substantive level, but to hear a former FBI director give sworn testimony that the president cannot be trusted to tell the truth struck me as amazing.
2. Obstruction. Asked about Trump’s possible obstruction of justice, which seems more obvious now than ever, Comey twice said that was up to the special counsel, saying it’s a question Bob Mueller and his will “will work toward.” I’d love some additional clarity: did that mean the special counsel could explore alleged obstruction or is already in the process of investigating alleged obstruction?
Also note, Comey said Trump’s request about the investigation into Mike Flynn is of “investigative interest” to the FBI, which probably isn’t what the White House wanted to hear.
3. Consider the partisan wagons circled. Those hoping Senate Republicans might eventually break with the White House’s preferred script will apparently have to wait for some other day. GOP senators didn’t defend Trump, per se, but their questions once again proved that tribal loyalties outweigh practically every other consideration, Trump’s 34% approval rating be damned.
4. Comey made news about Sessions. One of the questions that emerged yesterday is why Comey assumed Attorney General Jeff Sessions would have to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Comey testified today that Sessions’ role would’ve been “problematic” for reasons the former FBI director couldn’t discuss publicly. That’s a big deal.
All these greasy mediocre old men who can barely read, but think they’re really slick …and wrestle in the mud for any semblance of a ‘win’…and yet, they are touted as big-time ‘somethings’…
Someone please wake me up when Mueller concludes this assignment …With all the evidence that would have indicted anyone else, there’s still all this hedging and hemming and hawing that’s now bordering on the ridiculous…
This whole thing is beyond exhausting …like being stuck in mud with wheels spinning ..
Comey like Clapper – both republicans – have for whatever reason both chosen to downplay this whole thing whenever they appear before the Senate/congressional committee….even as they are much more certain and effusive …and sounding serious alarm bells, when in other venues…
What gives…
Now the greasy New York lawyer cherry-picks and spins Comey’s assertions that he saw nothing implicating the buffoon, and the fact that he thrice reassured the buffoon that he was not personally ‘under investigation’…and sleazily now tries to turn the tables on Comey..
The buffoon is unabashedly smearing you and you show up at this open hearing with the whole world watching, and play coy still..? 🙄🙄
Clapper like Comey wouldn’t come right out and call a spade a spade when he too appeared before the committee…then turned around and in a speech in Australia, made all these damning assertions – including comparing the shenanigans to WaterGate on steroids…
But at least Clapper enthusiastically sent in his resignation before the buffoon and his cohorts ever moved in…
The only pass I give Comey is for how he unabashedly loves his wife of 30 years…I’m a sucker for a faithful and devoted hubby who after all these years, still takes his wife on dates, and has no problem declaring to the world that he thoroughly enjoys spending time with his wife…I recall when Comey was first announced as the next FBI Chief, how he unabashedly declared his love and gratitude for his wife and credited her with whatever people see as good about him…Awwww…
For that unabashed love for his wife of 30 years, he gets a reprieve from my annoyance…
But can Mueller please chop-chop with it..
Or more appropriately, Побыстрее..
The longer this plays out, the more even bizarrely Orwellian it all gets …and the more alternative facts are spun to weaken hard evidence …and to pertinently, easily ‘deceive’ or solidify buy-in with the alt-right masses and the gullible…
Someone please tell McCain and his fellow republicans that the most disturbing Orwellian scenes playing out, are those that feature Elaine Chao aka Mrs McConnell, shamelessly yucking it up and carrying on with the treasonous buffoon in her pretend-capacity as member of his pretend-cabinet …even as her sleazy hubby insists and pretends to be serious about ‘getting to the bottom of the treasonous collusion and interference by a hostile foreign government’ that installed the buffoon that his wife now unapologetically works for…🙄🤔
https://twitter.com/TrueFactsStated/status/872863535168094209
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/872858388409057280
Good comment from BJ:
D58826 says:
June 8, 2017 at 1:51 pm
As I watch all of this a number of thoughts.
1. In one sense collusion between Trump/others and the Russians is the lesser issue. We can send Flynn/Manafort/etc to jail but the that doesn’t fix the problem.
2. The larger and more dangerous issue was/is Russian interference in our elections in all of its many facets. Even if no one in the Trump campaign talked to ANY Russian our elections were still compromised.
3. There are multiple investigations of varying degrees of credibility.
4. We have to restructure/harden our electoral systems so that the Russians cannot meddle. The former Russian ambassador McFaul is talking about this right now.
5. At least in public these congressional investigations seem to be rather scattershot in how questions are asked. A member has 5-7 minutes to ask a feew questions with little or no followup. Each critter has his own little list and there is usually no co-ordination
6. I’m remembering the Watergate hearings in which the majority counsel Sam Dash developed a line of questioning and took as much time as necessary to get the information out. The minority counsel (former Sen. Fred Thompson if I remember) would then put on the defense presentation. So we had days of John Dean and the guy who revealed the taping system.
7., So this is why I think we need a joint/bipartisan congressional committee or independent commission. Getting to the bottom of what happened in 2016 is important but even more important is putting together the necessary legislation/agencies/etc to prevent Russian interference in the future is even more important. And that is not being done. And I don’t see the GOP going along with the first part let alone the second.
AGREE The GOP are 100% COMPLICIT in the FUCKERY, make NO MISTAKE about it.
Has he come for Pence, the DANGEROUS DUNCE yet?
Not yet.
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/872833977748422656
Wow.
https://twitter.com/yottapoint/status/872888674081427456
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnUXcjvFWRg
“LORDY, I HOPE THERE ARE TAPES.”
Riiiighhhttt, Andy Card, the buffoon is just so naive and ‘unschooled’ in the ways of government…not at all Machiavellian in the least..
If only someone had ‘schooled’ the poor old ‘naive’ old man..
🙄🙄
It’s on & poppin….
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/872869426252701697
Re #11: A big concern
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/872870214035177472
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/872868095626444801
https://twitter.com/matthewamiller/status/872822632458178564
Increasingly looking like the RNC put together the best 60-person rapid response team available at minimum wage. https://t.co/vWXLuZY5xM— David Frum (@davidfrum) June 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/NBCNightlyNews/status/872854324203925504
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/872854285377208321
SENILE & IRRELEVANT. ALWAYS remember he unleashed the SNOW HO’ on us.
We Zonies are asking that very question, SG2.
I watched John’s interrogation of James Comey and it was painful. The old boy was clearly struggling and couldn’t seem to grasp the difference between the FBI investigation of Hillary’s private email server and the FBI investigation of the Russian involvement in the presidential election. He seemed to think it was unfair to Trump that Hillary’s investigation was over but this Russian thing had not ended and he called this a “double standard”.
Well, the old boy was just re-elected and it does appear he should have retired instead.
Rep Martha McSally thinks she’s next in line. She wants McCain’s job.
THANKS for these threads. I can’t watch, but I’m following it via threads like this on different blogs.
SG2, thanks for your hard work at keeping us informed and up-to-date on the hearing. I just came inside and really appreciate all the info you have posted here.
Ditto. Great job, SG2.
We’re all in this together.
https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/status/872847161603608576
Short: IT’S CLASSIFIED INFORAMTION.
https://twitter.com/NBCNightlyNews/status/872850885554163715
https://twitter.com/AP/status/872849164777992193
LOL
https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/872849387797573633
https://twitter.com/tjholmes/status/872847196248584192
GOP & #45 have committed TREASON
https://twitter.com/AndreaChalupa/status/872847230922784768
https://twitter.com/AndreaChalupa/status/872845611057459200
The GOP IS TRUMP & TRUMP IS THE GOP
They’re ALL EVIL. Looking@YOUMITCHMCTURTLE, for one.
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/872843217338847233
https://twitter.com/OversightDems/status/872838615470149632
Even with all the testimony from Comey, what is the likelihood of GOP bringing obstruction charges & impeachment on #45?
If #45 is allowed to skate away from collusion/obstruction, aiding and abetting a foreign entity as a sitting president, it will be the BIGGEST FUCK YOU to American democracy ever.
RACISM, WHITE SUPREMACY IS ALIVE & THRIVING IN AMERICA.
We have to take back the House and Sentate in 2018. Mueller’s investigation will be going on for awhile, 2018 is about right. Should be the first order of business when the new Congress is seated in 2019. That is the ONLY way it happens.
** Senate **
https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/872842011514200066
https://twitter.com/ericgeller/status/872841046132129793
https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/872840941123579904
https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/872837113867374592
https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/872837866707189761
Wooooo…he’s coming for Jared too
https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/872839344515674114
https://twitter.com/HallieJackson/status/872836851614330880
https://twitter.com/PreetBharara/status/872830054698536960
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/872836186359947265
https://twitter.com/RepAdamSchiff/status/872790744825810944
https://twitter.com/CBSEveningNews/status/872836017837002752
*rubs hands* They have all the goods, the receipts on Jeff Sessions.
https://twitter.com/TheDailyEdge/status/872834772078407681
Take that CaC DOWN
DOWN
DOWN
DOWN
https://twitter.com/igorvolsky/status/872834776717287424
https://twitter.com/CAPAction/status/872834536106852352
Oh my…wow!
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/872834172322238464
https://twitter.com/CAPAction/status/872833932483604480
https://twitter.com/deray/status/872832450896048128
https://twitter.com/brianefallon/status/872831583232897024
https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/872830884054958080
https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/872831855862665216
https://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP/status/872831708881715201
https://twitter.com/ReignOfApril/status/872829669430759425
https://twitter.com/NewsHour/status/872823847417896961
And, he would be the one to know being head of the FBI.
🔥 🔥 🔥
https://twitter.com/DavidCornDC/status/872828974006775808
Wow!
https://twitter.com/abc13houston/status/872829180555259904
https://twitter.com/TrueFactsStated/status/872829199375097859
AG in this up to his neck….
https://twitter.com/deray/status/872827028336246789
https://twitter.com/shomaristone/status/872828139092791301
Coded: “Release the Kraken, FBI colleagues.”— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/Khanoisseur/status/872826288460967936
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/872821138740662272
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/872825678907015169
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/872822211584958465
https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/872820762108940288
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/872821585538936833
GOP senators admonish Dem for persistent questioning
Associated Press
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee admonished California Sen. Kamala Harris, along with other Democrats, and asked her to be more respectful Wednesday as she pressed top intelligence chiefs testifying before the panel.
Harris was questioning Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, asking him if he would send a letter to Special Counsel Robert Mueller giving him complete independence in his probe into possible ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.
The exchange was tense, with Harris interrupting Rosenstein as he started to say there wasn’t enough time to explain the answer. When she asked for a yes or no answer, he demurred, and she said, “either you are willing to do that or not.”
Republican Sen. John McCain first interjected, out of turn, with a plea to the committee chairman, Sen. Richard Burr: “Mr. Chairman, they should be allowed to answer the question.”
As the exchange between Harris and Rosenstein continued, Burr interjected and asked Harris to suspend.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/7/17
Case for Trump ‘obstruction of justice’ strengthens
Nancy Gertner, former U.S. federal judge, talks with Rachel Maddow about whether the pressure Donald Trump exerted to end the FBI investigation into Mike Flynn was merely awkward or actually illegal.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/7/17
‘Watergate-level’: Sen Wyden on Trump actions in Comey testimony
Senator Ron Wyden, member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, calls James Comey’s description Donald Trump’s effort to quash the investigation into Mike Flynn “Watergate-level material.”
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/7/17
Four key points in Comey’s opening statement to Senate Intel
Rachel Maddow reviews some of the key points in former FBI Director James Comey’s opening statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee before his testimony Thursday.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/7/17
Trump officials refuse to answer Senate questions about Trump
Rachel Maddow shows how top Trump intelligence officials refused to answer questions about Donald Trump trying to stop the Mike Flynn investigation, even though they had no legal justification for refusing to answer.
Found at BJ. Absolutely ON POINT:
Truth.
I don’t see anything out there except 2018. The GOP House won’t impeach Trump. They’ve got each others backs.
We have to continuously be raising hell about voter suppression tactics (new and old) and dedicate ourselves to taking back the House and Senate, effectively cutting the nuts off whoever is president and possibly impeaching Trump if he’s still there.
It’s on us. No saviors. Just us.
Ruemara FOR THE WIN!!!
“…every newspaper could have bombshell testimony that Trump gave the nuclear codes, and the NSA wifi password to Russia and Saudi Arabia and all the GOP would do is justify it. Not to mention that fuckheaded base of craven peasants that are key…”
👌🏻👌🏻
Comey’s statement points to alleged Trump lies about obstruction
06/08/17 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
Yesterday afternoon, former FBI Director James Comey’s opening statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee landed on the political world like a bombshell. The remarks, which Comey will deliver under oath this morning, raised the prospect of serious wrongdoing on the part of Donald Trump, with Ben Wittes describing the statement as “the most shocking single document compiled about the official conduct of the public duties of any President since the release of the Watergate tapes.”
It’s against this backdrop that Marc Kasowitz, Trump’s outside counsel, tried to pretend that Comey’s written version of events is great news for his client.
For the record, I don’t think he was kidding.
Obviously, attorneys are obligated to represent their clients’ interests, but let’s be clear: Comey’s statement yesterday put Trump’s presidency in jeopardy and may help bring about its premature end. If the former FBI director’s account is accurate, the president demanded Comey’s loyalty, and suggested the demand was tied to Comey’s future career. Trump also personally urged the FBI director to back off an ongoing federal investigation, which looks an awful lot like obstruction of justice.
The statement from Trump’s outside counsel doesn’t deny, refute, or contest any of these allegations.
Just as importantly, though Comey’s statement didn’t highlight this, the information the former FBI director documented suggests the president didn’t just obstruct justice – he also brazenly lied about it to the American public.
Key GOP senator shrugs off Trump’s scandalous demand for loyalty
06/08/17 09:20 AM
By Steve Benen
Donald Trump sat down with Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro last month, and the host, responding to a New York Times account, asked the president if he pressed then-FBI Director James Comey for his loyalty. “No,” Trump replied. “No, I didn’t.”
We now have reason to believe the president was lying. The Comey statement released yesterday provides the details of the conversation in which Trump reportedly told the head of the FBI, “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty” – and then seemed to connect his expectations to Comey’s continued employment.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told MSNBC yesterday that it was “obviously” not appropriate for Trump to make such a request. Unfortunately, not every Republican leader agrees. The Washington Post reported:
Note, Burr isn’t rejecting Comey’s account as unreliable. Rather, the North Carolina Republican is saying that if the account is true, he just doesn’t care.
I realize assorted partisans are going to take steps to defend their party’s leader, but Burr’s quote is unsettling, not just because he’s the chairman of the committee investigating the Russia scandal, but also because he’s completely wrong.
Eric Boehlert @EricBoehlert
in her 11 hrs of Benghazi questions did Hillary ever say she didn’t “feel” like answering Q?
98 replies 1,730 retweets 3,094 likes
Daily News
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBw7D3dV0AAU9vs.jpg
Great cover!!
Yashar AliVerified account @yashar
Who among us hasn’t repeatedly called the FBI Director to deny involvement with Russian hookers?
267 replies 2,015 retweets 5,689 likes
LOL..
Jason Miller @longwall26
Comey: He’s guilty
Democrats: He’s guilty
Trump: I’m guilty
Republicans: We may never get to the bottom of this
359 replies 22,305 retweets 55,641 likes
Damn, that’s good.
Front page LA Times
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBxLPPgU0AAG5fz.jpg
Do you know what time it starts?
It’s 10:00 AM right now EST and it is supposed to get started soon.
8am MDT
https://twitter.com/joekeene/status/872602612817965057
This is IT. It’s another dog & pony show for self-aggrandizement and TV ratings.
https://twitter.com/DavidShuster/status/872671993820323841