What a zoo! Former Director Comey auditioned for what he certainly hopes will be a feature Hollywood film, a best seller “tell all” autobiography, or maybe a Broadway Musical. There can be NO other reason for his testimony today. That was proven in his 7 page soliloquy he released the day before his testimony. Think about that: why would a fired federal department leader volunteer to speak to the Senate Intelligence Committee but only in a public setting? Only one reason: to get public exposure. (In my conclusion below I’ll pull this and other elements together) Who else on Earth writes memos like Comey? Every guy I know when keeping notes from meetings does just that — “Notes.” Comey, on the other hand, wrote not just what was said, but included complete conversations with President Trump, including quotation marks and EXACT sentences as voiced! How odd is that? (Looked like the first chapter of his book to me)
In his testimony today Comey made five pretty outrageous claims. Here they are below with my comments after each in italics:
1. Comey said he was fired because of the Russia probe
A couple of points here: if he thought that was so, he had a fiduciary responsibility to file an immediate report with the Justice Department giving such dramatic national intelligence to authorities along with any evidence he had of that wrongdoing. That in itself if true would be obstruction of justice by the President. If that claim made by Comey is true, Comey’s not reporting it to the acting Attorney General in itself could be considered to be obstruction!
2. Comey took notes because he thought Trump might lie
I love this one. The first meeting between the two was requested by Comey. If Comey actually thought President Trump would lie about content of their private meetings why would such a brilliant attorney and distinguished law enforcement agency head actually roll the dice and not have someone in the room with them? And why would he meet one on one with the President all the other times? Why would he do that? CYA. (for those in Loma Linda that means “Cover Your A–) He had to have bullets in his gun that would support anything negative that “might” happen later regarding President Trump as it would pertain to Comey. And as sneaky as Comey is, he knew he could always pull the grammar school ploy and say “I thought he would lie on me.”
3. Comey says he was ‘defamed’ by Trump and White House
I am not an attorney. I cannot weigh in on the legal basis of “defamation” in this case. But I do know one thing: the President did Tweet some un-complimentary things about Mr. Comey. I personally think (from what I’ve learned about Comey) some of them certainly are true. I don’t know about the others. “Defamation” is a legal term that has legal penalties and remedies attached to it. Mr. Comey certainly has the legal right to take every legal action at his disposal if he indeed was “defamed” by the President AND the White House. Wait a minute: you cannot sue a sitting President for civil matters, which defamation is. Uh Oh: Comey will have to sue the White House. Uh Oh: who IS the White House? Oh No! Comey’s up a creek without a paddle. “If” he was (by the letter of whatever statute in D.C. or federal law determines available remedies to Comey) defamed, whatever basis for such a suit would have to include proof of damages. What damages would such statements made by the President cause to a fired FBI Director? Would they prevent him from getting his FBI Director job back?
4. Comey says he helped leak accounts of his talks with Trump to get a special counsel appointed
This in itself reveals just what a little bitty man the 6’7″ James Comey is. Some of his conversations with the President were privileged. By his own admission today, at least one of the things he leaked was CLASSIFIED! That is illegal — a felony! Comey as Director had a moral and fiduciary responsibility to speak directly to the Justice Department if for any reason anything that happened on his job would rise to the level of needing a special counsel appointed. If he really felt that way, why did he speak to someone (like the news media) rather than speak to an intelligence professional in the line of applicable law enforcement who could instigate special counsel action immediately? Why: because he likes gossip — his actions prove that. And he is so arrogant and elitist he felt surely that even if he obstructed justice or illegally leaked classified information, his buddies in the Justice Department would surely give him a pass.
5. Comey said the FBI knew Jeff Sessions would recuse himself — but won’t say why
Once again Comey reveals what type of man and what type of American he really is. In open testimony today before the Senate Intelligence Committee and on national television to Americans, he made this statement, knowing that it would do nothing but fuel more angst and speculation. Who does he think he really is? Isn’t it illegal to shout “fire” in a crowded theater? That’s exactly what he did here.
After today I understand exactly why Donald Trump fired James Comey. Comey’s actions post firing confirmed that he is a selfish, self serving, egotistical narcissist himself who just like his former boss — Hillary — cannot accept consequences for their actions and summarily reject any responsibility for any wrongdoing.
My summary comments are below, but here is a release today that clearly sums up exactly what happened today on Capitol Hill.
Marc Kasowitz, personal attorney of President Trump:
“Contrary to numerous false press accounts leading up to today’s hearing, Mr. Comey has now finally confirmed publicly what he repeatedly told the President privately: The President was not under investigation as part of any probe into Russian interference. He also admitted that there is no evidence that a single vote changed as a result of any Russian interference. Mr Comey’s testimony also makes clear that the President never sought to impede the investigation into attempted Russian interference in the 2016 election, and in fact, according to Mr. Comey, the President told Mr. Comey “it would be good to find out” in that investigation if there were “some ‘satellite’ associates of his who did something wrong.” And he did not exclude anyone from that statement. Consistent with that statement, the President never, in form or substance, directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone, including suggesting that that Mr. Comey “let Flynn go.” As he publicly stated the next day, he did say to Mr. Comey, “General Flynn is a good guy, he has been through a lot,” and also “asked how is General Flynn is doing.” Admiral Rogers testified that the President never “directed [him] to do anything . . . illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate” and never “pressured [him] to do so.” Director Coates said the same thing. The President likewise never pressured Mr. Comey. The President also never told Mr. Comey, “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty” in form or substance. Of course, the Office of the President is entitled to expect loyalty from those who are serving in an administration, and, from before this President took office to this day, it is overwhelmingly clear that there have been and continue to be those in government who are actively attempting to undermine this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information and privileged communications. Mr. Comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers.
Today, Mr. Comey admitted that he unilaterally and surreptitiously made unauthorized disclosures to the press of privileged communications with the President. The leaks of this privileged information began no later than March 2017 when friends of Mr. Comey have stated he disclosed to them the conversations he had with the President during their January 27, 2017 dinner and February 14, 2017 White House meeting. Today, Mr. Comey admitted that he leaked to friends his purported memos of these privileged conversations, one of which he testified was classified. He also testified that immediately after he was terminated he authorized his friends to leak the contents of these memos to the press in order to “prompt the appointment of a special counsel.” Although Mr. Comey testified he only leaked the memos in response to a tweet, the public record reveals that the New York Times was quoting from these memos the day before the referenced tweet, which belies Mr. Comey’s excuse for this unauthorized disclosure of privileged information and appears to entirely retaliatory. We will leave it the appropriate authorities to determine whether this leaks should be investigated along with all those others being investigated.
In sum, it is now established that the President was not being investigated for colluding with the Russians or attempting to obstruct that investigation. As the Committee pointed out today, these important facts for the country to know are virtually the only facts that have not leaked during the long course of these events. As he said yesterday, the President feels completely vindicated and is eager to continue moving forward with his agenda with this public cloud removed.”
My Summary
Comey seeks attention. He bathed in the spotlight he lived in while FBI Director. It devastated him when fired by the President and he had to somehow make himself look innocent and not responsible for the firing. Additionally, his propensity to lash out at those who disagree with him fueled his anger to get back at the President. So he did. But what he failed to realize is that Donald Trump is NOT a politician, has dealt daily throughout his professional life with people just like Comey. And the President has no problem with letting Jimbo have his moment in the sun making unsubstantiated claims and conducting his drive-by shooting antics. And the President just let him do it. Why? Because there’s NO THERE THERE. And President Trump knows the “truth will out.” That process has begun.
Now watch the talking heads get really close to exploding!
By the way: Comey did not write those notes he referenced today after his meetings with the President. He wrote them AFTER he volunteered to testify before the Senate. (I got that from an “anonymous” source)
