James Comey interview

[EricHiggin]

Faust said:

EricHiggin said:

Comey admitted he told Trump he wasn't being investigated, which is why Trump was pissed about Comey not making it clear to the press that Trump was in the clear. Since Comey clearly has no problem leaking things to the press, and taking interviews, why not make it known that Trump wasn't being investigated?

Comey's explanation is that he couldn't be 100% sure that Trump wouldn't eventually have to be investigated, and so he decided to simply keep quiet. Well guess what Jim, anyone at anytime could possibly and potentially end up part of some investigation, so I guess you can't ever say or leak anything to the press in case you were eventually proven wrong.

Are you saying that making the investigation public was somehow nullified because Trump (the suspect) was told otherwise on private? wow, thats amazing man, i mean, it doesnt bother you? the president actually asked if he was being investigated :S

Comey makes it quite clear that he is a much more sophisticated, higher standards, type of individual than Trump. He also makes it clear how important his job was, and everyone he worked with, and how important it was to be civilized, uphold the law, and make sure they weren't allowing things like leaks because that would obviously be a problem when your job is security of any kind. Comey then leaks information himself, useful or not, to the press about Trump. If he had no way to get this super important info to where it needed to go, then he has point. Since he could have easily gotten it to where it needed to go, makes him a hypocrite, and based on his past job, that's a scary thought. Either that, or he simply has terrible judgement, in which case, again, based on his past job...

JRPGfan said:

EricHiggin said:

1* I'd prefer he either give a solid yes, no, or no comment. He's not what you would call an everyday joe, based on his past position, and he's not a celebrity spewing whatever pops into their heads to keep the spotlight on themselves. He could be doing it to keep himself in the spotlight for whatever reason, like for his book, or whatever his "higher loyalty" is exactly...

He's also talking about the President. *2 Now if Trump did do something wrong, then just shut up and let Mueller take care of it, because if your so sure that Trumps guilty, justice will be served. The media should only get solid evidence and minor details, but the people investigating Trump need the full scoop. If your not sure if he's guilty, then put a sock in it, because if he's innocent, *3 you've just helped hold back progress due to all the nonsense the President has been dealing with since he took office. It would also make you look like you were potentially unfit for your prior position, which one would have to wonder why you were given that position in the first place, and how qualified really was that individual who hired you?

I'm sure lot's of Comey's past co-workers could constantly spill the beans about all of his faults and make him out to be a horrible person, and make his career hell going forward, when maybe he's not really that bad, and simply isn't perfect like the rest of us, which he alludes to in the interview. The reason they wouldn't do this, aside from the possibility that he was great at his job, is because if it needed to be taken care of, it would have been, behind closed doors, with the media only getting minor details here and there. Taking care of things like sophisticated adults do, like the type of people you would hire to protect a country and it's citizens.

1) His.... "maybe/coulda" "lets wait what the investigation finds" is probably a solid Yes, even if it doesnt sound that way.
You dont go to the lengths he has, unless you where basically sure something rotten was going on.

2) Thats basically why hes going "maybe + lets see what investigation finds", hes just waiting for muller to take care of it.

3) common trump has a million differnt scandals going on, dought it makes all that much differnce, and again I dont think anyone would go to these lengths without them believeing there being just cause for it (ei. Comey's is 100% sure Trump is guilty, he's just to scared to come out and say it).

1. I explain that him constantly saying things like possibly and probably is part of the problem, and you respond with he "probably" means yes? You don't go to his lengths unless something is seriously wrong, correct, if he's honest. If your not an honest individual, or have ties to say, the Dems/left for example, then going to this length to make the Republicans and Trump look as bad as possible to help your party, "business associates", etc, get back into power, makes perfect sense. How well do you know Comey personally?

2. He says "maybe" + "let's see" so often, it's hard to tell if it's dodging/hiding info, or just the way he is. For all we know, it really and truly simply means what it means, and that he doesn't really know, but he may not want to say that, considering his past position, it could make him look bad/stupid.

3. Trump is a target. When he went to visit the Japanese PM, he's called out for being a jerk for dumping out his entire bowl of fish food all at once, which apparently is bad for the fish. Headline MSM news. Funny how if you watch the full video elsewhere, Abe actually does this first himself, which leads Trump to put his head down to try and cover his laughter, in which case Trump then shrugs his shoulders and dumps his too, like what the hell, go with the flow I guess. Comey is 100% sure that many criminals were guilty, but he was too scared to say it, even though that's exactly what his job was, being the head of the department and all, so all those criminals were aloud to get away scot free because firing Comey and hiring someone who would man up, well that would be just wrong...

Hiku said:

EricHiggin said:

You mean like how Comey doesn't give specific answers to "cover himself", instead of speaking more directly without saying anything he legally can't? Like how he decided to shut down the Clinton e-mail investigation, only to re-open it, and then basically let her off the hook completely? Seemed like lots of connections between Hillary's campaign/White House to Comey during her investigation. He made it clear he eventually thought bringing it back to light wouldn't matter because she was going to win anyway, so what if he knew she just may lose? Would that have changed his decision? Sure sounds like it.

People also tend to "look out for themselves" if they know their job/career is on the line. I'm sure the reason he tried to keep the e-mail scandal hush hush had nothing to do with "looking out for himself". The fact he says that it had to be let out to the public so "her win" would be completely legit is also telling, by making sure nothing could come back on him after "she won". Funny how Comey kept super detailed notes about all of his encounters with Trump, and only Trump, no other Presidents or Government members apparently, and yet didn't leak them until after he was fired. If Trump was so bad and breaking so many laws, why not do something asap? I mean, you were investigating him anyway right? If it was on record and taken account into the Russia investigation, then that would be in Mueller's possession now, so why leak it to the press? It's not like Comey had his citizenship revoked and was kicked out of the country.

Well I'm specifically referring to "looking out for oneself" in the case of a criminal investigation. If there was no separation of governing branches then it would be all the more difficult to hold government officials accountable. But sure, someone like Comey could make moves to protect his job after wrongdoing. And in such a case, if his boss won't take proper action, there are other government branches that can do it instead.
But if it was standard for someone in Comey's position to ask for loyalty from the justice department, the supreme court, the president, etc, it would be a different matter.

Regarding the bolded portion, Comey did explain this during his testimony before. He said that he leaked the memos in hopes that it would prompt the appointment of a special council (which it did), after hearing Trump talk about the possibility of tapes being present during their conversation. He figured a special council would be able to subpoena the tapes, if they existed.
Rod Rosenstein announced the appointment of the special council right when Trump was in the middle of interviewing the replacement for Comey, and the person who would presumably take over the Russia investigation.
Imagine if you've done something illegal and being able to fire the person investigating criminal wrongdoing surrounding your campaign, and then picking their replacement.

Well "looking out for oneself" is vital to survival no matter what the scenario. Trying to focus only on Trump and not take Comey into account is ridiculous. If Comey has a left motive or ill agenda, then that surely matters just as much, if not more. Trump was basically Comey's boss, so asking Comey pretty much anything he wants Gov/security related would be completely normal. Now if Comey felt his boss was being a bully or inappropriate, then why didn't he make HR aware of this workplace issue? Why no complaints? Maybe because he thought it would make his job less secure since Trump is such a mean big baddie?

This would make sense if Trump in no way could get rid of Mueller. While it sounds like Trump flat out firing him isn't as cut and dry as Comey, it does sound like Trump could make it happen without too much effort. Now it seems everyone surrounding Trump is telling him that firing Mueller would be a bad idea, and this has been going on for quite some time, so why hasn't Mueller been fired yet? If Trump knows he's guilty, and is firing security personnel because he knows they will find out the truth, and that he will be screwed when they do, then why not fire Mueller asap? Allowing the investigation to continue means either Trump is flat out a complete idiot, or he's innocent, and just felt he needed better people in those security positions.