US Politics

[F-22Raptor]

The acting FBI director in testimony denied that FBI employees lost faith in Comey, and that the Russia-Trump investigation was a "low priority."

The White House story is falling apart at the seams.

 

[F-22Raptor]

So Trump admits he compromised the independence of this investigation.

Trump is a total train wreck. Is it even possible to go a day without a scandal or controversy under this administration?

 

[Nilgiri]

Who instigated it, be it the Deputy AG or Democrats, but it was ultimately Trump's decision.

And the burden would be greater had he not fired Comey with the recommendation from the AG office. That would just give rope to the anti-Trumpers (dumbocrats and RINOs) later when it came to the light (you acted against the D AG AND the AG's recommendations and personally kept Comey on????oooh fishy fishy fishy! coup! coup! coup!)

Dumbocrats would be crying whatever he does, whenever he does it....so he might as well have done it now. Its a better time (not too soon, not too late).

If Trump wanted Comey gone he should have asked for his resignation (not fire) at the start of his presidency

That would have optically been a lot worse (just like if Comey was fired if Hillary won, though the MSM would be cheering that instead)....i.e immediate retribution with no basis from the AG office.

Like I have said, Trump first ensured/guaranteed from Comey he was not being investigated on 3 seperate occaisions.

AG Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, thus he could not act earlier on it.

Thus only when the bipartisan D AG came in (only 2 weeks ago) and practically recommended Comey be dropped....did Trump take the decision.

It also gave enough time for Comey to produce even more rope to hang himself with (i.e continue to dither on several key investigations as Sally Yates testified about recently)....to add to his massive fundamental mistakes he made in 2016 (Esp listing the hillary crimes regarding emailgate, but then producing judgement/recommendation not to prosecute based on intent....which is NEVER a law enforcement directors call)

in midst of investigating Russian interference in US elections.

These will keep going for quite some time yet. FBI is way bigger than any one person/director. Comey can also be subpoenaed as required.

Trump is well within his rights to fire Comey, but the timing was horrible and will have to suffer the consequences for it.

Why not wait and see? You will see some pretty interesting "consequences" pretty soon with Swampy Comey out of the way (and removed from his files and computers during the firing, probably for a very important reason). They might even compete with nov 8th on scale of liberal tear production. Just sit back and relax....I do enjoy politicians being genuinely worried and fearful for the first times in their lives, thus kicking up their whining and senility a few octaves higher like Mad Maxine....as their sock puppets the MSM bray in equal fervour.

 

[AMDR]

After seeing what has happened over the past four months, I'm thoroughly convinced that if American credibility can come out still intact after his term is over, the US can survive anything and do anything. This is the ultimate test of American democracy and American society.

 

[LA se Karachi]

American voters, who gave President Donald Trump a slight approval bump after the missile strike in Syria, today give him a near-record negative 36 - 58 percent job approval rating, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. Critical are big losses among white voters with no college degree, white men and independent voters.

Today's job approval rating compares to a negative 40 - 56 percent approval rating in an April 19 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University and a negative 35 - 57 percent score April 4, his lowest approval rating since he became president.

The president is losing support among independent voters and groups which are important parts of his base. Approval ratings are:

• Negative 29 - 63 percent among independent voters, down from a negative 38 - 56 percent April 19;
• A split among white voters with no college degree, as 47 percent approve and 46 percent disapprove, compared to a 57 - 38 percent approval April 19;
• White men go from a 53 - 41 percent approval April 19 to a split today with 48 percent approving and 46 percent disapproving.

American voters' opinions of several of Trump's personal qualities are down:

• 61 - 33 percent that he is not honest, compared to 58 - 37 percent April 19;
• 56 - 41 percent that he does not have good leadership skills, little change;
• 59 - 38 percent that he does not care about average Americans, compared to 57 - 42 percent April 19;
• 66 - 29 percent that he is not level-headed, compared to 63 - 33 percent last month;
• 62 - 35 percent that he is a strong person, little change;
• 56 - 41 percent that he is intelligent, compared to 58 - 38 percent;
• 64 - 32 percent that he does not share their values, compared to 61 - 35 percent.

"There is no way to spin or sugarcoat these sagging numbers," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

"The erosion of white men, white voters without college degrees and independent voters, the declaration by voters that President Donald Trump's first 100 days were mainly a failure and deepening concerns about Trump's honesty, intelligence and level headedness are red flags that the administration simply can't brush away," Malloy added.


American voters disapprove 52 - 40 percent of the way Trump is handling the economy. His grades on handling other issues are:

• 44 percent approve of the way he is handling U.S. policy toward North Korea and 48 percent disapprove;
• Disapprove 59 - 36 percent of the way he is handling foreign policy;
• 45 percent approve of the way he is handling terrorism and 48 percent disapprove;
• Disapprove 62 - 35 percent of the way he is handling immigration.

Trump and the Media

American voters disapprove 58 - 37 percent of the way the news media covers Trump. Voters disapprove 65 - 31 percent of the way Trump talks about the media. And voters trust the media more than Trump 57 - 31 percent to tell the truth about important issues.

Trump's first 100 days in office have been "mainly a failure," 58 percent of voters say, while 38 percent say they have been "mainly a success."


By a 54 - 38 percent margin, American voters want the Democratic Party to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives. This is the widest margin ever measured for this question in a Quinnipiac University poll, exceeding a 5 percentage point margin for Republicans in 2013.

If Democrats had won control of the U.S. Senate in the 2016 elections, the country would be in a better place than it is now, 41 percent of voters say, while 27 percent say it would be in a worse place and 30 percent say it would be the same.

American voters dislike Democrats less than they dislike Republicans:

• Voters disapprove 71 - 22 percent of the way Republicans in Congress do their job;
• Voters disapprove 58 - 34 percent of the way Democrats in Congress are doing their job.

From May 4 - 9, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,078 voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points. Live interviewers call landlines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, Colorado and the nation as a public service and for research.

Visit poll.qu.edu or www.facebook.com/quinnipiacpoll Call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter @QuinnipiacPoll.

https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2456

 

[F-22Raptor]

In a series of tweets this morning, Trump threatened Comey and warned he may stop all press briefings. Considering Comey may testify before Congress, Trump just committed witness intimidation.

Trump is a total lunatic. He's completely lost it.

 

[cloud4000]

And the burden would be greater had he not fired Comey with the recommendation from the AG office. That would just give rope to the anti-Trumpers (dumbocrats and RINOs) later when it came to the light (you acted against the D AG AND the AG's recommendations and personally kept Comey on????oooh fishy fishy fishy! coup! coup! coup!)

Dumbocrats would be crying whatever he does, whenever he does it....so he might as well have done it now. Its a better time (not too soon, not too late).



That would have optically been a lot worse (just like if Comey was fired if Hillary won, though the MSM would be cheering that instead)....i.e immediate retribution with no basis from the AG office.

Like I have said, Trump first ensured/guaranteed from Comey he was not being investigated on 3 seperate occaisions.

AG Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation, thus he could not act earlier on it.

Thus only when the bipartisan D AG came in (only 2 weeks ago) and practically recommended Comey be dropped....did Trump take the decision.

It also gave enough time for Comey to produce even more rope to hang himself with (i.e continue to dither on several key investigations as Sally Yates testified about recently)....to add to his massive fundamental mistakes he made in 2016 (Esp listing the hillary crimes regarding emailgate, but then producing judgement/recommendation not to prosecute based on intent....which is NEVER a law enforcement directors call)



These will keep going for quite some time yet. FBI is way bigger than any one person/director. Comey can also be subpoenaed as required.



Why not wait and see? You will see some pretty interesting "consequences" pretty soon with Swampy Comey out of the way (and removed from his files and computers during the firing, probably for a very important reason). They might even compete with nov 8th on scale of liberal tear production. Just sit back and relax....I do enjoy politicians being genuinely worried and fearful for the first times in their lives, thus kicking up their whining and senility a few octaves higher like Mad Maxine....as their sock puppets the MSM bray in equal fervour.

Good post.

Don't care what Democrats say about Comey. Hillary still blames him for her pitiful election, campaign, but many Democrats back him on his investigation of Trump's Russia connection. They will do their own flip-flop when its convenient. Trump had every right to fire Comey, I just think there's a better way to do it.

As for the MSM...nobody cares what they think. They had it in for Trump from day one. They will never give Trump the benefit of the doubt.

No the main issue with Trump seems to be within the GOP, a party he nominally leads. He needs to do some work there.

 

[Nilgiri]

Good post.

Don't care what Democrats say about Comey. Hillary still blames him for her pitiful election, campaign, but many Democrats back him on his investigation of Trump's Russia connection. They will do their own flip-flop when its convenient. Trump had every right to fire Comey, I just think there's a better way to do it.

As for the MSM...nobody cares what they think. They had it in for Trump from day one. They will never give Trump the benefit of the doubt.

No the main issue with Trump seems to be within the GOP, a party he nominally leads. He needs to do some work there.

I have a feeling Trump fired him suddenly and when he was on the other side of the country (from his office) for reasons we will probably only fully understand later.

Can only judge fully from hindsight basically. Hence I sit back and watch mostly....rather than get engaged on every issue that pops up almost daily that prompt dem and MSM tears. When its big enough like Comey-firing here, I will offer some comment about certain stark matters that may have been ignored due to the decibel fervour everywhere....esp if unfounded conclusions are reached and presented like fact.

 

[LA se Karachi]

Trump's warning to Comey deepens White House crisis

By Jordan Fabian - 05/12/17

President Trump added fuel to the fire engulfing his White House on Friday by warning now-fired FBI Director James Comey not to reveal anything about their conversations.

In an early-morning tweetstorm Friday, Trump suggested there might be recordings of his conversations with Comey that could be used to undercut anything the former director might tell the public.

“James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” Trump tweeted.

The stunning pronouncement gave more ammunition to critics who say Trump fired Comey to thwart his bureau’s investigation into whether Trump associates colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.

Later Friday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer repeatedly refused to say whether Trump secretly recorded his conversations with Comey — or has done so with any other White House visitors, including members of Congress and foreign dignitaries.

“I’ve talked to the president. The president has nothing further to add on that," Spicer told reporters.

Democrats quickly demanded that Trump turn over any tapes, if they exist.

“For a president who baselessly accused his predecessor of illegally wiretapping him, that Mr. Trump would suggest that he, himself, may have engaged in such conduct is staggering,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee.

“The president should immediately provide any such recordings to Congress or admit, once again, to have made a deliberately misleading — and in this case threatening — statement,” he added.

The remark deepened the sense of crisis surrounding the White House since Trump’s dismissal of Comey on Tuesday evening.

His suggestion that he taped conversations with Comey played right into the hands of critics who were already comparing his actions to that of President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

Nixon secretly monitored visitors at the White House complex and Camp David using an elaborate recording system, which was ultimately exposed in 1973 and helped lead to his downfall. No president is known to have used such a system since.

Trump has also vented his frustration with media coverage focusing on the White House’s often-contradictory accounts of how and why he decided to fire the FBI director amid the active Russia investigation.

The president has rarely been seen at the White House this week, but in his first question-and-answer session about Comey’s firing, he contradicted accounts offered by his press team and Vice President Pence that he acted on the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Trump told NBC News on Thursday that the decision was his alone and he would have fired Comey “regardless of the recommendation” from Rosenstein.

The president also suggested that the Russia investigation had played a part in firing Comey, something his aides had vehemently denied.

“And in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story,’ ” he said.

“It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won. ... This was an excuse for having lost an election.”

Those comments, plus another Friday tweet claiming his aides can’t be expected to convey his views with “perfect accuracy,” raised new questions about the credibility of his top spokespeople: Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Clearly frustrated, the president on Friday threatened to scrap the daily White House briefings for reporters.

Asked by host Jeanine Pirro if he’s moving too fast for his press team, Trump replied, “yes.”

“We don’t have press conferences ... just don’t have them,” the president said. “Unless I have them every two weeks and I do them myself, we don’t have them. I think it’s a good idea.”

At the same time, he defended Spicer, whose job is said to be in jeopardy. “Well he’s doing a good job but he gets beat up.”

“Again you know they don’t show the 90 questions that they asked and answered properly,” Trump continued. “I’m saying if they’re off just a little bit, just a little bit, it’s the big story.”

Spicer and Sanders have been tasked with rebutting damaging leaks of Comey’s conversations with Trump, including reports that the president demanded the director’s personal loyalty during a late January dinner.

This week’s events have made their task harder; Sanders conceded Wednesday that at least one discrepancy in the dueling accounts of Comey’s firing happened because she did not speak with the president.

Trump’s shoot-from-the-hip style has served him well in the past, and especially during the 2016 campaign, when he was able to keep his foes on the defensive.

But Trump’s unpredictability has at time inflicted damage to his presidency, and is now putting him in dangerous legal waters.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a liberal ethics watchdog, on Friday called on the Justice Department to investigate whether Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey.

“That tweet shows very, very poor judgment,” said Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer for former President George W. Bush and CREW board vice chairman. “I don’t think he did anything illegal with the tweet. If he is trying to influence Comey’s possible testimony to Congress, however, then he could get into serious trouble.”

Comey declined an invitation to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee next week, but leaders of the panel still hope to bring him in on another date.

Lauren Ouziel, a Temple University law professor and former federal prosecutor, said not enough facts are known to determine whether obstruction occurred, but that Trump’s firing of Comey combined with his “threat” on Twitter should be enough to pique the interest of investigators.

“There’s enough there that makes it worth looking into, based on what’s been publicly reported,” she said. “It raises a significant question as to whether obstruction took place.”

Spicer on Friday insisted the tweet was “not a threat.”

“He simply stated a fact. The tweet speaks for itself," he said.

Ouziel said Trump’s conduct with regard to Comey “clearly amounts to an egregious flouting of the constitutional norms of the office of the presidency, and an abuse of the power of that office.”

Comey hasn’t spoken publicly since his surprise firing Tuesday. But those who know him have told news outlets he’s confident any recording of the conversation would reflect well on him.

“He hopes there are tapes,” one Comey confidant told NBC News. “That would be perfect.”

http://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...rning-to-comey-deepens-crisis-for-white-house

 

[T-72M1]

 

[LA se Karachi]

 

[T-72M1]

The Ben Garrison ones are nicer

Hope Gen. McMaster, the Bushite neocon goes next. Word is they don't have good chemistry and that Trump may "promote" him.

The world will be a better place when there's true peace between the US and Russia. They really should get together and knock the hell out of the terrorist infestation in the MENA and other places.

What an action packed roller coaster this presidency has been so far, so despite the gloomy neocon lows it touched with the Syrian fireworks show which Putin was warned about beforehand and which left the runway uncratered from where Syrian jets bombed the jihadis the very next day, I still have hope that he'll deliver peace.

go Trump ! 'Murrica's greatest president !

I like these little oval office bits they keep putting out, apart from being a political genius par excellence, the man is also a master strategist and media manipulator.

good stuff, Rachel Maddow and the the rest of the MSM are not going to be able to stop this man.

 

[LA se Karachi]

Congress exasperated as White House in 'downward spiral'

(CNN) - Republicans in Congress barely had time to get their footing Monday, as another wild development, this time reports that President Donald Trump had revealed sensitive intelligence to Russia's foreign minister and US ambassador, swept the Capitol.

Senators mulled over the latest stunning news, first reported by The Washington Post, as they met inside the chamber.

Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker said the wave of negative stories related to Trump and intelligence meant the White House is in a "downward spiral."

"They are in a downward spiral right now and have got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that's happening," Corker told reporters. "You know the shame of it is there's a really good national security team in place, there's good productive things that are underway through them, and through others. But the chaos that is being created by the lack of discipline is creating an environment that I think — it creates a worrisome environment."

Even some of who had been reluctant to criticize Trump said Monday's report raised questions that needed answers.

"We have no way to know what was said, but protecting our nation's secrets is paramount," said Doug Andres, a spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan. "The speaker hopes for a full explanation of the facts from the administration."

Republican Susan Collins, a Maine senator, put her party's apparent exasperation more concisely in a light-hearted aside comment to reporters. "Can we have a crisis-free day? That's all I'm asking."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican leading one of four congressional probes into Russia's meddling in the US elections, said he was not sure yet if Trump had leaked any intelligence to the Russians -- noting that other stories have been inaccurate.

But he noted that he had a problem with Trump's tweet Friday, threatening to release possible tapes of conversations with Comey.

"I think it was inappropriate, I think if there is a tape we need to know about it. I don't think we can dodge that issue. I want to get back to doing the business of the country. North Korea is developing a missile that can hit the American homeland," Graham said. "I want to help the President where I can, but tweets like that take us off in a ditch."

Lawmakers were largely caught off guard by Monday's development. Many Republican lawmakers said they had not seen details about the report and did not want to comment.

Democratic leaders said that if the report is true, then the President put American lives at risk.

"If the report is true, it is very disturbing," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

"Revealing classified information at this level is extremely dangerous and puts at risk the lives of Americans and those who gather intelligence for our country."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also slammed Trump and called for a briefing.

"Congress must be given a full briefing on the extent of the damage President Trump has done in compromising highly classified code-word intelligence to the Russians," the California Democrat said.

Asked what senators could do if Trump leaked this information to the Russian officials, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin said, "I wish I knew."

"This is really concerning that he doesn't understand that certain information you don't share with Russia. You just don't. Share. With. Russia," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat. "Our only chance of keeping this country safe is good intelligence sources. And if he (Trump) thinks classified intelligence information is something you're supposed to brag about to Russia. I mean, this shows a complete lack of information about what classified information is and how important."

Asked if Trump should still have access to sensitive intelligence if he leaks it to Russian officials, McCaskill said: "He's president of the United States. That's the dilemma. He's going to be called upon to make decisions about how we fight our enemies, so you don't want to withhold information from the President of the United States.

This story is developing and will be updated.

CNN's Manu Raju, Jeremy Herb, Phil Mattingly, Ashley Killough, Betsy Klein, Lauren Fox and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/15/politics/congress-reactions-trump-classified/

 

[F-22Raptor]

Congress exasperated as White House in 'downward spiral'

(CNN) - Republicans in Congress barely had time to get their footing Monday, as another wild development, this time reports that President Donald Trump had revealed sensitive intelligence to Russia's foreign minister and US ambassador, swept the Capitol.

Senators mulled over the latest stunning news, first reported by The Washington Post, as they met inside the chamber.

Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker said the wave of negative stories related to Trump and intelligence meant the White House is in a "downward spiral."

"They are in a downward spiral right now and have got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that's happening," Corker told reporters. "You know the shame of it is there's a really good national security team in place, there's good productive things that are underway through them, and through others. But the chaos that is being created by the lack of discipline is creating an environment that I think — it creates a worrisome environment."

Even some of who had been reluctant to criticize Trump said Monday's report raised questions that needed answers.

"We have no way to know what was said, but protecting our nation's secrets is paramount," said Doug Andres, a spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan. "The speaker hopes for a full explanation of the facts from the administration."

Republican Susan Collins, a Maine senator, put her party's apparent exasperation more concisely in a light-hearted aside comment to reporters. "Can we have a crisis-free day? That's all I'm asking."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican leading one of four congressional probes into Russia's meddling in the US elections, said he was not sure yet if Trump had leaked any intelligence to the Russians -- noting that other stories have been inaccurate.

But he noted that he had a problem with Trump's tweet Friday, threatening to release possible tapes of conversations with Comey.

"I think it was inappropriate, I think if there is a tape we need to know about it. I don't think we can dodge that issue. I want to get back to doing the business of the country. North Korea is developing a missile that can hit the American homeland," Graham said. "I want to help the President where I can, but tweets like that take us off in a ditch."

Lawmakers were largely caught off guard by Monday's development. Many Republican lawmakers said they had not seen details about the report and did not want to comment.

Democratic leaders said that if the report is true, then the President put American lives at risk.

"If the report is true, it is very disturbing," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

"Revealing classified information at this level is extremely dangerous and puts at risk the lives of Americans and those who gather intelligence for our country."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also slammed Trump and called for a briefing.

"Congress must be given a full briefing on the extent of the damage President Trump has done in compromising highly classified code-word intelligence to the Russians," the California Democrat said.

Asked what senators could do if Trump leaked this information to the Russian officials, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin said, "I wish I knew."

"This is really concerning that he doesn't understand that certain information you don't share with Russia. You just don't. Share. With. Russia," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat. "Our only chance of keeping this country safe is good intelligence sources. And if he (Trump) thinks classified intelligence information is something you're supposed to brag about to Russia. I mean, this shows a complete lack of information about what classified information is and how important."

Asked if Trump should still have access to sensitive intelligence if he leaks it to Russian officials, McCaskill said: "He's president of the United States. That's the dilemma. He's going to be called upon to make decisions about how we fight our enemies, so you don't want to withhold information from the President of the United States.

This story is developing and will be updated.

CNN's Manu Raju, Jeremy Herb, Phil Mattingly, Ashley Killough, Betsy Klein, Lauren Fox and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/15/politics/congress-reactions-trump-classified/

Here is yet another Trump disaster worthy of impeachment. Trump and his administrations behavior are just exhausting at this point. At this rate, Trump will go down as the worst President in US history since James Buchanan and his failure to prevent the Civil War.

 

[LA se Karachi]

Trump and his administrations behavior are just exhausting at this point.

Indeed. There's something new every week.

At this rate, Trump will go down as the worst President in US history since James Buchanan and his failure to prevent the Civil War.

Well, he still has three and a half years to learn from his mistakes and turn things around. But, like you, I don't see much hope for that. Things just seem to get progressively worse...