Tag Archives: FBI probe

legal news, national news

Timing well could spell doom for Trump

James Comey apparently prefers to write memoranda to record important events.

When the then-FBI director met with Donald J. Trump in the White House — and when the president allegedly “asked” Comey to shut down an investigation — Comey wrote it down.

This occurred in February. The Trump administration was just a few days old. Comey was looking into the activities involving the just-fired national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

Fast-forward to this past week. Trump fired Comey from his job as FBI director.

So, is there a connection? Is there linkage between the president’s so-called “request” for Comey to end the Flynn probe and Comey’s dismissal? Are the events tied together?

It looks that way to me. Does it to you? You don’t have to answer.

This is where this latest blockbuster revelation gets its legs. This is how a conversation threatens to swallow the president of the United States.

There are many more dots to connect. What about the former acting attorney general, Sally Yates, who Trump also fired? She warned the president that Flynn could be blackmailed because he had some sort of connection with Russian government officials. Then she’s out! Is there linkage to that dismissal as well to what we are learning today about what the president reportedly sought from the FBI boss?

At this point, absolutely nothing — not a single thing — is going to surprise me as this story continues to evolve.

I will not predict the president is going to pay a hefty political price. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m out of the predicting business.

This story, however, ain’t lookin’ good for the president.

legal news, national news, political news

Don’t pick Sen. Cornyn to lead FBI, Mr. POTUS

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has shown up on Donald J. Trump’s short list of possible nominees to become FBI director.

In the name of non-bias, non-political leanings and law enforcement professionalism, I am hoping that the president does not pick Sen. Cornyn to lead the FBI in this critical time.

James Comey got the boot from the FBI’s top job because — if we are to believe anything that comes out of the president’s mouth — he was spending too much time and energy on the “Russia thing.”

Truth be told, in my view, the next FBI director needs to spend a whole lot more time on Russia and related matters. Is John Cornyn the man to do the job? No way, dude!

Cornyn may get a good look

I’ve known Cornyn for a number of years in my capacity as a journalist first in Beaumont and then in Amarillo. We have had a nice professional relationship during those years. I’ve known him as a Texas Supreme Court justice, as a state attorney general and as a U.S. senator. I disagree with him politically, but he’s a gentleman.

Over the years, as my hair got grayer, Sen. Cornyn would needle me that I eventually would get as gray as he has been for decades. I’m still not there yet, although I’m close.

All that said, he is as wrong for the job of FBI director as anyone being considered. Why? He is a partisan hatchet man for the Senate’s Republican caucus. He’s the No. 2 man in the Senate GOP hierarchy and his main task in recent Senate sessions has been to ensure the election of more Republicans. I understand that’s part of his job and I respect that someone has to do it, that they need to fill the ranks with partisans on both sides of the aisle.

Cornyn’s highly political profile, though, makes him a terrible fit for the FBI director’s job. Comey was in the middle of an investigation that was looking into allegations that the Trump campaign was complicit in efforts by the Russian government to influence the 2016 election — seeking to help Trump get elected president.

Are we to believe that a member of the president’s own party who would get the task of leading the FBI and, presumably, continue that investigation will shed his partisan leanings?

The president needs to look within the law enforcement community to find a new FBI director. He needs to find someone who has no political axe to grind. He needs to nominate someone with zero political ties to the White House, or to the Congress.

John Cornyn is not the man for this job.

national news, political news

POTUS isn’t mad, but his actions are, um, maddening

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I do not believe Donald John Trump is clinically insane.

His actions in light of his firing of FBI Director James Comey, however, seem to foster a sense of insanity in the White House.

The president is contradicting the vice president; he is backtracking on his own statements; he has acknowledged meddling in an ongoing investigation by the FBI; he has issued a bald-faced threat to Comey; the White House press secretary has refused to decline the existence of recording devices inside the Oval Office.

The FBI director’s dismissal has begun to swallow the Trump administration whole. It is vanishing before our eyes.

Oh, and get this: Two of the four men being considered for FBI director are partisan politicians, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina.

The stage is being set for a drama that well could play out in the worst way possible for the president.

I believe I now will mention “impeachment.” Betting houses are shortening the odds of an impeachment of the president. On what grounds? The conflict of interest that occurred when Trump quizzed Comey about whether the FBI is investigating the president.

There also could be a cover-up in process as Trump seeks to put distance between himself and the FBI’s investigation into allegations that the Trump campaign was in cahoots with Russian government hackers who sought to influence the 2016 election.

It seems that every time the president opens his mouth, he ignites another firestorm.

Every single day that passes produces more controversy. It comes in the form of those idiotic tweets that Trump fires off; it boils up when he utters absolute falsehoods; it happens when he fails to back up the statements made by senior White House aides.

The attorney general pledged to recuse himself from anything to do with the Russia investigation. What does Jeff Sessions do? He offers a recommendation that Trump fire Comey. Then the president said he had made up his mind before hearing from the AG.

Now we have questions about obstruction of justice. The president told NBC News that he fired Comey because the FBI director was devoting too much time and effort to the “Russia thing.”

Is that an obstruction? Is the president meddling directly in an FBI probe? Isn’t that a direct violation of the oath of office the man took?

I keep getting this feeling that this drama is going to end badly for the president of the United States.

All of this, dear reader, is a consequence of electing someone who “tells it like it is.”

national news, political news

POTUS keeps ’em hopping at White House

It’s tempting to feel a bit of sympathy for the White House media machine, and for the vice president, and for the senior West Wing advisers.

Why? They are working for someone who doesn’t have a clue on how to “control a message,” or even how to conduct the business of being president of the United States.

Donald J. Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Mike Pence, the vice president, said he acted on the advice of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Assistant AG Rod Rosenstein. But wait! Trump then said he decided before consulting with Sessions and Rosenstein to fire Comey.

Pence also said that the FBI probe into the Russia hacking matter had “nothing to do” with Trump’s decision to fire Comey. Then, what do you know? The president contradicted the VP directly by saying, yep, Comey was spending too much time on the “Russia thing.”

White House press flack Sean Spicer has been keeping a low profile since the stuff hit the fan. Deputy flack Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been back-filling like crazy, trying to provide some semblance of sense to the chaos that has enveloped the Trump administration. She’s not succeeding, though.

In the midst of all this the president is tweeting himself silly with threats to Comey about possible recordings of conversations. He’s continued his attack on the media, threatening to suspend the daily press briefings.

And the media haven’t yet asked him directly about whether he committed a conflict of interest violation by asking Comey directly if the FBI was investigating the president. Trump had the power all along to fire the FBI boss and he shouldn’t have even thought about meddling directly in an ongoing investigation. Holy cow, man!

It’s tempting, yes, to feel sympathy for the president’s senior staff.

I’m managing to resist falling for it, though. They all ought to have known what they were getting into when they signed on.

national news

How far can Trump go with this senseless combat?

Words are failing me. I am running out of ways to express my utter outrage at the conduct of the president of the United States.

Donald John Trump is ramping up his war with the FBI director he fired and against the media that are covering this drama for the public that they — and the president — are supposed to serve.

Trump went on another Twitter rampage, warning former FBI boss James Comey about the danger of leaking information to the media. He said something about Comey hoping there are no audio recordings of the men’s conversations.

Then he went after the media — again! There are reports that Trump might cancel the daily press briefings.

Some members of Congress — mostly Democrats, of course — who are using the word “unhinged” to describe the president’s behavior. The continued tweet tirades would be enough to wonder aloud about the president’s mental health.

I guess it shouldn’t surprise anyone, let alone those of us who expect bipartisan outrage, to learn that Republicans in Congress continue to give Trump pretty much a pass on his strange behavior. It baffles me in the extreme.

The fight goes on

Think about, for instance, what Trump told NBC News anchor Lester Holt, that he actually asked Comey whether the FBI was investigating the president; Comey reportedly said “no.”

How does the president get away with committing an act that reeks of an egregious conflict of interest? He has the authority to fire the FBI director and he asks him to comment on an active investigation? There are damn near too many ethical violations to count on that one.

My friends and family members think I’m supposed to always have something cogent to say about these matters. I am sorry to disappoint them all. I am absolutely dumbstruck by this president’s lack of knowledge about any aspect of the high office to which he was elected.

For that matter, I am just as baffled that Donald Trump got elected in the first place.

national news, political news

No, Rep. Thornberry, it won’t go away easily

This is what U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry told a TV station about the upcoming selection of a new FBI director: “It needs to be somebody with impeccable credentials,” Thornberry told local affiliate KCIT about his ideal FBI replacement. “It needs to be somebody who has trust across the aisle, widespread trust who is a professional and with that I think largely this controversy will die down.”

Hmm. Well, I believe I’ll disagree with the Republican lawmaker, who happens also to represent yours truly in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The selection of an FBI director to succeed James Comey won’t by itself allow “this controversy” to wither away and die.

There needs to be a lot of investigating completed before we start to put this matter in our rearview mirror. The president cannot appoint a yes man, a lackey, a hack. He needs a tough prosecutor, someone who is independent and fearless.

Thornberry is right about the need for someone with “trust across the aisle.” How does an FBI director gain that trust? By demonstrating resistance against the White House and from the president.

Texans in Congress mostly silent

The FBI boss needs to continue the search for the whole truth into whether Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian hackers who every intelligence expert in American has concluded tried to influence the 2016 election.

If a vigorous and thorough search clears the president, only then will it “die down.”

legal news, national news, political news

Congressional clown act isn’t so funny

The clowns who comprise a substantial portion of the U.S. Congress seem intent on deflecting criticism of the president’s firing of FBI Director James Comey.

They are staking out an openly transparent — and dubious — strategy in that attempt.

Donald J. Trump canned Comey while the FBI director was in the midst of an investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government’s effort to influence the 2016 presidential election.

It’s the timing of the dismissal that has drawn the incoming fire.

Congressional Republicans are defending the president’s action by saying something like this: Leftists are angry because Trump did something they wanted done this past autumn when Comey sent Congress that letter regarding Hillary Clinton’s e-mails; so now that they’re getting what they wanted in the first place, they should be happy, not angry.

I heard Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., make that argument this morning. I damn near pitched something heavy at my TV set.

That is not the issue, Sen. Paul!

It’s the timing, dude. The timing!

I’m one of those Americans who was angry at Comey for releasing that letter to Congress just 11 days before the presidential election. He sought to inform lawmakers that his office had found some more e-mails that needed some examination. It likely helped stall Clinton’s march to victory, although I am not going to heap all the cause for Hillary’s defeat on the FBI director; she and her campaign made plenty of mistakes all by themselves while Trump and his team were doing things right.

Did I ever think Comey should resign, or should be fired?

In addition to the timing of Trump’s dismissing of Comey we have this White House’s stumble-bum explanation, which simply doesn’t hold up. The president said he was upset at the way Comey handled the Hillary e-mail matter. What the …?! Donald Trump the candidate thought Comey had done exactly the correct thing at the time — and he said so repeatedly as news was breaking in October.

Then we hear that Trump became angry because Comey was exerting too much energy on the Russia hacking matter, but then comes word from some in the White House that the firing had nothing to do with the Russia investigation. Holy mackerel!

Deputy White House press flack Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it’s time to “move on,” away from the Russia matter. Oh, no it isn’t, young lady! Far from it.

But this crap from congressional Republicans and Trumpkins all across the land that those who are critical of the firing are the same folks who wanted Comey canned in the first place are missing the point by a country mile.

Timing, as they say, is everything.

national news

Can’t this guy get anything straight?

Good, ever-lovin’ grief, man!

Donald John Trump reportedly asked the then-FBI director, James Comey, if he — the president — was under investigation. Comey allegedly said “no.” The president then told Comey he’d think about keeping on the job. Then he fired him!

Oh, but here’s the good part: Donald Trump might have committed an ethical boo-boo by asking the FBI boss about a pending investigation involving, yep, the president himself.

“There generally shouldn’t be communications about pending investigations and if you need an explanation why, see: Watergate, basically,” according to Kathleen Clark, an ethics expert at Washington University’s School of Law, in comments to NBC News.

Improprieties keep mounting

Trump described the conversation in an interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt. And — wouldn’t you know it? — he’s raised even more eyebrows in the legal community.

More news is filtering out about how angry Trump had gotten with Comey. The final act occurred the other day when Comey — in quite animated testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee — kept harping on the investigation he was leading as it regards the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russian government officials.

The president wanted Comey to focus more on White House leaks and less on the Russia matter. Comey wouldn’t relent on the Russia probe. So, he got canned!

Except that Vice President Mike Pence said the firing had nothing to do with the Russia investigation. Really, Mr. Vice President? Talk to your boss about that, will you?

Can we get a straight answer? Is anyone in the White House able to communicate with Americans who want to know what in the name of constitutional crises is going on here?

As for the president wanting the FBI to look less at the allegations of Russian meddling in our election — and whether the Trump campaign was complicit in it — um, I think the feds should keep digging until they learn all there is to know.

This is a pretty damn serious matter, even if the president of the United States doesn’t think so.

national news, political news

Russia probe caused Comey to lose his job … period!

Donald J. Trump can insist all he wants that his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey had nothing to do with Russia.

Mike Pence can echo the president as well, that the Russia probe played no role in Comey’s sudden and shocking dismissal.

I do not believe either man. Not for a nanosecond.

Call it purely circumstantial, but the evidence seems to be mounting that Comey’s departure as FBI boss had everything to do with the Russia investigation he was leading and nothing to do with the FBI director’s handling of the 11th-hour dump on Hillary Clinton regarding some e-mail messages that turned up late in the 2016 presidential campaign.

As the New York Times editorialized: “The explanation for this shocking move — that Mr. Comey’s bungling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server violated longstanding Justice Department policy and profoundly damaged public trust in the agency — is impossible to take at face value.”

As the Times continued: Mr. Trump had nothing but praise for Mr. Comey when, in the final days of the presidential campaign, he informed Congress that the bureau was reopening the investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s emails. ‘He brought back his reputation,’ Mr. Trump said at the time. ‘It took a lot of guts.’”

Here’s the complete editorial

The media are reporting that Comey asked just days earlier for more money and staff help to ratchet up his investigation into allegations that the Trump campaign cooperated with Russian government operatives seeking to interfere with the 2016 election.

Then he gets canned? Just like that? Trump and Pence want us to believe the Russia probe played no part in this matter?

They are insulting the intelligence of Americans.

I am picking up the whiff of a cover-up.

national news, political news

Hey, didn’t the AG recuse himself from Russia probe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVpDT4PyM04

Al Franken knows a lie when he hears it. He wrote a book about “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.”

The U.S. senator from Minnesota stood on the Senate floor and offered a point-by-point rebuttal of an apparent lie that Donald J. Trump likely told about a recommendation he got to fire FBI Director James Comey.

Then again, perhaps the lie came from the mouth of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who announced this year he would “recuse” himself from any dealings at any level with the probe into whether Russian government officials sought to influence the 2016 presidential election in the president’s favor.

You see, the president said he got a recommendation to fire Comey from — drum roll! — AG Sessions, the fellow who said he would recuse himself from this matter.

Oh yeah! Then there’s that matter of Comey leading the FBI probe into allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russian hackers to sway the election.

Sen. Franken’s statement zeroes in quite cleanly on Sessions’ recusal and he casts doubt (a) on whether the president really got a recommendation from Sessions to fire Comey or (b) on whether Sessions has actually recused himself as he pledged to do.

Man, this Comey firing matter is beginning to get stinkier by the day.