No. He is laying out facts and leaving the legal conclusion to the justice dept, senators, or whoever. Seeing as the FBI memos are admissible in court I have no idea how this can be blown off as "no legal impact"
And if the facts that he lays out do not include things that would be obstruction of justice, then it's of no legal impact. I mean, you do realize that Comey has been to law school right? We're not exactly talking about the opinion of a lay person here. Either way, if you are hoping something comes from this I guess keep clinging to hope, but hearing this news takes all the wind out of the sails.
Hmm... Dan Coats testimony now looks very important. And folks are also expecting Mike Rogers to deliver important testimony today. Coats told associates Trump asked him if he could intervene with Comey on Russia probe Seems Trump had a habit of asking people to leave the room to give these types of orders to people (he did something similar with Comey). http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...-trump-comey-russia-probe-20170606-story.html
Wow... Coats and Rogers now say they were not pressured but would not say what Trump told them. But both agreed to talk in a separate closed hearing.
Trump does not realized he is not the CEO of the United States, he is the president and have to follow certain rules.
Trump surogates already launching the attack ads at Comey. I don't think this plays too well for anybody but Trump's base. In a comparison between Trump's character and Comey's, Trump would be better off leaving character totally out of the conversation. This is supposed to air during the live coverage of the testamony.
Amazing that Trump and his people will stoop to this. But it started before that... simply watch any Fox and Fox Business News show and you have the speaking points being delivered. My in-laws watched Lou Dobbs... my gosh he is a 90 year old version of Sean hannity.
CONTINUED FROM ABOVE: A lot of the interactions with Trump were odd and uncomfortable but there doesn't seem to be much that really implicate the president in obstruction. Just a lot of requests without accompanying threats. I imagined if he would have followed one of these requests by saying Comey's job was at stake then it would be a much different situation. This isn't a huge development. Just reinforces we have to wait until the results of the FBI investigation are released.
I beg to differ. The memo states: The memo goes on to confirm what Trump stated in his letter where he fires Comey that he was told 3 times he wasn't under investigation. I would say that's 2 pretty big developments.
Huh.... obstruction isn't that complicated. You made an effort to impede an open investigation. Asking Comey to put this case to bed, is the definition of that. You don't have to be successful in obstructing justice in order to commit the crime. The law is pretty clear on that one. Its also not about how Comey felt. If this was a criminal case, it would be up to the grand jury, and the credibility of the testimony (something Trump & the right are attacking now in preparation for this) not how Comey felt. There is the circumstance and context of actually getting fired, Trump asking for loyalty back in January, etc. That's where a grand jury would make that distinction... again... in a criminal case. Not impeachment hearings. Where Trump's defense is going to be here is going to be that the President cannot be charged with a crime which is somewhat true. Impeachment is political in nature. So there is no guarantee this will go anywhere if Paul Ryan doesn't want to start impeachment hearings. - Also to your point that "this isn't that big of a deal".... well... again... this is political in nature. Its going to be a big deal politically for the foreseeable future. The question Republicans have to ask themselves moving forward is are they better or worse off getting their agenda passed with Trump and his baggage (this now a big part of it) or without him? Obviously they (Ryan, McConnell,etc) feel Trump +Baggage > subtracting Trump but dealing with the time lost to get their agenda done and stain on the party for having to impeach and remove their own nominated President.
To put this "obstruction as part of the Special Counsel Investigation" into context- Michael Zeldin, Robert Mueller's former #2 with the FBI, painted a picture of obstruction in this case, and said that in his opinion its the "mosaic" of the context of all of these conversations and the fact of him being fired that would normally take this to the next step in a normal criminal case. Obviously Zeldin isn't speaking on behalf of Mueller and their thinking could differ, but hearing people that come from Mueller's side of the equation counts in having an opinion on where all of this is going to go. Comey himself has spoken with in detail to Mueller leading up to this testimony tomorrow so that will be another sign of where Mueller's thinking will be because you know damn well that Comey will go to lengths to not contradict anything that Mueller feels important to put in his final conclusion that will get submitted to a grand jury. These guys from Mueller's circle having a clear direction as to where the law takes this or doesn't take this, is key to what we can expect from the outcome of Mueller's conclusion he'll submit to the grand jury. So to the Trump fans- No... this isn't me, a liberal, saying he's getting impeached. It's only a snapshot of what to expect as only PART of what Mueller is likely to conclude in his investigation. I think getting Comey's testimony tomorrow if he gives "opinion" on what would normally constitute either way in a criminal investigation will only give further context as to what to expect when it comes to obstruction.
Lastly - Important thing to note. We've been hearing for weeks now from the Right and Trump supporters: "If the reports were true, and Comey thought Trump was acting to undermine the investigation... why did he just keep this to himself?" We find out with this testimony that he DID go to the DOJ even after previously confirming with his FBI counterparts that it made no sense to go to Sessions since he was going to recuse himself. But he still went afterwards to sound the alarm to Sessions that Trump was acting inappropriate. This pretty much knocks that line to the ground, and its likely going to put people like Sessions, Rodenstein, and his FBI counterparts like McCabe up to testimony to corroborate or tell a different story.
This might be interesting, as a bit of a precursor... Highlights from Comey's statement on Trump and Russia By Nolan D. McCaskill 06/07/2017 02:29 PM EDT Updated 06/07/2017 03:05 PM EDT (from politico.com) The Senate Intelligence Committee released a statement from former FBI Director James Comey ahead of Thursday’s highly anticipated hearing. Here are the highlights from Comey’s seven-page statement detailing his interactions with President Donald Trump in his first public remarks since he was fired last month: “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty,” Comey said Trump told him during a Jan. 27 dinner. “I didn’t move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed,” Comey wrote. “We simply looked at each other in silence.” Trump told Comey, “That’s what I want, honest loyalty.” Recounting the aforementioned Jan. 27 dinner, Comey said Trump had asked for his loyalty again, prompting the FBI chief to say, “You will always get honesty from me.” Trump’s response, however, was that he wanted “honest loyalty.” Comey said he assured the president he would get “honest loyalty” from him, writing that the term “had helped end a very awkward conversation.” “I have been very loyal to you, very loyal; we had that thing you know,” Trump said, according to Comey, who “did not reply or ask him what he meant by ‘that thing.’” “I said only that the way to handle it was to have the White House Counsel call the Acting Deputy Attorney General. He said that was what he would do and the call ended,” Comey said. “That was the last time I spoke with President Trump.” Lots of people want your job, Trump told Comey. The FBI director said he found it strange that Trump began the private dinner by asking if he wanted to retain his position “because he had already told me twice … that he hoped I would stay, and I had assured him that I intended to.” “He said that lots of people wanted my job and, given the abuse I had taken during the previous year, he would understand if I wanted to walk away.” He said he was “greatly” concerned that dinner was “at least in part, an effort to have me ask for my job and create some sort of patronage relationship.” “I felt compelled to document my first conversation with the President-Elect in a memo,” Comey said, explaining that he did so on a laptop inside an FBI vehicle outside Trump Tower immediately after his Jan. 6 meeting with the president-elect. Comey said it became his practice “from that point forward.” “I can recall nine one-on-one conversation with president Trump in four months,” Comey said, noting that three were in person and six were over the phone. “I spoke alone with President Obama twice in person (and never on the phone) – once in 2015 to discuss law enforcement policy issues and a second time, briefly, for him to say goodbye in late 2016,” Comey said. “In neither of those circumstances did I memorialize the discussions.” Comey assured Trump he wasn’t under investigation during their first meeting. He said he discussed with FBI leadership before his meeting with the president-elect whether to disclose that he wasn’t personally under investigation. “That was true; we did not have an open counter-intelligence case on him,” Comey said. “We agreed I should do so if circumstances warranted. During our one-on-one meeting at Trump Tower, based on President-Elect Trump’s reaction to the briefing and without him directly asking the question, I offered that assurance.” Trump asked Comey what he could do to “lift the cloud” of the Russia investigation. Comey said Trump during a March 30 call blamed the “cloud” of the investigation for hindering his presidency. As he’s done publicly, Trump maintained that he had nothing to do with Russia. “I responded that we were investigating the matter as quickly as we could, and that there would be great benefit, if we didn’t find anything, to our having done the work well,” Comey said. “He agreed, but then re-emphasized the problems this was causing him.” “We need to get that fact out,” Comey said Trump repeatedly told him. The fact was that Trump was not personally under investigation. “The President went on to say that if there were some ‘satellite’ associates of his who did something wrong, it would be good to find that out, but that he hadn’t done anything wrong and hoped I would find a way to get it out that we weren’t investigating him,” Comey said. Trump “asked what I had done about his request that I ‘get out’ that he is not personally under investigation,” Comey said. The interaction came during an April 11 phone call, the last time he said he spoke with Trump. The president eventually said he would have White House counsel contact Justice Department leadership to make the formal request.“ Trump had concerns about former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to Comey. The president met privately with Comey in the Oval Office on Feb. 14, the day after Flynn resigned. “I want to talk about Mike Flynn,” Comey recalled Trump saying. “The President began by saying Flynn hadn’t done anything wrong in speaking with the Russians, but he had to let him go because he had misled the Vice President. He added that he had other concerns about Flynn, which he did not then specify.” “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Comey said Trump told him. Comey added that Trump called Flynn “a good guy” and said “I hope you can let this go.” Comey agreed that Flynn “is a good guy” but wouldn’t say he would “let this go.” Trump briefly returned to the subject of leaks and then Comey left. Comey said he “understood the President to be requesting that we drop any investigation of Flynn.” “I could be wrong, but I took him to be focusing on what had just happened with Flynn’s departure and the controversy around his account of his phone calls,” Comey said. “Regardless, it was very concerning, given the FBI’s role as an independent investigative agency.” Neither Attorney General Jeff Sessions nor members of the FBI’s investigative team were made aware of Trump’s request, Comey said. Comey told Sessions “to prevent any future direction communication between the President and me.” “I told the AG that what had just happened – him being asked to leave while the FBI Director, who reports to the AG, remained behind – was inappropriate and should never happen,” he recalled telling Sessions face to face. “He did not reply. For the reasons discussed above, I did not mention that the President broached the FBI’s potential investigation of General Flynn.”
What are they trying to do? The base does not care if Trump shot someone on fifth avenue in broad day light, most of the other people who would care about this issue will likely go against Trump, so what is the point?
Impeachment is purely political. Impeachment will not happen if Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell think there is still a strong enough base going into 2018 to hold their seats. This isn't meant for anything but to give his Base the notion that whatever you hear tomorrow, it's just liberal politics trying to stop "US". This is about nothing but securing the mindset of his base.
