the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

Flynn, Comey, lessons of history: Danton, Trotsky

Fired by the guy who said he was doing a great job for doing that job and the guy who recused himself from the case. It's like an episode of the Apprentice. He fired the AG he said he wouldn't; then he fired the acting AG who defied his executive order.

Based on the recommendations of his staff which include comey's boss, how could he not fire him

Here are the reasons given for Comey's termination in documents from the White House.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article149675039.html

Sure. Comey was doing such a bad job on Clinton. Yates and Bhajara too. Team Trump will put honest people in those positions. There's a new sheriff in town. It'll be great. People will have faith in government. Gotta replace those dishonest media too.

My favorite flavor is lemon lime.

Hey, c'mon. Would Trump lie?

Funniest one I've heard so far is a quote alleged to Congresswoman Maxine Waters that if Comey had been fired under Obama or by Clinton, because he made that announcement close to election day, that would be okay. But it's not okay if Trump fires him. Lol.

DJT just told the truthiness.

I wrote earlier Wednesday that the White House's explanations for firing James Comey were crumbling. Well, President Trump just exploded them.

In one fell swoop, Trump totally contradicted his three top spokespeople and offered a polar-opposite version of events than they have this week.

After they had spent the past 45 hours emphasizing that this was a decision Trump arrived at after receiving a memo and recommendation from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, Trump just blurted out that he was going to fire Comey all along. Basically, he admitted the memo was a ruse and a political ploy.

Here's what Trump told NBC News's Lester Holt (emphasis mine):

HOLT: Did you ask for a recommendation?

TRUMP: What I did is, I was going to fire Comey. My decision. It was not …

HOLT: You had made the decision before they came in the room.

TRUMP: I was going to fire Comey. There's no good time to do it, by the way.

HOLT: Because in your letter, you said, 'I accepted their recommendation.' So you had already made the decision.

TRUMP: Oh, I was going to fire regardless of recommendation.

But that's not what White House press secretary Sean Spicer said this week — not by a long shot.

Here's Jenna Johnson's reporting from the scene Tuesday night (with my emphasis added):

As Spicer tells it, Rosenstein was confirmed about two weeks ago and independently took on this issue so the president was not aware of the probe until he received a memo from Rosenstein on Tuesday, along with a letter from Attorney General Jeff Sessions recommending that Comey be fired. The president then swiftly decided to follow the recommendation, notifying the FBI via email around 5 p.m. and in a letter delivered to the FBI by the president's longtime bodyguard. At the same time, the president personally called congressional leaders to let them know his decision. Comey learned the news from media reports.

“It was all him,” Spicer said of Rosenstein, as a reporter repeated his answer back to him. “That's correct — I mean, I can't, I guess I shouldn't say that, thank you for the help on that one. No one from the White House. That was a DOJ decision.”

And here's deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday morning in an interview on MSNBC's “Morning Joe”:

MARK HALPERIN: Sarah, you've suggested in response to David's questions that the deputy attorney general wrote this report on his own without orders from the White House. That's correct, right?

SANDERS: That's my understanding, yes.

HALPERIN: Okay. So once the report is written, when was it transmitted to the White House? And why was there urgency to act on it without an explanation directly from the president and without a replacement lined up? Why, once the report is written, why was there an urgency to act on it from the president's point of view?

SANDERS: Look, I think when you receive a report that is so clear and a recommendation by someone like the deputy attorney general, you have no choice but to act.

And here's White House counselor Kellyanne Conway in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday night:

CONWAY: This man is the president of the United States. He acted decisively today. He took the recommendation of his deputy attorney general, who oversees the FBI director.

COOPER: That makes no sense.

CONWAY: It does make sense, Anderson.

COOPER: He said one thing as a candidate and now he's concerned as president?

CONWAY: t makes complete sense, because he has lost confidence in the FBI director and he took the recommendation of Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, to whom the FBI director reports to. The deputy attorney general has been on the job two short weeks. He went in there.

…

CONWAY: At the same time, he is taking the recommendation of his deputy attorney general and the attorney general of the United States that it is time for fresh leadership and to restore integrity at the FBI. This is what leaders do. They take decisive action based on the information they’re provided. That's what President Trump did today.


Spicer's version of events is utterly obliterated by Trump's comments on Thursday. With Sanders and Conway, you could make an argument that Trump was indeed, technically speaking, acting on Rosenstein's recommendation.
But if the decision had already been made, that's a highly misleading talking point to keep repeating. And the decision clearly had nothing to do with Rosenstein, at all.

It's clear that the White House wanted to use Rosenstein's credibility, built up over three decades in law enforcement, to make this decision look apolitical — like it wasn't just the president unilaterally firing the guy who was investigating his 2016 campaign.

Then the truth came out.

Five minute video from Stephen Crowder. At the 1:45 mark there's a series of people in Congress who last year wanted him out. Crowder says they're all flip-flopping because of ideology.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEHhzcEKP5o

Well, if they're flipping because of ideology, the DJT is too. There are lots of people who didn't like that Comey released the report of an investigation right before the election. The one who congratulated him for it were those who saw that it hurt Clinton. Now, was anything discovered by the investigation? Otoh, was the FBI investigating connections between Russians (gov't, non-gov't, independent hackers, etc.) and members of the Trump campaign? Yeah. Well, why not let them finish both?

Anyway, ideology has nothing to do with it. If Clinton had been elected and fired those who were investigating her, would it be ideology that caused a ruckus? Do you believe that Clinton would have gotten a pass? At best, the timing of Comey's removal before he testifies and clearly before the end of the investigation could be seen as improper. Politics, not ideology, might allow people to brush it off. It doesn't really matter what people said about him before, unless we include Trump. He's the one who changed his mind, and it wasn't about ideology.

And, then there are the people who think that Comey should have been fired, but not for the reasons given now. It smells fishy. It's a laugh to think that anyone thinks he was fired because of Clinton. Too bad none of Trump's supporters were complaining about him before the election. Trying to show how dishonest "cheatin' lyin' Hillary" was. Ah, wouldn't you like to hear what he really says to his crew.

Sacks Comey, after demanding loyalty. Says Comey 'privately' told him that he wasn't under investigation concerning Russia --then is contradicted by the acting FBI director. Oops, he'll be replaced soon. But, I bet lots of people at the FBI (and other intelligence agencies) are pissed at this happening the day after. http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/11/politics/ ... index.html

Where did all those Trump supporters go?

Who said T would stand up to China?

https://www.themarysue.com/comey-goodbye-letter/

Allow Me, a Simple English Major, to Decode FBI Director Comey’s Goodbye Letter

I always knew that my degree in English literature that I am still paying for would one day prove to be crucial in a world crisis. Now, I will expertly use the unique skills that I was trained in, like close reading and deconstructing the nuances of subtext from sentences, to translate ex-FBI Director Comey’s farewell letter to his colleagues for the masses.

To all:

I DIDN’T EVEN ACTUALLY GET TO SEND THIS TO EVERYONE IN THE DEPARTMENT BECAUSE I WAS SHOVED OUT LIKE A GODDAMNED PARIAH WHO HAD PISSED IN H.R.’S COFFEE SO FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW POST IT ON FREAKIN’ FACEBOOK SO THAT YOUR GRANDMOTHER SEES IT PRINT OUT COPIES AND DROP THEM FROM OUR STEALTH SPY AIRPLANES OVER THE AMBER FIELDS OF AMERICA MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS

I’M OFFICIALLY NAILING THIS SHIT TO THE CHURCH DOOR LIKE MARTIN LUTHER

I have long believed that a President can fire an FBI Director for any reason, or for no reason at all.

IN CASE IT’S NOT PERFECTLY CLEAR I’M THE LATTER CASE Y’ALL OR ELSE I WOULDN’T HAVE MENTIONED IT

I’m not going to spend time on the decision or the way it was executed.

YEAH I’M NOT GONNA GO INTO IT HERE BECAUSE H.R.’S LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER BUT THE FACT THAT I MENTION “THE DECISION” IS MEANT TO BE A BIG RED FLAG CALLING YOUR ATTENTION TO SHITBAG TRUMP’S SHITBAG DECISION

AND THE FACT THAT I ALSO MENTION THE WAY IT WAS EXECUTED IS MEANT TO REMIND YOU THAT THAT MOTHERF–ER DIDN’T EVEN HAVE THE BASIC RESPECT TO CALL ME OR LOOK ME IN THE EYE WHEN HE FIRED ME LISTEN FRIENDS WE TREAT FBI TRAINEES BETTER WHEN WE CATCH THEM DOING SILENCE OF THE LAMBS COSPLAY IN THE QUANTICO DORMS AT NIGHT

LISTEN FRIENDS ENTRY-LEVEL TEMPS GET BETTER TREATMENT THAN YOUR MAN HERE WHO DEDICATED DECADES OF HIS LIFE TO KEEPING THIS GODFORSAKEN COUNTRY SAFE WHILE TRUMP LIVED IN A GOLDEN TOWER HOSTING REALITY TELEVISION SHOWS AND GRABBING PUSSIES YOU BEST BELIEVE YOU BETTER SPEND SOME QUALITY TIME THINKING ABOUT HOW THIS WAS HANDLED EVEN TOTAL FAILURES GET A HEADS-UP FIRST AND I’M STILL WAITING TO HEAR ABOUT SEVERANCE FROM H.R.

I hope you won’t either.

I HOPE YOU WILL

It is done, and I will be fine, although I will miss you and the mission deeply.

I’M NOT FINE I’M NOT FINE I’M BARELY KEEPING IT TOGETHER DID Y’ALL HEAR HOW THAT SONNOVABITCH IN CHIEF WAITED UNTIL I WAS OUT OF THE STATE TO FIRE ME AND SENT HIS PERSONAL BODYGUARD WITH A NOTE TO FBI HEADQUARTERS EVEN THOUGH I WASN’T THERE LIKE THAT IS SOME DOWNTON ABBEY SHIT YOU’RE GONNA MAKE THE BUTLER DO YOUR DIRTYWORK AND SEND A MCFRICKEN NOTE AS THOUGH ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL DIDN’T SOLVE THIS COMMUNICATION PROBLEM IN 1876 FUCK

I have said to you before that, in times of turbulence, the American people should see the FBI as a rock of competence, honesty, and independence.

RED FLAG RED FLAG SIRENS TO ARMS MY PEOPLE THIS IS A TIME OF TURBULENCE OR ELSE I WOULDN’T HAVE SAID SO

WE’RE IN DEEP DOODOO HERE NOW SO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOTTA DO: BE HONEST AND INDEPENDENT BY WHICH I MEAN TELL THE COUNTRY WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON HERE LEAK YOUR LEAKY LIL HEARTS OUT BE INDEPENDENT ANSWER TO NO ONE IN THAT CORRUPT FESTERING WOUND OF AN ADMINISTRATION FBI GOING ROGUE NOW

What makes leaving the FBI hard is the nature and quality of its people, who together make it that rock for America.

HERE I AM REMINDING YOU AGAIN WE ARE AMERICA’S ONLY HOPE YOU ARE ALL NOW OBI-WAN KENOBI ONLY AMERICAN

It is very hard to leave a group of people who are committed only to doing the right thing.

THIS IS THE THIRD TIME I’VE DIRECTLY CHARGED YOU WITH BUCKING ALL CONVENTIONS AND AUTHORITY AND TAKING THESE BASTARDS THE HELL DOWN NEED I SPELL IT OUT AGAIN OK I WILL: “ONLY DOING THE RIGHT THING” AND I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS

My hope is that you will continue to live our values and the mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution.

DONNIE TRUMPO HAS INVOKED A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS AND HE’S WIPING HIS ASS WITH OUR MOST SACRED DOCUMENT THIS IS THE FOURTH TIME I HAVE EXPLICITLY TOLD YOU THAT YOU HAD BETTER STEP UP

If you do that, you too will be sad when you leave, and the American people will be safer.

SORRY YOU’RE GOING TO BE FIRED AS WELL BY THIS CANCER ON THE AMERICAN STATE IT’S GOING TO BE WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER BUT THE COUNTRY’S FREEDOM IS ACTUALLY AT STAKE HERE DESTROY HIM LIKE A GREAT AVENGING EAGLE

Working with you has been one of the great joys of my life. Thank you for that gift.

IF I EVER MEANT ANYTHING TO YOU MY G-MEN AND G-WOMEN YOU WILL BURN THIS MOTHER DOWN

Jim Comey

CALL ME JIM BECAUSE I’M JUST AN EVERYMAN CITIZEN NOW THAT THIS ORANGE WANNABE DICTATOR TERMINATED ME SO LET’S GRAB A BEER SOMETIME I’M FREE MOST NIGHTS THIS WEEK AND NEXT AND THE WEEK AFTER THAT I HAVE A LOT OF TIME ON MY HANDS ALL OF A SUDDEN EVER SINCE I WAS RELIEVED OF MY NONPARTISAN TEN-YEAR APPOINTMENT THAT NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN FIRED FROM BEFORE EXCEPT DUE TO SERIOUS ETHICAL BREACH AND I REMIND YOU I LEARNED I WAS FIRED FROM THE GODDAMNED TELEVISION LIKE A LAUGHINGSTOCK ME JIM COMEY I HAVE SEEN THINGS YOU PEOPLE WOULDN’T BELIEVE I KNOW WHERE ALL THE BODIES ARE BURIED OUR PRESIDENT IS ONE STUPID ASSHOLE ISN’T HE ANYWAY THE FATE OF THE NATION IS ON THE LINE THESE ARE YOUR ORDERS JIM OUT