The end of James Comey's wild ride CBC Comments

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/comey-fired-fbi-what-next-1.4108212

With FBI director James Comey out, here's what happens next

 832 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.


 
Jon Holmes

I'm still stunned that Trump and his people have the gall to pull something like this, and to explain it as justified by Comey's handling of Clinton's E-mails is simply insulting to a persons intelligence.
Anyone with the merest ability at critical thought can see why this happened.
Trump et al did it anyway. The truth must still be worse than how this looks. Which is terrifyingly bad on its own.

Chuck Morrison

@David Duncan

Please keep up the insults. That strategy worked so well for you last time.

Some people never learn form their mistakes.

Jon Holmes

@Chuck Morrison Pepe the Frog wasn't allowed as your avatar buddy? Don't revel in being a horrible human being the way most low iq Trump supporters act. Assuming you're Canadian, we have no say.

David Raymond Amos

@Jon HolmesTrust that I am a no fan of Trump However to be fair to all perhaps you and CBC should consult with BBC and at least read Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's memo?

After all nearly everyone in the Senate affirmed that Rosenstein was the dude to do the job. Correct?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39866767

David Raymond Amos

@Jon Holmes You are funny guy and your name is truly Jon Holmes Correct?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3817609/BBC-sacked-white-man-Radio-4-comic-told-need-women-minorities.html

Mike Martin

@David Raymond Amos
Do you seriously think Rosenstein's letter really convinced Trump to fire Comey? Read it, and look back at Trump's conduct durning the campaign. Based on that letter it'd be more likely Trump would give Comey the Medal of Freedom.

David Raymond Amos

@Mike Martin What do you think the Democrat's would say if Trump ignored Rosenstein's memo?

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David Raymond Amos

@Jon Holmes BTW I am in a minor quandary as to why CBC did not block my comments here like they did within some many of their other articles. Oh yea I forgot the Mother Corp loves it when folks bash Trump and their bosses are well aware that I think Trump is a buffoon N'esy Pas?

David Raymond Amos

@David Raymond Amos OH MY MY It certainly appears that the Mother Corp does not like the awful truth revealed about itself N'esy Pas Hubby Baby Lacroix and Minister Joly?

 http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/james-comey-trump-clinton-timeline-1.4107937

The end of James Comey's wild ride

 186 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.

  
David Raymond Amos

Anyone can Google David Amos James Comey to see how far back we go

Darren MacDonald

@David Raymond Amos Best buds?

Margaret Bricknell

@David Raymond Amos
Looked at your ranting blog. Why should anyone care about that?

  
Jeannette Llody

The thing I find weird and utterly distasteful, is that Comey found out he was fired, not directly and privately from the President, but from the media while delivering a presentation to other FBI staff.
Really, is that anyway to deal with a situation? Was it that urgent for Trump to disrupt the investigation into the Russian connections that he couldn't speak to Comey before it was released to the media?

David Raymond Amos

@Jeannette Llody Trump had no choice in this one

Jeannette Llody

@David Raymond Amos Actually he did. Trump kept the guy on for several months when he now claims he was considering termination right after the election. So of course he could have waited a day for Comey to return to Washington or at the very least, contacted him by phone so that he wasn't blind-sided while speaking with a room full of people. That's just crass. That's just Trump.

David Raymond Amos

@Jeannette Llody After you read Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's memo. What would you say if Trump did not fire Comey?

That said trust that Comey and I have been enemies since 2003 and Trump and his lawyers hate me as well.

Google David Amos James Comey sometime

Moe Liddle

@David Raymond Amos
True, because Comey wouldn't shut down the Russia investigation and Trump is neck deep in it and so is his son-in-law and just about everyone else in his administration. When this thing blows wide open it will make Watergate look like a minor speed bump.

David Raymond Amos

@Moe Liddle There is no way Trump's son-in-law is with the Russians He is a Zionist thus against Syria and Iran as is Trump et al.

Robbie Dee

@David Raymond Amos

Of course he had no choice. He had to get Comey and his pit-bull nature away from continuing the investigation into The Russian Connection.
His concern about Hillary was another red herring. Even the upper eschelon of the GOP have had their fill.

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David Raymond Amos

@Robbie Dee Trust that I know for a fact they are all crooks why do you think I ran for public office five times?

David Raymond Amos

@David Raymond Amos Very strange that CBC would block that comment but trust that I am already Tweeting about it

David Raymond Amos

@David Raymond Amos Better yet ask yourself why CBC denies the obvious.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fundy-royal-riding-profile-1.3274276

Diana Smith

@Jeannette Llody crude rude and disrespectful is the trump style we witnessed it for two years

David Raymond Amos

@Diana Smith True but it does not follow that his old buddies Bill and Hillary were nice

Albert Johnson @Jeannette Llody

Apparently something has caused Trump to fire Comey very suddenly, and it likely wasn't anything to do with the Clinton email server scandal. Comey may have used poor judgement in the past in announcing a reopening of the Clinton investigation right near the end of the election campaign, but he seems dedicated to seeing justice done and that characteristic is probably what has been scaring Trump and his cronies very badly. One thing is for sure, Comey wouldn't have been fired if the Trump Administration didn't see him as a very real threat, so it is pretty likely the Trump Administration does have things they are trying to hide.

David Raymond Amos

@Albert Johnson I repeat

Trust that I am a no fan of Trump However to be fair to all perhaps folks and CBC should consult with BBC and at least read Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's memo?

After all nearly everyone in the US Senate affirmed that Rosenstein was the dude to do the job. Correct?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39866767

Arlond Lynds

@Jeannette Llody
For me it is blaming the firing on his actions around the Clinton e-mails, if there is one thing we know for sure it is that was not the reason. So what was???? Russia investigation is the only thing that comes to mind.

David Raymond Amos

@Arlond Lynds There are countless reasons to question the motives of the Trump Administration However a Russian Connection is not one of them that is just something dreamed up by George Soros and the DNC and it is what Trump calls it Fake News.

I say this even though I have no respect for Trump and his cohorts whatsoever but there is the truth. I dealt with Comey bigtime way back in 2003 and Ashcroft's sidekick is one of the last guys that I would trust with the truth.

Jason Roskina

@David Raymond Amos

No I don't trust that you are no fan of Trump.

David Raymond Amos

@Jason Roskina Perhaps you should Google me then?

David Raymond Amos

@Jason Roskina BTW You will see your comment posted within my blog Just surf the Internet with my name and the title of this article

 

Bob Horton

I don't think this is the end of Comey's ride, it is just the beginning. He obviously has something that Trump is afraid of. Lets hope it all comes out. The stink is getting impossible to hide.

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David Raymond Amos

@Bob Horton Trump is likely jealous of Comey's full head of hair however to be fair to both buffoons perhaps you should pinch your nose and read Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's memo?

Margaret Bricknell

@Bob Horton
At very least, he will be writing a tell-all book. Probably in time for next year's elections!

David Raymond Amos

@Bob Horton Strange that CBC blocked my response to you. Apparently the Mother Corp didn't want you to take my suggestion and read Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's memo

 

 Dale Sullivan

Big severance followed by a book deal.

David Raymond Amos

@Dale Sullivan LOL but will it be truth or fiction?

Marguerite May Springer

@David Raymond Amos - in this case, truth is stranger than fiction.

Marguerite May Springer

@Dale Sullivan - if he really does have dirt on DJT will he live that long?

David Raymond Amos

@Marguerite May Springer You are preaching to the choir. Come watch me argue in Federal Court on May 24th if you wish to hear the truth.

 http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/james-comey-trump-clinton-timeline-1.4107937

The end of James Comey's wild ride

Comey's time on political tightrope is over; director confirmed investigations of both Clinton, Trump

By Chris Iorfida, CBC News Posted: May 10, 2017 1:03 PM ET

 

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with FBI director James Comey at the White House on Jan. 22. 'He's become more famous than me,' Trump jokes at the time. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) 

U.S. President Donald Trump fired James Comey on Tuesday, with more than six years left in the FBI director's 10-year term.

Comey's decades-long, eventful career in public service has likely come to an end, after his actions within the past year as FBI director inspired some whiplash-inducing comments from Trump.

1980s-2003: A different Clinton probe

Comey starts working under Rudy Giuliani in the New York district attorney's office and later as U.S. attorney in Virginia. He handles white-collar crime, Mafia and terrorist cases.

Comey has Giuliani's old job —U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York— by 2002. An investigation he inherited involves Bill Clinton's controversial presidential pardons of millionaire traders Marc Rich and Pincus Green.

• Trump defends firing Comey, slams Democrats for hypocrisy
• ANALYSIS l FBI director Comey 'publicly controversial'

"I was stunned when President Clinton pardoned them," Comey said in a letter to Congress. The investigation, eventually closed, outlasted Comey's tenure in New York. He was off to Washington

2003-05: Hospital confrontation

Nominated to be deputy U.S. attorney general by President George W. Bush, Comey's 18-month tenure comes at a fevered time, with the 9/11 attacks resonant and the invasion of Iraq ongoing.

With attorney general John Ashcroft in intensive care in the hospital in March 2004, Comey is tasked with extending one aspect of the Bush administration's domestic surveillance program. Comey refuses, concerned about indiscriminate collection of internet metadata inherent in the process, leading to a showdown at the hospital in which Ashcroft is staying with administration officials.

"I was concerned that given how ill I knew the attorney general was, there might be an effort to ask him to overrule me when he was in no condition to do that," Comey later testified on Capitol Hill.

2013: Obama goes across the aisle

Obama in June taps Comey, a Republican, then working in the private sector, to succeed Robert Mueller as FBI director, praising his independence and integrity. Comey is later confirmed as the seventh director of the agency.

U.S. President Barack Obama praised James Comey's integrity and independence when announcing Comey as the choice to replace Robert Mueller as FBI director on June 21, 2013. (Jason Rose/Reuters)

In a Newsweek profile in June 2013, journalist Daniel Klaidman detailed how Comey's "moral compass" had led to decisions that didn't always dovetail with party lines, irking both Republicans and Democrats.

"This may very well spell good news for the country," wrote Klaidman. "But it could also spell bad news for both President Obama and whoever succeeds him."

2015-2016: Server probe brewing

The FBI conducts an investigation into allegations that classified information was improperly stored or transmitted on a personal email server Hillary Clinton used while secretary of state between 2009 and 2013.

Over 100 emails are located in the investigation into the so-called home-brew server that are deemed classified, with 22 containing material that might be considered top secret, the highest level of classification.

July 2016: Trump blasts Comey decision

Comey announces Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, will not face criminal charges over her email practices as secretary of state. But he criticizes Clinton and her staff for being "extremely careless" in their handling of classified material.

He reveals that thousands of emails were provided to investigators, some had been deleted but recovered, and others not recovered.

Republican presidential candidate Trump blasts the FBI's decision not to bring criminal charges against Clinton, who has been the subject of "lock her up!" chants at his rallies.

Oct. 28, 2016: Comey's got 'guts': Trump

Comey informs Congress by letter that he was reopening the investigation into Clinton's email practices based on new evidence, citing the discovery of emails on a laptop used Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Justice Department officials warned Comey against sending the letter so close to the U.S. election.

"It took guts for director Comey to make the move that he made, in light of the kind of opposition he had, when they're trying to protect her from criminal prosecution," Trump says on Oct. 31 at a rally.

Nov. 6, 2016: Trump pans late email review

Crediting the FBI with working around the clock, Comey says there is nothing unearthed to change the original decision to not charge Clinton.

"You can't review 650,000 emails in eight days," Trump says at a rally. "You can't do it folks. Hillary Clinton is guilty.
"

Nov. 8, 2016: Trump triumphant

Trump defeats Clinton to become the 45th U.S. president, winning 306 electoral votes despite losing the popular vote by a considerable margin.

Clinton in ensuing months would cite the large advantage in so-called "late deciding" voters for Trump in crucial swing states as evidence the Comey reveal was a decisive factor.

"If the election were on Oct. 27, I would have been your president," she said on May 2.

January 2017: Mixed messages from Trump

Comey is among a group of U.S. intelligence officials who brief president-elect Trump on their conclusions that Russia meddled in the presidential election on his behalf.

Hours before, Trump had publicly decried the Russian investigations gathering steam as a "political witch hunt," but he tells The Associated Press he "learned a lot" from the briefing.

Two days after taking office, Trump calls Comey over during a White House reception to offer a handshake and a partial hug, commenting that Comey has "become more famous than me."

March 20, 2017: Russia in the red

Comey confirms publicly, at a congressional committee, that associates of Donald Trump have been investigated for possible links with Russia as part of the broader probe into interference in the election.

• ANALYSIS l Comey draws fire for apparent 'double standard'

Comey testifies at the same hearing there is no information to substantiate Trump's unsubstantiated claim on Twitter that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower in New York.

 

May 3, 2017: 'Mildly nauseous'

Comey, in testimony at a Senate hearing, defends the seemingly different approaches into the investigations embroiling Clinton and Trump. He said the choices that led to the late campaign announcement involving the Clinton emails were either bad or "catastrophic."

"It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election," he testifies. "But honestly, it wouldn't change the decision."

May 9, 2017: The end

Comey sends Congress a letter correcting prior sworn testimony. He had testified Abedin had sent "hundreds and thousands" of emails, including some with classified information, to a laptop primarily used by her disgraced husband. In fact, Comey said, it was only "a small number."
Hours later Trump fires the FBI director.

Trump cites the handling of the Clinton email investigation, reasoning most observers doubt.
Many Republicans state concern with the timing of the move, while Democrats call for a special prosecutor to investigate Russian interference into the 2016 election.


 http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/comey-fired-fbi-what-next-1.4108212

With FBI director James Comey out, here's what happens next

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers foresee fraught appointment ahead, regardless of Trump's choice

By Matt Kwong, CBC Posted: May 10, 2017 1:04 PM ET

The president had the lawful authority to fire FBI director James Comey. Now he is able to nominate a successor. (Gary Cameron/Reuters)

It's the president's choice. James Comey is out as FBI director, and the future of the bureau's leadership is subject to the whims of Donald Trump.

The U.S. president tweeted Wednesday he would install a new law-enforcement official who "will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI."

Among that new director's tasks will be overseeing the probe into Trump's own campaign's alleged ties with the Russians.

The president had the lawful authority to fire Comey. Now he is able to nominate a successor who could be confirmed over clamorous resistance from Democrats.

Due to a procedural change in the Senate, the next FBI director will only need a simple majority (51 votes) rather than a supermajority (60 votes) to sail through a Senate confirmation. It should be a cakewalk in theory, considering the upper chamber is dominated by 52 Republicans.

President Donald Trump's letter of termination for Comey. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

"Trump could pick a guy like Chris Christie to take over," constitutional expert and political analyst Paul Lisnek says of the former New Jersey governor and Trump loyalist.

"And then the battle would begin, with Democrats saying this is ridiculous, and Republicans saying what a great guy Chris Christie is. But Democrats would have no power. All they can do is scream and yell and say, 'Call your senator.'"

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, however, foresee a fraught appointment ahead, with bipartisan calls to at least consider an independent prosecutor to take over the investigation after Comey's departure.

• FBI director draws fire for apparent 'double standard'
• FBI confirms investigation into possible Trump-Russia links

The attorney general's office is interviewing potential interim FBI directors, with the expectation the new chief will be named within days, according to a CNN report citing Justice Department officials. A permanent replacement isn't likely to be confirmed for a while yet under the weight of so much public scrutiny.

For now, Comey's top deputy at the FBI, Andrew McCabe, will step into the role of director.

U.S. President Donald Trump is defending his decision to fire Comey after receiving criticism from both parties. (Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press)

Senate Democrats will try to use delaying tactics in protest against any nominee that might carry a whiff of being too friendly to Trump. Possible candidates whose names were circulating Wednesday included former New York mayor and Trump loyalist Rudy Giuliani and South Carolina Republican congressman Trey Gowdy.​

"Could this go on for many weeks? Absolutely," Leskin says.

If Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein heeds the growing chorus of calls to appoint a special prosecutor for the Trump-Russia probe, Leskin says things may go more smoothly.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed that prospect on Wednesday, saying it would be a mistake to halt an investigation already in progress because Comey was fired.

'I've spent the last several hours trying to find an acceptable rationale for the timing of Comey's firing. I just can't do it.' - Republican Senator Jeff Flake

Maybe even more contentious than the stunning personnel change, however, was the administration's reasoning. The official line — that Comey had to go because he publicly criticized former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton eight months ago for mishandling sensitive State Department emails — isn't holding water on Capitol Hill.

Critics point instead to Comey being ousted just days after testifying as a star witness before a Senate panel about his role in the wide-ranging probe examining potential collusion between Trump's 2016 campaign and the Russians.

"I've spent the last several hours trying to find an acceptable rationale for the timing of Comey's firing," Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake tweeted. "I just can't do it."

Megan Brown, a Washington lawyer who formerly worked at the Department of Justice and also with Rosenstein, believes the main challenge will be intense confirmation hearings she expects will take an "extraordinarily political and partisan" tone.

Suspicions are mounting that Comey's ouster was intended to interfere with the Trump-Russia probe. (Stephan Savoia/Associated Press)

Although the future of the Trump-Russia probe itself could be thrown into question, Brown is nevertheless confident the Department of Justice will proceed with the investigation "without improper influence or any unnecessary delay" due to a change at the top of the bureau.

At least one former FBI supervisor begged to differ.

Myron Fuller, a former agent who ran the FBI's Salt Lake City and Honolulu divisions, said the dismissal of a director and installation of a successor more sympathetic to Trump could compromise the ongoing investigation. The case could be dragged out indefinitely, for example.

Deposing a "number one and number two" at an FBI field office could be enough, he said, to "knock over the stool" and effectively kill an investigation.

"People lose interest. People get transferred. People move on to other jobs, and the case gets canned. I've seen that happen. I know it can happen."

'You're kidding!'

Meanwhile, deep misgivings about the rationale for abruptly dismissing Comey were casting a long shadow over Trump's meeting with a Russian envoy.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov feigned ignorance Wednesday when reporters in Washington shouted questions to him about how his meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Rex Tillerson, would be affected by the fallout over Comey's dismissal.

"Was he fired? You're kidding!" Lavrov quipped, turning to the pool of journalists at the White House.
Lawmakers failed to see the humour.

Despite the official line from the attorney general's office, suspicions are mounting that Comey's ouster was intended to interfere with the Trump-Russia probe. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called on all Senate Democrats to convene on the Senate floor on Wednesday morning.

'Constitutional crisis'

"Were these investigations getting too close to home for the president?" Schumer asked at a press conference.

Senate Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Brian Schatz called the present situation a full-fledged "constitutional crisis."

Republican Senator Richard Burr also raised the alarm, adding that he was "troubled by the timing and reasoning" behind the FBI director's termination.

But if the purpose of this firing was to derail the counterintelligence probe into the Trump-Russia connections, former U.S. attorney general Alberto Gonzales expects it will only strengthen their resolve to have a thorough investigation.

"It will continue. You've got career individuals at the FBI. You still have an FBI director who will step up and assume that position," Gonzales told CBC News.

"And assuming there's evidence there of wrongdoing, they'll continue that investigation. Nothing should change. Agencies are structured in a way to continue even without the top political appointee. We'll see how it plays out."

• Trump fires FBI director James Comey

• FBI confirms investigation into possible links between Russia, Trump associates