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posted by takyon on Wednesday May 10 2017, @12:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the comey-and-gone dept.

FBI Director James Comey Sacked

The Washington Post reports that:

FBI Director James B. Comey has been dismissed by the president [...] a startling move that officials said stemmed from a conclusion by Justice Department officials that he had mishandled the probe of Hillary Clinton's emails.

Previously:
Clinton Told FBI She Relied on Others' Judgment on Classified Material
FBI Recommends No Prosecution for Clinton

F.B.I. Director James Comey Is Fired by Trump

President Trump has fired FBI Director James Comey:

President Trump has fired the director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, over his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails, the White House said Tuesday.

[...] Under the F.B.I.'s normal rules of succession, Mr. Comey's deputy, Andrew G. McCabe, a career F.B.I. officer, becomes acting director. The White House said the search for a new director will begin immediately.

I never liked Comey (see this cluster of stories), but I doubt there will ever be an FBI Director I like.

Related:
We're Stuck With Comey

Earlier in the day...

FBI Director Comey Misstated Huma Abedin Evidence at Last Week's Hearing

ProPublica reports that most of FBI Director James Comey's testimony to Congress last Wednesday related to Huma Abedin's mishandling of classified emails was inaccurate, and that FBI officials are privately acknowledging the mistake(s) but are still considering their next move:

FBI director James Comey generated national headlines last week with his dramatic testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, explaining his "incredibly painful" decision to go public about the Hillary Clinton emails found on Anthony Weiner's laptop.

Perhaps Comey's most surprising revelation was that Huma Abedin — Weiner's wife and a top Clinton deputy — had made "a regular practice" of forwarding "hundreds and thousands" of Clinton messages to her husband, "some of which contain classified information." Comey testified that Abedin had done this so that the disgraced former congressman could print them out for her boss. (Weiner's laptop was seized after he came under criminal investigation for sex crimes, following a media report about his online relationship with a teenager.)

The New York Post plastered its story on the front page with a photo of an underwear-clad Weiner and the headline: "HARD COPY: Huma sent Weiner classified Hillary emails to print out." The Daily News went with a similar front-page screamer: "HUMA ERROR: Sent classified emails to sext maniac Weiner."

The problem: Much of what Comey said about this was inaccurate. Now the FBI is trying to figure out what to do about it. FBI officials have privately acknowledged that Comey misstated what Abedin did and what the FBI investigators found. On Monday, the FBI was said to be preparing to correct the record by sending a letter to Congress later this week. But that plan now appears on hold, with the bureau undecided about what to do.

[...] According to two sources familiar with the matter — including one in law enforcement — Abedin forwarded only a handful of Clinton emails to her husband for printing — not the "hundreds and thousands" cited by Comey. It does not appear Abedin made "a regular practice" of doing so. Other officials said it was likely that most of the emails got onto the computer as a result of backups of her Blackberry.

Also at Washington Post (alternate analysis), The Hill, The New York Post, and USA Today.


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2Original Submission #3

 
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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 10 2017, @12:23AM (17 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday May 10 2017, @12:23AM (#507205) Journal

    I doubt Trump can fire enough people to quash an unfavorable investigation. If he does, they will just leak the info.

    Now Comey's deputy Andrew G. McCabe is in charge. Is he going to stop the investigation(s)?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @12:31AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @12:31AM (#507210)

    A cornered rat will attack anything within reach.

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @12:48AM (14 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @12:48AM (#507217)

    Now Comey's deputy Andrew G. McCabe is in charge.

    Only until trump appoints his own man.
    At which point he can shut down the investigation.
    That traitor McConnell is already calling for a quick confirmation process [thehill.com] and trump hasn't even named anyone yet.

    • (Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday May 10 2017, @01:09AM (13 children)

      by driverless (4770) on Wednesday May 10 2017, @01:09AM (#507226)

      Only until trump appoints his own man.

      Wanted: New FBI director. Primary qualification: Complete lack of interest in investigating Russia. Everything else negotiable.

      • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday May 10 2017, @02:43AM (3 children)

        by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Wednesday May 10 2017, @02:43AM (#507248) Homepage

        So who will be the replacement? I nominate Stacey Koon or David Duke.

        • (Score: 5, Informative) by driverless on Wednesday May 10 2017, @03:02AM (1 child)

          by driverless (4770) on Wednesday May 10 2017, @03:02AM (#507256)

          Big Al Brown. Works at Burger King in Billingsley, Alamaba. Thinks Russia is a city in upstate New York, pootin' is what you do after too many refried beans, and knows when to do what he's told. He's just what Trump wants for the role.

          • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday May 11 2017, @04:49PM

            by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Thursday May 11 2017, @04:49PM (#508176) Homepage
            Big Al Brown's an idiot, Russia's in Shelby County, Ohio: http://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/182717

            However, that makes him still perfect for the job.
            --
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        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @03:29PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @03:29PM (#507577)

          Sally Yates.

      • (Score: 2, Troll) by hemocyanin on Wednesday May 10 2017, @04:00AM (8 children)

        by hemocyanin (186) on Wednesday May 10 2017, @04:00AM (#507283) Journal

        While Democrats are busy manufacturing consent for a nuclear war with Russia, rational people wish you fauxgressives would just take a long walk on a short pier.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @04:12AM (4 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @04:12AM (#507290)

          ???
          Where did you get the idea that Dems are trying to blow everything up? Bush-2 & Cheney are the case study of making up "facts" to support his war against Saddam.

          • (Score: 2, Informative) by hemocyanin on Wednesday May 10 2017, @04:19AM (3 children)

            by hemocyanin (186) on Wednesday May 10 2017, @04:19AM (#507295) Journal

            Are you kidding? Democrats are practically orgasming every time they hear Rachel Maddow say RussiaRussiaRussia. And while GWB was an evil fuck, Obama just doubled down on everything he did. If you don't know this, you are paying attention only to hagiography and not to facts. The entire Democrat establishment is a bunch of pro-war, corporatist, bankster loving, surveillance creeping, prison building cretins. Literally the only difference between the DNC and GOP, is abortion and bathroom access. Other than that, they're the same lot of mother fucking assholes destroying the middle class and blowing up random people around the world for the profit of a few.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @01:08PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @01:08PM (#507519)

              Haha, wow. Are you trying to say that Trump doesn't want nuclear war with Russia?

              Don't give me any horseshit about his campaign promises. He's been a politician since he descended the golden escalator, and he's been routinely demonstrating that our usual method of observing that a politician's lip motion is strongly correlated with his use of outright deceit remains accurate.

              Wake me up when you Republicans have an actual plan that at least all of you can agree to for healthcare

            • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday May 10 2017, @05:47PM (1 child)

              by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday May 10 2017, @05:47PM (#507653) Journal

              If there's no difference then why has Trump spent the first four months in office repealing stuff?

              • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Thursday May 11 2017, @03:09AM

                by hemocyanin (186) on Thursday May 11 2017, @03:09AM (#507903) Journal

                The difference is simply which subset of the 0.1% each party caters to. Republicans push the agenda of old industries, plus war, surveillance, prisons, and unfair free trade. Democrats push the agenda of Banksters/tech venture capital mostly, plus war, surveillance, prisons, and unfair free trade. Republicans rely on gun lovers so they tend to (at least mouth) support for the 2nd Amendment. Democrats are a little smarter and fearing a new French Revolution, especially the red necklace part, are devising ever more clever ways to make the 2nd Amendment irrelevant. Both support policies to depress wages -- Republicans by crushing unions, Democrats by importing labor (though Democrats aren't all that union friendly either).

                I hope that is nuanced enough for you. In either case however, their constituents are a subset of the ultra-wealthy and they couldn't care less about workers or the middle class.

        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Wednesday May 10 2017, @06:15AM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 10 2017, @06:15AM (#507389) Journal

          While Democrats are busy manufacturing consent for a nuclear war with Russia

          Don't buy it. Nuclear war is beyond third rail for them. It's unthinkable. They're just using Putin as a bogeyman because he's not well liked by most of the US. This might work in the long run too, because well, there is something weird going on there.

          As to Comey, he did indeed greatly mishandle the Clinton email investigation and I think he did so at the behest of Obama (and then did that October surprise in passive-aggressive protest). And of course, his opinions on privacy and similar issues are abominable. But I don't see that latter part improving under any new appointee to the position.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @06:51AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @06:51AM (#507400)

          Democrats are busy manufacturing consent for a nuclear war with Russia,

          More proof your grip on reality is no better than the AM talk radio crowd.
          You make it sound like there is only one choice, nukes or nothing.
          Which is ridiculous. There are a lot of possibilities for retaliation.
          Nukes are a last resort and nobody is going to shoot them off over election meddling or even Ukraine.
          We didn't nuke russia over south Ossetia, or even Crimea.
          So chill out with the hysterics already.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @12:28PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @12:28PM (#507495)

            Because "conventional war with " is shorthand for nuclear war.

            "War with Russia" IS "nuclear war".

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 12 2017, @12:52AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 12 2017, @12:52AM (#508418)

    I doubt Trump can fire enough people to quash an unfavorable investigation.

    Trump: "Ready, Fire, Aim!"
    The guy just straight-up admitted it was because of Russia:

    “In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.’”
    Trump said he was thinking of Russia controversy when he decided to fire Comey [washingtonpost.com]

    He really is the idiot-in-chief.

    I'm sure his handlers will come up with some non-explanation for how Turmp is the most trustworthy president in the history of all presidents but you shouldn't believe his own words.