SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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 #1 Original Submission #2 Original Submission #3
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Sulla on Wednesday May 10 2017, @01:04AM (11 children)
Trump has been saying since before the election that he wanted Comey gone. Trump couldn't get rid of him because Trump might be under investigation. Comey saying yesterday that Trump was not under investigation cleared Trump to fire him.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @01:40AM (6 children)
Trump has been saying since before the election that he wanted Comey gone.
Uh, no.
Trump literally praised Comey for the exact same reasons he listed in the letter justifying firing him. [talkingpointsmemo.com]
Trump is completely situational. He just says whatever he thinks will most benefit himself at the current moment in time.
(Score: 2) by fnj on Wednesday May 10 2017, @05:34AM
Bingo. That is all anyone really NEEDS to know about Trump.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday May 10 2017, @05:47AM (1 child)
Comey lied* to Congress last week. No matter what other nefarious reasons exist for the firing, Comey screwed up once again and gave President Trump a great excuse to fire him. And Trump fired him on the very same day that Comey's mistake became known to the public. Comey engineered his own demise.
*"Misspoke"
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @06:40AM
Comey lied* to Congress last week. No matter what other nefarious reasons exist for the firing, Comey screwed up once again and gave President Trump a great excuse to fire him.
Except the official justification for firing him does not mention his congressional testimony of last week.
And the reporting is that turmp ordered sessions to find an excuse to fire comey immediately after last week's testimony [thehill.com] when comey also confirmed that turmp's campaign was under investigation for russian ties.
At that time it was not known that Comey mispoke about Abedin's email, that info only came to light a day or two ago.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday May 10 2017, @12:00PM
If what benefits him, benefits the country and myself, in an absolute sense, assuming it were even true, is that OK?
In a relative sense, if his opponent was racist and sexist and anti-white male, so what she strongly supported regardless of public opinion was hatred of myself and my culture and my socioeconomic class and my race and my gender, aren't we better off with Trump even if your claim is accurate?
So if your claim is false, it don't matter so its OK, if your claim is true, in an absolute sense as long as interests at least partially align it should be OK, if your claim is true in a relative sense and his opponent is someone who is full of hatred for me and mine it should be OK.
Is there any interpretation of your claim, regardless of accuracy (I'm not even claiming you're right) where the result isn't at least OK?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @02:19PM (1 child)
That's 1000x better than an ideologue.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @07:41PM
That's 1000x better than an ideologue.
False dichotomy.
But Trump is an ideologue. His ideology is zero-sum "me first!"
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Wednesday May 10 2017, @11:49AM (2 children)
redundant link to video of Mr. Trump praising Mr. Comey last 31 October:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuU66r8HSSY [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @01:40PM (1 child)
Thanks for the link, but by now you should know that what Trump said in the past has no relation to what he says in the present. This presents some difficulty when trying to make a logical case... See parallels to making a case by pulling quotes from the Bible, there are quotes in there to support just about any argument.
Note that this is exactly the technique that Trump has used throughout his career -- more distraction. What is really going on is well hidden by all the smokescreens and diversions. We'll be lucky if we ever figure out what he's really doing. I don't give very good odds that historians in the far future will figure out what he really did.
Oh, in case anyone is wondering what my position is, I think the sooner Trump is gone the better off we will all be.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Wednesday May 10 2017, @09:34PM
> [...] you should know that what Trump said in the past has no relation to what he says in the present.
I was responding to Sulla's statement that "Trump has been saying since before the election that he wanted Comey gone."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 10 2017, @03:57PM
Just because Trump wrote it in a letter does not make it so. He lies so much it's hard to believe anything he says or writes without independent verification.