38 ms·

President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey

594 points by DamnInteresting 9y ago

favorited 9y ago
If I'm not mistaken, he's the first FBI director to be fired. Edit: I was, in fact, mistaken.
- fictioncircle 9y ago
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/31/1589230/-Only-One-US-President-has-ever-Fired-an-FBI-Director-and-that-President-s-Name-Was-Clinton http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/31/1589230/-Only-One-U... > When Bill Clinton took office in January , 1993, his FBI Director was William S. Sessions, serving an appointment made by Ronald Reagan at the time of the Iran-Contra affair. Making it clear that the new President did not want the Republican FBI Director in his Administration, Clinton’s newly appointed Attorney General, Janet Reno, quietly pressured Mr. Sessions to resign.
  - ENOTTY 9y ago
    The IG investigation into Mr. Sessions revealed all kinds of wrongdoing. Not political at all.
  - ebbv 9y ago
    Big difference between that and outright firing. Behind the scenes pressure is politics as usual.
    - clarkm 9y ago
      > Although Sessions denied that he had acted improperly, he was pressured to resign in early July, with some suggesting that President Clinton was giving Sessions the chance to step down in a dignified manner. Sessions refused, saying that he had done nothing wrong, and insisted on staying in office until his successor was confirmed. As a result, President Clinton dismissed Sessions on July 19, 1993. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Sessions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Sessions
    - fictioncircle 9y ago
      Sorry I quoted the wrong bit. He was actually fired. > ut the stubborn Republican FBI Director refused to go voluntarily, finally provoking Bill Clinton to telephone Mr. Sessions on July 20, 1993. The President called twice. The first call was to tell the Director he was fired. The second was to tell the Director it was effective immediately. That’s cold, man.
      - akhilcacharya 9y ago
        He was fired for misuse of funds.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
TheBiv 9y ago
"Trump just fired the man leading a counterintelligence investigation into his campaign, on the same day that the Senate Intelligence commitee requested financial documents relating to Trump's business dealings from the treasury department that handles money laundering." -Comment from reddit that sums up how strange this is.
- SomeStupidPoint 9y ago
  SEE EDIT ~~ He also fired the federal judge who ruled against him in Hawaii. So it's not like this is new behavior. ~~ Don't worry though, this is fine. Ed: I'm likely misremembering bluster as taking action, since I can't find specific citations. So I retract the comment, and would strike through it (I don't like deleting text), but don't know if I can on HN.
  - bostonvaulter2 9y ago
    Do you have a link for that?
    - sriram_sun 9y ago
      So I googled the claim that Trump fired the Federal judge in Hawaii and the answer seems to be that the President cannot fire Federal judges. https://www.quora.com/Can-Donald-Trump-fire-a-federal-judge-for-ruling-against-him https://www.quora.com/Can-Donald-Trump-fire-a-federal-judge-...
  - dekhn 9y ago
    I cannot find any evidence of this claim.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - yeukhon 9y ago
    He can't fire a federal judge. There is a due process for impeaching a federal judge from the bench. Neither can Department of Justice (which is part of the executive branch), it is one of the best preserved traditions of our Checks and Balances, despite some of rulings are not agreed by majority (do I have to bring up the stupid ruling of Judge Persky on the People vs Turner case). Therefore, we can't fire or replace a Supreme Court judge except the Congress. You are probably mistaken that for the firing of the acting AOG Sally Yates for mandating Department of Justice to not to defend Trump's travel ban executive order during her tenure, and the termination of New York-based U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara who was known for going after Wall Street scandals (and who, according to Trump, did not return Trump's calls multiple calls). --Edit-- I found [1] to be an interesting article on whether impeachment of a judge is limited to Congress. [1]: http://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/removing-federal-judges-without-impeachment http://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/removing-federal-judges-...
romeisburning 9y ago
The thought of Trump nominating an FBI director is bone chilling. Summed up with what's known about Flynn and every other suspicious data point we have what I am increasingly sure that is a modern day coup of the USA. Time to pause tech and effect change, this is leading to a future darker than I can possibly contemplate.
Matt3o12_ 9y ago
Well I would be certainly interested in the circumstances especially considering that I always believed he was pro trump. Some even said he played an important role Trump won the election because he opened an investigation into Clinton's emails right before the election.
- fictioncircle 9y ago
  He was pressured by Trump partisans in the FBI and elsewhere (in accordance with his obligations) to release that and Obama blocked him from writing an Op-ed about Trump before the election. I think he genuinely tried to stay neutral but the GOP partisans threatened to leak stuff so he tried to do damage control ineffectually. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/04/report-obama-rejected-comey-op-ed-on-russian-interference.html http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/04/report-obama-re... > Report: Obama Rejected Comey Op-Ed on Russia’s Election Meddling http://www.newsweek.com/fbi-reviewing-more-clinton-emails-514825 http://www.newsweek.com/fbi-reviewing-more-clinton-emails-51... > The truth is Comey didn’t have a choice. Because the new information followed his sworn testimony about the case, Comey was obligated by Department of Justice rules to keep the relevant committees apprised. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-28/leaked-memo-james-comey-explains-why-he-told-congress-about-reopened-clinton-probe http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-28/leaked-memo-james-c... > Now, it is the democrats turn to rage at Comey and the FBI, although Comey likely did not have much choice: had he kept the information secret, it certainly would have leaked as we predicted; as such his best recourse was to come clean, although many have speculated about the cryptic nature of the disclosure. http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/james-comey-fbi-director-letter http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/james-comey-fbi-direc... > The story broke in the Daily Mail on September 21, and the F.B.I. seized the laptop on October 3. Within a couple of days, the New York F.B.I. agents, who had a warrant to look only at Weiner-related information, knew there were Clinton e-mails on the laptop, and the prosecutors in D.C. were informed. > Often, a retired agent says, those in the field are suspicious of Washington. “Dreamland,” they called it in his day, because they believed those who weren’t on the ground investigating cases were clueless. “[Agents] out in the field never want to give a case to D.C., because they believe headquarters is a hindrance to their investigations,” says the agent, who also notes there is a paranoia that politics might interfere at headquarters. New York has an especially dim view of Washington and a reputation for fierce independence. “There is a renegade quality to the New York F.B.I.,” says a former prosecutor, which, he claims, can take the form of agents leaking to the press to advance their own interests or to influence an investigation. “New York leaks like a sieve,” concurs another former prosecutor > Comey chose Washington because he wanted to be close enough to get daily updates, according to CNN, but he may also have been worried about leaks from New York. A former D.O.J. official says that, as early as 2015, a rumor was floating around that the F.B.I. agents in New York were cracking jokes about seeing Hillary Clinton in handcuffs. “It was widely understood that there was a faction in that office that couldn’t stand her and was out to get her,” this person says.
mtgx 9y ago
Hopefully there's a silver lining and that this means the encryption backdoor push (led by Comey) will slow to a crawl or be forgotten. He was already preparing a push for FISA Amendments renewal together with Dianne Feinstein (who is apparently having a change of heart about her own retirement).
- Sargos 9y ago
  Don't count on it. Trump will likely put someone very right wing into the position and the attack on encryption will intensify.
  - briandear 9y ago
    So the right wing wants to reduce encryption? And the left doesn't? Republican Senator Rand Paul has been at the forefront of fighting for privacy protections. Chuck Schumer sure hasn't.
    - tacomonstrous 9y ago
      Well, change 'right wing' to 'Trumpist' and the statement becomes basically accurate.
    - Sargos 9y ago
      Rand Paul is not what many would be referring to when they say right wing. Rand and Ron Paul are both libertarians that are pro-individual-liberty and clash with the rest of the GOP routinely. They are anomalies.
      - LyndsySimon 9y ago
        > Rand and Ron Paul are both libertarians that are pro-individual-liberty and clash with the rest of the GOP routinely. I strongly believe the average libertarian would disagree with this statement. Rand has made it clear that he is a Republican first.
    - s73ver 9y ago
abalashov 9y ago
I'm pretty sure the customary reply from the MAGA camp will be that these are all political appointees, and serve at the President's pleasure. All that is formally true. But it doesn't make it any less uncanny that such a person would be fired at the very moment he ramps up an investigation into Trump's business activities.
- ianai 9y ago
  That argument only flies early in the administration, like the first 14 days. We're at day 110+ (I'm not counting). This was done immediately after Comey talked to congress about an investigation into the administration. This can lead to nothing less than an independent commission into Trump.
- evan_ 9y ago
  The reply from the MAGA camp is "Trump will appoint someone to go after his political enemies for personal gain" except they're happy about it: https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=comey%20clinton%20rice&src=typd https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=comey...
  - tw04 9y ago
    It's astounding Comey was supposedly fired for misrepresenting the Clinton email thing (by grossly overstating the wrongdoing) and yet they follow-up with "and go after Clinton!!!". I'd comment on the mental gymnastics but it doesn't appear anyone on that page is capable of basic reasoning.
    - evan_ 9y ago
      His most entrenched base (e.g., people who really support him rather than those who just voted against Clinton) truly believe that anything he does contrary to their expectations is 4-dimensional chess, that will eventually resolve in a fashion that will benefit him and eventually them. It's like how if you stare at an old TV tuned to static for long enough you can start to see pictures. It's reading intent where there is nothing but random flailing.
fooey 9y ago
Seemed to be confirmed as real, so here are letters being floated as from Trump, Sessions and Rosenstein firing Comey and blaming the Clinton investigation Trump: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apTsDXoAAVKYn.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apTsDXoAAVKYn.jpg AG Sessions: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg Deputy AG Rosenstein: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apVImXcAIKhfm.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apVImXcAIKhfm.jpg Dear Director Comey: I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately. While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau. It it essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
- drewbug01 9y ago
  It's linked in the sidebar on the NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/james-comey-fired-fbi.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/james-comey-f... https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/09/us/politics/document-White-House-Fires-James-Comey.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/09/us/politics/d...
  - fooey 9y ago
    Honestly, I was hoping the Trump letter at least was satire.
- dguaraglia 9y ago
  Oh, wow, so this is where they are going. Call me cynical, but it sounds like a distraction tactic from the current investigation into Trump's campaign ties to Russian interests. EDIT: adding to that thought, Trump's team had to add "although you've informed me that there's no investigation"... while Comey himself has said in public hearings there are investigations. Wow, this stinks to high heavens.
danielvf 9y ago
Anyone have a link to the contents of the memo that recommended firing, and contained the reasons for that recommendation?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- DamnInteresting 9y ago
  Allegedly: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg
  - danielvf 9y ago
    Thanks! Unfortunately that one leaves out the reasons memo.
    - DamnInteresting 9y ago
      Perhaps you seek this?: https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/862073335009738752 https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/862073335009738752
      - danielvf 9y ago
        That's it, many thanks!
- Aaronn 9y ago
  https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3711113/Comey-White-House-DOJ-DAG.pdf https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3711113/Comey-Whi...
Beltiras 9y ago
Oh, this has got to burn. The man that gave him the office......
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
newsat13 9y ago
Can someone clarify if comey is pro trump or not?
- whistlerbrk 9y ago
  Comey is a boy scout. He is righteous man for better or worse, has conservative leanings, but he is considered an honorable man especially for his actions during Ashcroft's hospitalization
  - mannykannot 9y ago
    That is a good way of putting it. I believe he felt required by the obligations of the office to say something about the discovery of the email on Weiner's computer, and I tend to agree, even though I am not in any way a Trump supporter. It was my opinion from the time Clinton's clandestine email server was revealed that she was not viable as a candidate on account of it, and if Comey's statement was as instrumental as many of her supporters claim, then that hunch proved correct (though I am not sure, myself, whether the statement was decisive.)
- komali2 9y ago
  Well I'd give you his email address but it doesn't seem to route to him anymore
- ianai 9y ago
  Comey threw the election for Trump. I'd say he's pro Trump. This firing thing resulted after Comey went too far "off reservation" in looking at Trump.
- dantillberg 9y ago
  I've generally had the impression that Comey is a more traditional conservative; he might prefer Republicans rather than Democrats be in control of the federal government, but he's never shown much love of Trump himself.
- luke0016 9y ago
  He's neither. He, like most other members of the U.S. government, is someone simply interested in doing their job to the best of their ability. He's not immune to making mistakes. But, he's also not pushing some partisan agenda. Once you get a degree of separation or two away from the politicrats, you end up with regular, ethical and moral people actually trying to make things work. That may be surprising to some, but, if you think about it, it's already pretty obvious that the people at the top do a poor job of representing anyone else, including their subordinates.
curiousgal 9y ago
Flashbacks to Nixon's downfall.
- hprotagonist 9y ago
  fingers crossed, i guess.
- evan_ 9y ago
  None of the safety guards that caused Nixon to get knocked down after the Saturday Night Massacre are functioning right now. The AG is a loyalist, the House and Senate are in his pocket (and appear to be intentionally sandbagging their own investigations).
  - rrggrr 9y ago
    Title 28 (CFR), Chapter VI, Part 600 Specific allegations of criminal behavior by the President require a special prosecutor, or they require a finding of no merit. As Sessions has already recused himself, the deputy AG makes the finding. All very publicly. The only thing missing here, as compared to Nixon or Clinton, is specific allegations. Its been under investigation since July 2016 without any specific allegations against the President. Not to say associated may not be indicted. I suspect Flynn is going to serve jail time.
fencepost 9y ago
Trump just wanted to be sure that Comey's statement last year about the iPhone hack cost was true. "more than I will make in the remainder of this job, [...]"
jjordan 9y ago
Say what you want about the politics, but it's inarguable that Comey, whether he wanted to or not, had become a partisan lightning rod for both sides. The unbiased credibility of the FBI was at stake with Comey at the helm, and this is probably a good move for the country.
- gregshap 9y ago
  Perhaps the country is better served by someone disliked by both sides than by someone handpicked for their loyalty to Trump.
  - rrggrr 9y ago
    I have to agree with this, and I want to believe that was the needle Comey was threading. I am concerned, however, that his tone in the last hearing (eg. "mildly nauseous", Abedin email forwarding mistakes, immigrant investigation mistakes, etc.) was so flippant that he was almost asking to be fired. By design or by accident, he's departing more independent now than ever.
    - colemannugent 9y ago
      I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought his tone was inappropriate. Leave that for the tabloids to sell, don't bring it into the political institution.
- throwaway5752 9y ago
  The FBI was investigating the president for colluding with a hostile state to influence the election and aid them against the interests of the US. This is the worst thing to happen to the country since Watergate or longer.
  - self-diversity 9y ago
    Yeah you can tell the Trump-Russia connections are not a quixotic quagmire by how the stories continue to be filled with weasel words and spend 100% of their column inches not presenting any evidence at all.
AnimalMuppet 9y ago
Mr. Comey just acquired a badge of honor. No, I'm not being sarcastic. It's getting to the point where being fired is more honorable than remaining.
colemannugent 9y ago
A friendly reminder to both sides that whatever the current administration does, the next can undo. This is especially important when the majority party decides to give itself more power and inadvertently gives their successors more than they intended.
- cloudwalking 9y ago
  This is not true. Rolling back regulations on green house gas emissions, removing regulations on clean water, denying healthcare to millions of people... Those deaths cannot be undone, the aquifers cannot be cleaned, and the carbon can't be removed from the atmosphere.
  - buckbova 9y ago
    Let's tone down the hyperbole. Edit: I don't like having a political argument in this forum. I don't want hn to turn into r/politics. I'm not swayed by emotional pleas from celebrities or others crying about a bill they haven't read. Who are these folks dying by the millions? From what I see mortality rates rose since obamacare came about: "We know that the same year Obamacare’s insurance expansion provisions took effect, there was a pronounced, and statistically significant, surge in U.S. adult mortality." http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/25/running-numbers-mortality-rates-suggests-obamacare-killing-people/ http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/25/running-numbers-mortalit... So you can get some facts together or continue crying. Your choice.
    - jasonlotito 9y ago
      It's that sort of attitude that really hurts people. My children those that suffered because of attitudes like that. This affects people's lives. It's not hyperbole. It's real.
    - asdfjlkasdf88 9y ago
      You have an ability to raise the dead no one else knows about? Or technology to scrub co2 from the air?
    - 9y ago
hota_mazi 9y ago
Trump is soon going to run out of people to fire.
- skym 9y ago
  Don't worry, there are PLENTY of people worth firing in DC
- gorbachev 9y ago
  He fires on a whim. You say one wrong word that hurts his ego, and you're gone no matter how much of a darling you were before. Like someone said elsewhere he demands absolute loyalty from his minions, but has none himself.
Animats 9y ago
The FBI director is supposed to have a 10 year term. That went in after J. Edgar Hoover died. Nobody wanted another J. Edgar Hoover FBI Director for Life situation, but having the FBI director be a "pleasure of the President" appointment made it too political. This makes Andrew G. McCabe acting FBI director. He's in the civil service, not a Presidential appointment. He was an FBI agent and worked his way up. From what little is available about him, he seems to be good at the job.[1] As civil service, he can only be fired for cause. Appointing a new FBI director requires Congressional approval, and will be controversial. [1] http://www.latimes.com/nation/na-la-fbi-deputy-director-20160505-snap-story.html http://www.latimes.com/nation/na-la-fbi-deputy-director-2016...
- fooey 9y ago
  The looming senate fight to confirm a replacement is going to be absolutely massive.
  - acdha 9y ago
    That depends on how well the GOP sticks together: they only need a simple majority vote to confirm.
    - anigbrowl 9y ago
      The more hurriedly they rush it through, the more political capital they're putting at risk. This (as in the whole ball of wax) is already shaping up to be a larger political upset than anything in most Americans' living memory.
      - acdha 9y ago
        The interesting part is the “hang together or hang separately” aspect: the longer the Republicans in the Congress vocally support Trump's actions the harder it is for them to break with him without penalties. I don't think it's a long-term success strategy but I'm betting it'll delay whoever is thinking about making the first move.
    - 9y ago
satysin 9y ago
This is going to make an amazing movie in a decade or two.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  Oh it'll spawn a whole genre. Having written several scripts myself I've naturally been fascinated by the political machinations going on over the last couple of years, but the #1 difficulty (besides the constant flow of new events that Change Everything) is the sheer outlandishness of it all. I guarantee you that if I had a time machine and went back two or three years into the past with a hot script, virtually everyone in Hollywood would shake their heads and say 'too many unlikely plot twists, nobody would buy this, go take more writing classes until you understand causality, pacing, motivation, character arcs, and real life, kiddo.' A common refrain among both my movie biz friends and political scientist friends these days is 'I'm living in a fucking cartoon.' Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. At this point Rick and Morty comes off as a bit unimaginative.
Shivetya 9y ago
Trump had to dismiss Comey. Comey damaged the FBI in his recent sessions with Congress to the point the FBI was on the defensive trying to set the record right. Considering the erratic behavior with both the Clinton and Russia issues it is doubtful that Comey was capable of continuing in such an office. Like or dislike Trump, there have been many on the Democratic Party side calling for Comey to be gone and the odd part is many are now rushing to the guy's defense. That and he was fired over incorrect testimony about a Clinton aide, testimony that painted her in a worse position than deserved. Irrational is the best way to describe the reaction of many. I was really shocked by some in the press, it is near impossible to separate journalist from opinion editors when they cannot separate the roles themselves
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  You make good points but this is more of a defenestration than a normal termination.
- s73ver 9y ago
  Dems were calling for Comey to be fired when he commented on the Clinton investigation. If Trump truly was swayed by that, he would have fired Comey at the beginning of his term. The timing of the firing is incredibly fishy.
- mcphage 9y ago
  > Like or dislike Trump, there have been many on the Democratic Party side calling for Comey to be gone and the odd part is many are now rushing to the guy's defense. That and he was fired over incorrect testimony about a Clinton aide, testimony that painted her in a worse position than deserved. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing overall is complicated, so no, people aren't just going to be singing "Ding, dong, the witch is dead". But the manner in which it was done was a bad thing.
jacquesm 9y ago
Someone better than me in English, please explain the meaning of the word 'recuse'?
- pbourke 9y ago
  Step aside from, typically due to a conflict of interest.
- dheelus 9y ago
  To remove oneself from involvement in the proceedings. In this case, since AG Sessions was considered to have conflict of interest in the Russian interference matter, he 'recused' himself, i.e., removed himself from the investigations.
- epc 9y ago
  In this instance, step away from active involvement in investigations concerning a specific subject to avoid appearance of a conflict of interest. Comey still reported to Sessions as A.G. but would not have had to report updates about the investigations into Trump & Russia.
- thaumasiotes 9y ago
  I have only seen the word in the context of a court case. A judge may recuse themselves from a case when they feel that they cannot judge it objectively (or that a strong objective argument could be made that they cannot judge it objectively). It means they withdraw from the case. So if a case should go before five judges, and two of them recuse, those two won't participate and the decision will be issued by the other three judges.
- gregschlom 9y ago
  Not a native English speaker, but I understand it as "step aside and agree not to interfere"
- p4lindromica 9y ago
  to remove oneself from duty in a proceeding usually due to conflicts of interest. i.e., A judge in Florida recently recused herself from a case involving USF's football coach because she was a USF alumna.
grizzles 9y ago
He was too much of a wildcard. Trump wants to wrap up the Russia thing and he needs someone who is more subservient to do that.
- nameless912 9y ago
  This is an interesting card to play if that's indeed his goal. Trump doesn't get to appoint an "acting" head of the FBI AFAIK, he can only recommend a new director, and you can bet your ass that the DNC won't let that slide without a bigly fight at the confirmation hearing. This move really doesn't make a lot of sense, I don't know what Trump gains here other than a few weeks of pretending he won.
  - tw04 9y ago
    He's sending a message to the replacement. Do what I want or I'll can you. We'll see if it works.
    - unprepare 9y ago
      Moot to the acting director though, who can only be gotten rid of for cause or by senate approving a nominee. I believe the senate only needs a simple majority to approve the nominee, though, so it might not be that difficult for them to get rid of the acting head if they feel pressure
  - neuronexmachina 9y ago
    > This move really doesn't make a lot of sense, I don't know what Trump gains here other than a few weeks of pretending he won. Trump isn't exactly big on forethought.
hsnewman 9y ago
Christi will be appointed FBI director, and Comey will get a nice job in the Trump organization for falling on the sword.
wtf_is_up 9y ago
It's about time. Comey has politicized the FBI in ways that have damaged its reputation for years to come.
whistlerbrk 9y ago
It's time for this dictator to be impeached. People need to start marching on Washington.
thrillgore 9y ago
At this point we should demand an immediate Impeachment.
rrggrr 9y ago
Comey's book deal is going to be enormous. His great, great, great grandchildren will be buying Maserati's with the proceeds. He just needs to withstand another six months of testifying on the hill in front of at least two standing committees and probably a special committee.
- stephenitis 9y ago
  there are more important things to ponder... than his books and children's luxury cars. good god, I still can't believe trump fired him.
avs733 9y ago
Sally Yates investigates Trump's cabinet: Fired by the Trump administration Preet Bharara investigates Trump's cabinet: Fired by the Trump administration Director Comey Investigates Trump's cabinet: Fired by the Trump administration
- singularity2001 9y ago
  Berlusconization of the US
  - avs733 9y ago
    Lets just call a spade a spade...this is emergent Facism. Lots of definitions, but lets go with Britt's[0] 14 point test where I would come up with at least plasuible evidence for 13 of 14 just off the top of my head. 1 - MAGA 2 - Yeah...and for the rule of law/courts 3 - "but her emails" / Mexican rapists / Obama / etc. 4 - for years...since Reagan. This isn't new but it keeps getting worse 5 - "Grab her by the pussy" 6 - working on it, undermining trust in the media and centralizing oneself as the only source of real news is close 7 - yup 8 - Mike Pence, Jeff Sessions, more and more... 9 - Oh yeah, agressively look at the EPA efforts under trump. 10 - Yup (Lets talk about Mitch Daniels amongst others) 11 - Yup...[1] 12 - "Lock her up" 13 - I mean...absolutely.[2][3] 14 - borderline...no proof, one could play with definitions here but an ongoing effort. [0] https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/opinion/how-the-stupid-party-created-donald-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/opinion/how-the-stupid-pa... [2] http://www.businessinsider.com/r-reporters-barred-from-china-event-seeking-investment-in-kushner-project-2017-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/r-reporters-barred-from-china... [3] http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/19/524765086/china-defends-trademark-grants-for-ivanka-trump-products http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/19/524765086/...
tannhauser23 9y ago
Everyone should read the letter that the Deputy Attorney General wrote to the Attorney General in recommending that Comey be fired. It's brutal: http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/politics/fbi-director-james-b-comeys-termination-letters-from-the-white-house-attorney-general/2430/ http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/politics/fbi-dire... This and Comey's recent misstatements to Congress about Huma Abedin forwarding sensitive emails to Anthony Weiner are alone grounds for Trump to fire Comey. Whether Trump had other motives... I mean, who knows? It's all speculation.
- hendersoon 9y ago
  I agree with every word of that latter. He deserved to be fired. However, the idea that Trump fired the FBI director for causing Clinton to bleed is just a teensy bit hard to swallow. And if they're going to fire him for going after Clinton, why wait until May? Why not January?
  - tannhauser23 9y ago
    I think he was waiting for the right reason to fire him. This letter plus the assist from Comey's recent screwup in front of the Senate gives Trump the perfect excuse to fire him. Comey should have just shut up and did his investigation.
    - hendersoon 9y ago
      If that was the case, why didn't any of the three letters mention Comey screwing up in front of that committee? They only mentioned his severe misjudgment in Hillary's emails 10 days before the election. Nah. Doesn't pass the smell test. Now don't get me wrong, he WAS fired because those investigations upset Trump. And that very likely WAS the reason. But it wasn't the reason they stated.
wonder_bread 9y ago
Which can only mean something else happened today that Trump's covering up in the headlines by firing Comey
wonder_bread 9y ago
Which can only mean something else happened today that Trump's covering up in the headlines by firing Comey
bingomad123 9y ago
Why are we discussing politics on HN ?
rwnspace 9y ago
381 points, 171 comments, 1 hour ago; as of writing. Why is this on the second page of HN, and not pole position? I assume/hope that there is some mechanism that stops new content from dominating other content too rapidly.
- pm90 9y ago
  Wow...I was extremely surprised to see this as well.
- defined 9y ago
  I was just about to write this exact comment. Thank you for doing this and saving me the effort! At the time of writing, this should have been #2 on HN.
- krapp 9y ago
  >Why is this on the second page of HN, and not pole position? It's mainstream politics.
- ThrustVectoring 9y ago
  IIRC there's admin mechanisms for ensuring that less HN-niche-specific content doesn't get overwhelmed by more general news. Basically weighting things by how relevant it is to the overall vision for what HN's content should be.
- nerfhammer 9y ago
  there's a mechanism to damper but not totally remove some kinds of posts, possibly involving manually mod intervention http://www.righto.com/2013/11/how-hacker-news-ranking-really-works.html http://www.righto.com/2013/11/how-hacker-news-ranking-really...
- jokermatt999 9y ago
  I believe flags push content from the front page. I went to check Lists > Active to see if there was an HN thread on this, because I expect politics to get flagged off the front page of Hacker News. (Granted, I just think this is "politics" because there's been several events I've expected would end any normal president, but haven't, so...I just really don't know anymore)
Hermitian 9y ago
Why isn't this on the front page?
iamjeff 9y ago
President Trump cares little about protecting the Office of the President...his administration has a well-documented history of putting the thumb on the scale regarding the investigation of collusion between his campaign and Russian agents/agencies...this is damaging the credibility in the office...this firing was also clearly decided on and then the rationale was secured afterward...it baffles the mind that Trump rationalizes this executive action by claiming that Comey was "mean to Clinton" when only a few days ago Comey had his trust...the reasoning cited, and involvement of Sessions in interfering an investigation that he recused himself from, is bogus... It is not unreasonable to claim that a cover-up is in full swing!
cymatic 9y ago
Hasn't anyone ever seen his TV show? All he does is fire people.
davesque 9y ago
Mods, please let this one live. This is big news and we can't ignore it. I don't care what the policies are about political stories. I also don't care if I can go somewhere else to read about it. I want to know what _this_ community's opinions are on the matter.

favorited 9y ago

If I'm not mistaken, he's the first FBI director to be fired. Edit: I was, in fact, mistaken.

fictioncircle 9y ago
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/31/1589230/-Only-One-US-President-has-ever-Fired-an-FBI-Director-and-that-President-s-Name-Was-Clinton http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/31/1589230/-Only-One-U... > When Bill Clinton took office in January , 1993, his FBI Director was William S. Sessions, serving an appointment made by Ronald Reagan at the time of the Iran-Contra affair. Making it clear that the new President did not want the Republican FBI Director in his Administration, Clinton’s newly appointed Attorney General, Janet Reno, quietly pressured Mr. Sessions to resign.
- ENOTTY 9y ago
  The IG investigation into Mr. Sessions revealed all kinds of wrongdoing. Not political at all.
- ebbv 9y ago
  Big difference between that and outright firing. Behind the scenes pressure is politics as usual.
  - clarkm 9y ago
    > Although Sessions denied that he had acted improperly, he was pressured to resign in early July, with some suggesting that President Clinton was giving Sessions the chance to step down in a dignified manner. Sessions refused, saying that he had done nothing wrong, and insisted on staying in office until his successor was confirmed. As a result, President Clinton dismissed Sessions on July 19, 1993. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Sessions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Sessions
  - fictioncircle 9y ago
    Sorry I quoted the wrong bit. He was actually fired. > ut the stubborn Republican FBI Director refused to go voluntarily, finally provoking Bill Clinton to telephone Mr. Sessions on July 20, 1993. The President called twice. The first call was to tell the Director he was fired. The second was to tell the Director it was effective immediately. That’s cold, man.
    - akhilcacharya 9y ago
      He was fired for misuse of funds.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

TheBiv 9y ago

"Trump just fired the man leading a counterintelligence investigation into his campaign, on the same day that the Senate Intelligence commitee requested financial documents relating to Trump's business dealings from the treasury department that handles money laundering." -Comment from reddit that sums up how strange this is.

SomeStupidPoint 9y ago
SEE EDIT ~~ He also fired the federal judge who ruled against him in Hawaii. So it's not like this is new behavior. ~~ Don't worry though, this is fine. Ed: I'm likely misremembering bluster as taking action, since I can't find specific citations. So I retract the comment, and would strike through it (I don't like deleting text), but don't know if I can on HN.
- bostonvaulter2 9y ago
  Do you have a link for that?
  - sriram_sun 9y ago
    So I googled the claim that Trump fired the Federal judge in Hawaii and the answer seems to be that the President cannot fire Federal judges. https://www.quora.com/Can-Donald-Trump-fire-a-federal-judge-for-ruling-against-him https://www.quora.com/Can-Donald-Trump-fire-a-federal-judge-...
- dekhn 9y ago
  I cannot find any evidence of this claim.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- yeukhon 9y ago
  He can't fire a federal judge. There is a due process for impeaching a federal judge from the bench. Neither can Department of Justice (which is part of the executive branch), it is one of the best preserved traditions of our Checks and Balances, despite some of rulings are not agreed by majority (do I have to bring up the stupid ruling of Judge Persky on the People vs Turner case). Therefore, we can't fire or replace a Supreme Court judge except the Congress. You are probably mistaken that for the firing of the acting AOG Sally Yates for mandating Department of Justice to not to defend Trump's travel ban executive order during her tenure, and the termination of New York-based U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara who was known for going after Wall Street scandals (and who, according to Trump, did not return Trump's calls multiple calls). --Edit-- I found [1] to be an interesting article on whether impeachment of a judge is limited to Congress. [1]: http://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/removing-federal-judges-without-impeachment http://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/removing-federal-judges-...

romeisburning 9y ago

The thought of Trump nominating an FBI director is bone chilling. Summed up with what's known about Flynn and every other suspicious data point we have what I am increasingly sure that is a modern day coup of the USA. Time to pause tech and effect change, this is leading to a future darker than I can possibly contemplate.

Matt3o12_ 9y ago

Well I would be certainly interested in the circumstances especially considering that I always believed he was pro trump. Some even said he played an important role Trump won the election because he opened an investigation into Clinton's emails right before the election.

fictioncircle 9y ago
He was pressured by Trump partisans in the FBI and elsewhere (in accordance with his obligations) to release that and Obama blocked him from writing an Op-ed about Trump before the election. I think he genuinely tried to stay neutral but the GOP partisans threatened to leak stuff so he tried to do damage control ineffectually. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/04/report-obama-rejected-comey-op-ed-on-russian-interference.html http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/04/report-obama-re... > Report: Obama Rejected Comey Op-Ed on Russia’s Election Meddling http://www.newsweek.com/fbi-reviewing-more-clinton-emails-514825 http://www.newsweek.com/fbi-reviewing-more-clinton-emails-51... > The truth is Comey didn’t have a choice. Because the new information followed his sworn testimony about the case, Comey was obligated by Department of Justice rules to keep the relevant committees apprised. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-28/leaked-memo-james-comey-explains-why-he-told-congress-about-reopened-clinton-probe http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-28/leaked-memo-james-c... > Now, it is the democrats turn to rage at Comey and the FBI, although Comey likely did not have much choice: had he kept the information secret, it certainly would have leaked as we predicted; as such his best recourse was to come clean, although many have speculated about the cryptic nature of the disclosure. http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/james-comey-fbi-director-letter http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/james-comey-fbi-direc... > The story broke in the Daily Mail on September 21, and the F.B.I. seized the laptop on October 3. Within a couple of days, the New York F.B.I. agents, who had a warrant to look only at Weiner-related information, knew there were Clinton e-mails on the laptop, and the prosecutors in D.C. were informed. > Often, a retired agent says, those in the field are suspicious of Washington. “Dreamland,” they called it in his day, because they believed those who weren’t on the ground investigating cases were clueless. “[Agents] out in the field never want to give a case to D.C., because they believe headquarters is a hindrance to their investigations,” says the agent, who also notes there is a paranoia that politics might interfere at headquarters. New York has an especially dim view of Washington and a reputation for fierce independence. “There is a renegade quality to the New York F.B.I.,” says a former prosecutor, which, he claims, can take the form of agents leaking to the press to advance their own interests or to influence an investigation. “New York leaks like a sieve,” concurs another former prosecutor > Comey chose Washington because he wanted to be close enough to get daily updates, according to CNN, but he may also have been worried about leaks from New York. A former D.O.J. official says that, as early as 2015, a rumor was floating around that the F.B.I. agents in New York were cracking jokes about seeing Hillary Clinton in handcuffs. “It was widely understood that there was a faction in that office that couldn’t stand her and was out to get her,” this person says.

mtgx 9y ago

Hopefully there's a silver lining and that this means the encryption backdoor push (led by Comey) will slow to a crawl or be forgotten. He was already preparing a push for FISA Amendments renewal together with Dianne Feinstein (who is apparently having a change of heart about her own retirement).

Sargos 9y ago
Don't count on it. Trump will likely put someone very right wing into the position and the attack on encryption will intensify.
- briandear 9y ago
  So the right wing wants to reduce encryption? And the left doesn't? Republican Senator Rand Paul has been at the forefront of fighting for privacy protections. Chuck Schumer sure hasn't.
  - tacomonstrous 9y ago
    Well, change 'right wing' to 'Trumpist' and the statement becomes basically accurate.
  - Sargos 9y ago
    Rand Paul is not what many would be referring to when they say right wing. Rand and Ron Paul are both libertarians that are pro-individual-liberty and clash with the rest of the GOP routinely. They are anomalies.
    - LyndsySimon 9y ago
      > Rand and Ron Paul are both libertarians that are pro-individual-liberty and clash with the rest of the GOP routinely. I strongly believe the average libertarian would disagree with this statement. Rand has made it clear that he is a Republican first.
  - s73ver 9y ago

abalashov 9y ago

I'm pretty sure the customary reply from the MAGA camp will be that these are all political appointees, and serve at the President's pleasure. All that is formally true. But it doesn't make it any less uncanny that such a person would be fired at the very moment he ramps up an investigation into Trump's business activities.

ianai 9y ago
That argument only flies early in the administration, like the first 14 days. We're at day 110+ (I'm not counting). This was done immediately after Comey talked to congress about an investigation into the administration. This can lead to nothing less than an independent commission into Trump.
evan_ 9y ago
The reply from the MAGA camp is "Trump will appoint someone to go after his political enemies for personal gain" except they're happy about it: https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=comey%20clinton%20rice&src=typd https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=comey...
- tw04 9y ago
  It's astounding Comey was supposedly fired for misrepresenting the Clinton email thing (by grossly overstating the wrongdoing) and yet they follow-up with "and go after Clinton!!!". I'd comment on the mental gymnastics but it doesn't appear anyone on that page is capable of basic reasoning.
  - evan_ 9y ago
    His most entrenched base (e.g., people who really support him rather than those who just voted against Clinton) truly believe that anything he does contrary to their expectations is 4-dimensional chess, that will eventually resolve in a fashion that will benefit him and eventually them. It's like how if you stare at an old TV tuned to static for long enough you can start to see pictures. It's reading intent where there is nothing but random flailing.

fooey 9y ago

Seemed to be confirmed as real, so here are letters being floated as from Trump, Sessions and Rosenstein firing Comey and blaming the Clinton investigation Trump: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apTsDXoAAVKYn.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apTsDXoAAVKYn.jpg AG Sessions: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg Deputy AG Rosenstein: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apVImXcAIKhfm.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apVImXcAIKhfm.jpg Dear Director Comey: I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately. While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau. It it essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

drewbug01 9y ago
It's linked in the sidebar on the NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/james-comey-fired-fbi.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/james-comey-f... https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/09/us/politics/document-White-House-Fires-James-Comey.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/09/us/politics/d...
- fooey 9y ago
  Honestly, I was hoping the Trump letter at least was satire.
dguaraglia 9y ago
Oh, wow, so this is where they are going. Call me cynical, but it sounds like a distraction tactic from the current investigation into Trump's campaign ties to Russian interests. EDIT: adding to that thought, Trump's team had to add "although you've informed me that there's no investigation"... while Comey himself has said in public hearings there are investigations. Wow, this stinks to high heavens.

danielvf 9y ago

Anyone have a link to the contents of the memo that recommended firing, and contained the reasons for that recommendation?

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
DamnInteresting 9y ago
Allegedly: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg
- danielvf 9y ago
  Thanks! Unfortunately that one leaves out the reasons memo.
  - DamnInteresting 9y ago
    Perhaps you seek this?: https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/862073335009738752 https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/862073335009738752
    - danielvf 9y ago
      That's it, many thanks!
Aaronn 9y ago
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3711113/Comey-White-House-DOJ-DAG.pdf https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3711113/Comey-Whi...

Beltiras 9y ago

Oh, this has got to burn. The man that gave him the office......

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

newsat13 9y ago

Can someone clarify if comey is pro trump or not?

whistlerbrk 9y ago
Comey is a boy scout. He is righteous man for better or worse, has conservative leanings, but he is considered an honorable man especially for his actions during Ashcroft's hospitalization
- mannykannot 9y ago
  That is a good way of putting it. I believe he felt required by the obligations of the office to say something about the discovery of the email on Weiner's computer, and I tend to agree, even though I am not in any way a Trump supporter. It was my opinion from the time Clinton's clandestine email server was revealed that she was not viable as a candidate on account of it, and if Comey's statement was as instrumental as many of her supporters claim, then that hunch proved correct (though I am not sure, myself, whether the statement was decisive.)
komali2 9y ago
Well I'd give you his email address but it doesn't seem to route to him anymore
ianai 9y ago
Comey threw the election for Trump. I'd say he's pro Trump. This firing thing resulted after Comey went too far "off reservation" in looking at Trump.
dantillberg 9y ago
I've generally had the impression that Comey is a more traditional conservative; he might prefer Republicans rather than Democrats be in control of the federal government, but he's never shown much love of Trump himself.
luke0016 9y ago
He's neither. He, like most other members of the U.S. government, is someone simply interested in doing their job to the best of their ability. He's not immune to making mistakes. But, he's also not pushing some partisan agenda. Once you get a degree of separation or two away from the politicrats, you end up with regular, ethical and moral people actually trying to make things work. That may be surprising to some, but, if you think about it, it's already pretty obvious that the people at the top do a poor job of representing anyone else, including their subordinates.

curiousgal 9y ago

Flashbacks to Nixon's downfall.

hprotagonist 9y ago
fingers crossed, i guess.
evan_ 9y ago
None of the safety guards that caused Nixon to get knocked down after the Saturday Night Massacre are functioning right now. The AG is a loyalist, the House and Senate are in his pocket (and appear to be intentionally sandbagging their own investigations).
- rrggrr 9y ago
  Title 28 (CFR), Chapter VI, Part 600 Specific allegations of criminal behavior by the President require a special prosecutor, or they require a finding of no merit. As Sessions has already recused himself, the deputy AG makes the finding. All very publicly. The only thing missing here, as compared to Nixon or Clinton, is specific allegations. Its been under investigation since July 2016 without any specific allegations against the President. Not to say associated may not be indicted. I suspect Flynn is going to serve jail time.

fencepost 9y ago

Trump just wanted to be sure that Comey's statement last year about the iPhone hack cost was true. "more than I will make in the remainder of this job, [...]"

jjordan 9y ago

Say what you want about the politics, but it's inarguable that Comey, whether he wanted to or not, had become a partisan lightning rod for both sides. The unbiased credibility of the FBI was at stake with Comey at the helm, and this is probably a good move for the country.

gregshap 9y ago
Perhaps the country is better served by someone disliked by both sides than by someone handpicked for their loyalty to Trump.
- rrggrr 9y ago
  I have to agree with this, and I want to believe that was the needle Comey was threading. I am concerned, however, that his tone in the last hearing (eg. "mildly nauseous", Abedin email forwarding mistakes, immigrant investigation mistakes, etc.) was so flippant that he was almost asking to be fired. By design or by accident, he's departing more independent now than ever.
  - colemannugent 9y ago
    I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought his tone was inappropriate. Leave that for the tabloids to sell, don't bring it into the political institution.
throwaway5752 9y ago
The FBI was investigating the president for colluding with a hostile state to influence the election and aid them against the interests of the US. This is the worst thing to happen to the country since Watergate or longer.
- self-diversity 9y ago
  Yeah you can tell the Trump-Russia connections are not a quixotic quagmire by how the stories continue to be filled with weasel words and spend 100% of their column inches not presenting any evidence at all.

AnimalMuppet 9y ago

Mr. Comey just acquired a badge of honor. No, I'm not being sarcastic. It's getting to the point where being fired is more honorable than remaining.

colemannugent 9y ago

A friendly reminder to both sides that whatever the current administration does, the next can undo. This is especially important when the majority party decides to give itself more power and inadvertently gives their successors more than they intended.

cloudwalking 9y ago
This is not true. Rolling back regulations on green house gas emissions, removing regulations on clean water, denying healthcare to millions of people... Those deaths cannot be undone, the aquifers cannot be cleaned, and the carbon can't be removed from the atmosphere.
- buckbova 9y ago
  Let's tone down the hyperbole. Edit: I don't like having a political argument in this forum. I don't want hn to turn into r/politics. I'm not swayed by emotional pleas from celebrities or others crying about a bill they haven't read. Who are these folks dying by the millions? From what I see mortality rates rose since obamacare came about: "We know that the same year Obamacare’s insurance expansion provisions took effect, there was a pronounced, and statistically significant, surge in U.S. adult mortality." http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/25/running-numbers-mortality-rates-suggests-obamacare-killing-people/ http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/25/running-numbers-mortalit... So you can get some facts together or continue crying. Your choice.
  - jasonlotito 9y ago
    It's that sort of attitude that really hurts people. My children those that suffered because of attitudes like that. This affects people's lives. It's not hyperbole. It's real.
  - asdfjlkasdf88 9y ago
    You have an ability to raise the dead no one else knows about? Or technology to scrub co2 from the air?
  - 9y ago

hota_mazi 9y ago

Trump is soon going to run out of people to fire.

skym 9y ago
Don't worry, there are PLENTY of people worth firing in DC
gorbachev 9y ago
He fires on a whim. You say one wrong word that hurts his ego, and you're gone no matter how much of a darling you were before. Like someone said elsewhere he demands absolute loyalty from his minions, but has none himself.

Animats 9y ago

The FBI director is supposed to have a 10 year term. That went in after J. Edgar Hoover died. Nobody wanted another J. Edgar Hoover FBI Director for Life situation, but having the FBI director be a "pleasure of the President" appointment made it too political. This makes Andrew G. McCabe acting FBI director. He's in the civil service, not a Presidential appointment. He was an FBI agent and worked his way up. From what little is available about him, he seems to be good at the job.[1] As civil service, he can only be fired for cause. Appointing a new FBI director requires Congressional approval, and will be controversial. [1] http://www.latimes.com/nation/na-la-fbi-deputy-director-20160505-snap-story.html http://www.latimes.com/nation/na-la-fbi-deputy-director-2016...

fooey 9y ago
The looming senate fight to confirm a replacement is going to be absolutely massive.
- acdha 9y ago
  That depends on how well the GOP sticks together: they only need a simple majority vote to confirm.
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    The more hurriedly they rush it through, the more political capital they're putting at risk. This (as in the whole ball of wax) is already shaping up to be a larger political upset than anything in most Americans' living memory.
    - acdha 9y ago
      The interesting part is the “hang together or hang separately” aspect: the longer the Republicans in the Congress vocally support Trump's actions the harder it is for them to break with him without penalties. I don't think it's a long-term success strategy but I'm betting it'll delay whoever is thinking about making the first move.
  - 9y ago

satysin 9y ago

This is going to make an amazing movie in a decade or two.

anigbrowl 9y ago
Oh it'll spawn a whole genre. Having written several scripts myself I've naturally been fascinated by the political machinations going on over the last couple of years, but the #1 difficulty (besides the constant flow of new events that Change Everything) is the sheer outlandishness of it all. I guarantee you that if I had a time machine and went back two or three years into the past with a hot script, virtually everyone in Hollywood would shake their heads and say 'too many unlikely plot twists, nobody would buy this, go take more writing classes until you understand causality, pacing, motivation, character arcs, and real life, kiddo.' A common refrain among both my movie biz friends and political scientist friends these days is 'I'm living in a fucking cartoon.' Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. At this point Rick and Morty comes off as a bit unimaginative.

Shivetya 9y ago

Trump had to dismiss Comey. Comey damaged the FBI in his recent sessions with Congress to the point the FBI was on the defensive trying to set the record right. Considering the erratic behavior with both the Clinton and Russia issues it is doubtful that Comey was capable of continuing in such an office. Like or dislike Trump, there have been many on the Democratic Party side calling for Comey to be gone and the odd part is many are now rushing to the guy's defense. That and he was fired over incorrect testimony about a Clinton aide, testimony that painted her in a worse position than deserved. Irrational is the best way to describe the reaction of many. I was really shocked by some in the press, it is near impossible to separate journalist from opinion editors when they cannot separate the roles themselves

anigbrowl 9y ago
You make good points but this is more of a defenestration than a normal termination.
s73ver 9y ago
Dems were calling for Comey to be fired when he commented on the Clinton investigation. If Trump truly was swayed by that, he would have fired Comey at the beginning of his term. The timing of the firing is incredibly fishy.
mcphage 9y ago
> Like or dislike Trump, there have been many on the Democratic Party side calling for Comey to be gone and the odd part is many are now rushing to the guy's defense. That and he was fired over incorrect testimony about a Clinton aide, testimony that painted her in a worse position than deserved. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing overall is complicated, so no, people aren't just going to be singing "Ding, dong, the witch is dead". But the manner in which it was done was a bad thing.

jacquesm 9y ago

Someone better than me in English, please explain the meaning of the word 'recuse'?

pbourke 9y ago
Step aside from, typically due to a conflict of interest.
dheelus 9y ago
To remove oneself from involvement in the proceedings. In this case, since AG Sessions was considered to have conflict of interest in the Russian interference matter, he 'recused' himself, i.e., removed himself from the investigations.
epc 9y ago
In this instance, step away from active involvement in investigations concerning a specific subject to avoid appearance of a conflict of interest. Comey still reported to Sessions as A.G. but would not have had to report updates about the investigations into Trump & Russia.
thaumasiotes 9y ago
I have only seen the word in the context of a court case. A judge may recuse themselves from a case when they feel that they cannot judge it objectively (or that a strong objective argument could be made that they cannot judge it objectively). It means they withdraw from the case. So if a case should go before five judges, and two of them recuse, those two won't participate and the decision will be issued by the other three judges.
gregschlom 9y ago
Not a native English speaker, but I understand it as "step aside and agree not to interfere"
p4lindromica 9y ago
to remove oneself from duty in a proceeding usually due to conflicts of interest. i.e., A judge in Florida recently recused herself from a case involving USF's football coach because she was a USF alumna.

grizzles 9y ago

He was too much of a wildcard. Trump wants to wrap up the Russia thing and he needs someone who is more subservient to do that.

nameless912 9y ago
This is an interesting card to play if that's indeed his goal. Trump doesn't get to appoint an "acting" head of the FBI AFAIK, he can only recommend a new director, and you can bet your ass that the DNC won't let that slide without a bigly fight at the confirmation hearing. This move really doesn't make a lot of sense, I don't know what Trump gains here other than a few weeks of pretending he won.
- tw04 9y ago
  He's sending a message to the replacement. Do what I want or I'll can you. We'll see if it works.
  - unprepare 9y ago
    Moot to the acting director though, who can only be gotten rid of for cause or by senate approving a nominee. I believe the senate only needs a simple majority to approve the nominee, though, so it might not be that difficult for them to get rid of the acting head if they feel pressure
- neuronexmachina 9y ago
  > This move really doesn't make a lot of sense, I don't know what Trump gains here other than a few weeks of pretending he won. Trump isn't exactly big on forethought.

hsnewman 9y ago

Christi will be appointed FBI director, and Comey will get a nice job in the Trump organization for falling on the sword.

wtf_is_up 9y ago

It's about time. Comey has politicized the FBI in ways that have damaged its reputation for years to come.

whistlerbrk 9y ago

It's time for this dictator to be impeached. People need to start marching on Washington.

thrillgore 9y ago

At this point we should demand an immediate Impeachment.

rrggrr 9y ago

Comey's book deal is going to be enormous. His great, great, great grandchildren will be buying Maserati's with the proceeds. He just needs to withstand another six months of testifying on the hill in front of at least two standing committees and probably a special committee.

stephenitis 9y ago
there are more important things to ponder... than his books and children's luxury cars. good god, I still can't believe trump fired him.

avs733 9y ago

Sally Yates investigates Trump's cabinet: Fired by the Trump administration Preet Bharara investigates Trump's cabinet: Fired by the Trump administration Director Comey Investigates Trump's cabinet: Fired by the Trump administration

singularity2001 9y ago
Berlusconization of the US
- avs733 9y ago
  Lets just call a spade a spade...this is emergent Facism. Lots of definitions, but lets go with Britt's[0] 14 point test where I would come up with at least plasuible evidence for 13 of 14 just off the top of my head. 1 - MAGA 2 - Yeah...and for the rule of law/courts 3 - "but her emails" / Mexican rapists / Obama / etc. 4 - for years...since Reagan. This isn't new but it keeps getting worse 5 - "Grab her by the pussy" 6 - working on it, undermining trust in the media and centralizing oneself as the only source of real news is close 7 - yup 8 - Mike Pence, Jeff Sessions, more and more... 9 - Oh yeah, agressively look at the EPA efforts under trump. 10 - Yup (Lets talk about Mitch Daniels amongst others) 11 - Yup...[1] 12 - "Lock her up" 13 - I mean...absolutely.[2][3] 14 - borderline...no proof, one could play with definitions here but an ongoing effort. [0] https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/opinion/how-the-stupid-party-created-donald-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/opinion/how-the-stupid-pa... [2] http://www.businessinsider.com/r-reporters-barred-from-china-event-seeking-investment-in-kushner-project-2017-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/r-reporters-barred-from-china... [3] http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/19/524765086/china-defends-trademark-grants-for-ivanka-trump-products http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/19/524765086/...

tannhauser23 9y ago

Everyone should read the letter that the Deputy Attorney General wrote to the Attorney General in recommending that Comey be fired. It's brutal: http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/politics/fbi-director-james-b-comeys-termination-letters-from-the-white-house-attorney-general/2430/ http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/politics/fbi-dire... This and Comey's recent misstatements to Congress about Huma Abedin forwarding sensitive emails to Anthony Weiner are alone grounds for Trump to fire Comey. Whether Trump had other motives... I mean, who knows? It's all speculation.

hendersoon 9y ago
I agree with every word of that latter. He deserved to be fired. However, the idea that Trump fired the FBI director for causing Clinton to bleed is just a teensy bit hard to swallow. And if they're going to fire him for going after Clinton, why wait until May? Why not January?
- tannhauser23 9y ago
  I think he was waiting for the right reason to fire him. This letter plus the assist from Comey's recent screwup in front of the Senate gives Trump the perfect excuse to fire him. Comey should have just shut up and did his investigation.
  - hendersoon 9y ago
    If that was the case, why didn't any of the three letters mention Comey screwing up in front of that committee? They only mentioned his severe misjudgment in Hillary's emails 10 days before the election. Nah. Doesn't pass the smell test. Now don't get me wrong, he WAS fired because those investigations upset Trump. And that very likely WAS the reason. But it wasn't the reason they stated.

wonder_bread 9y ago

Which can only mean something else happened today that Trump's covering up in the headlines by firing Comey

wonder_bread 9y ago

Which can only mean something else happened today that Trump's covering up in the headlines by firing Comey

bingomad123 9y ago

Why are we discussing politics on HN ?

rwnspace 9y ago

381 points, 171 comments, 1 hour ago; as of writing. Why is this on the second page of HN, and not pole position? I assume/hope that there is some mechanism that stops new content from dominating other content too rapidly.

pm90 9y ago
Wow...I was extremely surprised to see this as well.
defined 9y ago
I was just about to write this exact comment. Thank you for doing this and saving me the effort! At the time of writing, this should have been #2 on HN.
krapp 9y ago
>Why is this on the second page of HN, and not pole position? It's mainstream politics.
ThrustVectoring 9y ago
IIRC there's admin mechanisms for ensuring that less HN-niche-specific content doesn't get overwhelmed by more general news. Basically weighting things by how relevant it is to the overall vision for what HN's content should be.
nerfhammer 9y ago
there's a mechanism to damper but not totally remove some kinds of posts, possibly involving manually mod intervention http://www.righto.com/2013/11/how-hacker-news-ranking-really-works.html http://www.righto.com/2013/11/how-hacker-news-ranking-really...
jokermatt999 9y ago
I believe flags push content from the front page. I went to check Lists > Active to see if there was an HN thread on this, because I expect politics to get flagged off the front page of Hacker News. (Granted, I just think this is "politics" because there's been several events I've expected would end any normal president, but haven't, so...I just really don't know anymore)

Hermitian 9y ago

Why isn't this on the front page?

iamjeff 9y ago

President Trump cares little about protecting the Office of the President...his administration has a well-documented history of putting the thumb on the scale regarding the investigation of collusion between his campaign and Russian agents/agencies...this is damaging the credibility in the office...this firing was also clearly decided on and then the rationale was secured afterward...it baffles the mind that Trump rationalizes this executive action by claiming that Comey was "mean to Clinton" when only a few days ago Comey had his trust...the reasoning cited, and involvement of Sessions in interfering an investigation that he recused himself from, is bogus... It is not unreasonable to claim that a cover-up is in full swing!

cymatic 9y ago

Hasn't anyone ever seen his TV show? All he does is fire people.

davesque 9y ago

Mods, please let this one live. This is big news and we can't ignore it. I don't care what the policies are about political stories. I also don't care if I can go somewhere else to read about it. I want to know what _this_ community's opinions are on the matter.