James Comey is in trouble and he knows it
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
James Comey’s planet is getting noticeably warmer. Attorney General William Barr’s emissions are the suspected cause.
Barr has made plain that he intends to examine carefully how and why Comey, as FBI director, decided that the bureau should investigate two presidential campaigns and if, in so doing, any rules or laws were broken.
In light of this, the fired former FBI director apparently has decided that photos of him on Twitter standing amid tall trees and in the middle of empty country roads, acting all metaphysical, is no longer a sufficient strategy.
No, Comey has realized, probably too late, that he has to try to counter, more directly, the narrative being set by the unsparing attorney general whose words in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week landed in the Trump-opposition world like holy water on Linda Blair. Shrieking heads haven’t stopped spinning since.
And so we’ve seen Comey get real busy lately. First he penned a curious op-ed in The New York Times. Then a Times reporter, with whom Comey has cooperated in the past, wrote a news article exposing an early, controversial investigative technique against the Trump campaign in an attempt to get out front and excuse it. Next, Comey is scheduled to be encouraged on a friendly cable news “town hall.”
In the op-ed, Comey trotted out his now-familiar St. James schtick, freely pronouncing on the morality of others. He sees himself as a kind of Pontiff-of-the-Potomac working his beads, but comes across more like an unraveling Captain Queeg working his ball bearings.
Comey adjudged the president as “amoral.” He declared the attorney general to be “formidable” but “lacking inner strength” unlike — the inference is clear — Comey himself. A strategy of insulting the executioner right before he swings his ax is an odd one but, then, Comey has a long record of odd decisions and questionable judgment.
“Amoral leaders [referring to the president] have a way of revealing the character of those around them,” wrote Comey without a hint of irony or self-awareness. Those whom the former FBI director assembled around him probably rue the day they ever met the man. Most are now fired or disgraced for appalling behaviors that Comey found easy to manipulate to advance his decisions.
Then, just to make sure his op-ed was odd-salted to the max, Comey mused that the president “eats your soul in small bites.” OK, let’s step back for a moment: James Comey appears to be in trouble. His strange, desperate statements and behaviors betray his nervousness and apprehension. In a way, it’s hard to watch.
Comey will claim that everything he did in the FBI was by the book. But after the investigations by Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz and U.S. Attorney John Huber, along with Barr’s promised examination, are completed, Comey’s mishandling of the FBI and legal processes likely will be fully exposed.
Ideally, Barr’s examination will aggregate information that addresses three primary streams.
The first will be whether the investigations into both presidential nominees and the Trump campaign were adequately, in Barr’s words, “predicated.” This means he will examine whether there was sufficient justification under existing guidelines for the FBI to have started an investigation in the first place.
The Mueller report’s conclusions make this a fair question for the counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign. Comey’s own pronouncement, that the Clinton email case was unprosecutable, makes it a fair question for that investigation.
The second will be whether Comey’s team obeyed long-established investigative guidelines while conducting the investigations and, specifically, if there was sufficient, truthful justification to lawfully conduct electronic surveillance of an American citizen.
The third will be an examination of whether Comey was unduly influenced by political agendas emanating from the previous White House and its director of national intelligence, CIA director and attorney general. This, above all, is what’s causing the 360-degree head spins.
There are early indicators that troubling behaviors may have occurred in all three scenarios. Barr will want to zero in on a particular area of concern: the use by the FBI of confidential human sources, whether its own or those offered up by the then-CIA director.
Without diving into the weeds, it’s important to understand that FBI counterintelligence investigations generally proceed sequentially from what is called a preliminary investigation or inquiry (PI) to a full investigation (FI). To move from a PI to an FI requires substantial information — predication — indicating investigative targets acted as agents of a foreign power.
This is problematic for Comey in light of Mueller’s findings. There are strict guidelines governing when the FBI can task a confidential source or a government undercover operative to collect against a U.S. citizen. Normally this is restricted to a full investigation, and normally restricted to the United States, not overseas.
There is a sense that Comey’s team was not checking the boxes, did not have adequate predication, and may have tasked sources before an investigation was even officially opened. Barr should pull case files and dig in on this.
In addition, the cast of characters leveraged by the FBI against the Trump campaign all appear to have their genesis as CIA sources (“assets,” in agency vernacular) shared at times with the FBI. From Stefan Halper and possibly Joseph Mifsud, to Christopher Steele, to Carter Page himself, and now a mysterious “government investigator” posing as Halper’s assistant and cited in The New York Times article, legitimate questions arise as to whether Comey was manipulated into furthering a CIA political operation more than an FBI counterintelligence case.
Some in the media have suggested that the Times article was an attempt by the FBI to justify its early confidential source actions. But current FBI Director Christopher Wray has shown that he would like to excise the cancerous tumor that grew during Comey’s time and not just keep smoking. It’s hard to imagine current FBI executives trying to justify past malfeasance.
James Comey is right to be apprehensive. He himself ate away at the soul of the FBI, not in small bites but in dangerously large ones. It was a dinner for one, though: His actions are not indicative of the real FBI. The attorney general’s comprehensive examination is welcome and, if done honestly and dispassionately, it will protect future presidential candidates of both parties and redeem the valuable soul of the FBI.
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The town hall will air at 8 p.m. ET May 9, from Washington, DC. The host will be CNN's Anderson Cooper. The questions will be soft and friendly.
Comey will try and get out in front of the real investigations now underway.
"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning"...... Sir Winston Churchill, Speech in November 1942
Barr has already proven he can't be trusted, he is working for Trump, not the US. Comey has nothing to worry about. This is another Benghazi moment for ya Vic. Trump does whatever he wants and has his goons do it for him. If there were anything to this latest bullshit, it would have come out already when the gop had all the cards. This is just desperation time because the truth is coming out. In fact, looks like 10 years of Trump tax returns just got out. Can't stop the train.
OMG, looks like he literally IS the biggest loser! He lost more than almost any individual US taxpayer. Better get on this breaking news.
Haha. Now we know why he wouldn't show them. Will probably still only add more questions, like, if he was a constant loser in terms of money, why would that one bank keep loaning him millions upon millions.
The sad thing is, I bet he starts showing a profit these last couple of years...
Do Leprechauns exist? Did it rain today? Do you have pink hair?
Ahh, the feeling is mutual.
Yes and yes.
That's part of the game. You win and you lose. He won the Presidency. Hillary slimeball can't say that!
It would depend on if the losses were from depreciation, investments, etc. I would have to actually see the tax returns in order to tell whether there was some sort of shenanigans going on. Frankly, a dairy farm loses money all the time due to depreciation and various costs as well as low milk prices, yet it stays in business and expands.
I think they were also around the time that his casino filed for bankruptcy.
You claimed that the President was looting the Treasury. What the hell?
How can Vic write a ticket?
I know it!
He gave himself and his billionaire friends and his family members who are beneficiaries of his estate a HUGE tax cut that was part of the 40% he's added to the annual deficit. I'd say one could reason that as looting the treasury. You might not believe such, but handing out tickets based on your opinion something isn't true is a pretty weak standard.
Nothing could be further from the truth. He dosen't even take a salary:
"Trump's yearly salary is $400,000. Article II of the Constitution requires the president to be paid, so Trump modified his promise to accept just $1 per year.
Trump has donated his quarterly salary since taking office. Other recipients include the National Park Service , the U.S. Education Department , the Transportation Department , the Department of Health and Human Services , and the Department of Veterans Affairs ."
Our leftist friends agree with communist ideology that what you earn doesn’t belong to you but the state to redistribute to those who didn’t earn it
Please calm down and contact Perrie. It's a glitch that's happened before with others.
Many liberals seem to consider ALL Trump appointees to be dishonest, ignoring the stupidity of such a claim.
This is almost surely true.
I do hope people will now see why the more recent returns have been guarded so ferociously. The great hope of many folks on the left that they will reveal some sort of illegal activity is less connected to reality than a Game of Thrones episode. What they will very likely show is that he is not 1/1000th as "successful" as he pretends.
That happened the first time a stolen copy of his returns was published. They got so very excited that it was some game changer and the country collectively yawned.
He maximized his tax breaks.. Wow!
It's been shown that the guy who's running our country has lost over one billion dollars in nine years and you say people will just yawn ?
Yeah, he's a great business man. Except he's failed at most of his businesses. Now he's guiding our economy ????
And signing tax laws that give breaks to real estate developers.
Can you see the moon only at night?
And here you thought you were getting corruption. Somebody risked imprisonment, just to embarrass Trump. Some piece of shit liberal.
What about the IG investigation, which is almost complete?
This is another Benghazi moment for ya Vic.
Really? This is being conducted by the IG of the FBI and another by the Justice Department. You think these rats (one already has a criminal referral) are gonna talk their way out of it?
If there were anything to this latest bullshit, it would have come out already when the gop had all the cards.
Nope, back then they couldn't interfere with the Mueller investigation, remember?
This is just desperation time because the truth is coming out.
Lol, the truth is coming out, but your'e not gonna like it much.
In fact, looks like 10 years of Trump tax returns just got out.
Ya, leaked by somebody at IRS again, I assume. No corruption found in those returns, correct?
Can't stop the train.
Don't look now it's heading right at Comey & company!!! Try not to think about it.
Lol, we can spot those 'Benghazi' moments a mile away!
Keep telling yourself
Are you so sure there's anything there to find? If the IG finds nothing actionable? Will that be the end of it, or will there be 19 new "deep state" seeded articles?
You realize that the IG report is only on the FBI. Barr's inquiry is mostly FBI/DOJ. So if, as you say they find nothing, it may be the end of a lot of it. The spies used on Papadopolous may have come from the CIA.
Funny that you would ask such a question, since the results of the Mueller Report didn't really end anything for democrats.
Trump is a great American and his detractors are not.
So this great American hires a cabinet that is totally corrupt and only cares about profiting from the fossil fuel industry.
Wow, where were you with Obama, Bush, Clinton, or any other president? Or do you think Trump is the only one that has/had corrupt cabinet members that didn't profiteer from their position?
Hate Trump all you want; but don't pretend other administrations didn't offer high positions in government to people that didn't profit from them.
This is a remarkably fact free article , which judges that Comey just must be guilty of something. The writer never puts his finger on what that is , just getting this close
No evidence, but "a sense" .
As for Comey knowing he's in trouble - every time I have seen him he appears very confident in what he is saying.
If the FBI wanted Clinton to win, why didnt they help her during the election campaign? When one of you can answer that we will be getting somewhere.
John, are you aware that Bruce Orr warned the FBI that Steele was out to get the President? Are you aware that Steele told the State Department that he needed to get the Dossier out to the public before the election? Are you aware that Andrew McCabe said they needed to use the Dossier to get a Warrant:
" The memo quotes former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, who abruptly retired earlier than expected on Monday, as having given testimony that a surveillance warrant would not have been obtained without the dossier . The president had publicly accused Mr. McCabe of partisan motivations before he left his post."
... ce-abuses/
Why do you think all those FBI officials who ran that counter intelligence investigation are all out of a job?
If the FBI wanted Clinton to win, why didnt they help her during the election campaign?
They did! They found her innocent and kept her in the race!
But that's irrelevant. It's like asking if Al Capone was a Crime kingpin, how come he only got convicted of tax evasion. We go by the evidence John. They are investigating. As you used to say, "we should wait until the results are in"!
He might as well have said "I'm guessing" as "There is a sense", they mean about the same thing.
I wish they would charge Comey , Page, Clapper, etc. I think it would backfire on the Trumpers spectacularly.
He's not guessing about the Steele Dossier being used to get a FISA warrant. He's not guessing about Comey & McCabe lying to Congress or leaking. He's not guessing about spying with actual spies.
When the investigations are over and the evidence is collected, I can only assume that those Obama officials WILL BE CHARGED!
It's another nothingberder.
Yup. They're in another 'Benghazi' wet dream. I don't think they realize they've already shot their load.
Ya, that's why the dems hate Barr all of a sudden
4 Americans died and they LIED about it!
Hate? No. Respect? No. Trust? No.
The guy is a political hack protecting Trump, not the USA. He's proven that with his words and actions. Nothing sudden about it, he auditioned for the job by saying exactly that.
The way to describe Barr is a man of Integrity.
Sorry, he's not doing what you want.
He's doing exactly what Trump wants which shows no integrity.
They've bent over backwards to explain why they have no problem believing a liar. Or not believing him because they 'don't pay attention'. Every value they used to talk about is gone. Looks like they want to redefine the word integrity now.
He's following the law.
Everyone seems to overlook that James Comey declared Hillary Clinton careless before declaring Donald Trump morally unfit.
Comey was obviously attempting to gain leverage over both candidates in an effort to transform the FBI into an independent branch of government free of any oversight. The remaining unanswered question is what sort of leverage did James Comey have on Barack Obama?