FBI Director Fired

[Dill]

(05-10-2017, 11:27 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: This is very interesting to me, because I'm not sure how to feel about it. There are too many unknowns for me to really have a good opinion on this. I think Comey there were some ethically questionable things Comey did, and so support him not being in his position any longer. But the motives of why he was fired are questionable as well, and we just don't have all of the information on this. We have what the White House has said on the matter, but the issue there is that we have had almost four months of statements from Spicer and his staff that make us question the facts behind their version of the truth.

I think that main issue I have with it is that it seems very sudden and seems counter to the opinion that Trump has had previously of Comey. I know that Rosenstein recommended firing, but that was a decision up to Trump, so why the turnaround? That's my big question in all of this.

Even if you think the firing was really about Comey's bad handling of Hillary's emails, and so he should not be head of the FBI, you don't have grounds to feel good about it until you see who replaces him. What if it is someone like Guilliani or Christy?

We do have SOME important information. As you said, the sudden, unexpected, current assessment of Comey is counter to Trump's lavish praise for his "courage" over the last 6 months. We know that Comey was investigating the Trump campaign's Russian ties. We know that firing him and appointing a Trump loyalist will certainly have a chilling effect on that investigation. It could even mean the gradual, piecemeal shut down of the investigation as pressured investigators "decide" there is no "there" there. We know that Trump has set a pattern of wanting things done (e.g., the Muslim ban) and then instructing subordinates to find the supporting arguments. We know that an AG who had supposedly recused himself from the Russia investigation is suddenly back in the chain of command regarding Comey's firing.

We also know that Trump does not seem to have replacement ready. This does not look well planned, bur rather like a snap judgment, a reaction to something, a potential threat. And we know that a flurry of grand jury subpoenas was issued to Flynn associates today. Dana Boente, head of the office issuing the supoenas, is also only "acting" and can be quickly replaced. http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/09/politics/grand-jury-fbi-russia/

It will require a lot of local pressure on Congressmen and Senators to provide effective oversight of this investigation and Trump's efforts to undermine it. If not then the investigation will wind down with nothing to show and all the questions raised by the campaign connections remaining.