I had no doubt that Putin’s Puppet, Fuhrer Donald Trump, was obstructing justice, when he fired Sally Yates to stop her investigation into his treason. It became even more clear when he fired James Comey for the same reason. When admitted that it was because of "the Russia thing", he removed all doubt. Nut now, it is so obvious that even some Republicans are taking notice.
President Trump asked the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote shortly after the meeting.
“I hope you can let this go,” the president told Mr. Comey, according to the memo.
The documentation of Mr. Trump’s request is the clearest evidence that the president has tried to directly influence the Justice Department and F.B.I. investigation into links between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia. Late Tuesday, Representative Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, demanded that the F.B.I. turn over all “memoranda, notes, summaries and recordings” of discussions between Mr. Trump and Mr. Comey.
Such documents, Mr. Chaffetz wrote, would “raise questions as to whether the president attempted to influence or impede” the F.B.I.\
Mr. Comey wrote the memo detailing his conversation with the president immediately after the meeting, which took place the day after Mr. Flynn resigned, according to two people who read the memo. It was part of a paper trail Mr. Comey created documenting what he perceived as the president’s improper efforts to influence a continuing investigation. An F.B.I. agent’s contemporaneous notes are widely held up in court as credible evidence of conversations.
Mr. Comey shared the existence of the memo with senior F.B.I. officials and close associates. The New York Times has not viewed a copy of the memo, which is unclassified, but one of Mr. Comey’s associates read parts of it to a Times reporter… [emphasis added]
From <NY Times>
Here is Rachel Maddow interviewing Mike Schmidt the reporter who broke the story in the above article.
If Republicans don’t take action, and I still seriously doubt that they will, their failure to do so, given the existence of clear documentation, may just be the final gasp of the Republican Party. If they Dump Trump now, it will put the kibosh on the Republican tax agenda. They are way too greedy to risk that.
RESIST!!
18 Responses to “More Obstruction of Justice”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Rachel – So he has a history of documenting meetings. Well, that's a good thing. It lends credence to Trump having obstructed justice. Now, it's also not just Comey. Multiple FBI agents' memos have a history of being accepted as evidence in courts. And, of course, it is exactly what the Citrus Cynic WOULD do. The only surprise to me in the whole enchilada is that Chaffetz showed interest – being the obstructer of justice that he is – but he's also a short-timer now. I do not expect this to go anywhere. Half the Republicans in Congress don't know the difference between "obstruction of justice" and "standard operating procedure" anyway. (The other half do know, but don't care.) Unfortunately, that also appleis to 99% of Republican constituents. Pretty much every Republican with a shred of integrity has left or is leaving the Republican Party.
Three tiny, no bigger than the smallest knitting needle, holes in the dam this afternoon:
Justin Amash, a House Republican from Michigan, said today that if the Comey memo allegations are true, it's grounds for impeachment. (in an email from Robert Cruikshank at Democracy for America) And, in an email from Americans for Tax Fairness, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) became the first Republican today to sign the discharge petition on the Presidential Tax Transparency Act.
"House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays’ Trump" McCarthy is now claiming it was a joke, but there is a recording of it, which the Post has heard, and apparently it doesn't sound much like a joke to them.
"Deputy attorney general appoints special counsel to oversee probe of Russian interference in election" Robert Mueller, a former prosecutor who served as the FBI director from 2001 to 2013, has agreed to serve in the role, Rosenstein said.
This Mueller doesn't sound half bad, and and even Doug Lamborn likes him (from an email).
Oh my. Republicans are starting to fight over which Republican first brought up impeachment.
And now, this headline from AlterNet:
As Impeachment Talk Hits the Mainstream, Over a Dozen Nervous House Republicans Have Flipped on Trump
And one of them is TREY GOWDY ??!!!?!?!!
Wooo Hooo!!
Thanks, Tom.
Family emergency, I'll be back when I can.
Family member w/sleep apnea, and high blood pressure 🙁
I'm back. 😉
I too, am glad that Comey documented the meeting with dt. So now…the dowfall begins!!!
(Sigh of relief) Glad you're back with a smile. Sleep apnea is nothing to play games with.
Family member is being monitored, after visit to Urgent Care. (not personal physician, but at this point, I'll take it.) Receiving meds, prescription for BP, until the middle of June (!!!), for complete physical, wish it were sooner, but that's just me. I get very nervous with family members not feeling well, (as with our sweet TomCat), and pace the floors, and get antsy. So this is where we're at, for the time being.
Thank you, Joanne for your caring and concern. I sure do appreciate it. xo
Glad to hear things have stabilized.
Like you, family illnesses just make me very anxious. (Being a doctor does NOT help in that regard. Maybe even amplifies it, as I start thinking of all the possibilities.)
I am very glad that things have stabilised for now. Prayers for your family member, and of couse for you as you play the "hurry up and wait" game. Take care.
I would have chimed in earlier, but this is my first trip back to the site. I'm glad your relative is stabilizing, and hope it is not severe. I have mild sleep apnea myself, but am CPAP and BiPAP non-complient. You and yours shall remain in my thoughts and prayers. {{{HUGS}}}
🙂 Great minds and ditches, this is the same article I linked to in my comment yesterday. Kudos to you for researching this further, as I hoped you would, and adding Rachel's item to the picture.
The picture of Comey that starts to emerge here is that of a civil servant to the core who has learned how to steer away from being taken in by politicians from either side, and how to keep both his personal integrity and career afloat by documenting all his meetings and conversations and sharing them with the ones he trusts most in the (non-political) office/agency. And by ALWAYS doing that he has given Congress solid and extremely reliable evidence that Drumpf has pressured him to end the Flynn investigation trying to obstruct justice, which Comey obviously didn't comply with but instead shielded his investigators from this pressure. Drumpf then demanded a pledge of loyalty from Comey – as a last resort? – and when he refused that too, Drumpf fired him. Which of course was a public act of obstructing justice.
The pledge of loyalty apparently isn't of interest to Republicans, or to the House Oversight Committee's chairman Chaffetz, but this latest evidence of Drumpf obstructing justice repeatedly is something even Chaffetz can't ignore and which forced him to demand all related documentation from the FBI. As I noted yesterday, I don't know if this is a good thing or not.
It looked like Chaffetz came close to obstructing justice himself by refusing to take steps in the investigation of the House Committee or by delaying them, so much so that he had to flee Washington to have an an "emergency" foot operation done. Which didn't keep him from returning "unexpectedly" and only days into his expected 3-4 weeks recovery to vote for Trumpcare, by the way. Being in the spotlights again, he announced he wouldn't stand for re-election and is now rumored to go and work for Faux News.
So how much can you trust this man to do anything with the FBI document when he gets them before the end og May (24th)? It'll be up to Democrats like ranking member Elijah Cummings to keep the pressure on Chaffetz to stop stalling the commission even further and get anything done between the short June and the long July-August recess coming up. I think you're right, TomCat. Republicans won't take action, but there's no way they can get away from the repercussions this damning evidence already has.
You don'f trust him at all. That's how far.
I read the article and listened to Rachel last night but was far too tired to comment.
Robert Mueller has been appointed Special Counsel to lead the investigation of the Trump/Russia affair, wherever it leads. I found this article from the Globe and Mail which is perhaps a little simplified but answers a few questions, especially for the uninitiated. There is one error however — "…Mueller’s predecessor as FBI director, James Comey…" — James Comey is Mueller's successor, not predecessor.
Although Mueller is a registered Republican, it appears he has bipartisan support and appears to be a decent bloke. Of course Drumpf is on the Twitter warpath about the Special Counsel (he can't even spell 'counsel' correctly), but when isn't he on the warpath about something.
It pleases me that Comey kept notes about his meetings with Drumpf, but also that this has been his habit for many years, not just with Drump, but others too.
I notice this morning that the US has triggered the 90 day NAFTA process for renegotiation. Another diversionary tactic? . . . I think so as it is a hot topic guaranteed to distract attention away from Trump/Russia investigations. I hope the correct people realise this.
Resist and Persist!!!
Thanks all. Hugs!