Comey Senate Intelligence Committee Testimony Thread

[Matty]

When does this open testimony end?

[The_Doctor]

It just did. The closed testimony starts at 1 and ends at 1:45.

[Inmate Trump]

Is that not believable though? That isn't to say that his underlings like Flynn are necessarily guilt-free, but from what I can gather, President Trump seemed oblivious that a request such as the alleged one he made falls far away from his powers to grant pardon or clemency. There is a reason why Comey can't really obtain proof of intent after all?

How can a person be so stupid as to think asking the head of the FBI to end an investigation into them, and then firing them for not listening, was not against the law? I'm sorry but I don't buy that. That is basic common sense, and if he is literally that dumb, he needs to be removed from office on that count alone.

I think he is that stupid.  Why else would he admit to Lester Holt in public that he was thinking Russia when he fired Comey?  Again, I'll quote from that Chait piece on this from last month:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/trump-firing-comey-biggest-political-crisis-since-watergate.html

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Even if Trump is that stupid (I believe he is too), that does not excuse any obstruction of justice he may or may not have performed.

It does not make him any less guilty.

[KingSweden]

Can any of these people not ask a leading question? Every single one is just a massive narrative of how each senator wants the situation to have gone down followed by "is that correct?"

It is obvious Harris (who I'm usually unimpressed with) is the only prosecutor here

[Gass3268]

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[Matty]

So, all in all, that was a damning testimony in general, as far as corroborating under oath our understanding of various facets of the investigation and the Trump obstruction of justice issue goes.

fwiw, others will have a different take. He stopped short of calling it obstruction, and flat out denied having been asked by trump or WH to end the investigation. Furthermore, two big articles were debunked by comey. The first one he debunked was the february 17th NYT report that trump associates were in contact with russian intelligence officials. The second article he debunked was wapo's recent article that trump asked coats to interfere in flynn investigation.

[Mr. Morden]

Is that not believable though? That isn't to say that his underlings like Flynn are necessarily guilt-free, but from what I can gather, President Trump seemed oblivious that a request such as the alleged one he made falls far away from his powers to grant pardon or clemency. There is a reason why Comey can't really obtain proof of intent after all?

How can a person be so stupid as to think asking the head of the FBI to end an investigation into them, and then firing them for not listening, was not against the law? I'm sorry but I don't buy that. That is basic common sense, and if he is literally that dumb, he needs to be removed from office on that count alone.

I think he is that stupid.  Why else would he admit to Lester Holt in public that he was thinking Russia when he fired Comey?  Again, I'll quote from that Chait piece on this from last month:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/trump-firing-comey-biggest-political-crisis-since-watergate.html

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Even if Trump is that stupid (I believe he is too), that does not excuse any obstruction of justice he may or may not have performed.

It does not make him any less guilty.

No, it doesn't make him less guilty.  If Comey's account is accurate, then I think Trump should be impeached.  But in terms of *why* Trump did what he did, I think it's because he's an idiot, and literally doesn't understand that the government works differently from his business empire.

[Matty]

The dow has risen 80 points over the course of the testimony.

That's telling.

[Suburbia]

Is Sen. McCain alright? I'm actually concerned about his health right now...

Yea, he is getting old. If he was elected in 2008, we may have had a President Palin.

He's running again in 2022, so Arizona Republicans may have to wait until 2028 or 2034 to get a chance at McCain's seat.

[Gass3268]

[heatcharger]

Burr says he wants to work with Mueller next week. That should be interesting.

[The_Doctor]

So, all in all, that was a damning testimony in general, as far as corroborating under oath our understanding of various facets of the investigation and the Trump obstruction of justice issue goes.

fwiw, others will have a different take. He stopped short of calling it obstruction, and flat out denied having been asked by trump or WH to end the investigation. Furthermore, two big articles were debunked by comey. The first one he debunked was the february 17th NYT report that trump associates were in contact with russian intelligence officials. The second article he debunked was wapo's recent article that trump asked coats to interfere in flynn investigation.

First of all hes a material witness now. Its not his job to call it obstruction of justice and he did say that he assumed Mueller is now investigating Trump for obstruction of justice.

Second of all the contacts between Trump's campaign and the Russians are widely acknowledged at this point. Details may be different but that's a given.

third if Coats was truly not asked to do anything why didn't coats give a clear answer yesterday in the testimony?

Overall we now have sworn testimony the president attempted to obstruct justice with Comey's investigation of Flynn. That is a big deal as is our understanding that Sessions is now tied to the Russian investigation among many other things on the record. Comey's now standing behind everything he leaked in public and under oath.

This is damning.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Comey's memos were "saved for later." Later happened to be after he was fired. Could it be that Comey was blackmailing the President?

[Dr. Arch]

Comey's memos were "saved for later." Later happened to be after he was fired. Could it be that Comey was blackmailing the President?

Blackmailing him with a conversation in which Trump himself overstepped multiple times? No. He probably foresaw all of this.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Comey's memos were "saved for later." Later happened to be after he was fired. Could it be that Comey was blackmailing the President?

No.  Next

[This account no longer in use.]

Comey's memos were "saved for later." Later happened to be after he was fired. Could it be that Comey was blackmailing the President?

I see our resident Trump supporters are sweating like dogs

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Comey's memos were "saved for later." Later happened to be after he was fired. Could it be that Comey was blackmailing the President?

Blackmailing him with a conversation in which Trump himself overstepped multiple times? No. He probably foresaw all of this.

So why did he leak them only after he was fired?

[Confused Democrat]

Meh

[Matty]

2 days ago y'all were saying he would be indicted for collusion and obstruction. Now it is "you must see there is a problem". And "this isn't a good look for trump". Rough couple days for you! Don't worry. In a few hours the new talking points will be out and we can start again.

[Confused Democrat]

Comey's memos were "saved for later." Later happened to be after he was fired. Could it be that Comey was blackmailing the President?

Blackmailing him with a conversation in which Trump himself overstepped multiple times? No. He probably foresaw all of this.

So why did he leak them only after he was fired?

Did you not watch the hearing?

He leaked them in order to get a special counsel because he believed their was a chance that his conversations with the president could be corroborated.

[Santander]

Comey's memos were "saved for later." Later happened to be after he was fired. Could it be that Comey was blackmailing the President?

Blackmailing him with a conversation in which Trump himself overstepped multiple times? No. He probably foresaw all of this.

So why did he leak them only after he was fired?

I'm sure he saved the memos to try to resolve the situation through the appropriate channels. The DOJ was very much in flux at the time. When he got fired, he got cut off from the "appropriate channels".

[Confused Democrat]

2 days ago y'all were saying he would be indicted for collusion and obstruction. Now it is "you must see there is a problem". And "this isn't a good look for trump". Rough couple days for you! Don't worry. In a few hours the new talking points will be out and we can start again.

Keep projecting lol.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Comey's memos were "saved for later." Later happened to be after he was fired. Could it be that Comey was blackmailing the President?

Blackmailing him with a conversation in which Trump himself overstepped multiple times? No. He probably foresaw all of this.

So why did he leak them only after he was fired?

Because after he was fired for refusing to can the FBI investigation Comey feared the investigation would be compromised, and that a special prosecutor was required.

[Yank2133]

2 days ago y'all were saying he would be indicted for collusion and obstruction. Now it is "you must see there is a problem". And "this isn't a good look for trump". Rough couple days for you! Don't worry. In a few hours the new talking points will be out and we can start again.

lol, what are you talking about?

Comey's testimony pretty much made the case for obstruction charges. At this point, it is not even a matter if, but when Mueller starts handing out the indictments.  

[Virginiá]

I think he is that stupid.  Why else would he admit to Lester Holt in public that he was thinking Russia when he fired Comey?  Again, I'll quote from that Chait piece on this from last month:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/trump-firing-comey-biggest-political-crisis-since-watergate.html

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What if it is the case that he's just too impulsive, and not too stupid to understand what was going on? I mean, don't get me wrong, I do think Trump is pretty stupid in a lot of matters, but think about it: is it really possible that no one told Trump the legal issues of what he was doing with Comey both before and after? As I understand it, Bannon and Reince were telling him it was going to explode in his face, and I have to think at some point, either from them or other aides/lawyers, that someone told him that it might be against the law.

Of course, that is me assuming things, but it's hard to see it not coming up at least once. Trump is famously impulsive, and his obsessive need to always feel in charge and aware of what is going on makes him do ridiculous things.

Either way, whether it is pure stupidity or impulsiveness, a man that out of his depth has no place in the oval office if you ask me.