Tag: Trumpgate

Why is Paul Ryan really defending Trump firing Comey?

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch was posted on the Washington Post website May 11, 2017:

THE BIG IDEA:

Paul Ryan tours a packaging factory yesterday in New Albany, Ohio. He came to talk about tax reform, but Donald Trump and the firing of James Comey sucked up all the oxygen and made it difficult for him to drive his message. (Ty Wright/Getty Images)

NEW ALBANY, Ohio—Paul Ryan desperately does not want the dark cloud hanging over the White House to distract congressional Republicans from advancing their ambitious policy agenda. Yesterday showed that he may no longer have a choice.

Donald Trump called the Speaker of the House to give him a heads up that he was going to fire FBI director James Comey, yet Ryan still waited more than 24 hours after the news broke to make any public statement.

Repeating the pattern of last year’s campaign, the president sucked up all the oxygen and put Ryan on the defensive. The 2012 GOP nominee for vice president rolled up in a long motorcade to a plant here in Central Ohio as part of an effort to jumpstart his push for comprehensive tax reform. Continue reading “Why is Paul Ryan really defending Trump firing Comey?”

WH Talking Point on Hypocrisy

The following was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website May 11, 2017:

DemHypocrites

It has been widely reported that few in the White House who had advance knowledge of FBI Director Comey’s termination voiced concern about the blowback and consequences which lead to muddled messaging and poor communication. The ensuing communication plan was chaotic and ill-conceived with a Washington Post story about Press Secretary Sean Spicer hiding in the bushes with his colleagues outside the White House and refusing to answer questions on camera. One of the most problematic talking points emanating from the White House that evening and since then is a charge that Democrats are pretending to be aggrieved on Comey’s behalf now that the President fired him. Continue reading “WH Talking Point on Hypocrisy”

With Awkward Timing, Trump Meets Top Russian Official

So, as an editorial comment prior to posting the following article, how would the Trump supporters and Republicans in Congress have reacted to President Obama meeting with Russian officials who were involved in situations that had his campaign under federal investigation documented only by photos taken by the Russian Foreign Ministry because President Obama refused to allow U.S. photographers in?

The following article by David E. Sanger and Neil MacFarquhar was posted on the New York Times website May 10, 2017:

WASHINGTON — What a day for President Trump’s first face-to-face meeting with a top Russian official.

Only hours after dismissing James B. Comey as director of the F.B.I., amid an investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russian officials, the president met with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, at the White House. The Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey I. Kislyak — best known to many Americans as the man who discussed lifting sanctions on Russia with Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser — was also in the Oval Office for the meeting. Continue reading “With Awkward Timing, Trump Meets Top Russian Official”

Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenas documents from Flynn in Russia probe

The following article by Karoun Demirjian was posted on the Washington Post website May 10, 2017:

The Senate Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena Wednesday to force former national security adviser Michael Flynn to turn over documents related to the panel’s probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, including possible ties between the Kremlin and the presidential campaigns.

It is the first subpoena the committee has announced in the course of its Russia investigation — a step Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) was long reluctant to take. But the chairman began signaling this week that if Trump surrogates did not turn over requested materials to the committee by Tuesday — a deadline that some missed — he and Vice Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) might begin issuing subpoenas. Continue reading “Senate Intelligence Committee subpoenas documents from Flynn in Russia probe”

Furor over Comey firing grows with news that he sought resources for Russia investigation before his dismissal

The following article by Elise Viebeck, Ed O’Keefe, Sean Sullivan and Paul Kane was posted on the Washington Post website May 10, 2017:

The furor over President Trump’s abrupt firing of FBI Director James B. Comey grew Wednesday with the revelation that Comey had sought more resources for an investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government shortly before he was dismissed.

Republicans and Democrats alike expressed dismay Wednesday over Comey’s firing the day before, which several said will frustrate bipartisan efforts to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election and any possible ties between the Kremlin and Trump associates. Many Democrats called for a special prosecutor to take on the investigation, and a handful of Republicans said they were open to the idea. Continue reading “Furor over Comey firing grows with news that he sought resources for Russia investigation before his dismissal”

s Inside Trump’s anger and impatience — and his sudden decision to fire Comey

The following article by Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, Sari Horwitz and Robert Costa was posted on the Washington Post website May 10, 2017:

Every time FBI Director James B. Comey appeared in public, an ever-watchful President Trump grew increasingly agitated that the topic was the one that he was most desperate to avoid: Russia.

Trump had long questioned Comey’s loyalty and judgment, and was infuriated by what he viewed as the director’s lack of action in recent weeks on leaks from within the federal government. By last weekend, he had made up his mind: Comey had to go. Continue reading “s Inside Trump’s anger and impatience — and his sudden decision to fire Comey”

Comey sought more money for Russia probe days before he was fired by President Trump, officials say

The following article by Ashley Parker was posted on the Washington Post website May 10, 2017:

In this Wednesday, May 3, 2017, photo then-FBI Director James Comey pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Last week, then-FBI Director James B. Comey requested more money and resources from the Justice Department for his bureau’s investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, according to two officials with knowledge of the discussion.

Comey, who was fired by President Trump on Tuesday, made the request in a meeting last week with Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, and Senate Intelligence Committee members were briefed on the request on Monday.

[With Comey’s dismissal, the Russia investigation will soon be run by Trump allies] Continue reading “Comey sought more money for Russia probe days before he was fired by President Trump, officials say”

s Tuesday night firing of Comey: ‘Nixonian’ or uniquely Trumpian?

The following article by Marc Fisher and Karen DeYoung was posted on the Washington Post website May 9, 2017:

It wasn’t quite evening, nor was it Saturday, but within minutes after President Trump fired the FBI director who was investigating Russian meddling in the president’s election last year, the words “Saturday Night Massacre” swept across a stunned capital.

In Washington, especially in the throes of scandals and investigations, each new shock development sparks a search for useful historical analogies. Immediately on Tuesday evening, Democrats and Republicans alike turned to 1973, to the Saturday Night Massacre, when President Richard M. Nixon rattled the nation by firing Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor who had been appointed to investigate his behavior in the Watergate scandal. On one evening that October, Nixon abolished the office of the special prosecutor, and both the attorney general, Elliot Richardson, and his deputy, William Ruckelshaus, resigned after refusing Nixon’s demand that they fire Cox. Continue reading “s Tuesday night firing of Comey: ‘Nixonian’ or uniquely Trumpian?”

3 Ways Comey’s firing echoes Watergate (and 2 ways it doesn’t)

The following article by James Pindell was released by the Boston Globe in their Ground Game email May 10, 2017:

In the aftermath of President Trump firing FBI director James Comey, one word seemed to circulate on Washington’s lips and among the country’s political class: Watergate.

Watergate, the scandal that forced President Nixon to resign as he faced impeachment, became a trending topic on Twitter, and it dominated the discussion for much of Tuesday night on at least two cable news channels.

On MSNBC, for example, longtime NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, told viewers, “The one thing I learned during Watergate: Everybody take a deep breath.” Continue reading “3 Ways Comey’s firing echoes Watergate (and 2 ways it doesn’t)”

Firing FBI director Comey is already backfiring on Trump. It’s only going to get worse.

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch was posted on the Washington Post website May 10, 2017 (note no reaction from Rep. Paulsen as of May 10, 11:57 AM):

James Comey boards a private jet at Los Angeles International Airport last night after Donald Trump fired him as FBI director. He learned the news on television. (KABC-TV via AP)

THE BIG IDEA: After the president fired James Comey, the cloud hanging over the White House just got bigger and darker.

— Donald Trump has surrounded himself with sycophants and amateurs who are either unwilling or unable to tell him no. He lacks a David-Gergen-like figure who is wise to the ways of Washington and has the stature to speak up when the president says he wants to fire an FBI director who is overseeing the counterintelligence investigation into whether his associates coordinated with Moscow. Without such a person, Trump just walked headlong into a political buzz saw. Continue reading “Firing FBI director Comey is already backfiring on Trump. It’s only going to get worse.”