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More Breaking News: Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation


Tour2ma

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Apparently big Jim went back to his office and wrote the conversation down...


Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

MAY 16, 2017

WASHINGTON — 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 existence 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.


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. The memo 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 the memo to a Times reporter.


“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey, according to the memo. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”


Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey that Mr. Flynn had done nothing wrong, according to the memo.


Mr. Comey did not say anything to Mr. Trump about curtailing the investigation, only replying: “I agree he is a good guy.”


In a statement, the White House denied the version of events in the memo.
“While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn,” the statement said. “The president has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey.”

In testimony to the Senate last week, the acting F.B.I. director, Andrew G. McCabe, said, “There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date.”


Mr. McCabe was referring to the broad investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. The investigation into Mr. Flynn is separate.


A spokesman for the F.B.I. declined to comment.


Mr. Comey created similar memos — including some that are classified — about every phone call and meeting he had with the president, the two people said. It is unclear whether Mr. Comey told the Justice Department about the conversation or his memos.


Mr. Trump fired Mr. Comey last week. Trump administration officials have provided multiple, conflicting accounts of the reasoning behind Mr. Comey’s dismissal. Mr. Trump said in a television interview that one of the reasons was because he believed “this Russia thing” was a “made-up story.”


The Feb. 14 meeting took place just a day after Mr. Flynn was forced out of his job after it was revealed he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of phone conversations he had had with the Russian ambassador to the United States.


Despite the conversation between Mr. Trump and Mr. Comey, the investigation of Mr. Flynn has proceeded. In Virginia, a federal grand jury has issued subpoenas in recent weeks for records related to Mr. Flynn. Part of the Flynn investigation is centered on his financial ties to Russia and Turkey.
Mr. Comey had been in the Oval Office that day with other senior national security officials for a terrorism threat briefing. When the meeting ended, Mr. Trump told those present — including Mr. Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions — to leave the room except for Mr. Comey.


Alone in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump began the discussion by condemning leaks to the news media, saying that Mr. Comey should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information, according to one of Mr. Comey’s associates.


Mr. Trump then turned the discussion to Mr. Flynn.


After writing up a memo that outlined the meeting, Mr. Comey shared it with senior F.B.I. officials. Mr. Comey and his aides perceived Mr. Trump’s comments as an effort to influence the investigation, but they decided that they would try to keep the conversation secret — even from the F.B.I. agents working on the Russia investigation — so the details of the conversation would not affect the investigation.


Mr. Comey was known among his closest advisers to document conversations that he believed would later be called into question, according to two former confidants, who said Mr. Comey was uncomfortable at times with his relationship with Mr. Trump.


Mr. Comey’s recollection has been bolstered in the past by F.B.I. notes. In 2007, he told Congress about a now-famous showdown with senior White House officials over the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. The White House disputed Mr. Comey’s account, but the F.B.I. director at the time, Robert S. Mueller III, kept notes that backed up Mr. Comey’s story.


The White House has repeatedly crossed lines that other administrations have been reluctant to cross when discussing politically charged criminal investigations. Mr. Trump has disparaged the continuing F.B.I. investigation as a hoax and called for an inquiry into his political rivals. His representatives have taken the unusual step of declaring no need for a special prosecutor to investigate the president’s associates.


The Oval Office meeting occurred a little more than two weeks after Mr. Trump summoned Mr. Comey to the White House for a lengthy, one-on-one dinner at the residence. At that dinner, on Jan. 27, Mr. Trump asked Mr. Comey at least two times for a pledge of loyalty — which Mr. Comey declined, according to one of Mr. Comey’s associates.


In a Twitter post on Friday, Mr. Trump said that “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!”


After the meeting, Mr. Comey’s associates did not believe there was any way to corroborate Mr. Trump’s statements. But Mr. Trump’s suggestion last week that he was keeping tapes has made them wonder whether there are tapes that back up Mr. Comey’s account.


The Jan. 27 dinner came a day after White House officials learned that Mr. Flynn had been interviewed by F.B.I. agents about his phone calls with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak. On Jan. 26, Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates told the White House counsel about the interview, and said Mr. Flynn could be subject to blackmail by the Russians because they knew he had lied about the content of the calls.

Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman contributed reporting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html?_r=0

 

If there are tapes, now would be a good time to release them.

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Firing Comey changed nothing as far as the FBI investigation is concerned. Those involved in the investigation with the FBI didn't stop working on it just because Comey was fired. So the idea that Trump fired Comey to stop any Russian investigation doesn't hold water.

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Firing Comey changed nothing as far as the FBI investigation is concerned. Those involved in the investigation with the FBI didn't stop working on it just because Comey was fired. So the idea that Trump fired Comey to stop any Russian investigation doesn't hold water.

I've been saying this since the day Comey was shit-canned. The dems don't put that much thought into it.

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Firing Comey changed nothing as far as the FBI investigation is concerned. Those involved in the investigation with the FBI didn't stop working on it just because Comey was fired. So the idea that Trump fired Comey to stop any Russian investigation doesn't hold water.

Stuart

 

Exactly. For Trump to fire Comey in order to stop an investigation would be suicide. Comey still has his tongue and can speak.

 

Trump would need to do what democRATS do...have Comey murdered.

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Can you get me off the hook Mikey, for old times sake?

Sorry Sal, can't do it.

 

But I would take something that a guy who's looking to cover his own ass wrote down in his own apartment by himself as gospel.

WSS

 

Great quote... and timely as I have been increasingly struck by the "Mob Boss" approach our President has taken. Was supposed to be this great "business man", but...

 

As for the MemCom... word is that it was:

  • written the day of the meeting...
  • in his office...
  • shown to multiple, close associates... and
  • locked in the FBI system upon his dismissal.

Pretty close to a chain of custody...

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Gohmert: I'm 'Amazed Comey Appears to Be Confessing to a Crime'

 

Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said former FBI Director James Comey "appears" to be "confessing to a crime" if allegations surrounding a memo about a conversation with President Trump are true.

 

Gohmert said that if -as the memo suggests- Trump attempted to obstruct an investigation by asking Comey to dismiss the probe into former aide Gen. Michael Flynn, Comey may be guilty of something too.

 

"I'm amazed that an FBI director and former prosecutor would be confessing to a crime the way that it appears that he is," Gohmert said.

 

He said that under 18 U.S. Code Section 4, Comey is required by law to report any attempt - including by the president of the United States - to obstruct a federal investigation.

 

"If this [memo] happened a couple of months ago then it sounds [like] he has got to report it immediately and I've heard no evidence that he reported [it]," Gohmert said.

 

http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/05/17/james-comey-committed-crime-donald-trump-obstruction-gohmert-says

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imho, Comey created somewhat twisted "memos" as a way to protect

his own corrupt behavior.

 

Facts don't matter, Tour said he CHOOSES comey's memo ....

 

because it fits their political narrative.

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... and choosing President Trump's goes against yours?

 

Truth is, cal, that our President has earned my dismissal of his honesty. He's racked up so many lies through the campaign and his first months in office that I've lost count.

 

Just look at the last couple weeks...

  • Sent surrogates out with the story that he fired Comey based upon the Dep AG's memo, them tells Holt he had already decided to fire him no matter what the recommendation was.
  • Sent surrogates out with story that he fired Comey due to the way Comey mishandled the reveal of the HRC investigation in July and October, 2016, and again in his Congressional appearance weeks ago; then, again in the Holt interview, ties the decision to "Rusher" or "this Russian thing".
  • Sent Surrogates out with the story that nothing was passed to the Russians and then tweets that he intentionally passed info to the Russians.

oooooh. liberals think silence is golden all of a sudden...

 

Don't confuse absence with silence, cal. Had company all week-end, in-laws who BTW were Trump supporters... maybe still are. I was able to steal a few minutes for the Browns forum, but had no time to waste here...

 

Now I do...

 

What about when obammy had the FBI back off of Hitlery?

 

First... gotta love a good Hitler work in.

 

Second, President Obama did that? Did a really shitty job of it.

 

Gohmert: I'm 'Amazed Comey Appears to Be Confessing to a Crime'

 

Ah... my beloved Congressman. He forgot to add that "Comey lied" to Congress in his sworn appearance in an open hearing.

 

Here's the deal, OBF... on it's on, the President's... ummm... "friendly overtures" to Comey, one-on-one, on behalf of "a good guy" were not strong enough to make an obstruction case. However, they were worth noting... and they were.

 

Now, in light of other statements, events, accounts and information an obstruction picture is beginning to form.... but it's not there yet. Not the least of these is that Comey's firing relieved great pressure.

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Don't confuse absence with silence, cal. Had company all week-end, in-laws who BTW were Trump supporters... maybe still are. I was able to steal a few minutes for the Browns forum, but had no time to waste here...

 

Now I do... Tour

************************************

I"ll have less and less time... but I was referring to liberals in general, being staunch

rationalizers over all of the obamao/clinton scandals.....

 

and now liberals in general are quiet over all that, and have moved on to belligerent guilty-before-evidence

mexican hat-dancing over false narratives.

 

There was plenty of evidence to convict higgardly. and comey ignored it. made excuses for doing so,

and protected her to the hilt.

 

and not once, did I hear any lib complain about billy's meeting with corrupt lynch.

 

it isn't all about YOU, Tour.

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Of course it's not about "me"... It's all about our Republic.

 

Without looking I'd guess you originated close to one, "Big Constitutional Crisis..." thread per month for the better part of 8 years. Also without looking I'm going to say none, zero, nada materialized because that would have made even the MSM headlines... but feel free to correct me.

 

Now we have a massive, potential Constitutional Crisis starring us right in the face and only one of us sees/acknowledges it. The other is busy looking in his rearview mirror for validation. And that's fine for now given our "inclinations", but as the Crisis does materialize, as I believe it will, our divide will either close or deepen.

 

 

Billy's "visit" with Lynch was wildly inappropriate. I do not think he made the walk across the tarmac and forced his way onto the plane to talk about "golf and grandkids". I do not know if anything else was discussed. The only reports of "the meeting" I have read were of Lynch's aides, unable to deny his entry, realizing how inappropriate his visit was and trying to figure out how to tell a former President he must leave. In truth all it would have taken was a set of balls bigger than Willie's... but those are hard to come by.

 

As for HRC... we've litigated that before... when I was active in this section before the election. Not going to spend time doing so again... but I'll recap where I was and still am.

Did/do I see criminality in her actions? No... not in the server nor the Foundation nor Benghazi nor the trail of corpses the right attributes to her and WJC. Doesn't mean none has ever existed... doesn't mean none will ever be found

Am I comfortable with all the decisions she made? No... not in the case of the server. While I can understand her likely rationale for using one, the over-protection of her privacy, in the end it brought just the opposite... increased scrutiny. The Clinton fatal flaw has always been being to cute, too clever by half.

 

If you want to label my takes as rationalizations, I can't stop you, but doing so will do nothing but harm any continued communication between us... as will continued painting of me with your "liberal" broad brush...

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yes, you will take your ball and go home if you can't own and control discussions.

 

Disagreeing with liberals makes them not be in control. They hate that.

 

I'm simply stating that there is no Constitutional Crisis worse than the lawlessness

of the previous administration, where they openly had a disdain for our Constitution.

 

That is what the hell "Constitutional Crisis" has to do with. ObaMao himself said he

had a disdain for our Constitution. The left sees injustice only as to what makes them mad.

If it violates the rights of millions of Americans, but suits their agenda, it's fine.

They don't care about the law, any more than the nazis did in Europe. They thought

they WERE the law, and anything they DID...was their law, permanently.

 

We know how higgardly broke the law, but you tippietoe around it, you have ignorsies, and then

you go berserk over unfounded allegations by hateful losers in the last election.

 

Dinesh D'Souza and Scooter Libby went to prison for minor things, and your hitlery and others in the corrupt

obaMao regime lied, destroyed evidence, violated the rights of conservative groups, foreign funding in the back door...

 

but you don't think higgardly did anything.... nobody is going to buy that nonsense drivel, Tour.

 

If you can't handle the truth, then by all means, you can cut off what you libs call "communication", but that isn't going to buy you a donut in any donut shop, even if the coffee is free. Liberals think that "communication" is when they get to talk and nobody

calls them out on their nonsense.

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Going to need to see that "disdain" quote...

 

As for going home... I am home... I just don't spend 24/7 here. I stayed away post-election to give our new President every chance to win me over. Coming here to read yours and others posts would not have facilitated that effort.

 

And the only thing I own are my thoughts and comments.

 

Berserk? Moi? Your projections have gotten stronger under the example of our new leadership.

 

As for our "communication" (I'm being kind)... what damages it is your continued name-calling and absolute need to lump me in with an extreme element of the left that, yes, does exist, but of which I am not a part.

 

Find me instances where I have played "the Nazi card" as you did above.

Find me instances where I have disparaged the name of our new President.

"Tippietoe"... "ignorsies"... "hateful losers"... "liberals"... all above in your last post.

 

 

I'd forgotten about D'Souza... good to know illegal campaign contributions joins the list of "minor things" like lying to Federal Investigators... at least when those with whom you agree do them...

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Comey is clearly lying. Despite having to know he'd be questioned for not immediately admonishing trump...still...clearly comey is a clinton hack and him costing her the election is just a clever troll cover till hillary and obammy are ready to take over the world

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