Comey's Senate Testimony

[NightTrain]

Anyone else watch it? I thought it was very interesting.

He got asked the same questions 5,000 times but that's par for the course in a Senate hearing. He really comes off as a true professional - after the initial statements showing he is pained by the firing.

I didn't know wtf McCain was going on about... he was clearly confused when trying to grill Comey.

Rubio was great.

It all boils down to what Mueller finds in his investigation now, but I didn't see any smoking gun the moonbats were hoping for.

[Black Diamond]

Hell hath no fury like an FBI director scorned.

[Drummond]

Anyone else watch it? I thought it was very interesting.

He got asked the same questions 5,000 times but that's par for the course in a Senate hearing. He really comes off as a true professional - after the initial statements showing he is pained by the firing.

I didn't know wtf McCain was going on about... he was clearly confused when trying to grill Comey.

Rubio was great.

It all boils down to what Mueller finds in his investigation now, but I didn't see any smoking gun the moonbats were hoping for.

I've recorded some of it, believe it or not. Because of the UK election and the ban in force, today, on 'politically sensitive' broadcasting, BBC Parliament has been relaying the proceedings to us via that channel instead of offering their usual material. When I get a chance, I'll review the recording.

[jimnyc]

[QUOTE=NightTrain;869781It all boils down to what Mueller finds in his investigation now, but I didn't see any smoking gun the moonbats were hoping for.[/QUOTE]

Same here, nothing, but they'll run with crap anyway. Simply looked to me like to idiots that ended up not liking one another, and both now trying to one up the other. But I saw no smoking gun either, nothing new really.

But I WILL still be waiting for the Mueller investigation, and can't wait to see what he digs up. I just hope it's very thorough and fair to both sides, no matter what he finds.

[Black Diamond]

Had trump tweeted? I know his son has.

[jimnyc]

Had trump tweeted? I know his son has.

I don't have a twitter account and I myself never monitor anyone on there. Pretty much the only time I read Trump's tweet crap is when it's in the news. :)

But now I just looked, and it appears the answer is no, as nothing since yesterday.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump

[Black Diamond]

I don't have a twitter account and I myself never monitor anyone on there. Pretty much the only time I read Trump's tweet crap is when it's in the news. :)

But now I just looked, and it appears the answer is no, as nothing since yesterday.

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump
Same here.

[gabosaurus]

Like I said before, Trump supporters are going to gloss over the testimony and find nothing there. Nothing was said that wasn't already known.

My big worry was whether John McCain was having a medical emergency during his time slot. He looked confused and disoriented. His questions and comments did not pertain to the subject and he had a lot of difficulty articulating. Perhaps he was merely having a "senior moment." Or perhaps seven minutes worth of moments.

[jimnyc]

Like I said before, Trump supporters are going to gloss over the testimony and find nothing there. Nothing was said that wasn't already known.

My big worry was whether John McCain was having a medical emergency during his time slot. He looked confused and disoriented. His questions and comments did not pertain to the subject and he had a lot of difficulty articulating. Perhaps he was merely having a "senior moment." Or perhaps seven minutes worth of moments.

How do you read what I, or others say here, and then accuse us of only glossing over things? I read his release yesterday over and over. I've analyzed this thing from day one. I watched today, read a million websites, liberal included, have listened to analysts... and then people like you don't like our take on things, so claim we only glossed over it. Sorry, you're wrong, that simple. And whether one is a lawyer spending hundreds of billable hours, or someone glossing over the text - there's still simply nothing of a smoking gun there. No collusion. No wrongdoing. No issue with Russia. He crossed no lines with the FBI director and made no demands. It may not be all that savory to everyone, but that's about it.

[jimnyc]

'Ol tingly has chimed in.

---

Chris Matthews: Trump-Russia collusion theory 'came apart' with Comey testimony

Liberal MSNBC host Chris Matthews said Thursday the accusation that President Trump directly colluded with Russia to interfere in the U.S. election "came apart" following former FBI Director James Comey's testimony in front of Congress.

In his written and spoken testimony on Thursday, Comey said that he never felt that Trump had tried to impede the FBI's investigation into Russia, even that the president had encouraged it and he suggested that former national security adviser Mike Flynn wasn't at the heart of the investigation.

"The assumption of the critics of the president, of his pursuers, you might say, is that somewhere along the line in the last year is the president had something to do with colluding with the Russians … to affect the election in some way," Matthews said on MSNBC, following the testimony.

"And yet what came apart this morning was that theory," Matthews said, listing two reasons why. First, he said Comey revealed that "Flynn wasn't central to the Russian investigation," and secondly, he said that kills the idea that Flynn might have been in a position to testify against Trump.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/chris-matthews-trump-russia-collusion-theory-came-apart-with-comey-testimony/article/2625372

[jimnyc]

Another thing learned was that Comey outright admitted to leaking memos to the press. Head of the FBI.... I wonder what access he may have? I said all along that I thought the leaks were coming from intel somewhere. I am NOT saying it was Comey though, but he surely added to it.

And Gabby, save it about the source. The statement is the statement, no matter where it's printed.

---

President Trump’s Lawyer: ‘Leaker’ Comey ‘Retaliatory’ in ‘Unauthorized Disclosures’ to Press of ‘Privileged Communications with the President’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Marc Kasowitz accused former FBI Director James Comey, in response to Comey’s Thursday testimony on Capitol Hill, of retaliating against Trump by leaking privileged communications with the President to the press.

Kasowitz made a statement in response to Comey’s testimony in the congressional hearing, a portion of which reads:

…it is overwhelmingly clear that there have been and continue to be those in government who are actively attempting to undermine this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information and privileged communications. Mr. Comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers.

Today, Mr. Comey admitted that he unilaterally and surreptitiously made unauthorized disclosures to the press of privileged communications with the President. The leaks of this privileged information began no later than March 2017 when friends of Mr. Comey have stated that he disclosed to them the conversations that he had with the President during their January 27, 2017 dinner and February 14, 2017 White House meeting. Today, Mr. Comey admitted that he leaked to friends of his, purported memos of those privileged conversations, one of which he testified, was classified. Mr. Comey also testified that immediately after he was terminated he authorized his friends to leak the contents of those memos to the press in order to, in Mr. Comey’s words, “prompt the appointment of a special counsel.” Although Mr. Comey testified that he only leaked the memos in response to a tweet, the public record reveals that the New York Times was quoting from those memos the day before the referenced tweet, which belies Mr. Comey’s excuse for this unauthorized disclosure of privileged information and appears to be entirely retaliatory. We will leave it to the appropriate authorities to determine whether these leaks should be investigated along with all the others that are being investigated.

In some, it is now established that the President was not being investigated for colluding with or attempting to obstruct any investigation.

As the committee pointed out today, these important facts for the country to know are virtually the only facts that have not been leaked during the course of these events.

As he said yesterday, the President feels completely vindicated and is eager to continue moving forward with his agenda, with the business of this country and with this public cloud removed. Thank you.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/06/08/president-trumps-lawyer-leaker-comey-retaliatory-in-unauthorized-disclosures-to-press-of-privileged-communications-with-the-president/

[jimnyc]

Cnn has it's "winners and losers". Ya think they're at all biased? Even slightly? :)

---

Winners and Losers from James Comey's testimony

(CNN)In the highest-profile Congressional testimony in decades, fired FBI Director James Comey spent nearly three hours detailing his interactions with President Donald Trump -- a forced and awkward relationship defined, according to Comey, by a series of lies told about him by Trump.

We live-blogged the whole thing here. And I wrote some analysis of the debate over whether Trump is a liar, as Comey said, here. But I also jotted down a bunch of notes about the good, the bad and the just plain strange -- John McCain, I am looking directly at you -- from Comey's testimony in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

My best and worst are below.

WINNERS

* James Comey: You could tell the former FBI director had done this before and had prepared relentlessly for today's hearing. He was relaxed -- or as relaxed as you can be in a setting like this one -- and low-key. He was the textbook "Just the facts, Ma'am" G-man that we're used to seeing in the movies. He seemed entirely ready for all the questions thrown at him. And while he made Trump's life -- and Republicans' by extension -- much more difficult, he also gave Republicans something to seize on with his description of former Attorney General Loretta Lynch's insistence that he call the Clinton email investigation a "matter." (More on that below.). If you hated Comey heading into this hearing, you left it feeling that way. But, for people more on the fence about him -- and his role both in the 2016 election and after it -- Comey did himself some good. Or at least he didn't do himself any damage.

* Richard Burr/Mark Warner: Bipartisanship is a very hard thing to come by these days in Washington (or anywhere). But, Burr, the Republican chairman of the Intelligence Committee and Warner, the Democratic vice chair, ran a hearing that was the epitome of what people want from their government: Good, hard questions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to a former public official. Listening to their opening statements, closing statements and the questions they asked in between, you'd be hard-pressed to know which one of Burr and Warner was a Republican and which was a Democrat. Plus, as a bonus for people like me who have to write on all this stuff, the hearing started on time and ended early!

* Angus King: The Maine Senator isn't all that well-known to people outside of his home state, where he spent eight years as governor before coming to Washington in 2013. This hearing should change that. King was the single best questioner of Comey in either party -- he's an independent who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate -- as he repeatedly elicited substantive and informative answers on the former FBI director's meetings with Trump as well as, by my count, three times Comey claimed Trump didn't tell the truth about them.

* Daniel Richman: Comey said that, upon hearing of Trump's tweet that recordings might exist of their conversations, he reached out to a longtime friend at Columbia Law School to make sure that some of the notes of his conversations with Trump leaked out -- and, Comey hoped, triggered the appointment of a special counsel. That Columbia Law professor? Daniel Richman. And, yes, of course, the Columbia Law School website collapsed almost as soon as Comey mentioned it. Congrats, Daniel Richman! You are officially the most famous law professor in the country! (For today, at least.)

* "No fuzz": Before today, I had never, ever heard this phrase before. But it's clearly one of Comey's favorites, as he used it at least twice as he sought to make sure a point was very clear. I typed "no fuzz" into Google. It's apparently not a terribly common phrase but it is a band!

* Thomas Becket: Comey and Angus King found common ground on a famous quote from Henry II about Becket, who was then the Archbishop of Canterbury: "Will no one rid of me of this turbulent priest?" Becket was murdered by Henry's men soon after. (Comey was comparing that situation to Trump's "hope" that the FBI director could find a way to drop the investigation into fired national security director Michael Flynn.) Of course, Becket wound up dead so maybe he's not a "winner" in the traditional sense. But he was later venerated as a Saint, so he's got that going for him.

LOSERS

* Donald Trump: The good news for Trump? Legally speaking it may be tough to prove obstruction of justice because, as several Republican senators noted during Comey's testimony, saying you "hope" an investigation gets dropped and actually telling the FBI director to drop the investigation aren't the same thing. But, that's about it in terms of good news. Comey repeatedly cast Trump as a liar, insisting that a number of claims made by the President about their interactions were totally false. He also said, with no equivocation, that Trump saying he hoped Comey could find a way to end the Flynn investigation amounted to a "directive" from the President of the United States. There was no smoking gun here. But, if this investigation ultimately comes down to Comey's word versus Trump's, the FBI director helped his credibility on Thursday -- meaning that Trump's took a hit.

* Jeff Sessions: It's been a rough week for the Attorney General. First came the stories that he had fallen out of favor with Trump and even offered to quit unless the President allowed him to do his job. Then came Comey's testimony. The former FBI director made clear that in the February 14 meeting in which Trump asked everyone to leave him alone with Comey, Sessions knew he probably shouldn't have left -- and seemed to linger. Then there is Comey's recounting that when he told Sessions that Trump had to stop contacting him, the AG said nothing. (Comey, when pressed, suggested that Sessions may have made a "what can I do?" shrug.) None of that makes Sessions look great. Or even good.

* Loretta Lynch: Not a good day for attorneys general! Comey said that during the 2016 campaign that Lynch, who was at that point the Attorney General, asked him to refer to the Clinton email investigation as a "matter" when speaking about it publicly. Comey added that he was aware that "matter" was the same way that the Clinton campaign was explaining the situation and that fact concerned him. Uh, yeah.

* John McCain: What. Was. That. McCain's line of questioning -- why had Comey closed the investigation into Clinton's email server but not Russia's meddling in the election (I think) -- would have been odd no matter when it happened. But that McCain went last made it all the worse/stranger. I've read the transcript of his back-and-forth with Comey three times and I still don't get what he was driving at.

* This New York Times story: Comey said that the Times story, which alleges that "Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election," was almost entirely wrong. He didn't, however, detail how. Still, not great.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/08/politics/comey-testimony-trump-winners-losers/index.html

[jimnyc]

Regardless of your POV on all of this - does this one make any sense to you? Seems like he/they went out of their way to save events and words about Trump, which of course turns out to be nothing - but when it came to Clinton, no recording of such an event? C'mon now. This whole thing stinks to high heaven, as my Mom used to say.

---

Comey Took Notes of Every Trump Meeting But Did Not Record Hillary’s 3 Hour Interrogation

Fired FBI Director, James Comey said in a prepared opening statement released Wednesday that he didn’t keep detailed memos on his conversations with Obama like he did with Donald Trump.

Comey took notes on EVERY meeting with President Trump before and after his inauguration.
But Comey only spoke with Obama twice!

Even after the DNC computers were ‘hacked’ he never spoke with the Democrat president about the criminal attack on his party’s computers!

Former Director James Comey also did not record his THREE HOUR interview with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her likely criminal email activity.

Comey skipped the meeting.
The FBI did not swear in Hillary Clinton during her testimony.
The Hill reported:

Hillary Clinton did not swear an oath to tell the truth before meeting with the FBI for three and a half hours last weekend, and the interview was not recorded, FBI Director James Comey told House lawmakers on Thursday.

The lack of a sworn oath does not remove the possibility of criminal penalties against Clinton if she lied to the FBI, though he said he had “no basis to conclude” that she was untruthful.

“Still a crime to lie to us,” Comey told the House Oversight Committee.
FBI policy is not to record interviews as part of its investigations.

Yet the revelations will nonetheless raise questions among Republicans, who have been skeptical of the FBI’s investigation and have demanded to see the transcript of the former secretary of State’s interview in downtown Washington on Saturday.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/06/comey-took-notes-every-trump-meeting-not-record-hillarys-3-hour-interrogation/

[jimnyc]

As towards Flynn, which seems to be all that is left for the Dems to grab onto in this situation, other than Trump not handling things nicely. Asked and answered, and yet many are still going forward with fingers in their ears. :lalala:

---

Comey Confirms Trump Did Not Direct Him to Stop Flynn Investigation

Fired FBI Director James Comey was asked by Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) during his public hearing if he was ordered by President Trump to drop the Flynn investigation and he said ‘no’.

How many times do we need this confirmed until the Democrats finally stop this charade?

Risch brought up notes Comey took while speaking to President Trump about the Flynn investigation. He read a quote to Comey, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He’s a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” Risch continued on by saying, “Now those are his exact words, is that correct?”

Comey: “Correct.”

Risch: “And you wrote them here and put them in quotes.”

Comey: “Correct.”

Risch: “Thank you for that. He did not direct you to let it go?”

Comey: “Not in his words, no.”

Risch: “He did not order you to let it go?”

Comey: “Again, those words are not an order, no.”

[Black Diamond]

Let's go to Sean Hannitys winners and losers. Same as CNN in reverse.

[jimnyc]

Let's go to Sean Hannitys winners and losers. Same as CNN in reverse.

Don't know where it's at, can ya post it here?

[gabosaurus]

How do you read what I, or others say here, and then accuse us of only glossing over things?

I made no reference to you or anyone else on DP. I believe today's hearing was useless in that the issue comes down to whose side you believe. Those who support Trump are going to believe that Comey's testimony is a sham. Those opposed to Trump are going to believe that Comey's testimony proves Trump is a liar.
When watching the testimony, I was drawn to the fact that Republicans wanted to talk more about Hillary Clinton's misdeeds than Trump's. Which would normally be fine, except for the fact that the hearing was not about Hillary Clinton.
That being said, I am all in favor of Congress calling Hillary and Loretta Lynch to testify. Except for the fact that the same situation will emerge.

Democrats who are calling for impeachment proceedings are merely grandstanding in hope of improving their political stature. It is primarily the legislators who are known for such theatrics.
Without saying such, the vast majority of liberals do not want Trump removed from office. Because they are more scared of Pence than they are of Trump.

[jimnyc]

I made no reference to you or anyone else on DP. I believe today's hearing was useless in that the issue comes down to whose side you believe. Those who support Trump are going to believe that Comey's testimony is a sham. Those opposed to Trump are going to believe that Comey's testimony proves Trump is a liar.
When watching the testimony, I was drawn to the fact that Republicans wanted to talk more about Hillary Clinton's misdeeds than Trump's. Which would normally be fine, except for the fact that the hearing was not about Hillary Clinton.
That being said, I am all in favor of Congress calling Hillary and Loretta Lynch to testify. Except for the fact that the same situation will emerge.

Democrats who are calling for impeachment proceedings are merely grandstanding in hope of improving their political stature. It is primarily the legislators who are known for such theatrics.
Without saying such, the vast majority of liberals do not want Trump removed from office. Because they are more scared of Pence than they are of Trump.

It doesn't come down to who one believes or likes - it's the law that matters, and the facts.

And they SHOULD talk about Hillary. Get it in while they could. He's no longer working there and answers should come forward, whether Trump, Hillary or the Russians. There's nothing wrong with asking about both. He was there to answer questions from the SIC, and much was/is interrelated during the primaries/elections. And if Trump is pointing to how he handled certain things as to why he was fired, then it's certainly on point to ask questions.

[jimnyc]

These are important, but I'm not saying I agree that they were the most important. The most important will be Mueller's report.

---

The Six Most Important Revelations from the Comey Hearing

Trump supporters, swamp dwellers, and Americans from all walks of life had their eyes glued to coverage of the testimony by former FBI Director James Comey to the Senate Intelligence Committee this morning.

The hearing was treated like a major sporting event by D.C. locals, who lined up to gain entrance to local establishments for standing-room only viewing parties.

As coverage and responses to Comey’s testimony continue to unfold, we’ve gathered together six of the most important revelations from the hearing. One thing is for sure, Comey’s testimony was anything but boring.

1) Trump was not under investigation by the FBI
When questioned by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Comey answered that President Donald Trump was not under investigation by the FBI. It was also revealed that congressional leaders had previously been briefed on this fact.

This morning Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton joined Breitbart News Daily and predicted this fact. Fitton called allegations against Trump “gossip” and “a nothing burger.”

2) James Comey leaked documents to the media
Comey admitted to orchestrating leaks from the investigation to the media using a network of friends. Reponse was swift on social media:

https://i.imgur.com/PckERSd.png

https://i.imgur.com/O70fY09.png

Senator Rubio pointed out the interesting fact that one of the few things not to leak out was the fact that Trump was not under investigation himself.

President Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, issued a blistering statement after the hearing on the subject of Comey’s leaks.

3) The obstruction of justice case against Trump just went up in smoke
Senator James Risch (R-ID) questioned Comey early in the hearing about the possibility of obstruction of justice regarding the investigation of General Michael Flynn. Risch repeatedly questioned Comey about the exact wording used by President Trump to him in private, which Comey recorded in his much-discussed memo.

The exchange leaves Democrat’s hopes of impeachment for obstruction of justice considerably dimmed:

Comey: I mean, it’s the President of the United States with me alone, saying, “I hope this.” I took it as this is what he wants me to do. I didn’t obey that, but that’s the way I took it.

Risch: You may have taken it as a direction, but that’s not what he said.

Comey: Correct.

Risch: He said, “I hope.”

Comey: Those are exact words, correct.

Risch: You don’t know of anyone that’s been charged for hoping something?

Comey: I don’t, as I sit here.

Risch: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

4) Comey says the New York Times published fake news
James Comey had a few things to say about the reporting of the New York Times which reported on collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Senator Risch questioned Comey about the Times, asking “So the American people can understand this, that report by the New York Times was not true, is that a fair statement?”

“It was not true,” Comey said. “Again, all of you know this, maybe the American people don’t. The challenge — I’m not picking on reporters about writing stories about classified information… [the challenge is] that people talking about it often don’t really now what’s going on and those of us who actually know what’s going on are not talking about it.”

5) Loretta Lynch meddled in the Clinton investigation
Comey discussed the involvement of President Obama’s Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, in the investigation of Hillary Clinton. He stated that Lynch made an odd request for how the FBI investigation should be described.

“At one point the attorney general had directed me not to call it investigation, but instead to call it a matter, which concerned and confused me,” Comey said.

Comey added that Lynch’s infamous tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton during the campaign was the reason he decided to make a statement when the decision was made not to prosecute Hillary Clinton.

“In a ultimately conclusive way, that was the thing that capped it for me, that I had to do something separately to protect the credibility of the investigation, which meant both the FBI and the Justice Department,” Comey said.

6) James Comey sounds like every disgruntled former employee ever
Comey had quite a bit to say about his firing, which leaves him looking like a disgruntled former employee.

Comey accused President Trump and his administration of lying about him, and “defaming him and more importantly the FBI.”

Comey also explained that his discomfort with the President and the belief that Trump would lie about him led to the creation of his memo on the meeting.

“I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, so I thought it really important to document,” Comey said. “I knew there might come a day when I might need a record of what happened not only to defend myself but to protect the FBI.”

Comey did not comment on how his leaking of the memo through his personal network helped the FBI.

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/06/08/the-six-most-important-revelations-from-the-comey-hearing/

[Black Diamond]

http://www.debatepolicy.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10066&stc=1

[NightTrain]

http://www.debatepolicy.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10066&stc=1

That makes more sense than what McCain was actually going on about. It was very confusing.

Is it any wonder that the press is able to get McCain to say weird things about Trump? After watching him babble yesterday, I don't think he's fit to serve. Time to retire.

[jimnyc]

That makes more sense than what McCain was actually going on about. It was very confusing.

Is it any wonder that the press is able to get McCain to say weird things about Trump? After watching him babble yesterday, I don't think he's fit to serve. Time to retire.

I liked McCain, then I didn't, but he's definitely getting towards time to bail for greener pastures.

[Black Diamond]

I liked McCain, then I didn't, but he's definitely getting towards time to bail for greener pastures.
When he endorsed Hillary, it was game over for me.

[jimnyc]

Another "winners/losers". I've only copied the mainstream media and Trump write-ups over... The other 3 are in depth at the link below.

---

LOSERS:

Mainstream Media

NBC’s Chuck Todd set the table on Sunday for the mainstream media’s breathless coverage, predicting that Comey’s testimony “may well join those rare historic moments when the whole country stops to watch. Think Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954. Watergate hearings in 1973. Oliver North’s testimony in the Iran Contra hearings in 1987, and of course Anita Hill at the Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991.”

But the media got the sense that Comey’s testimony would be a dud for them on Wednesday when Comey released his introductory statement in which he confirmed Trump’s account that Comey had told Trump on multiple occasions that the President was not under FBI investigation.

Before, during, and after Comey’s testimony, the mainstream press looked as deflated as Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James did after Golden State’s Kevin Durant drained a go-ahead pull-up three-pointer in the waning moments of game three of the NBA Finals on Wednesday evening.

Trump felt “vindicated” by Comey’s introductory remarks, which may be why Comey conveniently decided not to read them before a captivated national audience.

“I’ve submitted my statement for the record, and I’m not going to repeat it here this morning,” he said.

Comey, though, revealed some information that further discredited the mainstream press that had deliberately ginned up talk of impeachment. They did so by using stories based solely on anonymous sources and double hearsay—some of which have since been discredited.

The former FBI director told Senators that the New York Times’ February 14 article, based on four anonymous sources, that suggested Trump’s campaign possibly colluded with Russians a year before the 2016 presidential campaign was “not true.”

Sen. James Risch (R-ID) pointed out that after the story’s publication, Comey “sought out both Republican and Democrat senators to tell them that, hey, I don’t know where this is coming from, but this is not the case. This is not factual.”

“In the main, it was not true,” Comey said of the story. “And again, all of you know this. Maybe the American people don’t. The challenge, and I’m not picking on reporters about writing stories about classified information, is the people talking about it often don’t really know what’s going on, and going on are not talking about it. We don’t call the press to say, hey, you don’t that thing wrong about the sensitive topic. We have to leave it there.”

Comey said there were many more mainstream media articles about the FBI’s Russia investigation, based on anonymous sources, that were “dead wrong.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) asked Comey: “Have there been news accounts about the Russian investigation or collusion about the whole event or as you read the story you were wrong about how wrong they got the facts?”

“Yes, there have been many, many stories based on — well, lots of stuff but about Russia that are dead wrong,” Comey responded.

On Wednesday, ABC and CNN falsely reported, based on their anonymous sources, that Comey would dispute Trump’s claim that Comey told him he was never under investigation. When he fired Comey, Trump wrote: “While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau.”

Before Comey released his introductory remarks, CNN’s Gloria Borger claimed “Comey is expected to explain to senators that those were much more nuanced conversations from which Trump concluded that he was not under investigation.” CNN, citing an anonymous source, reported that Comey would “refute” Trump during his testimony and “say he never assured Donald Trump that he was not under investigation, that that would have been improper for him to do so.” CNN then had to issue this embarrassing correction:

CORRECTION AND UPDATE: This article was published before Comey released his prepared opening statement. The article and headline have been corrected to reflect that Comey does not directly dispute that Trump was told multiple times he was not under investigation in his prepared testimony released after this story was published.

In addition, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) pointed out that the only bit of information that the Deep State did not leak to the mainstream press was the fact that Trump was not under investigation.

Comey also revealed that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch pressured him into misleading the public about the FBI’s “investigation” of Hillary Clinton’s emails. And yet, the mainstream media never dug enough to report that bit of inconvenient news.
...

James Comey
Obama Administration/Loretta Lynch
Left-wing Democrats and Never Trumpers
...

WINNER: PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

Is he getting tired of winning yet?

Liberal anchors like MSNBC’s Chris Matthews conceded that there is no case for collusion. Comey’s exchange with Risch will make it difficult to bring an “obstruction of justice” against Trump. It turned out that Comey initiated the first one-on-one meeting with Trump during the transition period.

During his testimony, Comey reiterated that Trump never asked him to stop the FBI’s Russia investigation and was never under investigation in the first place. He also revealed that it is normal for foreign governments to reach out to officials in the incoming administration. He vindicated Trump’s claims about the “fake news” mainstream media. He reminded Americans that “the law required no reason at all” for Trump to fire an FBI director.

Comey testified that he was “confident” that no votes in the 2016 presidential election were altered. “When I left as director I had seen no indication of that whatsoever,” he said.

The bottom line is the media hyped Comey’s hearing so much that Trump would have emerged as the winner so long as Comey didn’t have a “smoking gun” or dropped a “bombshell” that proved Trump colluded with the Russians.

Though Trump reportedly decided the night before Comey’s testimony that he would not live-tweet rebuttals, the fact that he did not feel compelled to tweet during Comey’s testimony said it all. It turns out that when it came to the most important points, Trump did not have much to rebut.

Rest here - http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/06/09/james-comey-testimony-winners-losers/

[Russ]

These are important, but I'm not saying I agree that they were the most important. The most important will be Mueller's report.

---

The Six Most Important Revelations from the Comey Hearing

2) James Comey leaked documents to the media

Comey admitted to orchestrating leaks from the investigation to the media using a network of friends. Reponse was swift on social media:
Senator Rubio pointed out the interesting fact that one of the few things not to leak out was the fact that Trump was not under investigation himself.




To me, this was the single most important and shocking thing in the testimony. Comey admitting that he is the biggest leaker in the government. The Director of the FBI is leaking document to the media to create negative media coverage of his boss the President, and secondly to force his other boss the AG to recuse himself from the investigation. Why the hell aren't they frog-marching Comey directly to the nearest prison cell right this minute?! And giving him a few kidney shots on the way!

By the way, this explains why the FBI was taking so long to uncover any of the leakers. Comey must have been obstructing the leak investigations.

[Black Diamond]

Now the left says Comey is an angel. Funny they weren't saying that last November.

[Little-Acorn]

Hell hath no fury like an FBI director scorned.

That's not even close to true.

Remember the "fury" of the liberal fanatics on Nov. 9, 2016?

Comey doesn't even come close.

[Black Diamond]

That's not even close to true.

Remember the "fury" of the liberal fanatics on Nov. 9, 2016?

Comey doesn't even come close.
He's on his period just like they were (are).

[Black Diamond]

Is there any truth to the following:

Comey is a snake and very crafty
Trumps remark to him has changed from
A remark to a suggestion to
Now a request ...
pray .. they are twisting as it goes on the hearing, or whatever you call it

[Kathianne]

Is there any truth to the following:

Comey is a snake and very crafty
Trumps remark to him has changed from
A remark to a suggestion to
Now a request ...
pray .. they are twisting as it goes on the hearing, or whatever you call it

I'd say everyone is hearing what they wish to hear.

[Black Diamond]

http://www.debatepolicy.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10071&stc=1

[jimnyc]

Is there any truth to the following:

Comey is a snake and very crafty
Trumps remark to him has changed from
A remark to a suggestion to
Now a request ...
pray .. they are twisting as it goes on the hearing, or whatever you call it

He and the Dems can wish and change their thoughts in their heads all they want. Just as they tried to somehow will a Russian collusion charge with Trump. As of now, there's simply nothing to show that he demanded that any investigation get stopped, and that's all that matters. They will try to "will" these words or charges against Trump as well, and will come up empty as well.

They should stick their concern with Mueller and that investigation, now that they know they were misguided and incorrect with accusations toward Trump. They claim they are so so very concerned about any Russian interference in this election... then find out that Trump isn't part of that investigation... but now the Dems, MSM and so many others are still spending all their energy on Trump, and are moving away from Russia and simply finding new angles of attack.

I say continue at their own peril. Many seats on the line, IMO. America wants to see congress working, the president working, things getting done. Well, fact is, a lot is getting done, but largely ignored as well because of all this BS.