
President Trump Dismisses FBI Director Comey - DamnInteresting
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/comey-misstated-key-clinton-email-evidence-at-hearing-say-people-close-to-investigation/2017/05/09/074c1c7e-34bd-11e7-b373-418f6849a004_story.html
======
Animats
The FBI director is supposed to have a 10 year term. That went in after J.
Edgar Hoover died. Nobody wanted another J. Edgar Hoover FBI Director for Life
situation, but having the FBI director be a "pleasure of the President"
appointment made it too political.

This makes Andrew G. McCabe acting FBI director. He's in the civil service,
not a Presidential appointment. He was an FBI agent and worked his way up.
From what little is available about him, he seems to be good at the job.[1] As
civil service, he can only be fired for cause.

Appointing a new FBI director requires Congressional approval, and will be
controversial.

[1] [http://www.latimes.com/nation/na-la-fbi-deputy-
director-2016...](http://www.latimes.com/nation/na-la-fbi-deputy-
director-20160505-snap-story.html)

~~~
CDRdude
>As civil service, he can only be fired for cause.

I'm not clear on what "for cause" means for an acting director of the FBI.
Wasn't the justification for firing Comey that he mishandled the Clinton email
investigation? It looks blown out of proportion to me, but that might count as
cause.

~~~
wavefunction
Comey was a political appointment rather than the guy who will temporarily
replace him as Acting Director (who has civil service protection) and can't be
dismissed as Acting Director, only replaced by appointing a new Director of
the FBI.

~~~
CalChris
Dunno. What is certain is that Trump can't appoint a new Director without
Senate confirmation. And I'm not even certain about that. He may be able to
appoint an acting Director for an indeterminate amount of time. In particular,

    
    
      There are no statutory conditions on the President’s
      authority to remove the FBI Director.
    

[https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41850.pdf](https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41850.pdf)

From the same cite, a President can nominate an acting Director. _On the day
after the death of long-time Director J. Edgar Hoover, L. Patrick Gray was
appointed acting Director._

The Constitution was set up with checks and balances. But it requires the
branches of government to do their duty. When you have a corrupt President of
the same party that controls Congress, that may be asking too much.

------
fooey
Seemed to be confirmed as real, so here are letters being floated as from
Trump, Sessions and Rosenstein firing Comey and blaming the Clinton
investigation

Trump:
[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apTsDXoAAVKYn.jpg](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apTsDXoAAVKYn.jpg)

AG Sessions:
[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg)

Deputy AG Rosenstein:
[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apVImXcAIKhfm.jpg](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apVImXcAIKhfm.jpg)

    
    
      Dear Director Comey:
    
      I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have accepted their recommendation and you are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.
    
      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.
    
      It it essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.
    
      I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

~~~
frankzinger
Sorry, but the horizontal scrolling kills me.

    
    
      Dear Director Comey:
    
      I have received the attached letters from
      the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General
      of the United States recommending your dismissal
      as the Director of the Federal Bureau of
      Investigation. I have accepted their
      recommendation and you are hereby terminated and
      removed from office, effective immediately.
    
      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.
    
      It it essential that we find new leadership for
      the FBI that restores public trust and confidence
      in its vital law enforcement mission.
    
      I wish you the best of luck in your future
      endeavors.

------
TheBiv
"Trump just fired the man leading a counterintelligence investigation into his
campaign, on the same day that the Senate Intelligence commitee requested
financial documents relating to Trump's business dealings from the treasury
department that handles money laundering." -Comment from reddit that sums up
how strange this is.

~~~
liquidise
The implication of this comment only holds if the replacement FBI Director
drops the investigation. The FBI Director themselves are not conducting the
investigation, but have instructed the investigation to be conducted. It
stands that we should expect the investigation to continue in Comey's absence.
Should it cease, this comment would gain merit.

The reasons cited for the dismissal appear valid on their face: the handling
of the Clinton email investigation had a measurable impact on the election and
perhaps could have been handled better.

~~~
awj
> The implication of this comment only holds if the replacement FBI Director
> drops the investigation.

How can you possibly trust the authenticity of an investigation headed up by
someone hand chosen by the person being investigated, who knows the person
they pick will immediately be in charge of the investigation?

If Trump is truly innocent, this is literally the worst thing he could have
ever done for himself. This action will form the basis for doubt in plenty of
people who could otherwise have been convinced nothing happened.

~~~
Tloewald
At this point he is so far past "the appearance of impropriety" that I doubt
it can cause him any harm.

------
rwnspace
381 points, 171 comments, 1 hour ago; as of writing.

Why is this on the second page of HN, and not pole position? I assume/hope
that there is some mechanism that stops new content from dominating other
content too rapidly.

~~~
enknamel
Because this does not need to be posted on HN or even should be. However you
stand on this issue doesn't matter. HN is not a site for political
discussions. Go to Reddit if you want that.

~~~
alpha_squared
What is HN for? I thought it was intellectual discourse and news with
potential ramifications that affect the population at large.

I hope you don't answer with "tech" because there are certainly non-technical
stories here. And I also hope you don't answer with "science" because there
are non-scientific stories as well.

~~~
bleamishboy
Sure, there are some lesser-known political news items that belong on HN. But
this story is on the front page of ever news site in America.

From the submission guidelines: "If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably
off-topic."

~~~
alpha_squared
I think "probably off-topic" is different from strictly "off-topic". I do
remember that from the guidelines, though also from the guidelines:

> Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than
> hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer
> might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.

I think seeing historically uncommon/rare events unfold also falls under
gratifying one's intellectual curiosity (though I admit this might be a
stretch in this particular story). Additionally, there are multiple stories
that pop up (once or twice per day, from my anecdotal experience) that are
also stories that'd be covered on TV news.

------
avs733
Sally Yates investigates Trump's cabinet: Fired by the Trump administration

Preet Bharara investigates Trump's cabinet: Fired by the Trump administration

Director Comey Investigates Trump's cabinet: Fired by the Trump administration

~~~
singularity2001
Berlusconization of the US

~~~
avs733
Lets just call a spade a spade...this is emergent Facism.

Lots of definitions, but lets go with Britt's[0] 14 point test where I would
come up with at least plasuible evidence for 13 of 14 just off the top of my
head.

1 - MAGA

2 - Yeah...and for the rule of law/courts

3 - "but her emails" / Mexican rapists / Obama / etc.

4 - for years...since Reagan. This isn't new but it keeps getting worse

5 - "Grab her by the pussy"

6 - working on it, undermining trust in the media and centralizing oneself as
the only source of real news is close

7 - yup

8 - Mike Pence, Jeff Sessions, more and more...

9 - Oh yeah, agressively look at the EPA efforts under trump.

10 - Yup (Lets talk about Mitch Daniels amongst others)

11 - Yup...[1]

12 - "Lock her up"

13 - I mean...absolutely.[2][3]

14 - borderline...no proof, one could play with definitions here but an
ongoing effort.

[0]
[https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html](https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/fasci14chars.html)

[1] [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/opinion/how-the-stupid-
pa...](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/01/opinion/how-the-stupid-party-
created-donald-trump.html)

[2] [http://www.businessinsider.com/r-reporters-barred-from-
china...](http://www.businessinsider.com/r-reporters-barred-from-china-event-
seeking-investment-in-kushner-project-2017-5)

[3] [http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-
way/2017/04/19/524765086/...](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-
way/2017/04/19/524765086/china-defends-trademark-grants-for-ivanka-trump-
products)

------
abalashov
I'm pretty sure the customary reply from the MAGA camp will be that these are
all political appointees, and serve at the President's pleasure.

All that is formally true. But it doesn't make it any less uncanny that such a
person would be fired at the very moment he ramps up an investigation into
Trump's business activities.

~~~
evan_
The reply from the MAGA camp is "Trump will appoint someone to go after his
political enemies for personal gain" except they're happy about it:

[https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=comey...](https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=comey%20clinton%20rice&src=typd)

~~~
tw04
It's astounding Comey was supposedly fired for misrepresenting the Clinton
email thing (by grossly overstating the wrongdoing) and yet they follow-up
with "and go after Clinton!!!". I'd comment on the mental gymnastics but it
doesn't appear anyone on that page is capable of basic reasoning.

~~~
evan_
His most entrenched base (e.g., people who really support him rather than
those who just voted against Clinton) truly believe that anything he does
contrary to their expectations is 4-dimensional chess, that will eventually
resolve in a fashion that will benefit him and eventually them.

It's like how if you stare at an old TV tuned to static for long enough you
can start to see pictures. It's reading intent where there is nothing but
random flailing.

------
jjordan
Say what you want about the politics, but it's inarguable that Comey, whether
he wanted to or not, had become a partisan lightning rod for both sides. The
unbiased credibility of the FBI was at stake with Comey at the helm, and this
is probably a good move for the country.

~~~
throwaway5752
The FBI was investigating the president for colluding with a hostile state to
influence the election and aid them against the interests of the US. This is
the worst thing to happen to the country since Watergate or longer.

~~~
self-diversity
Yeah you can tell the Trump-Russia connections are not a quixotic quagmire by
how the stories continue to be filled with weasel words and spend 100% of
their column inches not presenting any evidence at all.

~~~
mwfunk
Your argument would be a lot more plausible had Trump not done absolutely
everything in his power to look guilty as hell on a daily basis. This whole
thing could've been shut down months ago with the barest modicum of
transparency, integrity, leadership, and honesty from the administration.

Trump could have cleared this up in an instant if he had made even a token
effort to behave like a responsible, competent, sane adult professional who
cares about his his country and the people who live in it. Instead he has
escalated this situation at every opportunity, culminating in this moment,
which so far is the low-water mark for how low Trump is willing to sink.

None of what I wrote above has anything to do with whether or not Trump is
guilty of treason- if he were 100% innocent and the victim of a political
witch hunt, every scrap of the criticism above would still apply to him.
However, if Trump is as guilty as he appears to be, this whole situation is
infinitely worse- not just for Trump himself but for all Americans. I have
often disagreed with aspects of my country's governance (under leadership of
both parties), but the last 6 months and this moment in particular is a level
of shame, embarrassment, and disgust that I have never felt in my 45 years as
an American citizen. I love America and the principles upon which it (at least
in theory) was founded, and this is just a fucking disgrace.

~~~
losvedir
> _This whole thing could 've been shut down months ago with the barest
> modicum of transparency, integrity, leadership, and honesty from the
> administration._

That seems naive to me. This whole Russia smoke/fire thing is the left's
version of the Benghazi scandal, IMO. Do you think Democrats are above a
partisan stoking of fires to try to shut down their opponents, or is that just
something Republicans do?

~~~
gnaritas
They are not remotely similar; Benghazi was investigated multiple times by
republicans and each they time found nothing. It was a fake scandal. Dems are
merely trying to have an investigation of something that actually happened; we
all saw Wikileaks interfere with the election in a partisan manner only
releasing things to damage Clinton. It warrants an investigation, it's not
fake, it's not being investigated repeated times, they are not comparable
situations.

------
davesque
Mods, please let this one live. This is big news and we can't ignore it. I
don't care what the policies are about political stories. I also don't care if
I can go somewhere else to read about it. I want to know what _this_
community's opinions are on the matter.

------
Matt3o12_
Well I would be certainly interested in the circumstances especially
considering that I always believed he was pro trump. Some even said he played
an important role Trump won the election because he opened an investigation
into Clinton's emails right before the election.

~~~
dekhn
that's not what he did. there already was an investigation. What comey
announced right before the elections was that they had found more of clinton's
emails in another, _unrelated_ case. That invesigation was into Anthony
Weiner, who was married to Clinton's advisor Huma Abedin. Weiner was sexting a
15-year-old, Abedin was forwarding some emails to weiner's computer to be
printed out. In investigating weiner's computer they found clinton's emails
(forwarded by abedin). That's what Comey announced. I have no idea why he
decided to announce that specific information, at that time.

~~~
aaron-lebo
Yep. If you believe that Comey's final investigation swung the election, you
also gotta realize that the election was swung because Anthony Weiner is a
sleezeball.

The odds that sleezeball would be married to Clinton's top advisor...Bill
actually officiated their wedding.

~~~
anigbrowl
You critique your political opponents without using tabloid language.

~~~
aaron-lebo
He's not my political opponent. Sleezeball is a euphemism for what he did, is
it not? He was sexting a 15-year old girl and his infant son was included in
some of his pictures.

What is he?

~~~
anigbrowl
Just be an adult, dude. This isn't the NY Post website.

~~~
georgemcbay
I'm a left-leaning liberal registered Democrat so I'm not sure in what way
someone would consider Weiner to be my "political opponent", but the guy is
absolutely a sleazeball.

Being a sleazeball transcends politics and party lines and there are many
Democrat and Republican sleazeballs.

------
curiousgal
Flashbacks to Nixon's downfall.

~~~
evan_
None of the safety guards that caused Nixon to get knocked down after the
Saturday Night Massacre are functioning right now. The AG is a loyalist, the
House and Senate are in his pocket (and appear to be intentionally sandbagging
their own investigations).

~~~
rrggrr
Title 28 (CFR), Chapter VI, Part 600

Specific allegations of criminal behavior by the President require a special
prosecutor, or they require a finding of no merit. As Sessions has already
recused himself, the deputy AG makes the finding. All very publicly.

The only thing missing here, as compared to Nixon or Clinton, is specific
allegations. Its been under investigation since July 2016 without any specific
allegations against the President.

Not to say associated may not be indicted. I suspect Flynn is going to serve
jail time.

------
colemannugent
A friendly reminder to both sides that whatever the current administration
does, the next can undo.

This is especially important when the majority party decides to give itself
more power and inadvertently gives their successors more than they intended.

~~~
cloudwalking
This is not true. Rolling back regulations on green house gas emissions,
removing regulations on clean water, denying healthcare to millions of
people... Those deaths cannot be undone, the aquifers cannot be cleaned, and
the carbon can't be removed from the atmosphere.

~~~
buckbova
Let's tone down the hyperbole.

Edit:

I don't like having a political argument in this forum. I don't want hn to
turn into r/politics.

I'm not swayed by emotional pleas from celebrities or others crying about a
bill they haven't read. Who are these folks dying by the millions? From what I
see mortality rates rose since obamacare came about:

"We know that the same year Obamacare’s insurance expansion provisions took
effect, there was a pronounced, and statistically significant, surge in U.S.
adult mortality."

[http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/25/running-numbers-
mortalit...](http://thefederalist.com/2017/04/25/running-numbers-mortality-
rates-suggests-obamacare-killing-people/)

So you can get some facts together or continue crying. Your choice.

~~~
asdfjlkasdf88
You have an ability to raise the dead no one else knows about?

Or technology to scrub co2 from the air?

------
rrggrr
Comey's book deal is going to be enormous. His great, great, great
grandchildren will be buying Maserati's with the proceeds. He just needs to
withstand another six months of testifying on the hill in front of at least
two standing committees and probably a special committee.

~~~
stephenitis
there are more important things to ponder... than his books and children's
luxury cars. good god, I still can't believe trump fired him.

------
grizzles
He was too much of a wildcard. Trump wants to wrap up the Russia thing and he
needs someone who is more subservient to do that.

~~~
nameless912
This is an interesting card to play if that's indeed his goal. Trump doesn't
get to appoint an "acting" head of the FBI AFAIK, he can only recommend a new
director, and you can bet your ass that the DNC won't let that slide without a
bigly fight at the confirmation hearing.

This move really doesn't make a lot of sense, I don't know what Trump gains
here other than a few weeks of pretending he won.

~~~
tw04
He's sending a message to the replacement. Do what I want or I'll can you.
We'll see if it works.

~~~
unprepare
Moot to the acting director though, who can only be gotten rid of for cause or
by senate approving a nominee.

I believe the senate only needs a simple majority to approve the nominee,
though, so it might not be that difficult for them to get rid of the acting
head if they feel pressure

------
favorited
If I'm not mistaken, he's the first FBI director to be fired.

Edit: I was, in fact, mistaken.

~~~
fictioncircle
[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/31/1589230/-Only-
One-U...](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/31/1589230/-Only-One-US-
President-has-ever-Fired-an-FBI-Director-and-that-President-s-Name-Was-
Clinton)

> When Bill Clinton took office in January , 1993, his FBI Director was
> William S. Sessions, serving an appointment made by Ronald Reagan at the
> time of the Iran-Contra affair. Making it clear that the new President did
> not want the Republican FBI Director in his Administration, Clinton’s newly
> appointed Attorney General, Janet Reno, quietly pressured Mr. Sessions to
> resign.

~~~
ebbv
Big difference between that and outright firing. Behind the scenes pressure is
politics as usual.

~~~
fictioncircle
Sorry I quoted the wrong bit. He was actually fired.

> ut the stubborn Republican FBI Director refused to go voluntarily, finally
> provoking Bill Clinton to telephone Mr. Sessions on July 20, 1993. The
> President called twice. The first call was to tell the Director he was
> fired. The second was to tell the Director it was effective immediately.
> That’s cold, man.

~~~
akhilcacharya
He was fired for misuse of funds.

------
satysin
This is going to make an _amazing_ movie in a decade or two.

~~~
anigbrowl
Oh it'll spawn a whole genre. Having written several scripts myself I've
naturally been fascinated by the political machinations going on over the last
couple of years, but the #1 difficulty (besides the constant flow of new
events that Change Everything) is the sheer outlandishness of it all. I
guarantee you that if I had a time machine and went back two or three years
into the past with a hot script, virtually everyone in Hollywood would shake
their heads and say 'too many unlikely plot twists, nobody would buy this, go
take more writing classes until you understand causality, pacing, motivation,
character arcs, and real life, kiddo.'

A common refrain among both my movie biz friends and political scientist
friends these days is 'I'm living in a fucking cartoon.' Truth is indeed
stranger than fiction. At this point Rick and Morty comes off as a bit
unimaginative.

------
fencepost
Trump just wanted to be sure that Comey's statement last year about the iPhone
hack cost was true.

"more than I will make in the remainder of this job, [...]"

------
iamjeff
President Trump cares little about protecting the Office of the
President...his administration has a well-documented history of putting the
thumb on the scale regarding the investigation of collusion between his
campaign and Russian agents/agencies...this is damaging the credibility in the
office...this firing was also clearly decided on and then the rationale was
secured afterward...it baffles the mind that Trump rationalizes this executive
action by claiming that Comey was "mean to Clinton" when only a few days ago
Comey had his trust...the reasoning cited, and involvement of Sessions in
interfering an investigation that he recused himself from, is bogus... It is
not unreasonable to claim that a cover-up is in full swing!

------
tannhauser23
Everyone should read the letter that the Deputy Attorney General wrote to the
Attorney General in recommending that Comey be fired. It's brutal:
[http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/politics/fbi-
dire...](http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/politics/fbi-director-
james-b-comeys-termination-letters-from-the-white-house-attorney-
general/2430/)

This and Comey's recent misstatements to Congress about Huma Abedin forwarding
sensitive emails to Anthony Weiner are alone grounds for Trump to fire Comey.
Whether Trump had other motives... I mean, who knows? It's all speculation.

~~~
hendersoon
I agree with every word of that latter. He deserved to be fired.

However, the idea that Trump fired the FBI director for causing Clinton to
bleed is just a teensy bit hard to swallow.

And if they're going to fire him for going after Clinton, why wait until May?
Why not January?

~~~
tannhauser23
I think he was waiting for the right reason to fire him. This letter plus the
assist from Comey's recent screwup in front of the Senate gives Trump the
perfect excuse to fire him. Comey should have just shut up and did his
investigation.

~~~
hendersoon
If that was the case, why didn't any of the three letters mention Comey
screwing up in front of that committee? They only mentioned his severe
misjudgment in Hillary's emails 10 days before the election. Nah. Doesn't pass
the smell test.

Now don't get me wrong, he WAS fired because those investigations upset Trump.
And that very likely WAS the reason. But it wasn't the reason they stated.

------
jacquesm
Someone better than me in English, please explain the meaning of the word
'recuse'?

~~~
dheelus
To remove oneself from involvement in the proceedings. In this case, since AG
Sessions was considered to have conflict of interest in the Russian
interference matter, he 'recused' himself, i.e., removed himself from the
investigations.

------
hota_mazi
Trump is soon going to run out of people to fire.

~~~
skym
Don't worry, there are PLENTY of people worth firing in DC

------
thrillgore
At this point we should demand an immediate Impeachment.

------
wonder_bread
Which can only mean something else happened today that Trump's covering up in
the headlines by firing Comey

------
Hermitian
Why isn't this on the front page?

------
Beltiras
Oh, this has got to burn. The man that gave him the office......

------
AnimalMuppet
Mr. Comey just acquired a badge of honor. No, I'm not being sarcastic. It's
getting to the point where being fired is more honorable than remaining.

------
newsat13
Can someone clarify if comey is pro trump or not?

~~~
whistlerbrk
Comey is a boy scout. He is righteous man for better or worse, has
conservative leanings, but he is considered an honorable man especially for
his actions during Ashcroft's hospitalization

~~~
mannykannot
That is a good way of putting it. I believe he felt required by the
obligations of the office to say something about the discovery of the email on
Weiner's computer, and I tend to agree, even though I am not in any way a
Trump supporter. It was my opinion from the time Clinton's clandestine email
server was revealed that she was not viable as a candidate on account of it,
and if Comey's statement was as instrumental as many of her supporters claim,
then that hunch proved correct (though I am not sure, myself, whether the
statement was decisive.)

------
danielvf
Anyone have a link to the contents of the memo that recommended firing, and
contained the reasons for that recommendation?

~~~
DamnInteresting
Allegedly:
[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_apUYrXgAAihp2.jpg)

~~~
danielvf
Thanks! Unfortunately that one leaves out the reasons memo.

~~~
DamnInteresting
Perhaps you seek this?:
[https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/862073335009738752](https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/862073335009738752)

~~~
danielvf
That's it, many thanks!

------
romeisburning
The thought of Trump nominating an FBI director is bone chilling. Summed up
with what's known about Flynn and every other suspicious data point we have
what I am increasingly sure that is a modern day coup of the USA.

Time to pause tech and effect change, this is leading to a future darker than
I can possibly contemplate.

------
wtf_is_up
It's about time. Comey has politicized the FBI in ways that have damaged its
reputation for years to come.

------
bingomad123
Why are we discussing politics on HN ?

------
whistlerbrk
It's time for this dictator to be impeached. People need to start marching on
Washington.

------
hsnewman
Christi will be appointed FBI director, and Comey will get a nice job in the
Trump organization for falling on the sword.

------
mtgx
Hopefully there's a silver lining and that this means the encryption backdoor
push (led by Comey) will slow to a crawl or be forgotten. He was already
preparing a push for FISA Amendments renewal together with Dianne Feinstein
(who is apparently having a change of heart about her own retirement).

~~~
Sargos
Don't count on it. Trump will likely put someone very right wing into the
position and the attack on encryption will intensify.

~~~
briandear
So the right wing wants to reduce encryption? And the left doesn't? Republican
Senator Rand Paul has been at the forefront of fighting for privacy
protections. Chuck Schumer sure hasn't.

~~~
Sargos
Rand Paul is not what many would be referring to when they say right wing.
Rand and Ron Paul are both libertarians that are pro-individual-liberty and
clash with the rest of the GOP routinely. They are anomalies.

~~~
LyndsySimon
> Rand and Ron Paul are both libertarians that are pro-individual-liberty and
> clash with the rest of the GOP routinely.

I strongly believe the average libertarian would disagree with this statement.
Rand has made it clear that he is a Republican first.

------
Shivetya
Trump had to dismiss Comey. Comey damaged the FBI in his recent sessions with
Congress to the point the FBI was on the defensive trying to set the record
right. Considering the erratic behavior with both the Clinton and Russia
issues it is doubtful that Comey was capable of continuing in such an office.

Like or dislike Trump, there have been many on the Democratic Party side
calling for Comey to be gone and the odd part is many are now rushing to the
guy's defense. That and he was fired over incorrect testimony about a Clinton
aide, testimony that painted her in a worse position than deserved.

Irrational is the best way to describe the reaction of many. I was really
shocked by some in the press, it is near impossible to separate journalist
from opinion editors when they cannot separate the roles themselves

~~~
s73ver
Dems were calling for Comey to be fired when he commented on the Clinton
investigation. If Trump truly was swayed by that, he would have fired Comey at
the beginning of his term. The timing of the firing is incredibly fishy.

