I felt a lot better yesterday when I sat down and wrote out some of my feelings about James Comey and his book tour/interviews. I don’t trust the man. I don’t think he made the right decisions over the course of 2016. I don’t believe his judgment is good, and I believe his sense of moral authority is ridiculously inflated. If you are with me, please read this tweet-thread from Hillary Clinton’s Communications Director Nick Merrill – Merrill lays out some of the inaccuracies and bullsh-ts that Comey is still peddling.
This morning, Comey sat down for an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition. You can read the main coverage/transcript here. Some highlights:
His defense of his actions in 2016: “[It] would be worse today had we not picked the least bad alternatives…I saw this as a 500-year flood, and so where is the manual? What do I do?”
How Trump tweeted that Comey should be in jail: “The president of the United States just said that a private citizen should be jailed. And I think the reaction of most of us was, ‘Meh, it’s another one of those things.’ This is not normal. This is not OK. There is a danger that we will become numb to it and we will stop noticing the threats to our norms, the threats to the rule of law and the threats, most of all, to the truth.”
Whether his book tour might affect his status as a witness in a possible impeachment hearing: “Normally, you don’t want your witnesses out talking if they’re going to have to testify later. … The advantage in my circumstance is that my testimony is locked down. I testified in front of Congress extensively. I wrote memos, I wrote written testimony. And so long as I continue to tell the truth, and don’t start making stuff up that’s inconsistent with that testimony, I don’t see an issue. Again, I don’t know whether there’s going to be a future proceeding where I’ll be needed, but if there is, I think the prosecutors’ll be OK with me.”
Whether he’s petty to note Trump’s physical features: “I’m not making fun of the president. I’m trying to be an author, which I’ve never been before in my life. While I’m typing, I can hear my editor’s voice ringing in my head: ‘Bring the reader with you, show them inside your head.’ … And by the way, not that this matters, but I found his hands to be above average in size. I’m not making fun of the man, I’m trying to tell the reader what’s in my head.”
I think my fundamental problem with Comey trying to have a This-Is-Not-Normal conversation is that for the majority of the country – the majority who voted for Hillary Clinton – we knew this wasn’t normal back in 2016. We knew it wasn’t normal when Comey kneecapped Clinton just days before the election. We knew it wasn’t normal to compare and contrast the public and investigatory attention given to Clinton’s emails versus the FBI’s blatant lies about the investigation into the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia. As for Comey possibly acting as witness in a possible impeachment hearing… well, Comey doesn’t think it will even come to that. He told 20/20, when asked about impeachment:
“I’ll give you a strange answer… I hope not, because I think impeaching and removing Donald Trump from office would let the American people off the hook and have something happen indirectly that I believe they’re duty bound to do directly. People in this country need to stand up… and go to the voting booth and vote their values.”
People did vote their values and Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by millions of votes. But sure, it’s easy for James Comey to assume an unearned moral authority and tell the millions of people who are suffering under a white supremacist fascist that they just need to chill out and wait for another two and a half years.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Sit down, Jim. Nobody needs to wait till 2020 to get rid of the orange nightmare in the White House. Trump ruins America Daily and there are many reasons to have him impeached. No, Impeachment is not letting people off the Hook. Not impeaching is letting Trump off the Hook.
I was torn over Comey for a while but now I realize this dude is a jerk. And still helping Trump by saying we need to vote him out instead of impeach him
I think impeaching Trump is dangerous. Pence is much, much worse. Meaner, colder, anti literally everything.
He’s not entirely wrong. The dangers of a continued Cheeto presidency — the numbness to the violations of political and legal norms, the threats to private citizens and to the truth — are manifold and as he’s stated them. I’m just pissed that the man that created the conditions that allowed that numbness and those threats to flourish is now claiming that he’s a victim, too, and all with disgusting, pink-cheeked piety. Jerk.
2016: “[It] would be worse today had we not picked the least bad alternatives…
This really makes me angry because it is so blatantly not true. Whatever HRC is, I refuse to believe that we would be teetering on the edge of WWIII, the laughingstock of the rest of the planet, on the verge of economic collapse due to a dick swinging tariff war, environmental and financial regulations trashed and millions facing loss of access to all branches of health care. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have referred to Neo Nazis as very fine people. But I guess if that’s what it takes to look in the mirror.
“And so long as I continue to tell the truth, and don’t start making stuff up that’s inconsistent with that testimony, I don’t see an issue.”
I wonder if he understands who he sounds like with this self justification bullshit?
Oh, he can sit all the way down and shut up. Hillary is not the worst of anything and I am SICK of hearing that she is, especially when it all boils down to some nefarious sounding, but in actuality innocuous thing.
Comey gave his life in service? So did Hillary. And in an unpaid role for many of those years.
Sing it, sister.
Thank you. I will and at the top of my lungs! We – the majority of America – were robbed!
He sounds really contemptuous and dismissive of HRC.
And does he think false equivalence is the norm? He’s a really shallow thinker.
He’s not the only one who feels that way. I met plenty of unenthused Trump voters who really, truly felt Hillary was a worse option. I can’t even get in the mindset to understand, and I’ve tried.
That’s because you’re not a misogynistic racist, ms. They may couch their opinions in pro-life or economic terms, but nobody made that vote without tacitly agreeing to all of the other garbage he brought to the table.
Call me crazy, but I think electing the most qualified candidate to ever run would have a significantly better outcome than electing the least qualified candidate to ever run. At least Hillary knows how a bill becomes a law.
I try not to dwell on it, but it’s hard to wonder where we would be now with HRC as prez. … No doubt that Comey was a prime vector of having tRump in the White house – not buying his book and I don’t want to hear what he has to say unless he takes a time machine back to November and spills the truth on that orange idiot’s campaign being under investigation.
She was the worst candidate of her party. If Bernie had gotten the nom (like he should have), Trump would not be president.
He’s too entitled-white-guy for me, even aside from the the 2016 election catastrophe. But I am glad he is driving Trump crazy.
I agree with everything you said. I hate Jim Comey for giving us Trump and I will NEVER forgive him.
What makes the Sean Hannity trashfire even more satisfying is that it kneecapped Comey in the news cycle.
Every time I look at Comey I’m reminded of the dish that ran away with the spoon.
I am unaware of the meaning of that phrase outside the nursery rhyme.
None, just that he’s a really tall guy with a face like a dinner plate.
😂
Kaiser I agree with you, but think how it feels to be Comey. He got fired by the kind of “slimeball” mobster he used to put in prison. He knows 50 billion times more than Trump about what’s going on in America and around the world, but Trump “won.” After a lifetime of loyalty to the FBI, Comey got stabbed in the heart by an orange ape who doesn’t care about anything. I don’t like things about Gomey either, but his rage is understandable. He got screwed by an idiot lowlife banana-republic loving traitor. Ouch.
Belle Epoche, I agree with you.
Yep that’s pretty much it but his sacrifice is for the good of the nation. His firing brought us Bob Mueller and Mueller won’t be making the same mistakes.
Maybe he should have thought about that before he effectively swung an election to put a tyrant in office. No sympathy from me.
Agree @Belle Epoch. I’m reading his book right now. I wonder how many commenters here can say the same?
Comey can go have a seat somewhere
I have many issues with him especially with him delivering the October surprise that was the final Nail in HRC’s coffin. I remember that day, it was on every TV station, everyone was stunned and it really felt like a bomb going off. And no, our country cannot survive 2 1/2 more years of Trump. The ideals of Democracy and rule of law are on bended knees on the way down. We have not fixed the election process and I do not believe we will have free and fair elections with Trump on the ballot.
However, I do think Comey is who he says he is: an old school corny conservative Boy Scout who still believes in truth, justice and the American Way. He is earnest to a fault. See how he stood up in the Bush administration. However, the world has changed, we have changed. We no longer believe in Boy Scouts, Trump has changed us all. As much as we fight against it, we are living in the new normal where our President is a rapist, our government run by corrupt thieves out to destroy the parts they are in charge of and our congress is hiding in the bathroom in fear.
Again, there is a reason both the RNC and Trump are both so afraid of Comey that they are in full attack mode 24/7.
He explained why he had to make it public.
YES! He reminds me of every single meeting I’ve ever sat through where some long winded self-aggrandizing older dude bloviates about how thoughtful and ethical he is. He is responsible for the Orange shitshow we are now mired in. He and Drumpf have more in common than he may think
Like a murder in which dozens of blows are struck, no one knows who dealt the fatal blow.
But Comey got to take more than one shot.
Unpopular opinion based on other comments here:
HRC isn’t president for many reasons. I’m as liberal as they come and voted for her, but it irked me that she forced herself onto the DNC ticket. Her “its my turn” attitude and faux news, along with propaganda from some comrades, are what made her lose. That, and all the brainwashed that voted for The Orange One. To place the blame solely on Comey is ridiculous.
I believe Comey was in a very difficult position and did what he thought was best. If we had HRC right now, do not forget that we would still have a circus with the House and Senate stacked to the ceiling with Republicans. They would be screaming to impeach and absolutely nothing would get done. Sure, that would be better than all the horrendous garbage this administration has shoved down our throats.
I try to be optimistic. This Orange Buffoon has inadvertently exposed the RNC for what it truly is. HRC, by forcing her way onto the DNC ticket exposed the bias and issues there as well. Millineals are waking up and becoming active in politics and younger generations are looking forward to taking part in our political process. The rest of us are seeing that sitting back and letting the govt take care of itself has been a big mistake. I am confident that polls come November and the coming years will reflect this. This is a pendulum swing, the last dying breath of those racists who felt confident to crawl out from under their rock. After the next few election cycles, may they go back under their rocks in shame.
MJ, Agree with you. So many variables, so many nefarious events with this election. It was a first in the level of corruption, Russian cyber attacks, and the fact that drump is so disturbingly evil.
The DCCC and Pelosi also get some of the blame. They didn’t consent a lot of races in swing states. That meant there was no Democratic candidate working the district, and, in doing so, bringing voters to the polls. Getting out more of the Democratic vote in PA, WI, and MI could have been the difference between the first woman president and the absolute dumpster fire we’re stuck with.
@MJ “Faux news and propaganda from some comrades”? Do tell, I musta missed that- unless you mean the countless trolls who spread misinformation about HRC?
Ultimately I attribute the people who didn’t vote at all as the biggest reason why she lost the electoral college (including those who had their vote suppressed and/or lived in gerrymandered districts). I do blame Comey for making p*ss poor decisions, and I think he’s letting himself off easy.
She didn’t force her way anywhere, and I am DONE with the invented “it’s my turn” bullcrap. You know what that was? Confidence. The awareness she had more experience than anyone.
You know how she got on the ticket? By winning more votes in the primary, mine included.
I agree with a lot of what you said, I think Comey is a convenient scapegoat and was not the deciding factor. There is plenty of analysis out there on the effect of Comeys October surprise —and it’s conflicting. Different analysts reach different conclusions. Surprise, surprise, eh? In fact there was an article as recently as yesterday in response to a Comey, Kelly Conaway etc rhat reached the “we don’t really know from the research ….so…..how much could it have been then” conclusion.
I think Comey is a flawed human but I believe him to be truthful. (His interviews often piss me off as his explanations seem weak for such an intelligent man and he seems quite fond of his morals to the point of smugness ). I am not a fan of his, but I certainly don’t blame him (much) for HRCs loss and I do have some empathy for the chocolate mess he had to navigate through with both HRC and DT even though his decisions were not all supportable.
I agree with LP — the nonvoters were much more an issue in Clinton’s loss than 1) Comey (cmon ….had anyone really not made up their minds already about the damn emails? God we were all sick of hearing about them……everyone had already processed and decided by Oct what the relevance of her emails was to their vote ).
or 2) even 3rd party voters. If gun to head were to have happened to the 3rd party voters, then it is likely most of Gary Js 4.5 million votes would have gone to Trump and Jill Ss 1.5 to HIllary C. Making the popular vote even closer between DT and HRC.
She did NOT “force” her way onto the ticket. MILLIONS of people voted for her in the primaries. What kind of revisionist crap are you trying to spread here?
The same kind that allows them to conveniently ignore the fact that Sanders’ refusal to concede hung a lot of state Democratic political parties out to dry because the DNC couldn’t release the presidential campaign funding until a primary winner was declared. Bernie and his supporters had a lot of big ideas for the federal government but failed to acknowledge the bottom-up approach required for major political change. I’m neutral on the man, but I grow weary of the excuses made for him that nobody else gets.
There are multiple factors that hindered Clinton, many of which had to do with socioeconomic changes beyond any candidate’s control, but the “she forced her way onto the ticket” argument is obnoxiously derisive of those that actually voted for her. And vote for her they did in larger numbers in both primaries than even Obama. (People like to forgot she lost in 2008 despite having slightly more votes over all for some reason.) She was the biggest name in the party and was coming off a successful run as Secretary of State up until the Republicans intentionally blew up Benghazi.
People love to scream about Bernie Sanders being robbed in the primaries without actually giving a cogent breakdown of exactly why and how it happened. He had the most positive election coverage out of any candidate in the primaries. He had broad Internet outreach. He had a grassroots movement. He got MORE debate time than any Democratic candidate in the last few primaries, even well after the polls were showing he couldn’t beat her. He spent MORE MONEY on his primary run than she did. Bernie Sanders lost because he didn’t convince enough Americans that his vision was broad enough to encompass them. Period. End of story. That’s on him and his followers and not anybody else.
You make a lot of valid points, but I respectfully disagree. Comey single handledly stole the election. The only reason he’s talking now is to make money, because he’s just another greedy entitled white dude.
I have issues with what Comey did re: Clinton, and I don’t agree with all of his reasoning for past actions/approaches, but I do believe his accounting of what took place in his dealings with Trump. And at this point, having to stay focused on the present, I’m more worried about what a backlash to Comey and his book will mean for Trump.
Unfortunately, not a lot of people are going to see the nuances in all of this, so if I have to pick a side, I’m gonna have to go with Comey right now (even if it’s the lesser of two evils – look at all of the people who didn’t like Trump but said they just couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Hilary – and what that led to.)
Agree.
+2
We as liberals are again seeking 100% purity/perfection and ready to toss the baby with the bathwater when we don’t get it. I would rather take someone with 20% flaws than end up with a 100% flawed person such as Trump.
Yes, I believe that he is honorable and true in regards to how he treated and spoke of and to Trump after the election, but his dissembling on his actions that did wound the candidate that didn’t commit treason is self serving in the extreme. If he had come out and admitted wrongdoing and really eaten crap, I’d be a fan. As it is, yes, he’s an ally against Trump, but a day late and a dollar short. Like Horace Slughorn.
Yes team comey.
Look we can We can question Comey’s judgement, integrity and honesty all day long,
but it is sort of late. Unfortunately,we can’t rerun the election. So the question is how are we going to get the emperor and his GOP sycophants out of office. What is the strategy of the Democrats. Did you know yesterday as the 24 hour news cycle was focusing on Comey, Trump signed an executive order requiring Medicaid recipients to find a job or loss their benefits. Country needs to focus.
I know Comey has been blamed for the entire HRC thing but as some of us have said, he was part of the puzzle. He did not singlehandedly make her lose. I’ve been following Seth Abramson’s twitter feed for awhile and his analysis is spot on.
This is his explanation of Email gate and what Comey did what he did: https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/985917114761478146
Comey made some mistakes but I think he is a good guy. No one is perfect.
Ive tried to give Comey the benefit of the doubt through this ordeal. Ive tried to listen and read about all of this from different sources and perspectives, to stay informed and fair. I cant anymore. There truly aren’t many grey areas about this anymore. He fully admits how terrible and damaging this regime is but doesn’t believe Trump should be stopped, be removed?? How typically Smug Republican of him. Party before country. Thought they’d be able to ” contain” Trump(and hide their own complicity).
It was our Allies , and their intelligence agencies, who sounded the alarm and started leaking d*mning evidence through various venues. It clipped our agencies in the knees and forced them to acknowledge the Trump investigations publicly. After the elections. And now we have this dangerous mess.
N/a.
A Taller Casualty
He tells everyone to go vote but the man didn’t vote himself!! He admitted it in the interview. Go away!
He really is a two-faced bag of lies isn’t he?
Something about Comey feels very disingenuous.
My sixth sense says he is a dishonest, duplicitous person. I couldn’t even get through the interview his vibes were so bad