Yesterday, Jim Comey told Nicole Wallace he believes it was Rod Rosenstein who

[Mike 03]

terminated the F.B.I.'s counterintelligence investigation into Donald Trump.

He really was a terrible Deputy A.G. whose tenure was so short that it's easy to forget what a terrible job he did.

Some people remember the story about Rod Rosenstein "panicking" after Comey's firing and offering to wear a wire into a meeting with Trump in order to possibly remove Trump from office under the 25th Amendment, and think he might have been a decent person who became overwhelmed by events. But the bulk of the evidence is that he was a rather chaotic personality who in the end decided to mostly help out Trump.

Peter Strzok writes in his book Compromised that he believes it was Rosenstein who leaked his and Lisa Page's private emails (either to Republican politicians or directly to the media).

One of the mysteries of the last four years has been, "What happened to the F.B.I.'s counterintelligence investigation into Trump? Is it still open?" Some passages in Peter Strzok's book seemed to leave oven the possibility it had never been closed. But Comey believes it was closed by Rosenstein.

I'm disappointed about that, but relieved to finally have an answer.

[dem4decades]

1. It was reported yesterday that Rosenstein was the one seperating babies from their mothers at

the southern border.

[Hekate]

7. Iirc, he simply raised his hand when Trump did one of his "all those present, if you agree" things

You know how Trump loves to have a big group around the conference table and pressure them to pressure each other. Few can resist. Rather than being the architect of the plan (that would be Stephen Miller, I think) RR simply went along. Only one person kept her hand down. Until I heard this nugget, I thought RR had a soul.

However, if that was part of what Comey just said to Nicolle, I take it back about RR not being the architect of this abomination. I know Miller thought it up, though.

Remember the famous phrase Everything Trump Touches Dies. Comey got one thing outstandingly right when he wrote:

Accomplished people lacking inner strength can’t resist the compromises necessary to survive Mr Trump and that adds up to something they will never recover from. It takes character like Mattis’ to avoid the damage, because Mr Trump eats your soul in small bites.

(This appeared in an Op-Ed about Barr’s resignation that he wrote for the NY Times. It was then quoted in a letter to the editor of the LA Times on 12-16-2020.)

[triron]

10. How does Comey feel about what he did to HRC?

And all the implications for what we have had the last 4 years?

[lagomorph777]

11. His attack on HRC, and now his opposition to impeachment, reveal him to be the Russian quisling

that we thought he was, back in 2016.

[Hekate]

12. You know, I quoted that because it was strikingly true, not because I like the fool...

And I read it second-hand in the Los Angeles Times, which is my daily newspaper. I generally avoid watching live interviews with Comey, because I can't forgive him for what he did to Hillary.

DH and I caught his recent interview with Colbert, though, and Colbert asked the same thing. I derived some satisfaction, as you may, when he replied: “It is a nightmare from which I can't awaken.”

[spooky3]

20. Wow, that seems inconsistent with other public statements he made.

Maybe over time “right” and “wrong” have become clearer to him.

[Hekate]

29. I tuned out when he once again tried to explain himself. For further, check his new book...

He was mistaken in what he did, in the opinion of many people including myself. He lives with it and still tries to explain it to himself, but an apology? Don’t hold your breath. There are bigger villains to slay.

[dem4decades]

13. Comey said he had no regrets concerning what he did. F him.

[Botany]

2. Rod Rosenstein and Bill Barr ran a game on the Mueller investigation

Rosenstein: to Mueller you can only investigate Trump as far as Russian interference in the election
but you can't investigate anything else.

Barr: to Mueller you can't charge a sitting President with a crime.

So no matter what Mueller came up with on Trump/Russia it was a dead end.

BTW I was taken in by Rosenstein's nice nerdy Jewish boy act and how he found beauty in "the rule of law"
and that he would quit if Trump fired Mueller.

[Earthshine2]

5. "I was taken in by Rosenstein's nice nerdy Jewish boy act ..."

You speak for me, as well.

[Botany]

6. I watched a 1 hour show with him on PBS .... boy was I a sucker

Rod pointed at a picture of a former A.G. under FDR who was guided by the rule of law and
not the rule of politics and it was just bullshit because he and Barr had already gamed the
Mueller investigation.

[mitch96]

34. Pardon me for asking but why throw in the "jewish boy act" ? What does jewish have to do with it?

When just "nerdy" would get the point across....
m

[Botany]

35. I did not mean it in an antisemtic way .... honestly

If you find it offensive then I am sorry. I grow up and have been around Jewish people for a
years and I heard the phrase "he is a nice Jewish boy," all the time and to me it was kind of
descriptive and not negative.

[BSdetect]

3. Surely the new AG can reopen Mueller etc etc

[BSdetect]

4. Surely the new AG can reopen Mueller etc etc

[Wounded Bear]

9. I think right now I'd settle for releasing the unredacted one...nt

[MyOwnPeace]

14. THAT would certainly be a start!

[plimsoll]

22. There will be "national security issues."

Which is a farce at this point, because let's face it, we don't know what trump compromised so the notion that there still is national security is iffy.

To a certain extent the last 4 years have been a rather brutal reminder that systemic racism breeds contempt for the basic principals of our republic. Yes the Roman Republic was a slave society, but the notion of a republic is largely incompatible with defined social classes and special privileges for the few.

Law enforcement, don't seem to understand that their actions for the last 4 years have highlighted the contempt they feel for "equal protection." I for one don't believe that there will be charges against trump or any of his cronies. And I'm starting to believe that the January 6 insurrectionists won't face any serious consequences.

Welcome to American Just Us. It's good to know that the Us in that phrase is white nationalists, neo nazi's, and their ilk.

[kentuck]

8. Rod the Rat

At first, I thought he had enough integrity to withstand the pressure from Trump. I was mistaken. He was weak and treasonous.

[Joinfortmill]

15. Comey, Rosenstein can both go to hell.

[Cozmo]

19. Agreed Both these rats need to scurry away

[lagomorph777]

24. No argument there. Comey continues to burnish his bad reputation by opposing impeachment.

[Duppers]

31. Was hopping on thread to post just that!

Fuck them BOTH. They could've ended tRump but chose not to.



"Comey: Biden should consider pardoning Trump" - The Hill

[UTUSN]

16. K&R

[niyad]

18. He said that President Biden should consider pardoning the murdering, orange traitor, for

unity, or some such bs. The last iota of patience I had for him left in that moment.

[Evolve Dammit]

21. same

[lagomorph777]

25. Comey is still a traitor.

I don't care who else he rats on.

[bucolic_frolic]

23. Maybe he was part of the real swamp

[BlueIdaho]

26. Rod should not be allowed to resign

He should be fired with extreme prejudice. He colluded with Barr to save Trump’s ass. He should be forever dishonored.

[FakeNoose]

27. It's the 3-card monty game again

All the Repukes in Washington are pointing fingers and blaming each other.
But nobody is blaming Chump. Now Comey wants to pardon him. Fuck that!

Thanks for the tip on Peter Strzok's book. I think I need to read that.

[MontanaMama]

28. Why is James Comey all of a sudden

floating the the surface like a bad turd? He’s in the news and on this board daily now. What’s going on?

[Duppers]

32. ...

Comey: "Biden should consider pardoning Trump" - The Hill

[Hortensis]

33. More revisionist Comey history. My theory is the end of Trump's term

and the post-Trump period are particularly dangerous ties for him because of what could come out, both via Trump blabbing vindictively and through long-suppressed investigation. The one performed into Comey's activities was carefully limited.

So his proactive activities are revved up.

Aside from Trump, no one needs investigation more than the FBI director whose series of manipulations of the 2016 election threw the nation to the Republican Party.

[Lonestarblue]

30. The counterintelligence investigation needs to be reopened.

And all members of the Trump family who have roles in the Trump Organization need to be investigated. Both Jr. and Ivanka have political ambitions, and if they have been part of illegal money laundering for Russia, we need to know that. If Trump was a national security risk because he could be black ailed over their financial arrangements with Russia, then so too can Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. I think it was Eric who said that they get all the money they need from Russia, yet there has been no documentation of loans from Russian banks or investors that I’ve ever seen. So was he referring to money laundering profits? Or something else? These are national security threads that can’t be left dangling.