Out of all Chump's statements this one will come back to bite him in his ample ass.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

“In fact, when I decided to just do it (fire Comey) , I said to myself, I said...You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.”


-Donald Trump

DU lawyers please check me here. That is a classic admission against interest that creates legal exposure. Trump is suggesting he fired Comey for investigating him. That's obstruction of justice.

[2naSalit]

1. Those last seven words...

[L. Coyote]

2. The *** Self-Impeachment of Trump Week *** has certainly been a memorable experience.

Trump's New Impeachable Offenses: Obstruction of Justice, Conspiracy, Abuse of Power

I especially enjoyed the Saturday Night Massacre, so nice of Taylor and Mensch to have notably historical timing.

EXCLUSIVE: Sealed Indictment granted against Donald Trump, Manafort, Flynn

Link to tweet

[Mme. Defarge]

3. Is this an admission of guilt?????????

"It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.”

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. He said he fired Comey because he was investigating him

“In fact, when I decided to just do it (fire Comey) , I said to myself, I said...You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.”

The gravamen is said he fired Comey for investigating him.

[Mme. Defarge]

6. Clearly obstruction of justice.

But what does he mean by "they should have won? Is he admitting that he won when he shouldn't have? Is he denying his own legitimacy?

[Wounded Bear]

8. Meh, it's a typical Trumpism...

He's still harping on how big his win was. Somehow we are supposed to believe that at one and the same time, it was the biggest landslide in history while it is also the biggest upset in history.

Yes, Dems should have won, but his gang managed to squeak by in three key states by less than 100k votes to get the EC margin he needed. All done with a LOT of questionable electioneering and voter suppression.

[jberryhill]

5. I'll take "Obstruction of Justice in one sentence", Alex

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. Professor Tribe thinks he created legal exposure for himseld

Trump accompanied that confession with self-serving — and manifestly false — assertions about having been assured by Comey that Trump himself was not under investigation. By Trump’s own account, he asked Comey about his investigative status even as he was conducting the equivalent of a job interview in which Comey sought to retain his position as director.

Further reporting suggests that the encounter was even more sinister, with Trump insisting that Comey pledge “loyalty” to him in order to retain his job. Publicly saying he saw nothing wrong with demanding such loyalty, the president turned to Twitter with a none-too-subtle threat that Comey would regret any decision to disseminate his version of his conversations with Trump — something that Comey has every right, and indeed a civic duty, to do.

To say that this does not in itself rise to the level of “obstruction of justice” is to empty that concept of all meaning. Obstruction of justice was the first count in the articles of impeachment against Nixon and, years later, a count against Bill Clinton. In Clinton’s case, the ostensible obstruction consisted solely in lying under oath about a sordid sexual affair that may have sullied the Oval Office but involved no abuse of presidential power as such.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-must-be-impeached-heres-why/2017/05/13/82ce2ea4-374d-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html?utm_term=.f27bbfbf4084

More:

"If he was firing him to shut him up that could be obstruction of justice, or if he did it to impede the investigation..."

-Susan Bloch, Georgetown law professor

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/12/trump-comey-admission-obstruction-justice-debate-238339

"If he didn't obstruct justice, [Trump] is walking right up to the line in an incredibly reckless way. He admitted that he was concerned about the Russia investigation. ... Just because it is legal to fire Comey does not end the analysis, It is legal to throw one's own computer in the river. But if the reason you are throwing that computer in the river is because of damaging information that you have reason to know the government is seeking as part of a criminal investigation and you are trying to hide, you have an obstruction of justice case."

-Peter Zeidenberg, former federal prosecutor now with law firm Arent Fox

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/12/trump-comey-admission-obstruction-justice-debate-238339

"...Public officials shouldn't get a carte blanche to take any action regardless of their intent. ... If the president did this specifically to impede the investigation, you could look at obstruction as a proper charge."

-Jeff Cramer, former federal prosecutor

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/12/trump-comey-admission-obstruction-justice-debate-238339

Do I think that one statement is the basis for an obstruction of justice charge? No. Do I think that one statement is part of the basis for an obstruction of justice charge? Yes.

[jberryhill]

15. Depends on context of what "basis" is

Having enough evidence of "probable cause for a charge" and having enough evidence "to reliably secure a conviction", are two different things.

It's common for the concepts of "evidence" and "proof" to be conflated by lawyers, let alone non-lawyers.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. Would you agree the statement was reckless, imprudent, and only invites further scrutiny...

Would you agree the statement was reckless, imprudent and only invites further scrutiny, and could only be made by someone who is ignorant of the law or who thinks he or she is above it ?

[jberryhill]

18. Abso-fucking-lutely

[DemocratSinceBirth]

19. I do not expect the GOP Congress to check him.

My hope is we regain the House in 018 , begin impeachment proceedings, and slow walk the process through the 2020 election.

Do you think the GOP flacks who say there is absolutely no there there are ignorant or disingenuous?

We know his associates have been talking to the Russians. We don't know what they were taking about though we have a rough idea with Flynn. So the question is was what they were taking about actionable and did they discuss it with Trump.

We also need to know what dealings Trump himself has.

[jberryhill]

20. I think enough are going to start inching away slowly

They are waiting to see if this whole "Trump is insane" thing is just going to blow over.

As if.

Then there are the ones who are themselves compromised.

But I don't see him lasting until 2019.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. Do you believe they will impeach him ? Do you believe he will walk away without a fight?

[jberryhill]

24. The weirdest job I ever did...

...was when a client was doing a swimsuit calendar and video shoot at a swinger's resort in the Caribbean. He invited me to come down to deal with some contractual issues related to the production and so, yeah, I hung out for a couple of days at a swinger's resort in the Caribbean, of all things.

I had just arrived, unpacked, and was hanging out at the bar waiting to meet the client and the production crew, and from a stage on the other side of the bar/dining complex, someone was announcing some kind of contest or whatever that was drawing people over to that area.

I asked some guy at the bar, "What's going on over there?" as he was getting up to go over to participate in whatever it was, and he said, I shit you not:

"I don't know, but I hope it's something dirty!"

That's about where I am right now.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. Our president: The man who received 80% of the Evangelical vote and spoke at Liberty University

“I would watch supermodels getting screwed, well-known supermodels getting screwed, on a bench in the middle of the (Studio 54) room.”

[jberryhill]

26. It's just hard to think of what his excuse for resigning would be

Because "I wanted to spend more time with my family" is certainly not going to cut it.

[Madam45for2923]

9. and his tweet threatening Comey.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. I forgot that.

That would fall under witness intimidation.

[Madam45for2923]

11. Question: Why would Trump threaten Comey in his tweet? What was he trying 2 accomplish.

Question:

Why would Trump threaten Comey in his tweet? Really, really? What was he trying to accomplish?

What exactly did that tweet mean. You better hope there are no recordings,,,, blah blah blah.

What is he telling him to do or not do?

[Mme. Defarge]

13. Like everything else he does

he did it on impulse thinking it was a real "gotcha".

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. I want to hear from Comey.

Chump and his associates have trashed him, have accused him of "atrocities." That's just wrong.

[jberryhill]

17. The argument would be this

1. Is Comey a witness in any proceeding? No.

2. Was Comey warned about anything having to do with testifying? No.

3. What was he being warned about? Leaking. Is it illegal to warn someone against leaking? No.

Now the larger point is one of intimidation generally, but yeah, you'd have to connect some dots.

[MedusaX]

12. If only people had taken this law professor's Creative Speculation seriously in 2016

Donald Trump’s Constitution of One
by Josh Blackman

May 2016

Snip

Trump has already promised that he will knowingly break the law and violate the Constitution.

Free speech?
He will “open up the libel laws” to allow public officials to sue the media, and use the Federal Communications Commission to fine critics.

Private property?
To Trump, eminent domain is a “wonderful thing” and is not actually “taking property” because the owner can move “two blocks away.”

Faithfully executing the law?
His harebrained scheme to make Mexico pay for the border wall ignores the clear text of a statute and unilaterally prohibits foreign commerce.

Serving as commander in chief?
Trump has already pledged that he would violate international treaties and domestic law. The military “won’t refuse” his illegal orders. “Believe me,” he promised.

Protecting our national security? Trump has lauded FDR’s internment of Japanese Americans, one of the darkest hours in the history of our Republic.

And what about the Supreme Court?
Assuming he keeps his promise to appoint conservative jurists — and that this promise is not merely a negotiating tactic — Trump’s approach would likely mirror that of George W. Bush:
appoint justices who will defer to bold assertions of federal power.

Snip

The glue that holds our Republic together is the separation of powers — something the presumptive Republican nominee seems utterly unconcerned with.
Perhaps I can illustrate the separation of powers with an image even Mr. Trump will understand: a wall.
The separation of powers exist between the three branches to block one faction from abusing and exploiting the other.

Snip

In such a regime, our most fundamental freedoms are in jeopardy.
However, under Donald Trump’s constitution of one, there would be no wall.
There would simply be a Boardwalk Emperor, unconstrained by the rule of law, who will do something terrific . Sad.

Snip

[annabanana]

22. This came as no surprise to anyone who has watched this guy

over the course of a few years..

. . . walking disaster

[mountain grammy]

23. He opens his mouth and words fall out. I don't think he

thinks through what he says. I don't think he thinks at all.

He fired the person investigating him. That's obstruction. What else can it be?

[aikoaiko]

27. Could be or he was trying to say the investigation was moot or irrelevant....

...and, therefore, it was ok to fire Comey.

[Eliot Rosewater]

28. Even with the indictment apparently coming at him, for HIM, it wont matter if the GOP

wont impeach
he cant be indicted, so to speak, as president

GOP really no longer are patriots, I know I say this several times a day, but it is a fact.

If he is indicted and they dont impeach, then we are at a point where something must be done and I dont want to think about that.

[unblock]

29. More damning was his public plea to Russia to commit espionage for his personal gain