In a Private Dinner, Trump Demanded Loyalty. Comey Demurred.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

Source: NYT

WASHINGTON — Only seven days after Donald J. Trump was sworn in as president, James B. Comey has told associates, the F.B.I. director was summoned to the White House for a one-on-one dinner with the new commander in chief.

The conversation that night in January, Mr. Comey now believes, was a harbinger of his downfall this week as head of the F.B.I., according to two people who have heard his account of the dinner.

As they ate, the president and Mr. Comey made small talk about the election and the crowd sizes at Mr. Trump’s rallies. The president then turned the conversation to whether Mr. Comey would pledge his loyalty to him.

Mr. Comey declined to make that pledge. Instead, Mr. Comey has recounted to others, he told Mr. Trump that he would always be honest with him, but that he was not “reliable” in the conventional political sense.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/us/politics/trump-comey-firing.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

[drray23]

1. like a mafia don.

Maybe we will find that Trump is actually a mafia boss running part of new york underground...im only half kidding.

[groundloop]

2. He certainly has shady connections... whether it's the New York mob or Russian mob.

[canetoad]

17. Don't forget Rudy

And the NY FBI field office. They're in it up to their scrawny necks.

[murielm99]

24. I think most mafia bosses

are smarter than 45. They have to be, just to stay alive.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. "It's me or The Constitution. You can't have both."

[elleng]

4. U.S. Government employees' Oath:

I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

5 U.S.C. §3331

[Best_man23]

22. Anyone working in the Government

Needs to remember, they support and defend the Constitution, NOT tRump.

[dalton99a]

5. Since Trump runs the government like a crime family, he should start enforcing a blood oath

[Judi Lynn]

6. Trump would have to tie sane folks to a chair to make them listen to yammering about crowd sizes.

Having Trump demanding a loyalty oath to him could bring on a spontaneous human combustion.

[center]

[bucolic_frolic]

7. Face it

Comey is highly intelligent, he sees the nuanced shades of gray in everything.

Of course he's not going to tell anyone they're under investigation. That would
tip them off. It's like stopping at a speed trap and asking if they're clocking you.

Yet some dunce just doesn't understand it.

[Plucketeer]

13. I'm not Comey..... but if I were IN his shoes

I'd have NO trouble lying to Trump about whether or not he was being investigated. We're talking TREASON of the highest order here - handing over the keys to a dogged foe. A foe that laughs at the argument for human rights. "No, Mr. President. We're not looking into ANY of your transgressions against Americans and their country! What an absurd thing to ask about."

[bucolic_frolic]

14. Yes, you're right

An FBI Director worth his salt would either demur or do explicitly what you suggest.
Anyone asking the question would know enough not to ask the question unless they
were up to no good. And they'd know they don't deserve a straight answer because
the job is not about loyalty, it's about rule of law.

[yurbud]

31. except Hillary, publicly

[bagimin]

8. Isn't there a law against that crap? n/t

[zentrum]

9. So glad this is coming

...out.

It means however, that all the other guys who are still there did swear loyalty. Like Sessions. And his second in command. If McCabe sticks around---then I would assume he's "loyal".

[ProudProgressiveNow]

18. +1 nt

[NCjack]

10. never meet with Trump alone -- may need a witness to the conversation. nt

[winstars]

11. Remember, the Nazi's DIDN'T say "Heil Germany" ..................tRump: Heil Myself!!!

[dflprincess]

12. It sounds like a scene from "The Godfather"

I wonder if Trump expected Comey to kiss his ring as well.

[AgadorSparticus]

21. No kidding!! I thought that too. Trump is just pathological!

[deurbano]

15. Comey is such a hypocrite. He felt compelled to abandon all precedent

by interjecting himself (front and center) into the email investigation after Lynch had a private conversation with Bill (not Hillary) Clinton when they happened to be at the same airport... but this upstanding public servant accepts an invitation to a private dinner with the guy whose campaign is the subject of an FBI investigation?

[zentrum]

20. Good points.

I've never "met" a head of the FBI I trusted, frankly. Each, in their own unique way, are problematic. And rarely stand for real justice, IMO, but rather for the powers that be.

[pangaia]

16. OMG I just read the entire article, It is absolutely hysterical !!!!

Huckabee might just be stupider than whats her face from Wasilla..

[ProudProgressiveNow]

19. Wehrmacht swear 'Oath of Loyalty' to Hitler

[kskiska]

23. The White House Chief Usher that he fired

probably refused to sign his loyalty oath, too.

[L. Coyote]

25. K & R - and thanks for not substituting a bogus, click-bait headline.

I get enough fake news from Trump

[DeminPennswoods]

26. It's an easy call whether to believe Comey or Trump

Comey's made is share of missteps, but imho, he's honest. Trump, otoh, says whatever he thinks will make him look good right then and has been repeatedly proven he lies, probably pathologically.

[videohead5]

27. Comey Never Told Trump

He was not under investigation.according to Brian Williams on MSNBC tonight.this was from someone that knew Comey.

[bettyellen]

28. Trump also said it was from committee meetings and other people-

So basically he's watching TV and regurgitating FOX spin as if it actually happened. Crazy, isn't it?

[Honeycombe8]

29. Comey's a very smart, astute man to have answered that way.

I'm sure the question caught him by surprise.

[mr_lebowski]

30. I think a whole article could be written over the word choice of 'demurred' in this context.

Why? Because ...

1) WAY fewer people know the meaning of the word 'demurred' vs. the far more accurate 'Declined' or even better 'Said No'.
2) Even people who are fully aware of it's meaning should recognize it's a 'weasel word' in this context. Based on the headline, you have no idea if it means 'he did' or 'he didnt' ... promise his loyalty. Because 'demurred' works as a descriptor in EITHER CASE.

It's like this kind of headline: "Blockbuster Proof: Asked if He was Alien From Other Planet, Obama Once Replied 'Oh You Know It!'"

I find this kind of click-bait-headline-crafting despicable and am so sick of this kind of manipulation from our corporate media.