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| So does this mean I'm not going to get those additional resources? |
Days before he was fired, James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, asked the Justice Department for a significant increase in resources for the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election, according to four congressional officials, including Senator Richard J. Durbin.
Mr. Comey made his appeal to Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, who also wrote the Justice Department’s memo that was used to justify the firing of Mr. Comey this week, the officials said.
“I’m told that as soon as Rosenstein arrived, there was a request for additional resources for the investigation and that a few days afterwards, he was sacked,” said Mr. Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois. “I think the Comey operation was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives, and this was an effort to slow down the investigation.”
Wait, you mean James Comey WASN'T fired because he was mean to Hillary?
Now of course the Justice Department is denying that Comey asked for additional resources.
You know, the Justice Department that is now run by that paragon of truthfulness Jeff Beauregard Sessions.
Another reason trotted out by White House aides was that Comey refused to provide Trump a preview of the testimony he was planning to give before the Senate last week:
Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had wanted a heads-up from Comey about what he would say at a May 3 hearing about his handling of an investigation into former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.
When Comey refused, Trump and his aides considered that an act of insubordination and it was one of the catalysts to Trump’s decision this week to fire the FBI director, the officials said.
"It gave the impression that he was no longer capable of carrying out his duties," one official said. Previews of congressional testimony to superiors are generally considered courteous.
It should also be remembered that Comey HAD been scheduled to appear before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence this week, however now there is confusion as to whether the acting director, Andrew McCabe, or Comey will take the stand, depending on who you ask.
(Personally I would assume that the Democrats want to hear testimony from Comey now more than ever.)
In the meantime the calls for a special persecutor are being shouted from the rooftops, while the Republicans attempt to deny the need for one:
McConnell dismissed calls by Democrats — joined by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) — for the appointment of a special prosecutor or independent commission to investigate Russia’s influence in the Trump campaign, which the FBI is now investigating.
He argued that the Senate Intelligence Committee is already reviewing the matter, as is the FBI, and empowering another investigative authority could hamper their work.
“Today we’ll do doubt hear calls for a new investigation, which could only serve to impede the current work being done to not only discover what the Russians may have done [but] also to let this body and the national security community develop countermeasures and war-fighting doctrine to see that it doesn’t occur again,” McConnell said.
Methinks that someone doth protest too much.
There are also currently some fairly well known names being floated as possible replacements for Comey.
Trey "Benghazi" Gowdy, Rudy "9-11, 9-11, 9-11" Giuliani, Chris "Bridge-gate" Christie, or Ray "Stop and Frisk" Kelly. Oh yeah, those are certainly the folks I would choose to conduct a nonpartisan investigation into a Republican president's possible criminal ties to Russia.Sources: @ChrisChristie, Rudy Giuliani, @TGowdySC, and Ray Kelly on FBI director short list. http://pic.twitter.com/NcTcOMh8WK— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 10, 2017
Of course all of this might be academic as some Democrats are signaling that they will not confirm ANY new FBI Director candidates until they get a special prosecutor assigned to this case.
More popcorn anyone?
Update: Comey's letter to his friends and fellow agents.
READ: James Comey's farewell letter to friends and agents https://t.co/d1GuPWRREQ http://pic.twitter.com/UCNbZl3b1v— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 11, 2017
Source http://ift.tt/2pAURjF
