Yes, we listened to the Comey testimony today.
We couldn't actually watch it because we are on the road, literally riding through Yellowtone and the Grand Tetons. But we listened as we drove.
And since we didn't watch we had to really listen closely and we heard every word.
Here's what we got out of it:
1) Again, Comey confirmed that he did indeed tell President Trump that he was neither the subject nor the target of an investigation. He did that on three different occasions, just as Trump said he did.
2) Former AG Loretta Lynch asked Comey NOT to call the investigation of Hillary Clinton an investigation but rather to refer to it as a MATTER. Comey complied. Why? Apparently, he didnt want to lock horns with Lynch and he thought it would be "easier" that way.
3) Comey was apparently awkward and uncomfortable around Trump. One gets the impression he really doesn't like Trump, dpoesn't trust him, indeed, was never inclined to like him or trust him. He didn't even want to be left alone in a room with Trump.
4) Comey said Trump told him he HOPED Comey could find his way clear to exonerate Flynn. Comey took that as a directive from the President and took offense to it. But it wasn't by any means a direct order. It was the expression of a HOPE. Comey appeared to be threatened by that and (as with other meetings with Trump) Comey immediately memorialized this conversation and its details in the form of a memo which he began to write in his car.
5) Comey says Trump asked him to announce that he (Trump) was not the subject of an investigation. Even though Comey went out of his way to clear Hillary Clinton (and agreed not to refer to the investigation for what it was) he would not clear Trump.
6) Among the many details that leaked from Comey and his office, the fact that he told Trump on three occasiions that he was not the subject of an investigation somehow never leaked.
7) Comey woke up in the middle of the night afraid that Trump had taped their conversations. So, he decided to leak his own memos about his conversations with Trump to cover his own ass. Comey also seemed to hope that this would result in the appointment of a special counsel.
8) Comey had no real explanation for why he didn't come forward and report that he apparently felt that Trump had effectively asked him to obstruct justice.
9) Comey isn't quite sure that an FBI official or similar law enforcement officer would have an obligation to report a violation of the law or suspected violation of the law if he/she knew about it.
10) One of Comey's meetings with President Trump (a dinner meeting which Trump requested) was on a night when Comey had a date with his wife. Comey was really upset about having to miss that date with his wife because he really, really liked to be with his wife.
11) Once the whole Comey imbriglio and the prblems with Trump broke open, Comey ran away and went into hiding -- but not before he could leak the CYA memos via an Ivy League law school professor.
Comey is manipulative, calculating and endlessly self-serving.
Bottom Line: Comey mishandled things, badly. Comey's boss (The President of the United States) wasn't happy about it. Comey's boss fired him. Comey was hurt and angry. So, Comey bitch slapped his boss.
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