monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Aha! thanks!

Law enforcement officials, from cops on the street, to prosecuting attorneys in the courtrooms, to agency leaders, to the president have great discretion, widely acknowledged as proper, when deciding what crimes/cases to charge/prosecute.

Flynn lied to Penn when he said he had not discussed sanctions with the russian ambassador. There are suggestions that he may also have lied to the FBI about it--technically a potential crime.

That said, not every crime can be proseuted--the resources just aren't there. Often "crimes" which caused nobody any harm are not charged for just that reason: "No harm, no foul, we have bigger fish to fry."

Comey said he took Trump to be talking about THAT issue (his statements to the FBI about his conversations with the ambassador), not the russian investigation.

As FBI director, Comey had the (proper) discretion to "let Flynn go" on this relatively minor matter. Nothing wrong with Trump expressing what he would like to see done--it happens everyday.

Trump himself said he "assumed" that Flynn was addressing the sanctions issue with the russians, and that if he'd had any prior indication that he was not doing so, the would have told Flynn to bring it up.

Nothing the slightest bit illegal about that. It's just surprising that Flynn thought he should try to hide it.

After 20 minutes reciting the detailed evidence of the extreme carelessness and dishonesty of HRC, Comey concluded that there was no grounds to prosecute.


Now based on hearsay evidence of a conversation which he interpreted in a certain way, he wants us to believe that Trump was obstructing justice.

sent you a pm

He (Comey) didn't say that Finn, but certainly every cheese-eater in the country is saying it, ad nausem.

But your point about Clinton, and the double standard being employed, is certainly quite valid.

No but he certainly implied it.

This week's gold medal winner in the "Trump Administration Demonstrates Exactly How Stupid They Believe Their Base Actually Is". Congratulations!
Mediate

And I guess when reporters asked Josh Earnest about Obama's lies about Obamacare you expected him to say "You're right, the president is a dirty liar!"

Among others, I have made several posts related to Supreme Court decisions and other (statutory) law pertaining to "obstruction of justice." There is simply no conceivable basis for bringing that charge against Trump. Comey knows that, and yet he said "he couldn't say" if Trump was "obstructing justice." If he thought there was any case for that, then why wasn't Trump being "investigated" for it?

There are many indications that Comey himself would have loved, and would still love, to see Trump removed from office.

You're certainly right to point out his prejudices, his personal motives (after being fired), and his goals when speaking about this issue.

Mommy, he did it first!

But you are right, Finn.

The hypocrisy rains down like manna from heaven. Only in direction, not kind.

Precisely.

He could have said "I think it was/wan't obstruction of justice."

He's no longer the FBI Director he can say whatever he believes, but he chose to imply that it was, in part by not answering the direct question.

I've been fired. It sucks, even when you know it was for political reasons, so with this and Trump's stupid tweets and "nut job" comment (assuming that actually happened) I can certainly understand why he loathes the president, but this is a guy who had a long term reputation for integrity. During his testimony he refrained from jumping on the leading questions of Dem Senators but he skillfully painted the picture he wanted to paint and which he knew the MSM would eat up...despite the fact that it is all based on hearsay.

The bit about Trump being a liar was to create a counter-point for him:

"We all know he's a liar so that must mean I'm telling the truth!"

Trump was just spotted at a prayer meeting this afternoon - quoting from the book of Isaiah about liars and lying. His 36% base will eat it up.

Philip Rucker‏Verified account @PhilipRucker 16h16 hours ago
Got a copy of RNC/Trump talking points to fight Comey, distributed to supporters tonight (complete with gifs!). Here are the main points: pic.twitter.com/cifVPGwUks

Ah, so you're one of those Christians who gets to decide whether someone else's faith is genuine or not.

And a perfectly valid counter point it is, isn't it, Finn?

All pretty accurate if you accept that any list of talking points is going to include spin.

To a fool perhaps

Okay, you were trying to make a point, a partisan point but not your usual raging partisanship.

But if you try to deny that Trump isn't a liar, that makes you close to a Trump equal at lying. It would be delusion on a grand scale.

I didn't hear that part of Comey's testimony, but from what I gather, Comey said Trump "lied" when he said that Comey didn't have the full confidence of the rank and file in the FBI.

1. How would Comey know?

2. There are MANY reports from FBI field agents which support Trump's claim, most of it stemming from his (mis)handling of Clinton's e-mail and "pay to play" crimes.