Cover-up : the Comey edition

 

 

As the Russia investigation was unfolding, a finding of Comey grossly exaggerating on Hillary emails became the story, and the bright bulbs at the WH thought it was their moment to fire him, doing it like this

Comey learned of firing as he addressed FBI employees in LA. TV screens in background flashed news of firing. Letter was then given to FBI.

— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) May 9, 2017

earning them this page one in the NYT

The front page of The New York Times for Wednesday, May 10, 2017 pic.twitter.com/umbYQ6HM05

— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 10, 2017

and from Daily News

Tomorrow's front:

COUP de TRUMP https://t.co/WDlDlbspsh
🔴 Prez ousts FBI boss amid Russia probe
🔴 Dems claim sabotage, Don cites Hil fiasco pic.twitter.com/pfaPGH23b5

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 10, 2017

how it was reported in China

#BREAKING The @WhiteHouse released a statement Tuesday saying that FBI director James Comey has been fired. pic.twitter.com/rgWs5iYVDf

— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) May 9, 2017

mostly because

Trump aides grew frustrated that Comey, in Russia probe, wouldn't "say those three little words: 'There's no ties'" https://t.co/eUY6D7edEl

— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) May 10, 2017

also

Trump weighed firing for at least a week, has grown increasingly angry about probe, occasionally screaming at TV. https://t.co/vh6Pva4pmG

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) May 10, 2017

a retrospective

James Comey’s Tumultuous F.B.I. Tenure, in Headlines https://t.co/imIe1CVmqT

— Malou Innocent (@malouinnocent) May 9, 2017

and this piece recommended by Brian Fallon

what happened in effect was that

Remember AG Sessions, who recused himself from Russia investigation, has fired the leader of that investigation, Director Comey

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) May 9, 2017

it was a cover  looking for a cover

WH and DOJ had been working on firing Comey since at least last week. Sessions had been working to come up with reasons.

— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) May 9, 2017

that deep

https://twitter.com/PfeifferDC/status/862093060884312068

in spite of the fact that back in November, Sessions said this

Trump aides grew frustrated that Comey, in Russia probe, wouldn't "say those three little words: 'There's no ties'" https://t.co/eUY6D7edEl

— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) May 10, 2017

and at odds with his letter

Hard to believe you fired your FBI Dir. over the Clinton investigation when your termination letter only cites the Russia investigation. pic.twitter.com/8wlxB0a9gr

— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) May 10, 2017

even surprised the keen observers

I've thought all along that Trump was a legitimacy crisis waiting to happen. But so soon, so dramatically? Wow.

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) May 9, 2017

and all the memories, considering the pretext was his bad attitude towards Hillary

Last Tuesday: https://t.co/kdgE9yOwPv

— Ethan Klapper (@ethanklapper) May 9, 2017

they liked it

Russia's state media seem happy https://t.co/5nt7BBTzFN

— Marc Burleigh (@marcburleigh) May 9, 2017

and 🍊

https://twitter.com/FridaGhitis/status/862141057328447493

From Hillary’s campaign

I'm not shedding any tears for Comey personally -he hurt FBI's reputation- but I do worry whether we ever get to the bottom of Russia now

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) May 9, 2017

and dems in Senate

What's the reaction from Senate Dems doing the Russia probe? "Really pissed and Holy Shit," says one senior aide.

— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) May 9, 2017

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/86208886120327987

more memories

Pres. Trump greets FBI Director James Comey during First Responders ceremony at the White House: "He's become more famous than me." pic.twitter.com/9Rdgyqi1iM

— ABC News (@ABC) January 22, 2017

and

**whispers**
You broke my heart, Fredo.. pic.twitter.com/fn3DeBmM9I

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) May 9, 2017

But don’t worry folks, he got a letter from his lawyer

the president's personal lawyer approves! pic.twitter.com/YbrVossuSv

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) May 9, 2017

because that’s how smart they are

Source w knowledge of wh discussions tells me senior officials did not think firing james comey would be a big political explosion.

— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) May 9, 2017

they thought this would do it

https://twitter.com/brfreed/status/862073153094377472

or as he said

If the White House staff thought firing the FBI Director wouldn't be a big deal, they are too dumb to work in the White House https://t.co/enhCOf3geA

— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) May 10, 2017

Hillary people again, clearing the message

This is the headline Trump wants. It's inaccurate. We're not defending Comey. We're calling out Trump for trying to block Russia probe. https://t.co/grjcv6hrci

— Robby Mook (@RobbyMook) May 10, 2017

and my entire tweeter feed looked like this yesterday

pic.twitter.com/wEHtozF4r0

— Miss Texas 1967 (@MsTexas1967) May 10, 2017

also

https://twitter.com/joekeene/status/862121537293488128

So much so, Nixon Library weighed in

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/10/comey-firing-trump-russia-238192

this is an interesting coincidence

Same day he fires FBI Director #Comey https://t.co/okbTsGbsWA

— Jim Ludes (@JMLudes) May 10, 2017

some background info on the players

THREAD: The key player here is Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Rosenstein. I spent 5 yrs in the DAG’s office under Obama. Please indulge me.

— Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) May 10, 2017

but in the end, they weren’t able to shut it all down

BREAKING: CNN is reporting that a grand jury has issued subpoenas in the investigation into Trump-Russia collusion. This is *very* big news.

— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) May 10, 2017

000💃💃💃

And Sally Yates showed us their treason

lso

In spite WH efforts to shut down this testimony

https://twitter.com/Marmel/status/861639580910362633

and in spite intimidating tweets from 🍊

‘The president is threatening a witness’: CNN analyst @JeffreyToobin slams Trump’s ‘disturbing’ Sally Yates tweets. https://t.co/C7w05dkhou pic.twitter.com/jIoaZRdygN

— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) May 8, 2017

she came and was awesome!

Republicans tried to talk about anything else, but got put in their place

Ted Cruz tries “I know statutes” with Yates on the travel ban. Yates claps back and whips out a statute of her own. pic.twitter.com/NRjg54mIwy

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 8, 2017

or, put in emojis

lol pic.twitter.com/d3Xi2rSB69

— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) May 8, 2017

and this guy showed us his dumb

Oh man, in this one, the crowd literally laughs at @SenJohnKennedy after he asks Clapper if he's ever leaked *unclassified* information. pic.twitter.com/D4ySP1kYZv

— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) May 8, 2017

We learned that her firing was for Flynn, not the ban as everyone thought

Remember, Michael Flynn resigned for lying exactly 2 weeks after Sally Yates was fired for telling the truth. Graphic by @penndragonArt pic.twitter.com/DtEvoi2n52

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) May 8, 2017

and it went like this

https://twitter.com/PiercedSkull/status/861661681784573952

or

https://twitter.com/AdamBlickstein/status/861661798654779393

By the end, republicans just left

Try to find a republican other than Lindsey Graham still at the #SallyYates hearing. pic.twitter.com/z5dlxcl9Jj

— Ted Corcoran (RedTRaccoon) (@RedTRaccoon) May 8, 2017

Also, the same scary conclusion as Comey

Ex-Intel chief James Clapper says Russia will continue to meddle in US elections, "why not? it proved successful" https://t.co/BPPNiuQoV0

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) May 8, 2017

and Franken was one of the highlights as expected

Franken: (God I love this) I get it! Maybe…they're all traitors? Maybe that's why they didn't freak out at this…🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/CZwH6uvCIu

— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) May 8, 2017

Daily Kos has a – mostly Eric Garland – blow by blow recap

000💃💃💃