If elected, Clinton faces awkward coexistence with Comey

[webfact]

If elected, Clinton faces awkward coexistence with Comey

By ERIC TUCKER

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The relationship between James Comey and Hillary Clinton was never going to be tension-free, not when Comey's FBI had conducted an election-year criminal investigation into the Democratic presidential candidate's email practices.

 

But Comey's sudden announcement to Congress that FBI agents would review new emails that may be connected to that dormant investigation revives questions about how Clinton, if elected, would coexist with the independent-minded FBI director. Comey has shown a willingness to break with the White House and has been critical of her handling of sensitive information as secretary of state.

 

The FBI director is appointed to 10-year terms, to avoid any appearance of political influence. Comey took over in September 2013, meaning he still would be on the job if Clinton is sworn into office in January. That could raise the prospect of an unmistakably fragile dynamic, but it probably would not be any easier if Republican Donald Trump won, given his criticism of the FBI after Comey's recommendation in July against prosecuting Clinton in the email matter.

 

"There needs to be a mutual trust between a president and an FBI director given the importance of that post," said Jamie Gorelick, deputy attorney general during former President Bill Clinton's administration.

 

Ron Hosko, a former assistant FBI director under Comey, said he envisioned a "very, very difficult relationship," but Comey's ability to compartmentalize his duties would enable him to keep doing his job.

 

"Could Jim Comey go over to the White House and brief on terrorism intelligence or a terrorism strike, and what the bureau is doing about it or has done about it, and keep that in a separate box? Yes," Hosko said.

 

Clinton and her campaign have aggressively challenged the FBI to release more information about the emails, presumably because they believe a fuller portrait would prove exculpatory. Clinton on Saturday called it "pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election." Her campaign chairman, John Podesta, called the letter an "unprecedented step" that cried out for more clarity.

 

Comey acknowledged in a memo Friday that his letter created the risk of being misunderstood so close to the Nov. 8 election. But he said he felt obligated to alert Congress to the new emails, which surfaced during an unrelated criminal sexting investigation involving former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., after having previously told lawmakers that the email investigation had been concluded. Keeping the emails secret until after the election carried its own political risks.

 

It's not clear when the emails will be reviewed, what they're about, whether they contain classified information or how they're connected to the Clinton investigation, which examined the mishandling of classified information on her private server. Comey could not guarantee that the review would be done by Election Day.

 

Conflict between a president and an FBI director is not without precedent.

 

Bill Clinton had a notoriously tense relationship with his FBI director, Louis Freeh. Clinton devoted multiple paragraphs in his 2004 memoir to castigating Freeh for various decisions, including the recommendation to Attorney General Janet Reno that she name an independent counsel in connection with a campaign finance imbroglio.

 

Freeh resigned before his 10 years were up, and has said he wore Clinton's criticism as a "badge of honor."

 

When Comey was nominated for the job in 2013, President Barack Obama praised him for his "fierce independence and deep integrity." A former Republican who served as deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush, Comey has said he's no longer registered with a political party.

 

He famously split with the White House in 2004 over the authorization of a domestic surveillance program, leading to a remarkable confrontation in the hospital room of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. Comey called the event "probably the most difficult night of my professional life."

 

As FBI director, he has floated the possibility that police concerns over being recorded on viral videos were causing officers to pull back and contributing to an uptick in homicides, a viewpoint the White House refused to endorse.

 

And the Clinton matter, Comey testified before Congress for more than four hours after announcing his recommendation against prosecution at an FBI headquarters news conference, where he rebuked her and her aides as "extremely careless" in the handling of classified information.

 

On Friday, Comey sent Congress a vaguely worded, three-paragraph letter that went against the counsel of Justice Department leaders, who believed the action was inconsistent with longstanding department policy meant to avoid the appearance of prosecutorial interference in elections.

 

Now, the same independence that's earned Comey bipartisan praise has given way to intense criticism over the timing of his action from Democrats and some Republicans.

 

Hosko said the Clinton team may be tempted to seek Comey's departure out of concern that the FBI will be "on our back" in the future. But he said that would be a foolish decision.

 

"If I replace him, replace him with who?" he said. "Someone who's going to tank it? How's that going to play?"

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-10-31

[Ulysses G.]

Hopefully she will never be elected and the awkward coexistence will not be necessary. I am pretty sure that Trump will be forgiving under the circumstances. 

 

 

[Boon Mee]

7 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

Hopefully she will never be elected and the awkward coexistence will not be necessary. I am pretty sure that Trump will be forgiving under the circumstances. 

 

 

Forgiving if Comey gets hot on the 650,000 new emails found on that computer.

[Ulysses G.]

LOTS of new evidence to examine.

[Boon Mee]

41 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

LOTS of new evidence to examine.

42 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

Anthony Weiner has given permission to the FBI to search computer, no warrant needed.

Bret Baier of Fox News also reported that the NY FBI has had this information for a few weeks but tensions were building within the FBI for the release to happen sooner

http://regated.com/2016/10/anthony-weiner-permission-fbi/

Edited October 31, 2016 by Boon Mee

[iReason]

Whatta surprise!

 

The tag team ala Bloviator is on the story just 7 minutes after it was posted.

[Laughing Gravy]

I feel sorry for the Americans having a choice of just two extremely poor moral characters in Clinton and Trump to have them as leaders of the country. Surely there must have been some better choices, unless the plan from the ruling elite was just that. Two characters with no morals who will do the bidding whatever is required.

[keemapoot]

The only way Clinton will not be elected is if Comey can find a silver bullet in those emails that would unequivocally compel the Department of Justice to convene a Grand Jury for Clinton's indictment. And, this has to happen in the next 8 days. Barring that historical and extraordinary event, Clinton will be the next POTUS.

 

And, Clinton will have Comey reassigned to meter maid or walking a beat in front of the White House daily with a Dunce sign around his neck, with hourly tarring and feathering ceremonies for tourists to see.

[Rob13]

Whether they find anything or not, Comeys out of line on this,  he may bring Hilary down but he'll end up going with her.

[Pimay1]

22 minutes ago, Rob13 said:

Whether they find anything or not, Comeys out of line on this,  he may bring Hilary down but he'll end up going with her.

Which would be a personal sacrifice for the greater good.

[silent]

2 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Hopefully she will never be elected and the awkward coexistence will not be necessary. I am pretty sure that Trump will be forgiving under the circumstances. 

 

 

It's safe to say he's likely banking on that.

[keemapoot]

Just now, silent said:

It's safe to say he's likely banking on that.

 

Yes, but that is too large a risk unless there is an email in there that is absolutely stunningly compelling, damning and shows criminal culpability beyond any doubt whatsoever. Even then, there is not enough time to get a grand jury convened, even assuming Democrat Lynch agrees to do so. 

 

Failing that, he has an exit plan already worked out, and guarantees of a soft landing provided by somebody with the means to do so.

[silent]

Actually, unless I missed something there, I agree that he's in a very awkward position of damned if he did and damned if he didn't depending on who wins now, thanks mostly to a depraved laptop dancing, sexting hot dog. 

 

It's never been easy to display the scrupulous ethics that the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation must have to play both ends against the middle sind the founder J Edgar was found to have been living within his own closet.

[hawker9000]

Horsefeathers.  She'll discover executive orders and those 10yr terms will be history...   He can either retire, or she'll find a nice, safe consulate billet for him (she's good at that).

 

 

[Baerboxer]

Will AG Lynch be "accidentally on purpose" bumping in to Bill Clinton at some airport runway or other again? And discussing the weather, families, the World Series, who fart's loudest etc. But of course, never mentioning this latest development.

[Anthony5]

15 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

Horsefeathers.  She'll discover executive orders and those 10yr terms will be history...   He can either retire, or she'll find a nice, safe consulate billet for him (she's good at that).

 

 

 

You think she's good at consulates and embassies?

 

Not sure if Chris Steven's family agree with that.

[elgordo38]

I think he serves at the president's pleasure Obama may even pull the plug on him before he leaves the White House. I think the Republicans made a mistake by forcing this out into the open. They should have let Hillary become president and then brought out their impeachment game for the next 4 years. Short term pain instead of long term gain. 

Edited October 31, 2016 by elgordo38

[SaintLouisBlues]

3 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

 I think the Republicans made a mistake by forcing this out into the open.

You believe there's an entity called the Republican Party that can any longer speak with one voice and have one coherent strategy? That's very bold

[elgordo38]

1 minute ago, SaintLouisBlues said:

You believe there's an entity called the Republican Party that can any longer speak with one voice and have one coherent strategy? That's very bold

What can I say your right. Its no longer about governing but its like a cock fight in a pit. Which side is your money on? Until a multi party system is adapted its fiddle dee or fiddle dum both members of the twiddle your fingers party. 

[simple1]

3 hours ago, Anthony5 said:

 

You think she's good at consulates and embassies?

 

Not sure if Chris Steven's family agree with that.

 

Chris Stevens’s Family: Don’t Blame Hillary Clinton for Benghazi

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/chris-stevenss-family-dont-blame-hillary-clinton-for-benghazi

[SaintLouisBlues]

1 minute ago, elgordo38 said:

Which side is your money on? 

I held my nose and voted Democrat. I'm not interested in having a rapist as US President

[bendejo]

A president named Clinton up against a series of special prosecutors, sounds familiar....

One thing both of them have proved is they can handle all the nutty crap thrown at them and still be functional and do their duties. 

I'm really hoping the GOP loses the Senate and that damned walrus (McConnell) gets his trap shut.

 

 

[watcharacters]

15 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

I think he serves at the president's pleasure Obama may even pull the plug on him before he leaves the White House. I think the Republicans made a mistake by forcing this out into the open. They should have let Hillary become president and then brought out their impeachment game for the next 4 years. Short term pain instead of long term gain. 

 

 

I can't see the benefit to anyone if that scenario played out.

[arend]

7 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

Hopefully she will never be elected and the awkward coexistence will not be necessary. I am pretty sure that Trump will be forgiving under the circumstances. 

 

 

Delusional...  “Get even with people. If they screw you, screw them back 10 times as hard. I really believe that,”  Donald Trump  ( speech in Sydney in October 2011)

Edited October 31, 2016 by arend

[boomerangutang]

It would seem that well over 95% of voters have decided already.   Already millions have voted.  If this latest issue is a game changer for some voters, then they probably wanted to vote for Trump anyway, and were just looking for the flimsiest excuse to do so.

 

Barring a miracle, Trump can't win.  The numbers aren't there.  The states that were 'battleground' 3 months ago are going for HRC.  Now there are a new set of states that are 'battleground' and even if Trump won all the newly 'battleground' states, he still comes up short.  

 

I can understand that Trump fans are eagerly hoping there will be some dirt in the latest tranche of emails.  That's about all they have to hope for, because Trump is asleep-at-the-wheel re; tangible policy suggestions.  He can shout for weeks about "you will be sooooo happy with me, believe me", but all but a few voters will be impressed with such vacuous fluff.  It may have worked when he was proposing to pretty women in order to screw them, but it won't work with the majority of American voters - who he also wants to screw.

[Jingthing]

6 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

I feel sorry for the Americans having a choice of just two extremely poor moral characters in Clinton and Trump to have them as leaders of the country. Surely there must have been some better choices, unless the plan from the ruling elite was just that. Two characters with no morals who will do the bidding whatever is required.

It's too late to change the choices and the equivalence argument is bunk. trump is a much, much worse choice for president and I'm still confident that'll be reflected in the election results. 

[Laughing Gravy]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

It's too late to change the choices and the equivalence argument is bunk. trump is a much, much worse choice for president and I'm still confident that'll be reflected in the election results. 

I wouldn't disagree that it is too late. I have always believed Hilary was going to win. How on earth can you get someone who is absolutely despicable, hated by her own party and get them into the Whitehouse. simple. get an opponent who is as despicable, who can't help himself with his mouth, has as many skeletons in his closet as Clinton and will to the last day continually cause confrontation. So that's how you do it. you get Donald Trump in as her opponent.

[sgtsabai]

Ah, the FBI still doesn't even have a warrent to open the emails. I'm no Clinton fan, despise her, dispise the neo-fascist orange monster even more and no I didn't vote for her, Jill Stein. Perhaps some people should read a bit on the real situtation. BTW the latest from FiveThirtyEights has nothing on the effects if any of Comey's screw up because there are no polls out to consider but they don't see any significant change. .

https://www.yahoo.com/news/comey-wrote-bombshell-letter-to-congress-before-fbi-had-reviewed-new-emails-220219586.html   http://www.newsweek.com/hillary-clinton-emails-fbi-comey-donald-trump-anthony-weiner-huma-abedin-514918   http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/29/james-comey-stands-tall-and-alone-in-a-tight-corner-in-clinton-email-mess.html   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/29/fbi-guilty-political-act-crucial-moment   https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-officials-warned-fbi-that-comeys-decision-to-update-congress-was-not-consistent-with-department-policy/2016/10/29/cb179254-9de7-11e6-b3c9-f662adaa0048_story.html  this next one is a little confusing to me because I didn't know Cheney/Bush et al had any ethics what so ever.  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/opinion/on-clinton-emails-did-the-fbi-director-abuse-his-power.html?_r=0

[thaihome]

4 minutes ago, sgtsabai said:

Ah, the FBI still doesn't even have a warrent to open the emails. I'm no Clinton fan, despise her, dispise the neo-fascist orange monster even more and no I didn't vote for her, Jill Stein. Perhaps some people should read a bit on the real situtation. BTW the latest from FiveThirtyEights has nothing on the effects if any of Comey's screw up because there are no polls out to consider but they don't see any significant change. .

https://www.yahoo.com/news/comey-wrote-bombshell-letter-to-congress-before-fbi-had-reviewed-new-emails-220219586.html   http://www.newsweek.com/hillary-clinton-emails-fbi-comey-donald-trump-anthony-weiner-huma-abedin-514918   http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/29/james-comey-stands-tall-and-alone-in-a-tight-corner-in-clinton-email-mess.html   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/29/fbi-guilty-political-act-crucial-moment   https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-officials-warned-fbi-that-comeys-decision-to-update-congress-was-not-consistent-with-department-policy/2016/10/29/cb179254-9de7-11e6-b3c9-f662adaa0048_story.html  this next one is a little confusing to me because I didn't know Cheney/Bush et al had any ethics what so ever.  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/opinion/on-clinton-emails-did-the-fbi-director-abuse-his-power.html?_r=0

 

Apparently they got the new search warrant on Sunday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/31/us/politics/justice-department-warrant-clinton-abedin-fbi.html

 

TH 

[Linzz]

12 hours ago, iReason said:

Whatta surprise!

 

The tag team ala Bloviator is on the story just 7 minutes after it was posted.

 

Yours was posted at the same time. Whatta surprise!