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Trump will not block ex-FBI chief Comey's testimony -White House

REUTERS
 

FILE PHOTO: A combination photo shows U.S. President Donald Trump (L) in the House of Representatives in Washington, U.S., on February 28, 2017 and FBI Director James Comey in Washington U.S. on July 7, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool, Gary Cameron/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will not invoke executive privilege to block former FBI Director James Comey's much-anticipated testimony before Congress this week, his first since Trump abruptly fired him early last month.

 

"In order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey's scheduled testimony," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Monday.

 

Comey was leading a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged Russian meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election and possible collusion by Trump's campaign when the president fired him last month.

 

Presidents can assert executive privilege to prevent government employees from sharing information.

 

If Trump had asserted executive privilege over Comey, it would have likely created the perception that the administration was seeking to hide information about the FBI's Russia investigation.

 

It has been reported that Comey plans to talk about conversations in which Trump pressured him to drop his investigation into former national security advisor Mike Flynn, who was fired for failing to disclose conversations with Russian officials.

 

Both Trump's fellow Republicans and Democrats from the intelligence panel said they intended to grill Comey about whether Trump tried to get him to back off the investigation.

 

Comey's appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its Russia-related investigation will be his first public testimony since his firing on May 9.

 

It is overshadowing other events in Washington, threatening to dampen already flagging momentum for Trump's legislative agenda of rolling back President Barack Obama's healthcare reforms and overhauling the tax code.

 

U.S. intelligence officials have said Russia tried to interfere in the election to sway the vote in Trump's favor, a charge the Kremlin has repeatedly denied. Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and Russia.

 

Comey's appearance will be carried on live television. News stations, including Fox News Channel, will carry the hearing. Variety reported on Monday that at least two U.S. networks, ABC and CBS, had made the unusual decision to break into their daytime programming to carry it.

 

Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, said he expected Comey's testimony would not be his last before Congress.

"I know the Senate Judiciary Committee has made a similar request of Mr. Comey and I support their request," Schumer said in remarks as the Senate reopened on Monday after a weeklong recess.

 

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Julia Edwards Ainsley; additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-06

[darksidedog]

I for one, will be very interested to hear what he has to say. Especially regarding the investigation on Flynn. I suspect Donald will be a worried man this morning, and will be frantically thinking up some tweet denials for later on.

[mtls2005]

NSA head Mike Rogers' testimony this week may be far more alarming, and damaging to the President?

 

There's so much smoke they can't see the fire(s); it's a dumpster fire of epic proportions.

[smotherb]

Smart move. Certainly would have ignited a hailstorm anti-Trump rhetoric if the WH attempted to block Comey's testimony. However, now, Trump can claim lies for any adverse statement Comey makes and cite his allowing Comey to testify as proof--because Trump certainly would have tried to block Comey's testimony if Trump knew Comey was going to try to connect Trump to the Ruskies.  

[YetAnother]

dont see how a president could have legally done this anyway

[jb61]

not a trump fan, but frankly this Russian thing is beginning to bore me.

DNI Clapper - no evidence

ex Dir CIA - Brennon - no evidence

Sen. Feinstein - no evidence

Sen. Shiff - no evidence

 

If you want to hear the truth where all this came from, give a listen to 27 year CIA analyst Ray McGovern (ret)

in a 27 minute interview with several other contributors. Even though he speaks only 3 times,  and states he doesn't think much of

trump, he speaks volumes.

 

[iReason]

33 minutes ago, jb61 said:

not a trump fan, but frankly this Russian thing is beginning to bore me.

DNI Clapper - no evidence

ex Dir CIA - Brennon - no evidence

Sen. Feinstein - no evidence

Sen. Shiff - no evidence

 

"not a trump fan, but..."    

Groan...

 

DNI Clapper - no evidence"

"As you know, the I.C. was a coordinated product from three agencies; CIA, NSA, and the FBI not all 17 components of the intelligence community."

 

"They were given complete, unfettered mutual access to all sensitive raw intelligence data, and importantly, complete independence to reach their findings."

 

"They found that the Russian government pursued a multifaceted influence campaign in the run-up to the election, including aggressive use of cyber capabilities."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05/08/full-transcript-sally-yates-and-james-clapper-testify-on-russian-election-interference/?utm_term=.7db8a0514b30

 

Sally Yates and James Clapper testify before the Senate about Michael Flynn and Russia

"The Intelligence Community Assessment concluded, first, that President Putin directed an influence campaign to erode the faith and confidence of the American people in our presidential election process."

"Second, that he did so to demean Secretary Clinton. And, third, that he sought to advantage Mr. Trump," Clapper said."

"The conclusions and confidence levels reached at the time still stand," he added. He said later that the evidence the Russians interfered in the election was "overwhelming."

http://www.businessinsider.com/sally-yates-james-clapper-michael-flynn-trump-russia-2017-5

 

 

ex Dir CIA - Brennon - no evidence:

Ex-CIA chief: Trump staff had enough contact with Russia to justify FBI inquiry

“I encountered and am aware of information and intelligence that revealed contacts and interactions between Russian officials and US persons involved in the Trump campaign

that I was concerned about because of known Russian efforts to suborn such individuals,” Brennan said."

 

"Brennan said by the time he left the CIA in January this year: “I had unresolved questions in my mind as to whether or not the Russians had been successful

in getting US persons involved in the campaign or not to work on their behalf, again, either in a witting or unwitting fashion.”

 

"However, Brennan did not say there was no evidence of collusion. He made clear he had been alarmed by the extent of contacts between the Trump team and Moscow."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/23/ex-cia-chief-john-brennan-concerns-russian-ties-trump-team

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-idUSKBN18J2DE

 

Sen. Feinstein - no evidence

“Do you have evidence that there was in fact collusion between Trump associates and Russia during the campaign?”

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked California Sen. Dianne Feinstein during an interview on Wednesday."

“Not at this time,” she responded. “Well, that’s a pretty precise answer,” Blitzer said.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/05/04/dianne-feinstein-says-she-has-not-seen-evidence-of-trump-russia-collusion-video/

 

Sen. Shiff - no evidence:

Schiff: "There Is Evidence Of Collusion"; "Not Prepared To Make Conclusions About Strength Of Evidence"

"ROSE: Have you seen any evidence that anybody from the Russian team [I'm sorry] anybody from the Trump election team or transition team colluded

with the Russians? Have you seen any evidence of that in terms of what you have witnessed?"

"SCHIFF: You know, I have said yes, and I -- I still maintain that there is evidence of collusion, but I want people to understand,

we are at the very beginning of an investigation, and we need to follow the evidence wherever it leads."

"But there was a good basis for the FBI to begin its investigation. I think there's a good basis for the FBI to continue its investigation."
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/05/24/schiff_there_is_evidence_of_collusion_not_prepared_to_make_conclusions_about_strength_of_evidence.html

 

Read much?

Or do you just like to hear it from Fox Views?

[Berkshire]

4 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I for one, will be very interested to hear what he has to say. Especially regarding the investigation on Flynn. I suspect Donald will be a worried man this morning, and will be frantically thinking up some tweet denials for later on.

Agree that this is must-watch-TV type stuff.  But I do wonder what will come out of it.  No matter how damaging Comey's testimony might be, it's still his word against Trump.  Trump can just deny everything...or say it was taken out of context, or Comey misunderstood, or pretty much anything his lawyers tell him to say.  It's going to take more than Comey's memos to get the Republican Congress off their lazy ass. 

[Traveler19491]

2 hours ago, jb61 said:

not a trump fan, but frankly this Russian thing is beginning to bore me.

DNI Clapper - no evidence

ex Dir CIA - Brennon - no evidence

Sen. Feinstein - no evidence

Sen. Shiff - no evidence

 

If you want to hear the truth where all this came from, give a listen to 27 year CIA analyst Ray McGovern (ret)

in a 27 minute interview with several other contributors. Even though he speaks only 3 times,  and states he doesn't think much of

trump, he speaks volumes.

 

 

There was no evidence in the Watergate investigation initially. It wasn't until almost a year after the investigations began that actual evidence surface when Watergate burglar McCord sent a letter to Judge John Sirica informing him that some of his testimony had been perjured under pressure. It was that evidence that led to the White House. Just because nothing has come to light as yet, primarily because the investigation is still in its infancy, does not in any way mean that nothing will be uncovered.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Watergate_scandal

 

I refer back to my question on another thread...if Trump is not guilty, why not open up completely. Provide everything he has, every scrap of paper, every phone call, every calendar entry...everything. If he is innocent, such openness would prove that point and would give him bragging rights over his opponents, shutting them up permanently. The fact that he is doing everything in his power to distract from and discredit the investigation would seem to testify not to his innocence, but otherwise.

[Scott]

Post with a video from RT has been removed.   We do not allow RT.   It is not a credible source of information.  

 

Replies also removed.  

[MyFriend You]

6 hours ago, YetAnother said:

dont see how a president could have legally done this anyway

Executive Privilege, been used time and time again by all former US Presidents  -  Bill Clinton used it against investigations of Hillary over White Water.

[YetAnother]

1 minute ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Executive Privilege, been used time and time again by all former US Presidents  -  Bill Clinton used it against investigations of Hillary over White Water.

sounds like section 44

[ilostmypassword]

1 minute ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Executive Privilege, been used time and time again by all former US Presidents  -  Bill Clinton used it against investigations of Hillary over White Water.

Unfortunately for Trump, he has compromised his use of this privilege in relation to Comey by publicly relating his version of it. He can't claim it's confidential for Comey but not for himself.

[anon4546543]

That Trump wished that Comey stop investigating is a no brainer. That Trump can find all sorts of reasons to explain this away is also a no brainer.

I wonder if the terms of reference allow Comey to report on any factual and provable knowledge about the Russian influence on the Trump camp will be allowed or even asked.

[Srikcir]

5 hours ago, Berkshire said:

it's still his word against Trump

We'll see in Comey's testimony.

Comey has a practice of memorializing important conversations and meetings with contemporaneous memos to file. He also will share his experience contemporaneously with fellow FBI members as he did in this case. Taken collectively Comey can present credibility in his recall.

On the other hand Trump made Attorney General Sessions and Vice President Pence leave the room to meet with Comey.

Trump admits he fired Comey because of the "Russian thing" after having his private meeting with Comey.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/05/16/is-this-criminal-obstruction-of-justice/?utm_term=.99c3a696e70b

Trump admitted asking Comey to meet after saying it was Comey who asked for the meeting.

Trump threatened Comey public comments on the meeting with "recordings." Trump refuses to clarify or detail such recordings.

What's Trump going to say about the meeting - that they discussed ice cream flavors?

[spidermike007]

What is really the most important fact to ascertain here, is whether of not Cheeto attempted to silence Comey. Did he really ask him not to investigate Flynn? There are bound to be some fascinating things that come out of this investigation. The firing of Comey, after it appears Cheeto tried to influence him, to shut down an ongoing investigation made Cheeto look really bad. Finally, this neophyte appears to have gotten some sound advice, when it comes to not trying to use his executive power, to stop this testimony. That would have been akin to something Fat Kim, or Mugabe, or Duterte, or Castro would have done. Would have made him appear to be the wanna be despot he truly is. 

[Traveler19491]

And it now comes out that the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coates, was asked by Trump to intervene in the FBI's investigation.

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/top-intelligence-official-told-associates-trump-asked-him-if-he-could-intervene-with-comey-on-fbi-russia-probe/ar-BBCc5lj

 

Very odd that someone so innocent would be so determined to shut down an investigation into his campaign and those around him.

[iReason]

Comey Told Sessions: Don’t Leave Me Alone With Trump

 

"WASHINGTON — The day after President Trump asked James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, to end an investigation into his former national security adviser, Mr. Comey confronted Attorney General Jeff Sessions and said he did not want to be left alone again with the president, according to current and former law enforcement officials."

 

"Mr. Comey believed Mr. Sessions should protect the F.B.I. from White House influence, the officials said, and pulled him aside after a meeting in February to tell him that private interactions between the F.B.I. director and the president were inappropriate."

 

"But Mr. Sessions could not guarantee that the president would not try to talk to Mr. Comey alone again, the officials said."

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/us/politics/comey-sessions-trump.html

[iReason]

2 hours ago, Traveler19491 said:

And it now comes out that the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coates, was asked by Trump to intervene in the FBI's investigation.

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/top-intelligence-official-told-associates-trump-asked-him-if-he-could-intervene-with-comey-on-fbi-russia-probe/ar-BBCc5lj

 

Very odd that someone so innocent would be so determined to shut down an investigation into his campaign and those around him.

 

As well as CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

 

Coats told associates Trump asked him if he could intervene with Comey on Russia probe

 

"The nation's top intelligence official told associates in March that President Donald Trump asked him if he could intervene with then-FBI Director James Comey to get the bureau to back off its focus on former national security adviser Michael Flynn in its Russia probe, according to officials."

 

"On March 22, less than a week after being confirmed by the Senate, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats attended a briefing at the White House together with officials from several government agencies."

 

"As the briefing was wrapping up, Trump asked everyone to leave the room except for Coats and CIA Director Mike Pompeo."

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-coats-trump-comey-russia-probe-20170606-story.html

[anon4546543]

The US has sunk to below the gutter. The Trump experiment has failed. I will no longer post about him, the US voted he and his family and associates in.

 They can't say they did not have prior warning. His disgusting life up until the election was overlooked by all the good folk in the US.

Now, as the US squirms under world wide scrutiny, most people are giggling. All peacocks have their plumes plucked sooner or later.

 How long before US gains some prestige in the world is anyones guess. Maybe decades.

 The final debacle is issued by Trump. We will pay for the wall by building it 50 yards high and covering it with solar cells. This guy is almost...

Enuf sed. no more about scum 

[Familyaffairs]

Who would you trust your money with ? Certainly not with that lying sub human megalomaniac, with his admirable record of 4 bankruptcies, resulting in many small contractors being duped, 3 wrecked marriages, the fiscal irregularities at Trump tower Panama which led to the dismissal of the Trump management, and more, much more.....He is a conman,,plain and clear, he'd do well as a travelling salesman selling used underwear.