Opinion on why the FBI ratted out Reince Priebus

[GliderGuider]

Last edited Fri Feb 24, 2017, 01:57 PM - Edit history (1)

The source may be a bit sketchy (it's from The Palmer Report), but the thoughts make sense.

Why the FBI ratted out Reince Priebus for obstructing justice in Donald Trump’s Russia scandal

Donald Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus recently tried to pressure FBI Director James Comey into helping scuttle the investigation into the Trump-Russia scandal, and Comey said no. We know this because the incident leaked to the media today. Based on who would have had knowledge of the incident, the leak almost certainly had to have come from Comey or his deputy or someone close to them in the FBI. And they’ve chosen to rat out Priebus for a reason.

The FBI could have simply said no to Reince Priebus in private, and then gone about its business continuing with the investigation, and we would never have known the exchange happened. But instead the FBI made a point of informing the American public today about Reince’s actions, which appear to have been illegal. By publicly ratting Priebus out over the matter, it appears the FBI is laying the groundwork for whatever action it intends to take against him next.

Is this the part where the FBI now tries to get Priebus to flip on Trump? As best anyone can tell, Priebus violated the law merely by contacting the FBI at all, as there are only four people in the White House who are allowed to do so, and he isn’t one of him (Rachel Maddow laid out the Nixon-related history of these rules in depth on her Thursday evening show). And that’s before getting to the matter of Priebus having apparently committed obstruction of justice by asking the FBI to help scuttle an investigation. If Trump told Priebus to lean on the FBI, or even if Trump was aware Priebus was doing it, then Trump is also guilty of obstruction of justice.

If the FBI threatens Reince Priebus with charges, and offers to let him off the hook for flipping on Trump, then that’s the ballgame. Proof of Russian collusion isn’t needed, if there’s proof Trump broke the law by trying to cover it up. The Senate Intelligence Committee – which now appears to be compelling Comey and the FBI to take the Russia investigation seriously – can haul Priebus in for questioning. And the FBI may have leaked all this to CNN today to make the public understand why Priebus is about to get targeted in the Trump Russia investigation. Another shoe will drop on Priebus, and soon, or else the FBI wouldn’t have made a point of airing out his dirty laundry.

[JHB]

1. Not directly on the subject but... we've been reduced to Kremlinology.

What next? Having to guess who's "in" with Prima Donnie by looking at who's standing next to him at parades?

[dalton99a]

8. Bingo! It is Kremlinology.

[gordianot]

2. This nails it, Comey is also covering his own ass.

That Clinton Secretary email thing just before the election done without a subpoena clearly shaky. Now the same FBI Director has not only thrown Priebus under the bus but has backed up on him and is spinning the tires. Guess Comey wants to avoid Federal Prison after all.

[Squinch]

9. Bannon and Priebus are in competition for Dolt45's right hand spot. I see Bannon in this somewhere.

[gordianot]

15. CPAC let Bannon in the door this year.

I would be willing to bet many GOP stalwarts are willing to take out the trash. Voter anger appears to have a new boss. Priebus is a hold over from the good old days when the GOP owned voter anger he may have asked the one question that gets you prison time. If not Priebus someone else.

[Nitram]

22. It won't do Bannon much good of Priebus takes Trump down with him.

I doubt Pence will keep Bannon on.

[Squinch]

24. It's easily deniable by everyone but Priebus since it seems it was a hallway conversation in the

White House between Priebus and an FBI deputy director.

All Bannon and Trump need to say is, "Whaaa?"

[Nitram]

25. Trump's tweets on the leaks would suggest he did indeed know.

[Squinch]

29. Are those from before or after the story broke? (I'm really asking. That's not snark.)

I hope before, but if after, Trump has cover.

[Nitram]

31. I guess I'm not sure.

[Squinch]

34. I'll see if I can find out and get back to you.

[Squinch]

36. Looks like CNN broke it yesterday and the tweet I am seeing from Dolt45 is from 7:30 this morning.

Too bad.

But David Corn is pointing out that, by the wording of his tweet, Trump is actually verifying the information that CNN broke. So his idiocy is helping us there.

[Amaryllis]

58. Which tweet? things are happening so fast that i can't keep up...

[MoonRiver]

3. Repuke PTB want Rump out and Pence in.

Comey is the ultimate Repuke partisan insider, which he continually demonstrates. Tiny Whatever will be slowly, but surely forced to resign or face an independent investigation. Things are moving at warp speed right now, so I predict he'll be out of office before 2018.

[groundloop]

11. Good point... if this drags out they've lost their golden opportunity

If they let this drag on for a couple of years Pence will be weak and ineffective and repukes will lose massively across the country (think Gerald Ford). If they can get 45* out rather quickly they might have a shot at appeasing their base, giving the impression they know what they're doing, and not losing too many seats in Congress.

[MoonRiver]

17. Yep, I think that's the game plan.

Hopefully the taint on Pence will be too huge for him to overcome. Nixon threw Agnew under the bus to try and save his arse. Rump, imo, is 10 times more corrupt than Nixon was, so look for Pence to be offered up, IF Traitor Don can pull it off.

[Cary]

28. How does Trump's cult followers end up feeling about it?

Republicans go nowhere if they piss them off.

[MoonRiver]

32. If he resigns, they will have to accept it. I also think SOME are alarmed by the Putin connections.

There's a reason why he only has 38 to 39 percent approval.

[nocalflea]

71. Agnew did not resign over

Watergate.He was politically corrupt-big time.He was facing prison for crimes he committed before he was VP.Nixon had nothing to do with this.

[Nitram]

27. If Pence become Prez his administration will be a mortally wounded lame duck.

[MoonRiver]

33. I hope and believe so.

[JudyM]

66. Hardly a lame duck with repuke control of both houses of Congress, salivating for him to take the

reins.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

35. Tiny Whatever---omg, that's hilarious!

And Prima Donnie...


Ok, I'll go back to reading now.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Rancid is the weakest link of that crew. nt

[Scarsdale]

74. Napoleon syndrome

Piebus is short, and wants to be a big shot. Bannon has played him like a fiddle, letting him take the fall. Bannon is the power behind this "throne" Meanwhile tRump is back down in Florida, being greeted by (fewer and fewer) adoring fans. tRump is draining the treasury at an alarming rate.

[BumRushDaShow]

76. He's not even in their realm

He's a tag-along, hanger-on, wanna be annoying Republican who has found himself in the midst of some real sick puppies and thinks he can maybe redirect them to do what the "establishment" wants. I.e., he is the eyes and ears of Eddie Munster and Turtle.

And I agree. It ain't happenin' because GrimReaper™ runs the whole show!

[Cary]

5. In my limited knowledge of the FBI

This is consistent with how they operate.

[George II]

6. Watergate all over again - one of the biggest things that brought Nixon down was him trying...

...to put pressure on the FBI and/or CIA.

[OKNancy]

7. Bill Palmer is well- intentioned, but I never take his opinion with much weight

He tends to exaggerate. Anyone reading should be sure to understand this is pure speculation.

[gordianot]

10. True but it comes close to meeting Occam's razor.

[itcfish]

12. But Priebus

is claiming the FBI called him. Aren't there phone logs to back-up the FBI's claim?

[Blue_true]

40. I would guess that phone calls between Comey and

public officials are on tape somewhere, maybe the FBI. If the CIA and NSA don't trust Trump or the FBI, they could be taping conversations. Trump may find that Washington is a swamp afterall, one that will suck down his evil ass.

[Buckeyeblue]

13. Or what about this

And this is political thriller novel speculation. Comey is sending a signal to the administration. He only really gets away with this if he's got the goods on them. This probably forces Priebus out. Not much of a loss for anyone as he seems to be in over his head. But more importantly forces the administration to become a puppet for the likes of eddie munster and the turtle.

As bad as they are, i don't think they want to deconstruct the whole government.

Also, they would prefer not to have 45 resign. It looks bad. And you probably give up a lot in the midterm and the presidency in 2020.

This is 45's warning. If he doesn't heed the warning, well, that's when the shit starts hitting the fan.

[bucolic_frolic]

18. There are no boundaries to borderlines

they will always bump up against and break through anything

[Chemisse]

69. Republicans have had a hard time facing the truth that Trump's inability to control his behavior

Just as he didn't 'pivot' then later become 'presidential', he won't respond consistently to attempts to strong-arm him or back him into a corner.

Anybody who still thinks he can be controlled is simply wrong.

[Scruffy1]

14. I trust the FBI about as far as I can throw them.

I remember a trial here in Minneapolis years ago when they were caught red handed tampering with evidence, withholding evidence and the FBI agent in charge committed perjury. The only reason one of them secretly ratted out Nixon was because they were pissed off that an outsider was appointed the Director instead of theirs. The director was part of the cover up. I don't think they've changed that much over the years. At this point, though, the cat is already out of the bag, so they have to go through with it to avoid embarrassment. Most agent are probably honest, but I am very suspicious of the managements politics, since they get their money from Congress so are going to shy away from pissing off the powers in charge. Oh, by the way, no one was ever put in jail for any of the crimes I've mentioned.

[bucolic_frolic]

16. Ghouliani would never let this happen

Believe me

[inwiththenew]

19. Somebody wants Priebus gone

Call me cynical but I believe there were ulterior motives for the "leak".

[poli3]

77. Bannon probably leaked it

He wants Priebus out.

[Stuart G]

20. k and r...nt

[Wounded Bear]

21. Interesting speculation...

I'm a little split on this. Yes, I want them out (though yeah, Pence is no walk in the park), but I don't want a quick out, where everybody gets to resign and walk off into the sunset unscathed. Face it, none of these assholes really care about their public image.

What I really want is the entire Russian connection exposed, belly up on the beach and gutted. I want to dance in the entrails of Trump and his traitorous minions. I want it rooted out. And I want people perp-walked.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

38. +++ ! n/t

[Plucketeer]

44. You Betcha!

And while you're doing a jig in the entrails ( in a hazmat suit, I'd suggest) make sure ALL of the GOP gets splattered with the blood and goo.

[truebluegreen]

57. Agree but

I care less about exposing and gutting the Connections w/Russia and more about gutting the Republican Party. If this plays out for a while with the White House and Congress in chaos and on the defensive--with their malevolent ideas on full display--we may make it through until 2018 relatively unscathed.

[Marcuse]

62. Perp walked?

You raise an interesting point. Given the vast resources of the former president, it may be impossible for a so called federal judge to secure the defendant's appearance at trial.

If bail is set, 45* may yet still build his Moscow Tower.

[JudyM]

67. Gutted including Mcconnell's entrails, hopefully.

[nadine_mn]

23. Comey is probably being pressured

So 45 is out before 2018 campaigning really gets in gear. These town halls are freaking the GOP and they want Pence in so they don't have to distance themselves from 45 on the campaign trail.

I think you have a % of asshats in the FBI who are deep in GOP pockets, but I am assuming there is also a % who are decent people...and they are sick of being maligned for doing their job.

When you treat those around you like shit, don't be shocked when that shit starts leaking all over you.

[Peachhead22]

26. I'm not sure I take it that way

I'm not sure I take the leak in the way the OP's article takes it. To me it might be more like the FBI taking out an insurance policy (not literally), or sending a letter to a friend that says "If anything happens to me in the next few days. It wasn't an accident. Suspect this guy."

[randr]

30. Story WH is pushing on NPR this morning

Does not jibe with twitlers tweets.
Apparently the folks in trumptown are all on different pages.

[unblock]

37. they could have pressured priebus to flip without going public.

flipping is more likely in fact if the fbi could promise secrecy.

if anything, going public limits his utility because it kinda burns a potentially useful ongoing source, should they get him to flip.

he could still be useful for things he's aware of in the past, but perhaps not as much for anything ongoing, including gathering further evidence of past crimes.

[AJT]

39. I'm to the point where I don't think anything is going to

happen. Too many people at the top of the IC are very pro GOP. We will endlessly hear leaks and wait for there to be consequences, but we will wait in vain.

[cutroot]

41. This is the same BS trick that snyder and his AG schuette pulled in MI

They launched a phony investigation so that they can control all of the evidence. That way it is easier to find a convenient scapegoat and then make sure that the narrative of guilt points away from them.

[DownriverDem]

48. My poor state

We are so screwed here in Michigan. schuette sucks big time and should not be the next governor.

[Ligyron]

42. On Morning Blow they had a different story.

They were saying it was the FBI dude, Mc Clung, who asked Penis for a few minutes after a meeting at the WH and that HE indicated to Rancid that the NY Times story was balony or at least overblown. When Penis asked McClung if the FBI could be quoted on this, McClung said he'd have to get back with him on that one.

Something like that anyway. If this happened before the Sunday talk shows, I can't remember.

After that is when the conversation between Comey and Rancid occured.

I think that's what I remember...

[jmg257]

43. Did he ask them to scuttle the investigation, or to down-play media reports?

Who 'high up in intelligence' would have led him to believe the reports were "grossly overstated"?

[Stuart G]

45. kick for exposure..explains how FBI going to go after Trump nt.

[calimary]

46. We're informally "taking bets" at my house as to how soon Reince will be rinsed away.

My husband brought it up first - he's been pretty spot-on in anticipating what's coming next. He thinks Reince Priebus is the next head to roll down the hall, because he'll have to "fall on his sword" for the organization.

I suspect Steve Bannon would use this to further bolster his supremacy. Get rid of that little weasel who's at the same level on the ziggurat as he himself is. We already know about the infighting running rampant through that God-forsaken White House. I can almost hear him thinking - "there's only room for one of us at the top, here, and that ain't YOU, pal."

[DownriverDem]

47. Too bad

Comey didn't have a conscience when he came out with the so called investigation of HRC right before the election. Does he feel guilty for what he did? Too late bucko! If trump goes down we get that radical religious RWNJ repub Pence. Not better at all.

[Enoki33]

49. I do not support the idea that the leak is a plot to flip

Priebus. I think there are really decent agents who are disgusted with what has been going on, somehow became privy to the information and knowing Comey would do nothing decided to go to the press as the logical alternative. We need such agents now more than ever if we are to get the full extent of the campaign's link with Russian FSB, how much of Trump they invested in through the oligarchs that surround Putin and how his tax returns play into it.

[tomp]

75. I think that's wrong.

Consider:

-The higher up the food chain in any government or political organization one is, the more likely they are to be corrupt. This is a maxim of u.s. politics that is very hard to disprove and with very few exceptions.

-Comey has already shown himself to be corrupt. I suspect his deputy is not far behind.

-Of course there are decent agents within the organization, but it's VERY unlikely they are in a position to determine the course of events at this level of politics (Coleen Rowley, John O'Neil, e.g.). I would suspect if the leak was undesired by the bureau the upper echelons of the bureau would find the leak and heads would roll within the ranks. We will see.

-We must always remember the history of the FBI. It has been a politically corrupt organization since its inception. It has NOT changed the direction set by Hoover. The FBI is in no way progressive as an institution and does not have the interests of the people at heart.

-We also must remember the role of Giulliani and the New York branch in the election debacle and God knows what else.

-Do NOT think the FBI didn't know who Trump was when they were manipulating the election.

My advice: DO NOT TRUST THE FBI ON ANYTHING.

[miyazaki]

50. The FBI needs to Rinse that Penis. n/t

[bettyellen]

51. Can you edit your OP to identify the source? No offense but I need to know who I'm clicking on. tks!

[GliderGuider]

52. Done. nt

[bettyellen]

53. Much appreciated- have seen lots of complaints lately about links that

Have had malware and stuff and when you said sketchy, I wasn't going to click. Thanks!

[jalan48]

54. Priebus is not going to rat out Trump. He willing will become the fall guy to protect him.

We seem to be careening from one conspiracy theory to the next in hopes that Trump will be brought down.

[GliderGuider]

55. There are four threads of investigation going on right now.

Any of them could break things open:

4. Michael Flynn lied to the FBI.
3. Michael Flynn’s Russian payoff.
2. Putin, Sater, Cohen, Artemenko, and Ukrainian blackmail.
1. Trump’s Russian front companies.

My money is on #1 or #2 at the moment.

And there's still the outstanding question of what the hell James Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee in the SCIF? Whatever it was made them all clam up tighter than a bull's arse in fly season...

[jalan48]

56. I'd like to believe something will come of it but I'm sceptical.

The Republicans control the process and besides isn't Comey the arch villain who cost Hillary the election? Why would he go after Trump if that's who he was working to help last fall?

[GetRidOfThem]

59. Can't give away too much, but...

...my wife is a lawyer, sits at the highest level in the (non-political) career track in the Federal Government, former prosecutor, and I read her this story.

Her take:

100% realistic scenario. She thinks that, putting it into my terms (not hers), "American Standard" is a good investment now.

What do I mean?

Toilets are going to be busted, and will need to be replaced.

Why?

Because many republicans are sh*tting bricks left and right. I just can hear the noise of the porcelain breaking.

OUCH!!! That was loud!!!

But seriously, she thinks that many, many Republicans are scared and going nuts over Agent Orange.

[BainsBane]

60. Flynn is the one who has the goods on Trump.

[jmg257]

61. Someone on CNN just confirmed Priebus's story that MacCabe approached him.

Why would he do so? Seems to confirm what Priebus said - that he was told the reports were overblown.

Wonder yet again if the FBI is still coming up mostly empty on the whole Russia collusion thing.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

63. Proof of Russian collusion isnt needed, if theres proof Trump broke the law by trying to cover it.

[zentrum]

64. Not there yet. The

...fix and the cover-up can still happen. Never underestimate what it means to have both houses, the WH, The Supreme Court (after Gorsuch is approved) and the DOJ under Sessions.

[Mugweed]

65. How about it's just a deflection?

Maybe Comey just let's this out to try to get people to stop thinking about what he did to Clinton, knowing that not much will come of it?

[McCamy Taylor]

68. Trump will pardon him

[Hamlette]

70. My guess is Comey did it to avoid criticism when he finds "nothing" in the investigation

Remember Priebus admitted it before the FBI commented on it. The Admin might look like they pressured Comey so Comey came out and said "yes, he tried to pressure me but I told him to buzz off".

[nocalflea]

73. How many times in a missing person

case have we seen the authorities state that someone -a specifically named individual- is "not a person of interest" only to arrest that individual later.Law enforcement officials lie all the time in order to maintain the integrity of an investigation. Comey & McCabe may very well have lied to Priebus when they told him the stories in the media were a bunch of "b.s.".
They refused to rebut the articles. This is a tactic. Pile on the pressure.Keep the story out in front of the public .Rebuttals would be counterproductive.
Remember how self righteous Comey can be. He grew up during the cold war, as did I.I have a hard time believing he views Russia as anything other than the enemy.It's hard imagining him covering up treason.
I hope to god,I am right.

[nocalflea]

72. The more pressure brought to bear on all suspected

conspirators-the more nervous they become,the more nervous the more panicky-leading to stupid mistakes (Cohen changed his story 4 times in less than 48 hrs.).The targeting of Priebus is part of a whole.Divide and conquer.Who's next ?