Cory Booker: 'Problematic' that Trump, Sessions had say in Comey firing

[TomCADem]

We can't ignore Jeff Sessions direct role in the firing of Comey despite his so-called recusal.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/332887-cory-booker-problematic-that-trump-and-sessions-had-say-in-comey-firing

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said late Wednesday that it is “very problematic” that President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions were involved in the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

“I think it’s very problematic when you have a president, and an attorney general, involving themselves ... in a firing of an individual that was asking for more resources in fact to investigation, not only the Russia attacks, cyberattacks, but also of people that were part of the campaign, as Jeff Sessions was and obviously as candidate Trump was,” Booker told CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”

Trump reportedly asked Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to provide a written rationale for firing Comey. The FBI director had been leading the investigation into any potential ties between Trump’s campaign staff and Russia.

Booker, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it is time for the U.S. to resume its focus on the probe into Russia’s meddling in the presidential election.

[bettyellen]

1. They should block his meeting w Putin. I don't need know how but they should try.

[deurbano]

2. And Pence.

http://www.salon.com/2017/05/12/mike-pence-is-neck-deep-in-donald-trumps-james-comey-mess/

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017 09:00 AM PDT
Mike Pence is neck-deep in Donald Trump’s James Comey mess
The veep may look like a tangential figure in the administration, but he's in the middle of this deepening crisis
HEATHER DIGBY PARTON

<<... According to the New York Times, Pence was among the small group of staff members with whom Trump had mulled the decision after he became angry over Comey’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. So Pence knew very well that Trump had decided to fire Comey for his own reasons when he went before the cameras and said that the president had merely “accepted the recommendation” of the Deputy Attorney general.

For reasons that have more to do with style than substance, Pence is often given the benefit of the doubt in these situations, as if he’s the patsy and has no idea his boss is a notorious liar. His furrowed brow and treacly Midwestern sanctimony seems to cover for the fact that he’s extremely close to Trump and is usually in the room when these lies are hatched.

Going back to the campaign, recall that Pence lied dramatically in the debate with Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, even claiming that he had never contrasted President Vladimir Putin favorably with President Barack Obama, despite videotape of him saying it. More important, Pence ran the transition after Trump fired Gov. Chris Christie. And it was during that period that General Michael Flynn was making his inappropriate phone calls to the Russian ambassador, writing op-eds on behalf of the foreign government that was paying him when he wasn’t dodging complaints about his son’s white supremacist activities....

...The fact is that the vice president is not a victim in all this. He’s a loyal member of the Trump team involved in all the top decisions, and it’s important that people remember that. If Trump were to vacate the job for one reason or another (there are so many possibilities) Pence would inherit the presidency. One hopes that nobody will mistake him for an innocent in all this and give him a mandate to govern. He’s with Trump every step of the way.>>