Morning Joe says FBI close to exposing the president: 'It's a criminal issue - and Trump knows that'

[DonViejo]

TRAVIS GETTYS
15 MAY 2017 AT 07:51 ET

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough believes President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey because he sensed the investigation was getting close to revealing whatever criminal actions he’s trying to hide.

The “Morning Joe” host compared the situation to the Showtime series “Billions,” which depicts a U.S. attorney pursuing a hedge fund billionaire named Bobby Axelrod, and he said the FBI had found strong evidence against Trump and his associates.

“The FBI has started pulling that string, and they are still pulling that string where it leads is not just an election issue, it is a criminal issue — and Trump knows that,” Scarborough said.

John Heilemann, the co-managing editor of Bloomberg Politics and an MSNBC political analyst, agreed that Comey’s firing was not an irrational action or a political miscalculation, but rather an effort to stop or slow the FBI investigation into his ties to Russia.

“The reason he did this is not because he’s out of his mind,” Heilmann said. “He did this is because, as you said Joe, I think he recognizes — he looked over at the FBI and said, this guy James Comey came to the White House, I asked him, if we believe this story, asked him for his loyalty, he wouldn’t give me his loyalty. He’s been investigating since last July, he’s now taking daily briefings on this matter, rather than weekly, he’s now asking for more prosecutors. Donald Trump knows what’s at the heart of this. I don’t know what that is, but he does, and he’s saying this guy knows, too.”

more + video
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/morning-joe-says-fbi-close-to-exposing-the-president-its-a-criminal-issue-and-trump-knows-that/

[Horse with no Name]

1. To me, that was an astounding statement

Shit's circling the drain as we speak.

[pnwmom]

36. Not so astounding to those who've been listening to Claude Taylor and Louise Mensch,

watching as their "crazy" tweets about FISA warrants and Grand Juries began to get confirmed.

[byronius]

42. Don't listen to Louise! Don't listen to Claude! Bad! Sad!

Meanwhile, the ratchet tightens yet another notch.

[spanone]

2. in his own ignorant way, trump has done more to further this investigation than anyone

[RKP5637]

5. He's created just about all of his own controversies. I imagine this will be included in

texts for years in what NOT to do. It's amazing to watch him in action, how he F's everything up and does it in a way it all crashes in on his head, and FFS, then he stirs it up again.

[forgotmylogin]

68. President Blabbermouth

Can't resist bragging about his power and swinging it around like a big dick.

America is so easily duped when information is laid low for long enough, but Benedict Don can't even manage to keep his mouth shut and let his foibles fall off the radar.

[JaneQPublic]

3. Remember, the Watergate whistleblower, "Deep Throat," was an FBI agent. (nt)

[BumRushDaShow]

14. He wasn't just an "agent", he was the #2 FBI guy (Assoc. Dir). nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. And he was furious that Nixon had appointed his stooge, Pat Gray,

to the #1 position.

[mucifer]

33. Yes, it was about his ego not patriotism and dedication to his country.

[PJMcK]

39. Who cares?

Sometimes national and personal interests can coincide.

In any event, Nixon had to go. So does Trump.

[SusanaMontana41]

63. Exactly! nt

[pnwmom]

53. And Bob Woodward was a nobody -- just a rookie reporter he had recently met

and decided to trust with his secrets.

The rest of the media couldn't understand how Bob and Carl could be writing the stories. Why them?

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. Everyone knows he is a crook

And no one seems to care.

Probably because most of the republicans in Congress are just as crooked.

[RKP5637]

6. Yeah, exactly!!! n/t

[Iggo]

18. On the contrary, they're dirty as fuck, and that's why they care so much about keeping him.

[Plucketeer]

27. I don't think that's limited to only one party

Right now - save for a few daring individuals - there's PLENTY of silence to go around.

[SusanaMontana41]

64. Then our voices must fill the vacuum.

Calling my senators.

[Alice11111]

59. Yes, many of the Repug leaders are up to their noses, &

They are going to do all tbey can to get someone in there who CYAs and shuts down this story.

Moreover, DT is sniffing out everyone who won't at least tacitly take his loyalty oath, and he's getting rid of them.
Yeah, it makes him and the Repubs look bad, but he rode that horse all of the way from the primaries to Prez of the US. Why stop.now?

[Sancho]

7. MSNBC probably knows about warrants, indictments, etc...but don't have confirmation...

perhaps they've been asked to withhold publication of the story, but Joe & pals can read the "rumors" as well as DUers.

They are hinting, but not saying, that they expect a criminal case. They likely have a big story ready to push out and they are teasing for now. NBC has FBI sources for sure.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Everything might break out in a flood. Are we ready for the political chaos & potential civil chaos?

[kysrsoze]

19. I know I am

I welcome it. We need it. Too many people are in a haze about this existential threat to our government and society.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

56. My body is ready. NT

[byronius]

43. You mean, an increase in chaos. 'Cause we surely got chaos.

Well, no riots in the streets quite yet. I have trouble believing that Trumplings will actually come out in force to defend their goon once the evidence hits the fan.

'That's not Daddy on that tape! That's CGIed Alec Baldwin! I kin tell!'

Oyeeesh.

[MoonRiver]

67. Ready or not, here it comes!

Because, as usual, we the American people, have no say in the matter.

[malaise]

12. That's what I thought while

watching them earlier this morning

[NewRedDawn]

49. Joe said he has

sources within the FBI.

[Alice11111]

60. Yes, the legit press knows a lot more than they can confirm

right now. They and the people are all we have. The Dems in Congress are doing a much better job than usual, but they are so outnumbered.

[L. Coyote]

9. This is going to be an amazing week in political history, bigger than last week.

Link to tweet

[mainstreetonce]

10. If this week blows up worse than last week,will Trump cancel his trip ?

Or hide somewhere out of the country.

[L. Coyote]

11. These countries currently have no extradition treaty with the United States:

Of these, only the Vatican meets trump's interior decorating needs. No wonder he's stopping there.

Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, the Central African Republic, Chad, Mainland China, Comoros, Congo (Kinshasa), Congo (Brazzaville), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé & Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican, Vietnam and Yemen.

[Phoenix61]

17. I think it could be insightful to know where his pretty little plane is located

If it heads to any of those countries I would really wonder what is coming down the pike. He really likes that plane and wouldn't want it to be seized.

[PearliePoo2]

47. OH..Good point!! The disgusting showoff does love/covet his custom jet, that's for sure!

AG Schneiderman, "Pretty little plane you have there...be a shame if something happened to it (Fed. auction block)

[Hestia]

70. or that Russian billionaire plane that followed him around on the campaign trail. Where he was, that

particular plane was parked too. Rachel reported on that a couple of months ago.

[erronis]

20. Fascinating list, thanks for posting! Someday USA'rTrump can be a haven for other despots.

So long, beacon on the hill. Welcome to the bloodsuckers' swamp.

[NewJeffCT]

21. he can go to the Vatican

with Callista Gingrich...

[jmowreader]

55. Serious, L. Coyote? You think the Vatican wouldn't expel him?

Trump has a problem.

If he doesn't flee the country, he's going to wind up in a federal prison doing very hard time.

If he DOES flee the country, he's going to get whacked by the people he owes money to.

[L. Coyote]

58. I'm hoping they arrest him for pussy grabbing.

[Hestia]

69. That's what I was thinking! Also, how prescient that Bill Clinton & James Patterson have a book

in the works - The (American) President is Missing (or some such). Who knew that it might actually be non-fiction

[Me.]

31. Don't Know If It Will Be This Week

Ducks in a row and all that. I say during the long hot summer, maybe August.

[byronius]

44. Oh god I love that tweet.

[Dopers_Greed]

13. Even Morning Joke is pushing the Russian "conspiracy theory"

Yet Fox News is still insisting its a non-story.

i wonder if they'll start trying to smear him by showing the pictures of JoScar and Chump hobnobbing at Mar-a-Loco.

[LuckyLib]

40. What lit a fire under Joe? Don't watch him,

but wasn't he a Trump lover?

[byronius]

45. They had a falling out over Joe's lack of total loyalty.

[PearliePoo2]

48. Actually, Scar's choices bounced around between Jeb, Christy, Kasich and Rubio.

He said many times he would NOT be voting for Donald. Mika is a HUGE Warren fan, really likes Bernie and said she voted for Hillary.
I think the final straw that turned Joe was Dump insulted Mika, called her unstable and threatened them in a tweet he could 'out" their secret affair. That really pissed of Scar (he's crazy in love with Mika) and now that they're engaged, there's nothing to hide or hold back.

[NewRedDawn]

50. They were seen after that (New Years)

at Mar-Lago. So it was not that. Those comments were made by Trump during the campaign last year.

[DownriverDem]

15. Okay

How does that stop the investigation? All trump has done is draw more attention to russiagate and for more calls for an independent investigation. How dumb were trump voters? Are they happy now? I know the dyed in the wool ones love it, but what about the ones who were sucked in?

[Buckeyeblue]

25. It is about keeping things in a state of chaos

45 has lived his entire life in chaos. It's his go to stategy for everything. Look how he ran his primary. Look at his rallies. In his mind, if he fires the FBI director, it creates chaos. If he appointments someone crazy to head the FBI it creates more chaos. Maybe he'll fire more people at the FBI this week. Or maybe he'll turn his attention to something else. But whatever he does, he does with the purpose of generating more chaos.

[jazzcat23]

62. Yes, but....

chaos is the very thing that he counts on to hide his crimes. If we have a new shiny object every few hours or at least every day, we can't see what's really happening, right? Because there's SO much out there, who can keep up? Especially with less and less press access....It's not him as much as the R's in congress, who have their agenda and he will happily sign whatever they give him. He never reads any of it...easy peasy!
Except WE LOSE!

[Hestia]

71. Wasn't this addressed in February? A reporter was on Rachel and stated that certain investigators

were appointed to one aspect of the russian story and would not be distracted by the new Squirrel! coming out every hour. They are keeping their noses to the grindstone and working on their individual parts of the whole story; like they are all in this together and are working together to get the news out there, no matter which publication they work for. This all started right after the installation of Drumpf, the WH Press had a closed-door meeting after being trashed by him. The Press came to an agreement that night, way back in January.

Last night too, the reporter who broke the story of Drumpf leaking to russians, intimated that there much more to this story but journalists were asked not print the complete story at this time.

[Abu Pepe]

72. that may confuse regular old news consumers

The FBI isn't ADD.

[blue-wave]

16. This is the meme

that is growing in DC circles. My gut instinct tells me we will be amazed at the depth and scope of the whole mess.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

57. Remember Feinstein's and Grassley's gloomy stair ...

... After an intelligence briefing a few month's back? And now we have more information? This is bigly huge.

[TNLib]

22. Joe Scarbough is nothing but a rat jumping off the sinking ship.

nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

29. But the point is, he's jumping.

Trump has lost Joe Scarborough, who once was a big fan.

[pnwmom]

35. He's smarter than the rats who haven't jumped off yet. n/t

[berksdem]

41. Unfortunately,

there are a lot more rats that have yet to jump. Trump idiots will stay by his side through the entire ordeal. Sad....

[IronLionZion]

23. A lot of people would have forgotten about this issue

before Trump made headline news again with the firing. If it were anyone else, I would think they were trying to deflect our attention from something worse.

But as many experts have said, there is no brilliant strategic plan. With Trump it's often the simplest and most idiotic answer.

[peggysue2]

24. It's beginning to hit the fan

Anyone who checks out the headlines at Memeorandum will notice a shift--Ann Coulter questioning her Trumpster love, Kellyanne Cpnway secretly hating The Donald and his bizarre behavior, his money grubbing, Scarborough talking about criminal culpability, etc.

Badass news is circulating in the ether for the Trumpsters; they feel the walls closing in and are checking out the escape hatches. This will not be pretty.

[TNLib]

37. It's a definitely a sh*t show

nt

[Honeycombe8]

26. Really? He said that? Wow. 'Cause the story the Repubs say is that it's a counter-intelligence

The story the Repubs (Lindsay Graham) are saying is that it's a counter-intelligence investigation, not criminal.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. It can be, and probably is, both.

What would Trump's motive have been for colluding with the Russians? Their hacking can't have guaranteed he'd win the election. The Russians' motive was to disrupt the process and discredit Hillary so as to weaken her administration; they, and the Trump campaign as well, thought she was going to win. Assuming the collusion claim is true, why were the Russians so easily able to co-opt Trump? Like Deep Throat told Bob Woodward: Follow the money. The criminal part of the whole thing is likely to involve money laundering and tax evasion. Stay tuned.

[Doitnow]

38. How about following the OIL, too. Perhaps Russia was going to forgive Trump some debts he probably

owes in return for getting sanctions lifted so Tillerson could get to all that oil they keep talking about.

[byronius]

46. Check.

[NewRedDawn]

51. It is the Money.

Keep following the money . There lies the answer.

[CentralMass]

52. +100000

[riversedge]

30. He [Trump] doth protest too much. Continue on Trumpy.

[iluvtennis]

34. Wow, two other ppl calling out that the firing was to stop/slow the Russia investigation...

...haven't heard most pundits want to do thia. Most of them still try to normalize this thing they call a presiddent.

..Dumpty is NOT MY PRESIDENT, HILLARY WON

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

54. HuffPo, I know but this is an insightful article...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yes-trump-thinks-he-can-defeat-the-russia-probe_us_59177bd0e4b00f308cf5a6cf?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

It go through reasons why 45 thinks he can get away with everything. Also explains most of his picks to fill the different positions in his admin.

[bucolic_frolic]

61. So leaking classified info is payback?

just asking

[gordianot]

65. Good to know Trump and Republicans in general honor some financial obligations.

[sellitman]

66. In other news Killer Joe kills intern.

Fuck him. I never watch him. Never will.

He is a murderer.