Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Fri Jun 9, 2017, 10:55 AM Jun 2017

There's no indication Comey violated the law. Trump may be about to.

By Philip Bump June 9 at 9:58 AM

President Trump’s declaration that the Thursday testimony of former FBI director James B. Comey was a “total and complete vindication” despite “so many false statements and lies” was the sort of brashly triumphant and loosely-grounded-in-reality statement we’ve come to expect from the commander in chief. It was news that came out a bit later, news about plans to file a complaint against Comey for a revelation he made during that Senate Intelligence Committee hearing meeting, that may end up being more damaging to the president.

CNN first reported that Trump’s outside counsel, Marc Kasowitz, plans to file complaints with the inspector general of the Justice Department and the Senate Judiciary Committee about Comey’s testimony. At issue was Comey’s revelation that he provided a memo documenting a conversation with Trump to a friend to be shared with the New York Times.

As the news broke, I was on the phone with Stephen Kohn, partner at a law firm focused on whistleblower protection. We’d been talking about where the boundaries lay for Comey in what he could and couldn’t do with the information about his conversations with the president. Kohn’s response to the story about Kasowitz, though, was visceral.

“Here is my position on that: Frivolous grandstanding,” he said. “First of all, I don’t believe the inspector general would have jurisdiction over Comey any more, because he’s no longer a federal employee.” The inspector general’s job is to investigate wrongdoing by employees of the Justice Department, of which Comey is no longer, thanks to Trump. “But, second,” he continued, “initiating an investigation because you don’t like somebody’s testimony could be considered obstruction. And in the whistleblower context, it’s both evidence of retaliation and, under some laws, could be an adverse retaliatory act itself.”

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/06/09/theres-no-indication-comey-violated-the-law-trump-may-be-about-to/?utm_term=.c433f1057da0

3 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
There's no indication Comey violated the law. Trump may be about to. (Original Post) DonViejo Jun 2017 OP
Already posted. fleur-de-lisa Jun 2017 #1
Trump has a history of using litigation for intimidation/obstruction C_U_L8R Jun 2017 #2
More from the article... Mme. Defarge Jun 2017 #3

C_U_L8R

(45,020 posts)
2. Trump has a history of using litigation for intimidation/obstruction
Fri Jun 9, 2017, 11:01 AM
Jun 2017

And he sure seems to have a slick aggressive litigator on the job.
Proceed fellas... bwhahahaha

Mme. Defarge

(8,042 posts)
3. More from the article...
Fri Jun 9, 2017, 12:08 PM
Jun 2017

"“They know that they’re not going to get anything out of Comey on this, because there’s no evidence,” he added. “But they’re clearly trying to create a chilling effect. Not a chilling effect on classified information. … This is a chilling effect on people not to talk about conversations they had with the president that are not classified as a matter of law.”

“That is illegal,” he said. “That is unconstitutional.”

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»There's no indication Com...