# Comey firing: what should Congress do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 11, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327 "2017-05-11T01:51:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/81 "2017-05-12T01:11:08Z")
Predicting the future in this environment is a fool’s errand. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/82 "2017-05-12T01:11:52Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > I already have [a bet going](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19916625&postcount=77) with **Sage Rat** where I win if Trump does not resign by 2020. > > I am willing to entertain bets for impeachment (and I mean removal from office, not just the vote in the House). I say it won’t happen. Same terms. Anyone? You should probably limit that bet to end of 2018. Given that there is certainly the possibility of both houses of Congress flipping that election (hey, stranger things have happened, and with President Trump, usually do!), I wouldn’t want to go _banco_ on the second half of his term… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/83 "2017-05-12T01:12:53Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Predicting the future in this environment is a fool’s errand. A fool and his errand will soon part? ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/84 "2017-05-12T01:15:04Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > You should probably limit that bet to end of 2018. Given that there is certainly the possibility of both houses of Congress flipping that election (hey, stranger things have happened, and with President Trump, usually do!), I wouldn’t want to go _banco_ on the second half of his term… :dubious: I will go nuts and predict that the Senate will not flip. Because if it does, that means an enormous wave for Democrats. Ted-Cruz-losing-his-election humongous. Not gonna happen. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/85 "2017-05-12T01:16:36Z")
> [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](#): > > Now [Trump is contradicting the White House](http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/11/politics/trump-james-comey-nbc/) by saying that he had already decided to fire Comey regardless of what anyone else said. And [it was because of Russia](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-says-fbi-director-comey-told-him-three-times-he-wasnt-under-investigation-once-in-a-phone-call-initiated-by-the-president/2017/05/11/2b384c9a-3669-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_trumpcomey-120pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.6ce26d3d991f). > [@](#): > > President Trump on Thursday said he was thinking of “this Russia thing with Trump” when he decided to fire FBI Director James B. Comey, who had been leading the counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. > > Recounting his decision to dismiss Comey, Trump told NBC News, “In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.’” ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/86 "2017-05-12T01:26:13Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I suspect the SDMB has about as much collective insight into the fate of Trump’s presidency as they did the outcome of the 2016 election. We were correct about the cluster fuck coming if he was elected president. I was also correct about the Republicans mostly looking the other way and let corruption grow with no complaints from many of them. There are however still conservatives that do still bother to demand better. > **[Will the Law Answer to the President, or the President to the Law?](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/this-is-not-a-drill/526056/)** > > The firing of FBI director James Comey poses a question that every administration official, and every American, must answer. > [@](#): > > Who can sincerely believe that President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey for any reason other than to thwart an investigation of serious crimes? Which crimes—and how serious—we can only guess. > > The suggestion that Comey was fired to punish him for overzealously mishandling the Clinton email investigation appears laughable: Just this morning, Trump’s social media director Dan Scavino gleefully proposed to release video of Hillary Clinton’s concession call in order to hurt and humiliate her—and top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway laughed along with him. > > No, this appears to be an attack on the integrity—not just of law enforcement—but of our defense against a foreign cyberattack on the processes of American democracy. The FBI was investigating the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russian espionage. Trump’s firing of Comey is an apparent attempt to shut that investigation down. > > Whether that exactly counts as a confession of wrongdoing is a question that still deserves some withholding of judgment. Trump is impulsive and arrogant. His narcissistic ego needs to believe he won a great electoral victory by his own exertions, not that he was tipped into office by a lucky foreign espionage operation. He could well resent the search for truth, even without being particularly guilty of anything heinously bad. But we all now must take seriously the heightened possibility of guilt, either personal or on the part of people near him—and of guilt of some of the very worst imaginable crimes in the political lexicon. > > Now comes the hour of testing. Will the American system resist? Or will it be suborned? > > The question has to be asked searchingly of the Republican members of Congress: Will you allow a president of your party to attack the integrity of the FBI? You impeached Bill Clinton for lying about sex. Will you now condone and protect a Republican administration lying about espionage? > > Where are you? Who are you? Good questions, and on the other side others are keeping track and conservatives should take notice. > **[How the Firing of the FBI Director Tests Conservatives](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/how-the-firing-of-the-fbi-director-tests-conservatives/526131/)** > > James Comey’s dismissal asks the right which they value more: defending a president whose policy agenda they generally support or defending the norms that preserve liberal democracy. > [@](#): > > But at some level, all this is beside the point. Since he launched his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has sought again and again to undermine the institutions charged with ensuring that he serves the public interest and obeys the law. > > He has threatened criminal prosecutions against the publishers of newspapers that report on him critically. He has attacked federal judges who render decisions about his business practices or his immigration policies. His Environmental Protection Agency chief has fired scientists who are supposed to offer impartial advice about environmental policy. And Trump has now fired three officials—Comey, acting attorney general Sally Yates and US Attorney Preet Bharara—who were investigating people close to him. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/87 "2017-05-12T02:01:44Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > I already have [a bet going](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19916625&postcount=77) with **Sage Rat** where I win if Trump does not resign by 2020. > > I am willing to entertain bets for impeachment (and I mean removal from office, not just the vote in the House). I say it won’t happen. Same terms. Anyone? The more savvy betters should [arbitrage](http://www.paddypower.com/bet/politics/other-politics/donald-trump) that bet. See: “Will Trump Complete His First Term in Office.” (Okra was offering 2-to-1) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/88 "2017-05-12T02:03:39Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Remind me- isn’t Comey the eeeevil Republican operative who undermined Hillary and got Trump elected? > > When did he become a hero and martyr to liberals? Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/89 "2017-05-12T02:10:27Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > I already have [a bet going](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19916625&postcount=77) with **Sage Rat** where I win if Trump does not resign by 2020. > > I am willing to entertain bets for impeachment (and I mean removal from office, not just the vote in the House). I say it won’t happen. Same terms. Anyone? As said in [another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20201148&postcount=8), I don’t expect him to be removed by impeachment. I will not take that bet. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/90 "2017-05-12T07:13:07Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Comey had nothing on him, > [@jsgoddess](#): > > And [it was because of Russia](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-says-fbi-director-comey-told-him-three-times-he-wasnt-under-investigation-once-in-a-phone-call-initiated-by-the-president/2017/05/11/2b384c9a-3669-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_trumpcomey-120pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.6ce26d3d991f). He had an investigation that deeply bothered Trump, enough to make a decision, implusive, that was very damaging and for at first until he also could not resist, to deny the real reason and assert obviously false ones (which the pro Trump here blindly repeated in a foolish manner). It reminds more and more of an incompetent Berlusconi, who yes was a corrupt and a damaging leader of Italy, and also of a similar style like Trump, but had a certain political sense and a certain political management sense. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/91 "2017-05-12T09:02:59Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > He didn’t win because Russia hacked the election. Fight Trump as hard as you like. Just don’t delude yourself he won’t serve at least a full 4 years. You’re right Russia might not have had any meaningful impact on the election. But that doesn’t mean that Trump is clean or home free. There are many other aspects of the Russia connection that could take him down. Payments for influence, money laundering or any other type of corruption. I don’t believe Trump will serve the full four years but no I won’t bet on it. (Incidentally Paddy power betting now has the odds of Trump being impeached at 4/6 so go ahead if you are that sure he won’t be impeached you can make some money. ) ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/92 "2017-05-12T09:59:23Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > You’re right Russia might not have had any meaningful impact on the election. Nah dude, those leaked emails definitely hurt Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/93 "2017-05-12T14:49:39Z")
\*\*Comey firing: what should Congress do? \*\* In a word: nothing. It’s not their purview. The FBI director serves at the pleasure of the President, period. Comey fucked up on the job, he got canned. Nothing to see here, move on. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/94 "2017-05-12T14:52:08Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > \*\*Comey firing: what should Congress do? > \*\* > > In a word: nothing. It’s not their purview. The FBI director serves at the pleasure of the President, period. Comey fucked up on the job, he got canned. Nothing to see here, move on. You don’t think the possibility of the President interfering in a FBI investigation is in the purview of Congress? Then whose purview is it in? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/95 "2017-05-12T15:02:57Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Sure! Because liberals are hypocrites, of course! Also, fake news, and liberal tears, and, uh, snowflakes? Behnghazi!!! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/96 "2017-05-12T15:56:56Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > \*\*In a word: nothing. It’s not their purview. The FBI director serves at the pleasure of the President, period. And one would imagine that few things are less pleasing to Don Corleorange than making someone an offer he can’t refuse, only to have him refuse it. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/97 "2017-05-12T19:25:41Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > It reminds more and more of an incompetent Berlusconi, who yes was a corrupt and a damaging leader of Italy, and also of a similar style like Trump, but had a certain political sense and a certain political management sense. Ah, I had forgotten (don’t ask me how) about the former owner of A.C. Milan! Yes, the two share some traits. But I will point out that, just because Donald Trump didn’t like the fact that the Russia ties investigation was still dominating the news and hadn’t gone away doesn’t mean he intended to sabotage the investigation. First of all, firing Comey doesn’t really do that. Second of all, President Trump (I believe) is firmly of the belief that neither he, nor his campaign did anything wrong with the Russians. So he doesn’t CARE about the investigation getting to the bottom of things, cause he thinks that’s an empty well. He just doesn’t like the fact that the investigation is taking so long to prove him right. Which may be a stupid blindness on his part; time will tell. ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/98 "2017-05-12T19:46:06Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Nothing to see here, move on. I always find the Yosemite Sam style intervention funny. they have the same competency in the interventions and the same stlyle. > [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Ah, I had forgotten (don’t ask me how) about the former owner of A.C. Milan! Yes, the two share some traits. in Europe we do not forget him. They share not just some straits, they share the fundamental origins, it is only that > [@](#): > > But I will point out that, just because Donald Trump didn’t like the fact that the Russia ties investigation was still dominating the news and hadn’t gone away doesn’t mean he intended to sabotage the investigation. First of all, firing Comey doesn’t really do that. Second of all, President Trump (I believe) is firmly of the belief that neither he, nor his campaign did anything wrong with the Russians. So he doesn’t CARE about the investigation getting to the bottom of things, cause he thinks that’s an empty well. He just doesn’t like the fact that the investigation is taking so long to prove him right . … Et alors. It was boring to read this kind of “oh it can not be really true that Berlusconi is actually acting in the manner than observable” that it is not true because it is 'outside of the norms" … It will never be possible to know the interieur story, just like even now you do not know the interieur story of the presidency of Nixon. But the fundamental facts, they became know I watched Berlusconi in live - you can play your internal self deceptoin calming game or you can recognize. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/99 "2017-05-12T20:42:46Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > But I will point out that, just because Donald Trump didn’t like the fact that the Russia ties investigation was still dominating the news and hadn’t gone away doesn’t mean he intended to sabotage the investigation. Right. He just wanted to stop it. Not sabotage it! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327/100 "2017-05-12T20:50:07Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Right. He just wanted to stop it. Not sabotage it! Lennie just wanted to pet the fluffy bunnies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-firing-what-should-congress-do/786327.md?page=6)