# Comey Memo: Trump Told Him - Shut Down Flynn Probe **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 16, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792 "2017-05-16T21:40:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/241 "2017-06-06T15:48:19Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > How will it end, exactly? Are Ryan and McConnell going to have a sudden attack of ethical reserve and lead their party to impeachment and removal? Ethical reserve, no. Political calculation that removing the impediment to Pence that Trump represents is their only significant chance at getting any of their agenda completed, or of getting re-elected, _maybe_. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/242 "2017-06-06T16:07:05Z")
You realize that while sentiment here may be squarely against Trump, the GOP still has the same base of supporters, and Ryan especially can equivocate with the best of them. Acceding to the removal of Trump for cause would undermine them more than any sentiment for impeachment and removal, and would serve to implicate the entire GOP into culpability. It’s not going to happen without a radical change in GOP leadership. And the odds that the 2018 election are going to result in a massive shift in political agenda or power are low. If the Republicans actually manage to pass their health care “reform” bill and the consequences come due in that time there may be a shift, but I’m seeing that as unlikely with the opposing factions within the Republican party. I see Trump leaving only if he feels too picked on or ignored. So, either Alec Baldwin needs to make a full time job out of mocking Trump, or the media just needs to start treating him as irrelevant to the entire process of governance. Of course, then we get Mike Pence, so pick your poison. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/243 "2017-06-06T16:11:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Just as there was no honorable option other than to hold confirmation hearings for Garland, I suppose. Yes, that would have been an honorable option. Among many others, of course. Have they taken any of them? Why not an exhaustive list of all the honorable options they _have_ taken? I could use some non-partisan reassurance. Got fifty? Ten? Three? One? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/244 "2017-06-06T16:28:12Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Acceding to the removal of Trump for cause would undermine them more than any sentiment for impeachment and removal, and would serve to implicate the entire GOP into culpability. Only if they footdrag for too long or too obviously. If they can stop the bleeding quickly, they can look like the good guys, get the Pence agenda passed, blame Trump, say how Trump wasn’t what they all thought … I agree Ryan is good at finding lies that work. > [@](#): > > I see Trump leaving only if he feels too picked on or ignored. Well, that’s happening already, isn’t it? Mueller and Comey are empowered beyond his ability to bully them, and highly motivated as well, so that’s “picked on” even without non-Fox TV. Even Fox is getting into how the party can work around him, so that’s “ignored” and laughed at. Sad! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/245 "2017-06-06T16:59:46Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’m more optimistic than that. Comey’s testimony will be damaging, but it won’t be the end, just the beginning. Moeller will follow the money, I think that’s where the real action is. What did Donald get and what did he promise in order to get it? When the investigation is complete, there will be no honorable option but to either impeach and convict or he resigns. Even Republicans can only live so long in denial. No, you’re mistaken. Republicans have no integrity whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/246 "2017-06-06T17:02:35Z")
Some did. They call themselves “independents” now. Rumors have it that the remains of Barry Goldwater clawed to the surface of his grave and are walking to the Pacific. Nobody seems to know how these internet rumors get started. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/247 "2017-06-06T17:31:32Z")
You guys are acting like removing Trump has to be done for honorable or ethical reasons or because the GOP looked into their hearts and knew it was the right thing to do. Bullshit. Trump gets impeached and removed from office the very day that becomes the best option for the GOP, and that is not quite as unlikely as some of you think. Of course compared to the possibility of them doing the right thing just because its the right thing to do it’s a damn near certainty. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/248 "2017-06-06T17:34:01Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Yes, that would have been an honorable option. Among many others, of course. Have they taken any of them? Why not an exhaustive list of all the honorable options they _have_ taken? I could use some non-partisan reassurance. Got fifty? Ten? Three? > > One? I’m unable to think of a single one. #sad I was perfectly OK with the way they handled Gorsuch’s confirmation, but I wouldn’t call that honorable. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/249 "2017-06-06T17:47:42Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I think this is potentially where the disconnect might occur. You follow the news, and you are ‘informed’. You care about facts. But clearly, a rather large number of people follow receive different ‘news’ which shapes how they are informed (or not), and they work with different ‘facts’. This is exactly why Donald Trump’s victory shocked America – precisely because those of us who were staying on top of the news and the facts were living in one reality, whereas those who voted for him (the ones who ultimately really mattered) were living in another. I don’t see any evidence that these people have stepped out of their post-truth, semi-factual world. > > But don’t you see that **this is exactly the direction in which the Trump administration is heading**? Look at the assault on public institutions. Look at his contempt for the rule of law and checks and balances. Look at how he has treated the very bureaucracies that serve him: he is attempting to dismantle those agencies so that he and his inner circle have more vertical control over the people who staff them. Look at the people he has hired in his cabinet: billionaire ex-CEOs and ex-generals – and people from radical think tanks. It’s an administration of autocrats. And most importantly, he has a party that has enabled him and supports him, probably because they also have authoritarian tendencies. > > Look at what’s happening: Trump has effectively threatened trade wars with countries like Canada and Germany. He already scrapped the TPP. He has now pulled out of the Paris accord, one of only 3 countries on the planet to do so. He has done all of this over the objections of many influential business people and advisors here in this country. He simply shrugs them off and tweets to his base of supporters directly, just like Hugo Chavez or any other authoritarian populist / nationalist would. > > What I see is a society that is even more deeply divided than it was even on election night, but this is exactly how authoritarians operate. They succeed by creating binary choices, black and white, us against them, the ‘real’ citizens who love their country versus the elitists who are trying to deceive you and enslave you. Nothing has happened that would dissuade Trump’s supporters. The economy is still doing well. He might be unpopular with other world leaders but he hasn’t made any mistakes like starting an unpopular war. Until people consider themselves the victims of his policies, then we’re probably just going to remain bitterly divided about his presidency. Well I meant following the news as in “This is actually happening now” rather than “I hope everyone sees this and agrees”. You understand that even donnies folowers realize now that Fox is not giving them the _ **actual** _ news. They are tuning in to CNN and MSNBC now to figure out what’s going on. At long last it is clear that the model for a network is not always telling people what they want. They need the “dope”. The other model is starting to wobble a lot because of the extremity of the abuses and breeches. I understand and am scared too that “This is the way authoritarians operate” and “This is where they are heading.” I don’t think you can write the end of this novel by this reasoning though. I predict that pols will be victims of his policies first, and people will eventually if he lasts. I think you underestimate the numbers of people who voted against trump and will be loud in their protests in the future. He lost by 3 million votes. Rebupkis are scared to give town meetings. But mentally, and politically, and emotionally he is self destructing. This is regardless of how fascism operates historically. This whole thing has left us damaged. But I don’t think twitler is going to last long at this pace. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/250 "2017-06-06T18:17:25Z")
He scheduled a [speech](https://www.apnews.com/c7559200fbbd4cc08682484f876be349/Trump-schedules-speech-during-Comey-testimony) during the Comey testimony. Because that’s not desperate. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/251 "2017-06-06T18:21:48Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > You guys are acting like removing Trump has to be done for honorable or ethical reasons or because the GOP looked into their hearts and knew it was the right thing to do. Bullshit. Trump gets impeached and removed from office the very day that becomes the best option for the GOP, and that is not quite as unlikely as some of you think. Of course compared to the possibility of them doing the right thing just because its the right thing to do it’s a damn near certainty. Impeaching their own president is such a bad look though, it’ll be pretty hard to get to that level. If the after credit scene of the pee tape is Trump flat out telling Putin he’ll give up sanctions if Putin gets him elected, and btw here is our polling data to help you with propaganda, that _might_ do it. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/252 "2017-06-06T19:23:22Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Impeaching their own president is such a bad look though, it’ll be pretty hard to get to that level. If the after credit scene of the pee tape is Trump flat out telling Putin he’ll give up sanctions if Putin gets him elected, and btw here is our polling data to help you with propaganda, that _might_ do it. Nope. The hard core Trumpists and the sycophant gutless Republicans will just call that “good politics” and “not illegal”. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/253 "2017-06-06T19:25:50Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > He scheduled a [speech](https://www.apnews.com/c7559200fbbd4cc08682484f876be349/Trump-schedules-speech-during-Comey-testimony) during the Comey testimony. Because that’s not desperate. Wasn’t he supposed to be live-tweeting during the testimony? Is he going to try to do both at the same time? I doubt he has the brain capacity, but it’ll be fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/254 "2017-06-06T20:00:02Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Impeaching their own president is such a bad look though, it’ll be pretty hard to get to that level. That’s right, and absent any really impossible-to-ignore smoking gun, what the Comey testimony and upcoming results of Mueller’s investigation (specifically the money stuff) and the falling poll numbers will be used for is probably NOT impeachment. Instead, using all the mounting evidence, a quiet communication to Trump’s family will be made. ‘The end is coming’—but if they can get Donald to leave quietly, _they’ll get to keep all the loot_. If not, then Republicans in both the House and Senate will look at the ever-falling polls and at the accumulating evidence, and _could very well_ move forward to impeach and try—and, more importantly, the results of Mueller’s digging will be used in criminal prosecutions against the family (for financial wrongdoing, etc.). So the rising pile of ‘this could lead to impeachment’ data may well be put to use–but as persuasion. That way, GOP incumbents could keep their hands publicly clean. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/255 "2017-06-06T20:04:25Z")
Sounds good, but who in the family will be left that he’ll listen to? Jared’s in it up to his ears, so are the sons, Melania isn’t on speaking terms with her own husband, so maybe Ivanka? Does she even have a history of being able to change his mind? And, for that matter, does he ever even keep a decision he dislikes made past his next Twitter sign-on? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/256 "2017-06-06T20:17:49Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Sounds good, but who in the family will be left that he’ll listen to? Jared’s in it up to his ears, so are the sons, Melania isn’t on speaking terms with her own husband, so maybe Ivanka? Does she even have a history of being able to change his mind? > > And, for that matter, does he ever even keep a decision he dislikes made past his next Twitter sign-on? All good questions, but in fact Trump has been known to agree to things he didn’t like, when the alternative was worse. (I’m thinking of episodes such as his making a big deal at his rallies about never settling court cases, and then paying out $25 million to settle the Trump U case.) As recently as a few months ago he wasn’t so far gone in delusion as to think he’d be able to accomplish all the graft and looting he wanted to as President if that case had been hanging over his head, so he kissed the $25 mill goodbye in order to make it possible to grab much more. If he’s still at least that mentally competent, then a convincing argument could be laid out in front of him–horrible humiliation and loss of millions if he tries to hang on, versus a life as an extremely wealthy ‘victim of the Establishment’ who will continue to be flattered and fawned over by his nationalist fans as well as by all who traditionally seek access to the extremely wealthy. Again, if he’s not completely gaga, his current lawyers combined with his sons and daughter could probably explain it to him well enough that he’d see he had to make a choice. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/257 "2017-06-06T20:24:58Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > That’s right, and absent any really impossible-to-ignore smoking gun, what the Comey testimony and upcoming results of Mueller’s investigation (specifically the money stuff) and the falling poll numbers will be used for is probably NOT impeachment. His poll numbers aren’t falling. I check Gallup every day, and his approval ratings are consistently low, but every time they drop they’re back up a couple days later. He seems to have a floor at 40% approval. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/258 "2017-06-06T20:29:32Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > His poll numbers aren’t falling. I check Gallup every day, and his approval ratings are consistently low, but every time they drop they’re back up a couple days later. He seems to have a floor at 40% approval. They say a sucker is born every day. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/259 "2017-06-06T20:34:25Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Impeaching their own president is such a bad look though, it’ll be pretty hard to get to that level. If the after credit scene of the pee tape is Trump flat out telling Putin he’ll give up sanctions if Putin gets him elected, and btw here is our polling data to help you with propaganda, that _might_ do it. Mitch McConnell: “Well, I’m ah-surrah he didda not reallah me-yan tha-yat.” Paul Ryan: “Look, what’s important here is we stay focused on how Big Government economics breeds crony capitalism.” They are going to do everything they can do to prevent impeachment even if there is direct evidence of Trump being the Manchurian Candidate. The only thing that might shift that position is if Trump was actively blocking their agenda and the figured that Pence would give them a better deal. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/260 "2017-06-06T20:44:18Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > His poll numbers aren’t falling. I check Gallup every day, and his approval ratings are consistently low, but every time they drop they’re back up a couple days later. He seems to have a floor at 40% approval. Gallup actually shows a _downward trend_–the chart (showing results from the week after Inauguration Day up until June 5): [http://www.gallup.com/poll/201617/gallup-daily-trump-job-approval.aspx](http://www.gallup.com/poll/201617/gallup-daily-trump-job-approval.aspx) It’s pretty clear. As you say, after a fall there will be a rise–but the overall trend is downward. (The trends are like a ‘V’ on its side, with point to the left: the arm of “disapprove” moves up while the arm of “approve” moves down.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792.md?page=14)