# 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:** 29
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/561 "2017-06-08T21:35:07Z")
I think you’re missing the context of this discussion. ---
**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 8, 2017, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/562 "2017-06-08T21:39:23Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So let’s say hypothetically, that Trump actually does shoot someone in the middle of 5th Ave in New York. Would you argue that Trump, as president, can order an investigation into this shooting shut down, and that it would therefore be shut down… and further, that the reaction to this should be “it’s been done before, it will be done again, he’s allowed to do this, life will go on.” In that case, the law broken would be a state law, and the president has no authority to shut down an investigation by a state law enforcement agency. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/563 "2017-06-08T21:39:39Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > LOL. A fired disgruntled employee rants about his former employer. It’s more like Trump is figuring out how to play checkers while Comey is playing 3D chess. We’ll see how long it takes Mueller to apply the checkmate. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/564 "2017-06-08T21:48:01Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Exactly. > > If Comey starts leaking to people in the press that he felt Trump had been making veiled threats but he keeps his job, then it’s all inside Comey’s head. > > … Comey didn’t “\*leak \*to \*people \*in the press.” It’s not like you (who are usually so precise) to make such an imprecise statement. Comey deliberately and intentionally turned a single copy of his notes over to a friend and asked him to pass them to one source, The New York Times. One of the panelists asked him why he just didn’t turn over the stuff himself to the NYT and Comey said, “At that point, reporters were camped at the end of my driveway, and I thought it would be like feeding seagulls at the beach. My wife and I went into hiding.” One of the panelists asked Comey to get the notes back from the friend and turn them over to the committee. (Since I was in the car, I didn’t always know who on the panel was talking.) This turned out to be a very smart CYA move. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/565 "2017-06-08T21:49:54Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > You have it backwards. Trump asked him to drop the Flynn part specifically. At one point he said the “hope” thing with Flynn, but during another conversation didn’t he ask Comey if he could help remove the cloud (or something similar) from the Russia investigation? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/566 "2017-06-08T21:54:01Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > You have it backwards. Trump asked him to drop the Flynn part specifically. There’s no evidence that Trump fired him because he refused to drop the Flynn part. It doesn’t matter, unless you’re seriously going to argue that Flynn is not part of the Russia thing that got Comey fired. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/567 "2017-06-08T21:54:34Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I think you’re missing the context of this discussion. I don’t. You made the comment that the most well-respected expert on ethics in the country might not know what it was “practical” for Donald Trump to do, did you not? So who’s needs are we taking into account in order to decide what is “practical”? We’ve moved past “possible” at this point, clearly; now we have to prioritize needs so who’s needs are more important: the country’s or Donald Trump’s? ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/568 "2017-06-08T22:03:36Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Yeah, the obvious response to Trump’s lawyer insisting that Comey is lying about the conversation is “Well, hand over the tapes” > > In fact, if Trump doesn’t make tapes available, he can’t really use that leverage ever again since the first time he DOES produce tapes for anything, the obvious question will be “So where’s the Comey tapes” and no one will believe him when he claims that they don’t exist. Well, _some people_ will but those people will believe him if he says he rode a dinosaur to work. No, no … There **were** Comey tapes that proved 100% that Comey was lying. But then, the WH hired a secretary named Rose Mary Woods to transcribe the tapes, and somehow they were mysteriously erased. I know Nixon’s secretary Woods died some years ago. This is a different Rose Mary Woods. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/569 "2017-06-08T22:05:15Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Comey didn’t “\*leak \*to \*people \*in the press.” It’s not like you (who are usually so precise) to make such an imprecise statement. > … Follow-up to the above: > [@](#): > > … > “The president tweeted on Friday after I got fired that I’d better hope there are not tapes,” Comey said. That made the ex-FBI director think any such tapes would back up his account of Trump’s improper statements, so he said he asked a friend of his to share with a reporter a memo he had written about the February conversation. > > “I thought it might prompt the appointment of a special counsel,” Comey said. > > Asked by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) why he felt he had the authority to do that, Comey replied: “As a private citizen, I felt free to share that. I thought it was very important to get it out.” > > The friend is Daniel Richman, a law professor and a former federal prosecutor who confirmed his role but declined further comment. The reporter is Michael Schmidt of the New York Times, who declined to comment… Source: “Comey leaked details of talks with Trump in hopes of a special counsel” [http://wapo.st/2rDkDHv](http://wapo.st/2rDkDHv) WaPo’s blow-by-blow of Comey’s testimony in this article is good. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/570 "2017-06-08T22:19:39Z")
Just reading the tea leaves, Comey was very confident. And he appeared very confident in Mueller as well. He looked confident enough, and has seen the intelligence, that maybe he knows that the obstruction of justice charge is not plan A here. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/571 "2017-06-08T22:28:41Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Just reading the tea leaves, Comey was very confident. And he appeared very confident in Mueller as well. He looked confident enough, and has seen the intelligence, that maybe he knows that the obstruction of justice charge is not plan A here. Hope springs eternal 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/572 "2017-06-08T22:28:57Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > At one point he said the “hope” thing with Flynn, but during another conversation didn’t he ask Comey if he could help remove the cloud (or something similar) from the Russia investigation? Yes, but that didn’t involve pulling back on the investigation. That was about publicizing what Comey had already told him, about him not being a target (and/or about media reports being incorrect). > [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > It doesn’t matter, unless you’re seriously going to argue that Flynn is not part of the Russia thing that got Comey fired. I am seriously saying that Comey’s failure to pull back on the Flynn part specifically may not have been what got him fired, and that you have no basis for saying otherwise. (Personally I’m skeptical that it was Flynn. Trump wanted to help out Flynn, but his primary motivator in things tends to be Trump himself, and I think he was ticked at Comey for publically making him look bad - not for failing to stop the Flynn investigation. You can think otherwise, but it’s not more than speculation.) > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I don’t. You made the comment that the most well-respected expert on ethics in the country might not know what it was “practical” for Donald Trump to do, did you not? > > So who’s needs are we taking into account in order to decide what is “practical”? We’ve moved past “possible” at this point, clearly; now we have to prioritize needs so who’s needs are more important: the country’s or Donald Trump’s? You missed the context. The context was whether Trump’s issue are “completely within his own power to resolve”. In that context, the fact that it’s not practical for him to do so is relevant. You’re now saying that the country’s needs should take priority. But that’s another argument and is not the same as saying the issue is “completely within his own power to resolve”. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/573 "2017-06-08T22:35:10Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > Hope springs eternal 🙂 You’ve been hoping that this thing was imminently ending for the past four months, and it’s done nothing but gain momentum. You’re losing [Foxnews](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/337017-napolitano-credible-and-compelling-argument-that-trump-lied-to). Consider that for a moment. > [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I am seriously saying that Comey’s failure to pull back on the Flynn part specifically may not have been what got him fired, and that you have no basis for saying otherwise. Sure I do. He fired Comey for the Russia thing, and Flynn is absolutely a major part of that. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/574 "2017-06-08T22:42:47Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Comey comes across as very weak to me. Honest, but weak. Not that anyone in the hairy yam’s administration feels strong enough to say no to the HMFIC. Does this sound weak to you? “Comey, unplugged: President Trump is a lying liar who lied” [http://wapo.st/2r9BGx6](http://wapo.st/2r9BGx6) > [@](#): > > President Trump says many, many untrue things. Yet to this day, the media is reluctant to label those things “lies,” not knowing whether Trump actually knows any better. > > James Comey has no such compunction. Indeed, if there was one talking point he had prepared for his testimony Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, it seemed to be that Trumpand his team are liars. > > And not only is Trump a liar, but Comey says he tailored his treatment of Trump — even before Trump was president — to his belief thatTrump is a confirmed liar. > … > It’s also hugely significant that we have a top former law enforcement official plainly and unmistakably accusing the president of the United States of being a liar. Even Democrats sometimes dance around that question; Sen. Mark R. Warner (Va.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, for instance, on Thursday referred to Trump’s “untruthful” statements, apparently not wanting to seem to have prejudged them. > > Comey, who is now a private citizen, doesn’t have to hold back anymore. There were reports in advance of Thursday’s hearing that he intended only to be a “fact witness”; his willingness to call Trump a liar shows that heconsiders himself engaged in a showdown with a dishonest president that he saw coming long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/575 "2017-06-08T22:47:24Z")
Don’t know if it has been mentioned yet, but did anyone else think John McCain seemed confused in his questioning today? Like he is running out of marbles? ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/576 "2017-06-08T22:48:19Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > You’ve been hoping that this thing was imminently ending for the past four months, and it’s done nothing but gain momentum. Where is the momentum? You’re still at the “[no](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/05/19/feinstein_no_evidence_of_russian_collusion_with_trump_campaign_but_there_are_rumors.html) [evidence](https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2017/05/24/another-democratic-senator-says-theres-not-enough-evidence-to-point-to-russian-collusion-n2331127) [whatsoever](http://www.wwaytv3.com/2017/05/13/sen-burr-no-evidence-so-far-of-trump-campaign-russia-collusion/), [nothing](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/james-clapper-still-no-evidence-of-any-russian-collusion-with-trump-campaign/article/2622452) [at all](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/not-true-james-comey-denounces-nyt-report-on-trump-campaign-collusion-with-russia-during-testimony/article/2625344)” level that you have been at forever. You’re stuck with Trump at least until 2020 🙂 I was and am supporting Trump as a super-disruptor. He certainly stuck a stick into the anthill, didn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/577 "2017-06-08T22:49:32Z")
That was his dick. The stick would have been the smarter move. Still, entertaining as a sumbitch! ---
**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:** [June 8, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/578 "2017-06-08T22:51:01Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > Where is the momentum? You’re still at the “[no](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2017/05/19/feinstein_no_evidence_of_russian_collusion_with_trump_campaign_but_there_are_rumors.html) [evidence](https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2017/05/24/another-democratic-senator-says-theres-not-enough-evidence-to-point-to-russian-collusion-n2331127) [whatsoever](http://www.wwaytv3.com/2017/05/13/sen-burr-no-evidence-so-far-of-trump-campaign-russia-collusion/), [nothing](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/james-clapper-still-no-evidence-of-any-russian-collusion-with-trump-campaign/article/2622452) [at all](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/not-true-james-comey-denounces-nyt-report-on-trump-campaign-collusion-with-russia-during-testimony/article/2625344)” level that you have been at forever. You’re stuck with Trump at least until 2020 🙂 > > I was and am supporting Trump as a super-disruptor. He certainly stuck a stick into the anthill, didn’t he? The Republican National Committee continues to thank you for your service. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/579 "2017-06-08T22:55:30Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > That was his dick. The stick would have been the smarter move. Still, entertaining as a sumbitch! And biglyer. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/580 "2017-06-09T00:01:07Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > I was and am supporting Trump as a super-disruptor. He certainly stuck a stick into the anthill, didn’t he? Yeah, all of Trump’s problems are definitely over for good. Cloud lifted. Pop the champagne! Melania’s gettin’ orange tonight! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792.md?page=28) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792.md?page=30)