# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/41 "2017-05-17T02:19:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Trump will have to deny this. Even with this Congress, I don’t see how he can stay in office if he admits he told his FBI Director to stop an investigation of a White House staffer. That’s Obstruction of Justice. Much as I hate to admit it, **D’Anconia** has something of a point: declaring it obstruction of justice, full stop, appears to be [overstating the case](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/legal-analysts-trump-might-have-obstructed-justice-if-comeys-allegation-is-true/2017/05/16/24f17d0c-3a83-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_obstruction-750pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.3943f1e60ef5). > [@WaPo](#): > > The laws governing obstruction of justice require prosecutors to show a person “corruptly” tried to influence a probe — meaning investigators have to find some evidence of what a person was thinking when taking a particular action. > > In this case, analysts said, that would mean analyzing the specific details of Trump and Comey’s conversation, assessing what else was happening at the time and possibly talking to Trump associates who had talked with the president about what he wanted to do. > > “It depends on what he said and how he said it,” said Edward B. MacMahon Jr., another criminal defense lawyer. “I call all the time and ask prosecutors to stop investigations. It just depends on how it’s done.” > > MacMahon noted there are circumstances — such as the CIA worrying about disclosure of classified information — in which one component of the executive branch discourages prosecutors from pursuing a case. > > “If the reason you wanted it stopped was because it was going to lead to the prosecution of one of your friends, that would be one thing,” he said. “If you wanted it stopped because you didn’t want to disclose national security information, that’s something provided by statute.” Thing is, Trump is a narcissistic imbecile, we all know that. But this ambiguity is gong to give Republican leaders (and other Republicans, hypothetically some of the Trump fans on this board) an out: as long as they can say that there might theoretically be a legitimate reason for Trump’s words, they don’t have to admit the bleedin’ obvious. They’ll probably even call us conspiracy theorists, or tell us that This Is Why Trump Won. They gotta do their thing, I suppose. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/42 "2017-05-17T02:31:05Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by **WaPo** > > … > > “It depends on what he said and how he said it,” said Edward B. MacMahon Jr., another criminal defense lawyer. “I call all the time and ask prosecutors to stop investigations. It just depends on how it’s done.” > > … Hey, this can’t be right. Everyone knows Ed McMahon is dead. Seriously, Comey’s notes may turn out to be very detailed indeed, with extensive revelations about Trump’s motivations, state of mind (as it were), aims, goals, intentions, etc. The actual blow-by-blow. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2017, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/43 "2017-05-17T02:37:47Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Seriously, Comey’s notes may turn out to be very detailed indeed, with extensive revelations about Trump’s motivations, state of mind (as it were), aims, goals, intentions, etc. The actual blow-by-blow. The “blow-by-blow” of Trump’s, motivations, aims, goals, et cetera can be summed up in one sentence: “I want the best audience ratings.” Whether that audience is his followers, or the American public, Russian officials, or a coven of witches doesn’t really matter; he just wants the attention and adulation. That’s it; no complex schemes within schemes, or elaborate endgames to an inevitable checkmate, or precognition. Just applause, or barring that, speechless astonishment that his interprets as approval rather than flat horror. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/44 "2017-05-17T02:42:42Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Seriously, Comey’s notes may turn out to be very detailed indeed, with extensive revelations about Trump’s motivations, state of mind (as it were), aims, goals, intentions, etc. The actual blow-by-blow. This super confused me until I realized you put the quote tags in the wrong place. The Ed McMahon joke is yours, not mine :). And yes, the devil will undoubtedly be in the details. I’m just saying there’s no slam dunk with what we currently know. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/45 "2017-05-17T02:47:29Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The “blow-by-blow” of Trump’s, motivations, aims, goals, et cetera can be summed up in one sentence: “I want the best audience ratings.” Whether that audience is his followers, or the American public, Russian officials, or a coven of witches doesn’t really matter; he just wants the attention and adulation. That’s it; no complex schemes within schemes, or elaborate endgames to an inevitable checkmate, or precognition. Just applause, or barring that, speechless astonishment that his interprets as approval rather than flat horror. > > Stranger Yes, we know all that, but the documentation of it will be important. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > This super confused me until I realized you put the quote tags in the wrong place. The Ed McMahon joke is yours, not mine :). > > … Sorry about that. Putting quotes within quotes confused me. :o ---
**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:** [May 17, 2017, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/46 "2017-05-17T03:04:35Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Yes, we know all that, but the documentation of it will be important. All the documentation you need is in his _magnum anus_, his soliloquy of compiled whatdom, his treatise on the business of making poor investments, _The Art of the Deal_. In that hollowed tome lies all of the nonsense that has echoed back and forth through the vast cavernous void between his infamous hairdo for decades, all the while acquiring a flat resonance that only a soliton created from pure effervescent nothingness can present. In it, he explains how to lie, to renig on prior agreements, to use bullying and threats to prevent others from taking legal recourse to get their due payments, to ignore good advice and blame others for poor decisions, and generally how to be an entitled fucknugget who nonetheless promotes his brand of gaudy pseudo-wealth as luxury and value to a guileless public with a limitless appetite for Lotto and bullshit success anecdota from a fake university. The documentation of Trump’s thoughts wouldn’t fill a single page of a Big Chief Writing Tablet, and would yet make it even more racist than the picture on the front by doing so. Trump’s mind is like a snowglobe that leaked out and now just has fake snowflakes permanently cemented to the glass, with a sorry little plastic polar bear rattling around. Stranger ---
**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:** [May 17, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/47 "2017-05-17T03:12:04Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > All the documentation you need is in his _magnum anus_, his soliloquy of compiled whatdom, his treatise on the business of making poor investments, _The Art of the Deal_. … > > Stranger That’s all _ **I** _ need. Hell, I already have all I need. Congress will need more. Good for Comey keeping detailed notes on everything. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/48 "2017-05-17T03:12:54Z")
Anyone want to speculate over Trump’s intense loyalty to Michael Flynn? Seems like a lot of risk to ask the head of the FBI to go easy on Flynn, and Trump isn’t known for doing much that isn’t self serving. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/49 "2017-05-17T03:16:27Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Anyone want to speculate over Trump’s intense loyalty to Michael Flynn? Seems like a lot of risk to ask the head of the FBI to go easy on Flynn, and Trump isn’t known for doing much that isn’t self serving. First guess - Trump is afraid of what a thorough investigation of Flynn will bring out about him. Second guess, Flynn has verifiable evidence of Trump’s wrongdoings in something like collusion with the Russians. ---
**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 17, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/50 "2017-05-17T03:20:14Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I tell ya, we’re going to be telling our grandchildren about this. They probably won’t believe us, but this has been an interesting time to be an American. May you live in _conflict of interest_ times… ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/51 "2017-05-17T05:01:06Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Sorry about that. Putting quotes within quotes confused me. :o I recommend “preview post”. I fixed the quote tags. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/52 "2017-05-17T05:11:31Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > That’s all _ **I** _ need. Hell, I already have all I need. There’s a compelling argument. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/53 "2017-05-17T06:00:03Z")
> [@Tigers2B1](#): > > Wondering that myself. How is this obstruction? Please no ‘well, it just is’ response. Maybe a lawyer here will lay out the elements of obstruction and how each is answered by the facts. [Legal analysts](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/legal-analysts-trump-might-have-obstructed-justice-if-comeys-allegation-is-true/2017/05/16/24f17d0c-3a83-11e7-8854-21f359183e8c_story.html) suggest that Trump trying to influence an investigation could be obstruction of justice. [Here](http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/16/politics/obstruction-of-justice-donald-trump/) is a pretty decent summary of what obstruction is. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/54 "2017-05-17T09:29:12Z")
It’s time for Trump to resign. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/55 "2017-05-17T10:02:35Z")
Putting him through a long series of questioning would be the funniest/most embarrassing show ever. I’m waiting for a temper tantrum followed by fake heart attack. I’m still hearing he had a 40% “like” rating after the Comey memo thingy, so again, I doubt much comes from this. We’ll need 10 more like this to get the GOP to budge the impeachment wall. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/56 "2017-05-17T10:18:37Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Much as I hate to admit it, **D’Anconia** has something of a point: declaring it obstruction of justice, full stop, appears to be I want to mention here an argument I just posted in the pit. For the purposes of impeaching Donald Trump, it doesn’t matter if his attempts to disrupt the FBI and congressional investigations rise to the level of illegality. Impeachment is a charge of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”. That last is undefined. Harvard constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe in the Wapo points out that Nixon and Clinton were both charged with obstruction of justice in their impeachments. [**Trump must be impeached. Here’s why.**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-must-be-impeached-heres-why/2017/05/13/82ce2ea4-374d-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html) > [@Laurence Tribe for WaPo](#): > > To say that this does not in itself rise to the level of “obstruction of justice” is to empty that concept of all meaning. Obstruction of justice was the first count in the articles of impeachment against Nixon and, years later, a count against Bill Clinton. In Clinton’s case, the ostensible obstruction consisted solely in lying under oath about a sordid sexual affair that may have sullied the Oval Office but involved no abuse of presidential power as such. > > But in Nixon’s case, the list of actions that together were deemed to constitute impeachable obstruction reads like a forecast of what Trump would do decades later — making misleading statements to, or withholding material evidence from, federal investigators or other federal employees; trying to interfere with FBI or congressional investigations; trying to break through the FBI’s shield surrounding ongoing criminal investigations; dangling carrots in front of people who might otherwise pose trouble for one’s hold on power. There is no question that Trump has tried to interfere with the FBI investigation (and remember this article was published on Sunday, before news of the Comey memos). For the purposes of impeaching Donald, the evidence is right before our eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/57 "2017-05-17T10:43:40Z")
My coworker said, “This is a non-story. Flynn was already cleared when this supposedly happened.” And then gave me [this](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-reviewed-flynns-calls-with-russian-ambassador-but-found-nothing-illicit/2017/01/23/aa83879a-e1ae-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html?utm_term=.dbb51f08ae7b) link. I need a good comeback for this. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/58 "2017-05-17T10:57:44Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > My coworker said, “This is a non-story. Flynn was already cleared when this supposedly happened.” And then gave me [this](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-reviewed-flynns-calls-with-russian-ambassador-but-found-nothing-illicit/2017/01/23/aa83879a-e1ae-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html?utm_term=.dbb51f08ae7b) link. I need a good comeback for this. “Must find leakers now! SAD!” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/59 "2017-05-17T11:00:55Z")
That link says they found no evidence of anything illicit when reviewing phone calls between Flynn and a Russian. So? It’s like hearing that a guy, accused of murdering people, says _“hey, you have no evidence that I poisoned my wife.”_ That statement doesn’t rule out guns or knives – or the idea that he poisoned anyone _else_ – sure as declaring some phone calls innocuous proves nothing about anything else. (Also, isn’t it Trump’s story that Flynn was out for being untruthful about whether the calls happened, instead of for anything that happened during those calls?) ---
**Author:** ![ganthet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de0a6/32.png) [@ganthet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ganthet)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792/60 "2017-05-17T13:01:11Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > My coworker said, “This is a non-story. Flynn was already cleared when this supposedly happened.” And then gave me [this](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-reviewed-flynns-calls-with-russian-ambassador-but-found-nothing-illicit/2017/01/23/aa83879a-e1ae-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html?utm_term=.dbb51f08ae7b) link. I need a good comeback for this. [Flynn is still under investigation by the FBI](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-trump-comey-investigation-flynn-20170516-story.html), which is what the hullabulloo is about regarding whether Trump’s words could be interpreted as pressuring Comey to end the investigation back in February. [QUOTE=The Chicago Tribune] Flynn has been under investigation for a variety of issues, including his payments from foreign entities; whether he violated laws requiring registering as an agent of a foreign government; and his communications with Russian officials. The FBI has also probed other Trump associates for possible connections to Russian officials. [/quote] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/comey-memo-trump-told-him-shut-down-flynn-probe/786792.md?page=4)