The Patriot Post® · Comey's Coy Testimony Indicts Himself, Not Trump
It is indeed interesting that Donald Trump’s biggest request and frustration with former FBI Director James Comey deals with the question of “honest loyalty.” It’s only this week, after Trump has repeatedly insisted that he was not personally under FBI investigation, that Comey finally confirms that truth. This after, according to Comey’s own testimony, Trump had requested the FBI clear the record regarding himself and the investigation into Russian election meddling. Clearly, Comey made little effort to set the public record straight; instead, he seemed to prefer allowing the continuation of “the cloud” of the MSM’s unsubstantiated collusion narrative to remain unchallenged.
Indeed, he told the Senate he took notes because “I was honestly concerned that [the president] might lie about the nature of that meeting.”
In a phone call from Trump on March 30th, Comey recollects, “[The President] asked what we could do to ‘lift the cloud.’ I responded that we were investigating the matter as quickly as we could, and that there would be great benefit, if we didn’t find anything, to our having done the work well. He agreed, but then re-emphasized the problems this was causing him.” Regarding the same phone conversation, Comey’s written testimony continues, “I explained that we had briefed the leadership of Congress on exactly which individuals we were investigating and that we had told Congressional leaders that we were not personally investigating President Trump. I reminded him I had previously told him that. He repeatedly told me, ‘We need to get that fact out.’ (I did not tell the President that the FBI and the Department of Justice had been reluctant to make public statements that we did not have an open case on President Trump for a number of reasons, most importantly because it would create a duty to correct, should that change.)”
That statement by Comey sums up the whole problem and gives insight into interpreting what Trump meant in his request for “loyalty” from Comey. While at least three times by Comey’s own admission he told Trump that the president was not under investigation, Comey remained reluctant to share this information with the general public because he was worried that the status could change. Talk about blatant bureaucratic hog wash. Comey certainly had no qualms about telling the public when the FBI had opened and then closed its investigation into Hillary Clinton, only to announce that he was reopening it, followed by a another election-layup announcement that he had closed it again.
Comey also noted, as he did in May, that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch leaned on him to downplay the Hillary Clinton probe by calling it a “matter” and not an “investigation.”
In all honesty, Comey’s testimony ends up providing greater support for Trump’s decision to fire him. In fact, if anything, it corroborates Trump’s account of his communications with Comey — that Comey had indeed repeatedly assured him that he was not under investigation. However, the Leftmedia will still attempt to spin this as the “smoking gun” of Trump obstructing the Russia investigation. The reality is there’s not even smoke here.
Addendums:
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a former prosecutor, attorney and military judge, argued that Comey’s testimony being cleared by independent investigator Robert Mueller means “in the mind of special council Mueller that there is no obstruction of justice case to be made, because if he felt like he had a case he wouldn’t let Comey, who is his chief and only witness, go out in public and get beat up.” Graham concluded, “So this is the best evidence yet that in the mind of the special council there is no obstruction of justice to be made case against President Trump, because he allowed Comey to testify in public and issue a statement and no prosecutor would ever do that if there was a real case here.”