Biblical and Constitutional Politics
Comey Testified Twice
(at least it seems that way)
Former FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate on Thursday, June 8, 2017. He testified publicly in the morning then in a closed session later. But it seems like he actually testified publicly twice. I say this as I listened to the “talking heads” over the weekend, and the perspective on his testimony by liberals and Democrats is completely different than the perspective by conservatives and Republicans.
The Liberal/ Democrat Perspective
The liberal/ Democrat perspective is that Comey indicted President Trump on several counts. First, in their minds, there is no doubt Trump obstructed justice when he told Comey “I hope you can leave this go” in regards to General Flynn and his supposed connection to Russian officials.
Second, they say Comey indicted Trump by calling Trump a liar. To be called a liar by the Director of the FBI is said to be a big deal.
Third, although Comey said Trump was not under investigation in regards to any Trump/ Russian connection, liberals and Democrats point out that Comey said “was” not “is.” In other words, Comey left the door open that Trump is currently under investigation and thus they need to continue to push the Trump/ Russian connection.
Fourth, Comey indicated there was no doubt the Russians influenced the 2016 election. That further emphasizes the need for liberals and Democrats to continue the Trump/ Russian conspiracy narrative.
Fifth and finally, liberals and Democrats say it was completely inappropriate for Trump to ask for Comey’s loyalty, as Comey claimed happened, and that this is further evidence of obstruction of justice by Trump.
The Conservative/ Republican Perspective
The conservative/ Republican perspective is that Comey is a disgruntled ex-employee who has it out for his former boss, President Trump. As such, little that he says can be trusted.
But first, in regards to Comey claiming Trump tried to obstruct he Flynn investigation, they point out that Trump said “I hope” not “I order” you to let Flynn go. And as one Republican Senator pointed out in the hearing, and as Comey admitted, no one has ever been indicted for a crime for “hoping” for something. The Senator said that Comey saying Trump was trying to stop the investigation was Comey reading into Trump‘s words what he wanted to hear but not what Trump actually said.
Moreover, if Trump wanted the investigation into Flynn to end and for Flynn to be free of potential charges, all he had to do was to pardon Flynn. The President does have that constitutional power, and if he used it, that would have been the end of that. As such, it is nonsense to talk of Trump obstructing justice.
Second, conservatives and Republicans emphasize Comey said Trump was not under investigation the entire time that Comey was director of the FBI. That means the entire Trump/ Russian conspiracy narrative the media and Democrats have been pushing the last seven months has been a total hoax, and it is time to stop that narrative. Moreover, Senator Marco Rubio pointed out that with everything else being leaked, it is disturbing that the one thing that never was leaked is that Trump was not under investigation. If that point had been leaked, it would have stopped the Trump/ Russian hysteria that has been occurring for months.
It is even more disturbing that the first time Comey testified before Congress back on May 3rd, he indicated that the FBI was investigating Russian meddling in the election, but he failed to mention that Trump was not the subject of an investigation. Again, that would have stopped the hysteria back then. Comey claims he did not say that then as the situation could have changed, and he would have had to have corrected himself. But such concerns did keep him from discussing publicly all aspects of the Hillary email scandal.
Finally on this issue, conservatives and Republicans say that for liberals to jump on Comey saying “was” rather than “is” is just plain silly. Of course, Comey cannot testify to what is happening in the FBI right now as he is no longer with the FBI. But to continue the Trump/ Russian narrative on that thin hope is disingenuous to say the least. People could theorize about any number of things that might be happening but for which there is no evidence. And that remains the case with the Trump/ Russian narrative. There is not and never has been any evidence for such. Therefore, the whole narrative has been one giant hoax.
Third, Comey himself should be indicted for leaking his memos of his conversations with the President to the press. Those were privileged conversations and not for the public perusal.
Fourth, conservatives and Republicans say Comey should also be indicted for perjury. He previously testified to Congress that he had never been pressured by the administration to stop any investigation, even saying that if that had happened, it would have been a “big deal.” But now he is saying Trump did try to obstruct the Flynn investigation. As such, Comey either lied in his first testimony or in his second. Moreover, Comey should be indicted for not reporting this concern to the Department of Justice, as is required by law.
Moreover, in his May 3rd testimony, Comey was asked if he was the source of any anonymous leaks to the press, and he said he was not. But conservatives and Republicans are looking into if in fact Comey was the source for previous leaks. If he was, he is guilty not only of leaking classified material but also of perjury in that regard as well.
Fifth, conservatives and Republicans are proclaiming that with Comey’s testimony, the Trump/ Russian narrative is now dead. There is no evidence for it. There never was and still is not, and Trump has never been under investigation for it.
Sixth and finally, they say when Trump asked for Comey’s loyalty, it was for loyalty to the country and to the truth, not to Trump.
President Trump’s Perspective
Needless to say, President Trump agrees with the conservative/ Republican perspective on every point, except he takes things a step farther. He says he never said to Comey, “I hope you can let this go” in regards to Flynn. Trump also says he never asked for Comey’s loyalty. He even said he would testify to such under oath to Special Counselor Mueller. Trump also called for the Justice Department to investigate Comey and his leaks to the press.
My Perspective
As for me, I of course side with the conservatives and Republicans on all points. The whole Trump/ Russian conspiracy is and always has been a hoax. It was just an excuse invented by snowflakes who could not handle that their candidate lost. This hoax has further been used to try to distract Trump from accomplishing what he promised in the election and to give the media something, anything to talk about other than about all that Trump is accomplishing despite the distractions.
In fact, the media’s handling of the Trump presidency has truly been despicable and needs to stop. Their hysteria over fake scandals is dividing the American people, as evidenced by these differing reactions to Comey’s testimony. They are also hurting we the people by distracting not just Trump but Congress from working on issues that will benefit all Americans, like repealing and replacing Obamacare and reforming the tax code.
But the media does care about the American people. All they care about is ousting Trump from office and furthering their own careers. Therefore, I fear they will continue the fake news of a Trump/ Russian conspiracy and Trump obstructing justice as long as possible, probably until Special Counsellor Mueller releases his report and puts an end to all of this nonsense. But after that, the hate Trump media will probably just invent another fake scandal and continue their unjustified attacks on Trump.
Finally, yes, Comey should be indicted for both his leaking of the content of confidential conversations with the President and for any other leaking he might have done and for perjury. Neither such leaks nor perjury should be tolerated, no matter who it is committing such crimes.
Comey Testified Twice (at least it
seems that way).
Copyright © 2017 By Gary F. Zeolla.
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The above article was posted on this website June 11, 2017.
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