Re: The American Politics Thread - Trump fires FBI Director
Posted: Sun May 14, 2017 9:59 pm
Some fun comments from the Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (Trump's recently been trying to twist old comments from Clapper in an attempt to shut down talk of Russia collusion):
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStor ... r-47399481
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dni-clap ... d=47390947
Clapper: US govt 'under assault' by Trump after Comey firing
American democracy is separately "under assault" from President Donald Trump and Russia, the former U.S. intelligence chief warned Sunday, expressing dismay over the abrupt firing of FBI director James Comey amid a probe into Moscow's meddling in U.S. elections and possible ties with the Trump campaign.
As Trump works to fast-track Comey's successor, lawmakers from both parties urged him to steer clear of any politicians for the job and say he must "clean up the mess that he mostly created."
"I think, in many ways, our institutions are under assault, both externally — and that's the big news here, is the Russian interference in our election system," said James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence. "I think as well our institutions are under assault internally."
When he was asked, "Internally, from the president?" Clapper said, "Exactly."
Clapper spoke following Trump's sudden firing of Comey last week, which drew sharp criticism because it came amid the FBI's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. Clapper said America's founding fathers had created three co-equal branches of government with checks and balances, but with Trump as president, that was now under assault and "eroding."
The White House had no immediate comment on Clapper's remarks on a morning in which no White House aide appeared on the Sunday news shows to discuss Trump's firing.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStor ... r-47399481
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Russia likely sees President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey as "another victory on the scoreboard for them."
“What's unfolded now, here, the leader of the -- the lead of the investigation about potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign has been removed. So the Russians have to consider this as a, you know, another victory on the scoreboard for them,” Clapper told ABC News’ Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” Sunday.
Clapper also told Stephanopoulos that then-FBI Director Comey seemed "uneasy" about having dinner with President Trump because of "the appearance of potentially compromising his independence." The former DNI noted he spoke to Comey at FBI headquarters ahead of the dinner on Jan. 27, a week after Trump took office.
“I spoke briefly with Director Comey about the dinner," Clapper said. "He conveyed to me that he’d been invited and he was -- and this is my characterization -- uneasy with it, simply because of the optic or the appearance of potentially compromising his independence and that of the bureau.”
But he said it’s a “professional courtesy” to accept an invitation from the president for dinner.
Stephanopoulos asked the former Director of National Intelligence under President Obama if he thought “James Comey would make a pledge of loyalty to the president,” a reference to reports that Comey said the president asked him for such assurances, which he declined to give.
Clapper said he “would find that profoundly out of character for what” he knows of Comey “and his integrity” that the former FBI chief would make such a pledge.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dni-clap ... d=47390947