US Politics - Trump cancels summit having to do with North Korea

Harry Ola wrote:

Days before his firing Comey asked the justice department for more money and personnel to deepen the Russian investigation. His request was to the man who wrote the letter that supposedly got him fired.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/us/politics/comey-russia-investigation-fbi.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

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Justice officials interviewing for ‘interim’ F.B.I. leader

Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein are expected to interview at least four candidates on Wednesday to be “interim” F.B.I. director, a Justice Department official said. The person selected for that role would hold it until Mr. Trump’s eventual nominee for the position is confirmed by the Senate.

The four potential candidates are William Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Paul Abbate, the assistant director in charge of the F.B.I. Washington field office; Michael Anderson, the special agent in charge of the Chicago field office; and Adam Lee, the special agent in charge of the Richmond, Va., field office.

The official cautioned that that list was not exhaustive. Andrew McCabe, the deputy F.B.I. director who is currently the acting director, is also under consideration for the longer-term interim director role, the official said.

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Garth wrote:Former deputy director of the CIA:

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Sean Spicer Had a Meltdown After Trump Fired Comey, Hiding in Bushes and Demanding Darkness

White House press secretary and former Easter Bunny Sean Spicer has a real tough job sometimes. And on Tuesday night, when President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey, it apparently became too much to handle.

Spicer had planned to email out a statement announcing Comey's termination, but as of about 5:40 p.m. EDT Tuesday, the system wasn't working well. Instead, he went to his doorway and yelled the news to the journalists gathered there, according to the Washington Post. Then he closed the door.

At 5:41 p.m., reporters began to tweet the bombshell, and by 5:44 p.m. Spicer's statement explaining that Trump's decision came at the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had arrived in inboxes. He followed up with a tweet at 5:50 p.m.

Then all hell broke loose.

Aides said he would speak to press about the termination, which was blamed on Comey's supposed mishandling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state, then changed their answers and said he wouldn't. Outside, Spicer appeared on Fox Business with Lou Dobbs, at times stuttering and misspeaking, at one point saying the attorney general had been terminated before quickly correcting himself. Photographers could be seen at the edges of the frame taking pictures of Spicer as he spoke with Dobbs.

The Post detailed also that "Spicer spent several minutes hidden in the bushes" while his press assistants negotiated the terms of a briefing. He stepped out, and asked for the lights on set to be turned off. They were.

He spoke with reporters for about 10 minutes.

lex-man wrote:This seems like a massive problem with the division of power in the US. Surely, the president shouldn't be able to fire the head of the FBI. Or at least appoint somebody who is able to fire the head of the FBI. It should require some kind of senate/ house vote to accomplish.

U.S. Voters Send Trump Approval To Near Record Low; Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; No Winner In Media War, But Voters Trust Media More

American voters, who gave President Donald Trump a slight approval bump after the missile strike in Syria, today give him a near-record negative 36 - 58 percent job approval rating, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. Critical are big losses among white voters with no college degree, white men and independent voters.

Today's job approval rating compares to a negative 40 - 56 percent approval rating in an April 19 survey by the independent Quinnipiac University and a negative 35 - 57 percent score April 4, his lowest approval rating since he became president.

The president is losing support among independent voters and groups which are important parts of his base. Approval ratings are:

- Negative 29 - 63 percent among independent voters, down from a negative 38 - 56 percent April 19;
- A split among white voters with no college degree, as 47 percent approve and 46 percent disapprove, compared to a 57 - 38 percent approval April 19;
- White men go from a 53 - 41 percent approval April 19 to a split today with 48 percent approving and 46 percent disapproving.

American voters' opinions of several of Trump's personal qualities are down:

- 61 - 33 percent that he is not honest, compared to 58 - 37 percent April 19;
- 56 - 41 percent that he does not have good leadership skills, little change;
- 59 - 38 percent that he does not care about average Americans, compared to 57 - 42 percent April 19;
- 66 - 29 percent that he is not level-headed, compared to 63 - 33 percent last month;
- 62 - 35 percent that he is a strong person, little change;
- 56 - 41 percent that he is intelligent, compared to 58 - 38 percent;
- 64 - 32 percent that he does not share their values, compared to 61 - 35 percent.

"There is no way to spin or sugarcoat these sagging numbers," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

"The erosion of white men, white voters without college degrees and independent voters, the declaration by voters that President Donald Trump's first 100 days were mainly a failure and deepening concerns about Trump's honesty, intelligence and level headedness are red flags that the administration simply can't brush away," Malloy added.

American voters disapprove 52 - 40 percent of the way Trump is handling the economy. His grades on handling other issues are:

- 44 percent approve of the way he is handling U.S. policy toward North Korea and 48 percent disapprove;
- Disapprove 59 - 36 percent of the way he is handling foreign policy;
- 45 percent approve of the way he is handling terrorism and 48 percent disapprove;
- Disapprove 62 - 35 percent of the way he is handling immigration.

American voters disapprove 58 - 37 percent of the way the news media covers Trump. Voters disapprove 65 - 31 percent of the way Trump talks about the media. And voters trust the media more than Trump 57 - 31 percent to tell the truth about important issues.

Trump's first 100 days in office have been "mainly a failure," 58 percent of voters say, while 38 percent say they have been "mainly a success."

By a 54 - 38 percent margin, American voters want the Democratic Party to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives. This is the widest margin ever measured for this question in a Quinnipiac University poll, exceeding a 5 percentage point margin for Republicans in 2013.

If Democrats had won control of the U.S. Senate in the 2016 elections, the country would be in a better place than it is now, 41 percent of voters say, while 27 percent say it would be in a worse place and 30 percent say it would be the same.

American voters dislike Democrats less than they dislike Republicans:

- Voters disapprove 71 - 22 percent of the way Republicans in Congress do their job;
- Voters disapprove 58 - 34 percent of the way Democrats in Congress are doing their job.

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Inside the F.B.I., Stunned Agents Wonder About Future of Russia Inquiry

These are not happy times at the F.B.I.

Morale at the country’s premier law enforcement agency plummeted months ago, after James B. Comey, its director, revived the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server in October and plunged the bureau back into the political maelstrom just before the election.

Then President Trump fired Mr. Comey on Tuesday, saying he had mishandled the Clinton investigation, and the mood darkened again.

Agents said they were stunned that Mr. Trump would fire Mr. Comey in the midst of an F.B.I. investigation into whether any of the president’s associates had conspired with Russia to swing the election in favor of Mr. Trump. Some said in interviews that news of the firing felt like a gut punch. Others wondered whether they would be able to continue the inquiry.

One senior F.B.I. official said that the president had severely damaged his standing among agents, many of whom are conservative and supported Mr. Trump as a candidate. Agents were angered by the way Mr. Trump fired Mr. Comey, who learned of his dismissal from television reports while he was in Los Angeles. They called it disrespectful.

And agents flatly rejected the assertion Wednesday by a White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee, during a briefing with reporters, that the F.B.I.’s rank-and-file supported the sudden firing of Mr. Comey.

A strained relationship with the F.B.I. can make life difficult for a president. The White House relies on the bureau for regular security updates and for unvarnished information during crises.

The Justice Department was rushing to put in place an interim director, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, expected to interview at least four candidates on Wednesday, a department official said. All are well-regarded within the F.B.I. and are seen as unlikely to allow politics to influence the Russian investigation — and as loyal to Mr. Comey.

But if the firing of Mr. Comey was meant to help restore the bureau’s credibility and put the work force at ease about the F.B.I.’s future, as Justice Department officials said, it has had the opposite effect.

“People are stunned right now,” said Frank Montoya Jr., a former senior F.B.I. official. An F.B.I. spokesman declined to comment about bureau morale.

For the moment, the bureau is being run by Andrew G. McCabe, a veteran F.B.I. agent and previously the deputy director who was at Mr. Comey’s side as he navigated the politically perilous currents of the Clinton and Russian investigations that ultimately brought him down.

It is not clear whether Mr. McCabe will stay on as acting director. He is under consideration for the role of interim director, who will stay in place until Mr. Trump’s eventual nominee is confirmed by the Senate, the Justice Department official said.

The four candidates being interviewed Wednesday for the interim role are William Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Paul Abbate, assistant director of the F.B.I.’s Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch; and Michael J. Anderson and Adam Lee, who run the Chicago and Richmond, Va., field offices, respectively.

The official cautioned that the list was not exhaustive.

Whatever happens, another senior F.B.I. official said stoically, the bureau will continue to investigate crimes. The day Mr. Comey was fired was no different than the day before, the official insisted.

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