The weird behaviour of James Comey

8  2017-06-12 by Squalleke123

The behaviour of Jim Comey continues to vex me. In a bit of brainstorming session I have come up with a story that fits his behaviour. I have no evidence here but keep with me because it might connect some dots which haven't been connected yet. An article from the telegraph sums up the mystery quite well: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/10/fbis-james-comey-clinton-bugbear-thorn-trumps-side/

It all starts with Comey making a statement on Clinton. A first thing you have to note is that the director of the FBI making statements like this is a very rare occasion. But that's only the start. Comey chose his words very, very carefully and what he said was strange. It basically boiled down to she's guilty of negligence but there's no reason to prosecute (I paraphrase here, exact words can be found here: http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-comey-emails-1494374889-htmlstory.html). This is a very strange statement to make about a potential presidential candidate IMHO as it basically demonstrates incompetence.

The real takeaway however is that Comey left his statement open to interpretation. For republicans, she was found guilty, while for democrats she was exonerated. These are very conflicting views, yet Comey managed to support them both in his statement. Keep in mind that this statement was out of line for a director of FBI as well so he had to jump through hoops to bring it in the first place

Flashforward to right before the election (october or so). Comey makes the statement that the investigation into Clinton is reopened, only to say they found nothing a short time later (in my head it's a day, might have been two but the detail doesn't matter). Again, this struck me as very odd. Why would you publicly announce reopening an investigation only to close it the day after? Why put doubt on Clinton again to then clear her the day after?

Flashforward again to may 2017. Comey gets fired, leaks some memos (which we haven't seen yet) and makes a statement. The contents of the statement can be found if you google it, and you can even google the hearing and find the videos (so I won't link them). The takeaway in the statement is that Trump himself wasn't investigated but Comey felt threatened by him (again, I paraphrase a little bit). During the hearings Comey elaborates on this, but he also implicates democratic wrongdoing (AG Lynch' behaviour for example). Furthermore, if you examine his statement and his answers, he's making sure his testimony can never be used to prove wrongdoing beyond any doubt. This I thought again very strange. Why would you give a statement, yet deliberately make it useless by choosing ambiguous wording for it. Furthermore, he leaks stuff, yet the one thing he could leak to get this over with he keeps for himself. And then claims he wouldn't want to retract even though he retracted twice in case of Clinton

I could not make sense of these three events, until it dawned on me that the russian story as peddled by the media now makes no sense. Why would only the russians have the capacity to hack the DNC? Why would they help the outsider candidate if it's a corrupt agent they want?

So I kept thinking, how does Russia benefit from this? And then it dawned on me: They benefit from putting the democratic system and the leadership of the US in doubt. Once I got there it became pretty clear that to benefit, Russia needs to sow doubt among the US administration and the US citizens. To do that efficiently you need someone in a place of authority, so the media has to pick up the story even if they can't print his or her name.

So, in comes Comey. As the director of the FBI he's about as reliable as an anonymous source can ever be. As the director of the FBI he'd also be privy to some very savvy secrets, but most of all, shitloads of secrets that are damaging, yet not crippling, to either party. I don't know how the russians would get to him, but there is a possibility that he is a russian agent and he is deliberately leaking stuff to weaken the US.

tldr: Comey might be a russian agent, leaking deliberately to weaken the US democracy

35 comments

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

May I ask does your theory hinge on the theory by Crowdstrike that Russia hacked the DNC? You don't think that people are finally waking up to the fact that the government doesn't work for them and this RNC, DNC, Left, Right paradigm is BS. How did you come to your theory that it is the Russian government bringing all this to light in an attempt to weaken our democracy? Why can it not be that people are finally coming to an understanding that our government is a corrupt place where we as American citizens are left behind for the Oligarchy that rules?

n/a  Squalleke123 2017-06-12

No, my theory doesn't hinge on Crowdstrike. It does hinge however on political parties in general being corrupt because it implies that Comey knew where and how the find the specific kind of dirt he needed.

I don't deny there are a lot of grievances from the people towards government either. It's essential that the story Comey is peddling takes root and to take root it needs a good soil. In this case a population who was promised a lot (either by Bush or by Obama) and got nothing.

In a normal democracy however, these grievances would lead to a consensus among the population which would lead to politicians having to adopt the platform of the people to get elected (because someone inevitably will). The actions of Comey actually block this, as it has kept both sides squabbling over the most minute of details without pushing for the necessary large reforms.

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

"as it has kept both sides squabbling over the most minute of details without pushing for the necessary large reforms."

I'm sorry but that is American Politics 101. Where have you been since we got our independence from the British? This is every day thats all they do, that is what the MSM is paid to do. The laws that do go through only benefit those in power, while the majority of Americans sit around going Left, Right, Democrat, Republican all the while they're getting fucked. Comey doesn't have to do this as its already the norm, he's just doing what comes naturally to a politician. Now back to the original question, why do you think he is a Russian asset?

n/a  Squalleke123 2017-06-12

I don't think he is, I think he could be.

It's literally the only way russia can influence the US efficiently. So either the russian story is simply not true or they influence it by playing both sides against eachother. Let's say for the sake of the argument that the russian story is not true. Comey himself said there was russian meddling. If it isn't true, why would he say that?

If they supported only one side, we'd have seen a much cleaner election as only one side had the dirt on the other to such extent as to make all competition unlikely (remember, political parties are by standard corrupt). So all that's left is the russians supporting both sides or supporting none (with comey himself ruling out the last option)

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

Elections are never clean. You should watch the series on CNN about presidential elections you'd see this is how they are.

Comey is referencing the DHS, DNI papers. The DNC server hack/leak is a whole other thing where we just have to believe this company that the DNC paid to look into the DNC's servers is telling the truth. I don't know why the FBI won't just subpoena the damn servers themselves.

In these DNI, DHS papers they go over how the Russians got trolls to pedal anti-clinton propaganda. Lets say that worked, even though it was a low voter turnout and we have to assume older people are looking at memes and seeing what their FB friends are posting because thats where the "fake news" was. Also you have to ignore Trumps rallies in comparison to Clintons. His were huge hers were small and sparse. Then you have to ignore how Trump won, through the electoral college, he campaigned in states up north where Clinton didn't once go to and look who won those states. Also the last time those states went red was 20 YEARS AGO! Then we are supposed to believe that Russia Today has a bigger propaganda arm among the American people than CNN and Fox? All these theories in these DNI and DHS reports just seem so dumb. Its as though they think because Clinton lost it couldn't be because she was a terrible candidate so therefore because people saw Trump as even worse it must be some one else's doing so well just blame Russia.

You're logic works on the premise of the DNC orchestrating all this with Comey's help so that in 2020 they can get a democrat into office and Trump wouldn't have been able to do anything while president so people will lose hope in the Republicans and vote Democrat.

n/a  Altrightzheimers 2017-06-12

Why does Comeys initial statement on the Clinton emails strike you as "incompetence"?

He never said she was guilty btw, your own link says

“Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.”

"Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”

And it was about 6 days - not one or two - before Comey again cleared Clinton of any wrong doing.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/11/06/when-investigators-go-rogue-james-comey-and-hillarys-emails.html

Comey went public with the October surprise because he didn't trust going through normal channels, eg Loretta Lynch because of the close relationship between her and the Clinton camp.

Russia benefits from the current mess, the division within the US. You're post right here is another small Russian victory, they won this electronic war by sowing doubt and mistrust in US institutions.

n/a  Squalleke123 2017-06-12

I might have worded it as careless instead of incompetence as well. The statement does declare her guilty of this carelessness.

I specifically posted this here because there is no evidence and to allow me to get some freedom with details. It doesn't matter that it's six days, what does matter is that it was soon. Soon enough to not warrant a prior statement of reinvestigation. The behaviour of comey is just weird and one of the possible explanations is that he deliberately sows doubt himself. Another, which IMHO got invalided by his behaviour now, is that he didn't want to decide who became president by clearing Clinton (although that's a hard argument to make given that july was still prior to the DNC convention). I'm sure there are other explanations that are sensible as well, but I had to get this out here and see what people think.

n/a  Altrightzheimers 2017-06-12

What are you trying to say here?

Comey reopened the Clinton investigation at the end of October and it was closed before the election took place.

Comey has explained his behaviour, normally the FBI would report to DOJ who would put out a statement. Comey felt Lynch couldn't be trusted so he went straight to the committee/public bypassing DOJ and any hint of impropriety.

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

Where are you both getting this Russian theory from? I just don't see it.

n/a  Altrightzheimers 2017-06-12

Maybe because of the Flynn thing and the Manafort thing and the Tillerson thing and the Sessions thing and the Kushner thing and the Carter Page thing and the Roger Stone thing and the Wilbur Ross thing and the Felix Sater thing and the Boris Ephsteyn thing and the Rosneft thing and the Gazprom thing and the Sergey Gorkov thing and the Azerbaijan thing and the “I love Putin” thing and the Donald Trump Jr. thing and the Eric Trump thing and the Sergey Kislyak thing and the Russian Affiliated Interests thing and the Russian Business Interests thing and the other private Russian interests and the Emoluments Clause thing and the Alex Shnaider thing and the hack of the DNC thing and the Guccifer 2.0 thing and the Mike Pence thing and the numerous suspicious dead Russian's thing and the public request to Russia to hack Hillary’s email thing and the Trump selling a house for $100 million at the bottom of the housing bust to the Russian fertilizer king thing and the Russian fertilizer king’s plane showing up in Concord, NC and Las Vegas during Trump campaign thing and the Russian fertilizer king's yacht anchored next to Robert Mercer's thing and the McConnell, Ryan, Nunes, Burr covering up Trump's Russian collusion in September 2016 thing and the Nunes personal investments in the Russian winery thing and the Cyprus bank thing and the Trump not releasing his tax returns thing and the GOP rejection of a bill to require Trump to show his taxes thing and the election hacking thing and the GOP platform change to the Ukraine thing and the Steele Dossier thing and the "Leninist" Bannon thing and the Sally Yates can’t testify thing and the IC investigative reports thing and the Trump calling the Russian connection “fake news” thing and the Spicer’s Russian Dressing “nothing’s wrong” thing and the Chaffetz not willing to start an investigation thing and the Chaffetz suddenly deciding to go back to private life in the middle of an investigation thing and the Lead DOJ Investigator Mary McCord SUDDENLY deciding to resign thing and the White House going into full-on cover-up mode, refusing to turn over the documents related to the hiring and subsequent firing of Flynn thing and the Chaffetz and White House blaming the poor vetting of Flynn on Obama thing and the Poland and British intelligence gave information regarding the hacking back in 2015 to Paul Ryan and he didn't do anything thing and the M16 agent following the money thing and the Obama personally warning Trump about Flynn's involvement but hiring him anyway thing and the Corey Lewendowski thing and the Preet Bharara firing thing and the Betsy Devos' Brother thing and the Sebastian Gorka thing and the Greg Gianforte from Montana thing and the Pence actually was warned about Flynn before he was hired thing and the Pence and Manafort connection thing and the 10 Allies coming forward with audio where Trump was picked up in incidental wire tapping thing and the Carter Page defying the Senate's order to hand over his Russian contact list and the trump wants to VETO Sally Yates' testimony thing...

Maybe.

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

Lol, do you know how many times I've seen that specific reply? Do you have it saved on your computer to post?

I really will never understand how any business dealings with Russia show a collusion/conspiracy to harm the American government. You do know we do business dealings with the country that funded the 911 hijackers right? Saudi Arabia, no one gives a shit about that.

Also again Comey said Trump was under no counter intelligence investigation meaning no collusion between Trump and Russia.

Now what you have here with your links to these articles is just, "well what about this what about that" with no real concrete evidence of malice to work against the US government its just pointing at meetings and dealings. You have business connections. Also a lot of these links have to do with Flynn who was cleared of wrong doing with his phone call to the Russians.

I will always love reading that DNI assessment of Russian influence of the election. "CIA and FBI have high confidence in this judgment; NSA has moderate confidence." You do know it is 4 pages about one TV channel? One of the shows they referenced ended 2 years before the election even started.

Im going to tell you this right here and now. They will find NO collusion against the American government by the Trump administration. Trump will not get impeached. You are being used in a smear campaign to discredit Trump simply because he got elected and that wasn't supposed to happen. I am not a Trump supporter I am just looking for the truth and this is my truth. I know it sucks for most people that Trump got elected but he won fair and square he went to those states that got him elected through the electoral college and Clinton did not thats just how it is.

n/a  Altrightzheimers 2017-06-12

Ok, here's my favourite one at the moment, Trump's people definitely colluded.

Five current and former U.S. officials told NBC News they are aware of classified intelligence suggesting there was some sort of private encounter between Trump and his aides and the Russian envoy, despite a heated denial from Sessions, according to NBC News.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/politics/FBI-Probes-Trump-Meeting-With-Russians-at-DC-Hotel-425728374.html

Seth Abrahamson has a good rundown of the what and why of the meeting.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/3/23/1646686/-RussiaGate-blows-WIDE-OPEN-in-Abrahamson-report-High-crimes-and-misdemeanors-by-Trump-Sessions

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

In your mind what does "collusion" mean?

n/a  Altrightzheimers 2017-06-12

Something like a back room deal to lift sanctions and let go of Ukraine in return for a disinformation campaign spread by Russian sources from data hacked by the Russian government.

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

You mean Russia Today and Abby Martins RT show that ended 2 years before the election? You also mean the emails in the Wikileaks that showed that the DNC worked to get Trump to be the RNC front runner because they saw him as weak?

n/a  Altrightzheimers 2017-06-12

A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates Feb 19, 2017

A week before Michael T. Flynn resigned as national security adviser, a sealed proposal was hand-delivered to his office, outlining a way for President Trump to lift sanctions against Russia.

Mr. Flynn is gone, having been caught lying about his own discussion of sanctions with the Russian ambassador. But the proposal, a peace plan for Ukraine and Russia, remains, along with those pushing it: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, who delivered the document; Felix H. Sater, a business associate who helped Mr. Trump scout deals in Russia; and a Ukrainian lawmaker trying to rise in a political opposition movement shaped in part by Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Mr. Cohen has a personal connection to Ukraine: He is married to a Ukrainian woman and once worked with relatives there to establish an ethanol business.

Mr. Sater, a longtime business associate of Mr. Trump’s with connections in Russia, was willing to help Mr. Artemenko’s proposal reach the White House.

Mr. Trump has sought to distance himself from Mr. Sater in recent years. If Mr. Sater “were sitting in the room right now,” Mr. Trump said in a 2013 deposition, “I really wouldn’t know what he looked like.”

But Mr. Sater worked on real estate development deals with the Trump Organization on and off for at least a decade, even after his role in the stock manipulation scheme came to light.

Mr. Sater, who was born in the Soviet Union and grew up in New York, served as an executive at a firm called Bayrock Group, two floors below the Trump Organization in Trump Tower, and was later a senior adviser to Mr. Trump.

He said he had been working on a plan for a Trump Tower in Moscow with a Russian real estate developer as recently as the fall of 2015, one that he said had come to a halt because of Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.

Helping to advance the proposal, Mr. Sater said, made sense.

“I want to stop a war, number one,” he said. “Number two, I absolutely believe that the U.S. and Russia need to be allies, not enemies. If I could achieve both in one stroke, it would be a home run.”

Mr. Cohen said he did not know who in the Russian government had offered encouragement on it, as Mr. Artemenko claims, but he understood there was a promise of proof of corruption by the Ukrainian president.

“Fraud is never good, right?” Mr. Cohen said.

Michael D. Cohen, second from left, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, with Michael T. Flynn, left, and former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas at Trump Tower in December. Mr. Cohen delivered the peace plan to Mr. Flynn a week before Mr. Flynn resigned as national security adviser.

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

Ok in this article Cohen, Sater and Artemenko want Trump to overthrow the Ukrainian government and install and Putin/Pro-Russian government? We just installed a pro western government that makes no sense, we already helped over throw the government before under Obama. This article is trying to say that Trump will go back and install a pro Putin government which is against American interest? He is going to do this because Trump can get a hotel in Moscow? This article was in February its June now I haven't heard one thing from the Trump admin about Ukraine.

n/a  Altrightzheimers 2017-06-12

Obama helped install a pro western gov in Ukraine.

Trump wanted to help Putin return Ukraine to a pro Russian stance.

Trump agreed.

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

No where in the article does it say Trump agreed.

"While it is unclear if the White House will take the proposal seriously, the diplomatic freelancing has infuriated Ukrainian officials"

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

Also I forgot to mention the Steele dossier. It is not and has never been verified. It talks about prostitutes pissing on Trump. IF ANY of it has been verified because it is all about Trumps ties to Moscow and them black mailing them he would be under a counter intelligence investigation. Comey said he is not and the FBI has had the dossier since Trump was elected. The reason why Comey could not talk about it during the hearing was not because the matter was still being investigated it was because to discuss it would show how the FBI conducts those investigations, which is a state secret. So, again no collusion to subvert the American government by Trump and no counter intelligence investigation.

BURR: In the public domain is this question of the Steele dossier, a document that has been around, now, for over a year. I'm not sure when the FBI first took possession of it, but the media had it before you had it and we had it.

At the time of your departure from the FBI, was the FBI able to confirm any criminal allegations contained in the Steele document?

COMEY: Mr. Chairman, I don't think that's a question I can answer in an open setting because it goes into the details of the investigation.

n/a  Altrightzheimers 2017-06-12

The dossier has been corroborated in several instances eg Carter Page and Roger Stone.

At one point he wrote: "A leading Russian diplomat, Mikhail KULAGIN, had been withdrawn from Washington at short notice because Moscow feared his heavy involvement in the US presidential election operation… would be exposed in the media there."

There was no diplomat called Kulagin in the Russian embassy; there was a Kalugin.

One of Trump's allies, Roger Stone, said to me of Steele, scornfully: "If 007 wants to be taken seriously, he ought to learn how to spell."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Kalugin was head of the embassy's economics section.

It is not clear if the American intelligence agencies already believed this when they got Steele's report on the "diplomat", as early as May 2016.

But it is a judgment they made using their own methods, outside the dossier

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39435786

The FBI first became alarmed about Page in July, when it learned that he had traveled to Russia in order to deliver a lecture that criticized American foreign policy toward that country. Although Page later claimed that his trip was unrelated to his work with Trump’s presidential campaign, the FBI became worried about Page’s potential contacts with suspected Russian intelligence operatives. Page was already on the bureau’s radar because he had served as a witness in a 2013 federal prosecution of an undercover Russian spy who many believes was trying to cultivate Page (Page claims he didn’t know the operative was a Russian spy).

http://www.salon.com/2017/04/19/trumps-russia-dossier-corroborated-fbi-used-document-to-obtain-wiretap-on-carter-page/

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

Yet, they found nothing on Page from this I really don't understand where your end game is going here its just dead end after dead end.

n/a  Altrightzheimers 2017-06-12

Dead-end for you perhaps, the FBI, NSA and ongoing senate investigations say the end isn't even in sight yet.

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

Yes and you'll be just like Maddow saying this time SURELY he will get impeached! I know it today is the day! I cannot wait till all this stupid crap is gone and we can get to real issues.

n/a  Free_Balling 2017-06-12

Real issues like what? Stripping healthcare from millions of americans?

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

Yes, exactly that! Obamacare is failing we need something else fast, but Russia has taken over the US government so we can't discuss healthcare.

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

Wait a minute here. In all these post you haven't said one thing, you've just been posting articles. I ask you this now sir or ma'am say something to me that isn't a article posing. Just a general sentence like what is your favorite color.

n/a  TrumpSucksHillsBalls 2017-06-12

Comey once worked for Lockheed Martin and once cleared Bill Clinton of illegal actions during Pardongate.

The Clinton's have taken much more cash from the Kremlin than Trump is accused of.

n/a  Girlforgeeks 2017-06-12

Any theory that relies on a legacy media narrative is one that the intelligence agencies made up to distract us from the truth of their constant, daily crimes.

Russia is a non-entity. Putin said: presidents come and go but the US foreign and domestic policies don't change.

Why?

Our permanent gov that has been in power for 60 years.

n/a  ILoveJuices 2017-06-12

Russia has nothing to do with anything. The DNC is screaming Russians to hide their own fowl play. Comey is a lapdog of Clinton. His history with them is well documented. He "reopened" the case against her for 2 days because Weiner's laptop recently confiscated by the FBI contained all the missing / illegal emails. In order to appear like he was doing his job , he basically said he went through thousands of emails in 2 days and "found nothing". Case closed. Hillary saved again.

n/a  ScholarOfTwilight 2017-06-12

Comey struggled to remain fair and independent in a hyper partisan environment in which Congress was witch hunting Hillary Clinton because they foresaw her obvious 2016 run. In doing so, mistakes were made and department policies violated. Comey was paranoid and it seems to me his concerns of being dragged into politics were well founded given the events that transpired.

n/a  callmebaiken 2017-06-12

Comey's behavior is confusing. But if you are familiar with the term "limited hangout" it may help. This is when you admit to a small crime to cover a bigger one. You take the heat on a small thing to keep people from looking to closely at the big thing. His first Clinton speech may have painted Hillary in a bad light, but it kept her out of jail, out of court, and in the race. His letter may have "cost her the election" she says now, but if the NY FBI was about to leak the existence of the Wiener email trove anyway, it may have prevented more damage than would have occurred. By throwing out the Lynch "matter" morsel during his Trump bashing fest last week, it gives him a tiny bit more credibility as a "straight shooter".

n/a  DerkDerkinson 2017-06-12

Wow. I was almost intelregued until you started talking about Russia.. the entire "Russia hacked the election" narrative is COMPLETE bullshit. It was literally planned by the DNC to have somewhere to place blame losing the election (other than themselves). The idea that the Russians even as much as influenced our elections is completely laughable. And even if they did influence it in some way, woopti fuckin do!! Our government has meddled in the elections of COUNTLESS other countries. For Christ's sake. The Russians have NOTHING to do with the results of our election. Oh yeah, and it doesn't even matter who the god damn president is. They all work for the same team at the end of the day...

n/a  Squalleke123 2017-06-12

Yes, I knew I'd get FLAK on this from both sides...

Still, I'm not peddling this as a fact, it's just a story that might fit the observable reality equally well as the story the MSM peddles

n/a  DerkDerkinson 2017-06-12

What side have I presented myself as being on? Just curious

n/a  Yeshua_is_truth 2017-06-12

nothing to do with Russia but he is corrupt. this is a limited hangout to try to get us to trust govt again like what they did to nixon

n/a  Squalleke123 2017-06-12

I might have worded it as careless instead of incompetence as well. The statement does declare her guilty of this carelessness.

I specifically posted this here because there is no evidence and to allow me to get some freedom with details. It doesn't matter that it's six days, what does matter is that it was soon. Soon enough to not warrant a prior statement of reinvestigation. The behaviour of comey is just weird and one of the possible explanations is that he deliberately sows doubt himself. Another, which IMHO got invalided by his behaviour now, is that he didn't want to decide who became president by clearing Clinton (although that's a hard argument to make given that july was still prior to the DNC convention). I'm sure there are other explanations that are sensible as well, but I had to get this out here and see what people think.

n/a  AwakenedIthink 2017-06-12

Where are you both getting this Russian theory from? I just don't see it.