Just read that Andrew McCabe, deputy director of the F.B.I. is expected to retire after repeated attacks by President Trump and Republican congressmen. It's very sad. Trump accuses the F.B.I. of being partisan in the Russian investigation, when there are no signs of any such thing. But Trump himself is trying very hard to make the F.B.I. partisan to protect himself and his administration. It is so depressing to see his attacks, first on Comey, now on Wray, whom he picked himself to head the agency, and on McCabe I wish McCabe would not retire, and I hope the F.B.I. will stand up this awful pressure from the White House and Republicans. It is sad how they are tearing down the reputation of one of our most trusted and non-partisan organizations.
What has happened to my country?
In today’s NY Times:
‘Trump, Trump, Trump!’ How a President’s Name Became a Racial Jeer
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/trump-racial-jeers.html?hp&act...®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
E.P.A. Contractor Has Spent Past Year Scouring the Agency for Anti-Trump Officials
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/15/us/politics/epa-scott-pruitt-foia.htm...®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
It’s easier to tear down than it is to build. Undoing the damage done in 11 months to this country by this president and the Republican Party will take years, if it is even possible.
1
It was hijacked by a NYC hustler who will sell all our countries assets to retire his debts from stupid business decisions he has made in 71 years.
The puzzling thing is what did he promise all the cabinet members and others he has appointed to participate in this "fleecing of America?" What were they thinking? If they are the smartest, how could they possibly participate in this treachery?
1
They're going to have the judiciary so packed with abortion politics judges the US will never recover.
1
We should always be fully aware of the underlying strategy
being following.
There are the repeated whopper/big lies, repeated often and whenever, whose repetition begins to achieve truthiness in certain wavering/vulnerable minds
by the apparent earnestness or sincerity emanating from a skilled performance of repetition. This is a lesson learned well from goebbels.
Then there are the far out generalizations of bias by
actions that are incompletely, incorrectly, and repeatedly described all over the alt right -f-x echo chambers that subsequently resurface across social media. Unfairness is the category here. Americans instinctively identify with underdogs, especially fanboys who reflexively
think of themselves and their tribe as underdogs at the mercy of the
elite. If you can pose as the underdog in a smear campaign conducted by
unfair powers, and repeat "unfair" when comparing with irrelevant clinton investigation(s), that helps connect the two motifs explicitly.
It also is really useful and effective to have pliant denialists in congress who pick up one or the other of the refrains and promote it to their constituents and MSM without ever being put in the position of coherently defending the assertion by a genuine argument. This typifies media manipulation of a subtler sort. It also creates a distracting superficial chaotic buzz that is key to destabilizing the institutional conduct of which Mueller's investigation is central.
Bullies are profoundly troubled dimwits who succeed by hammering everyone else into catotonia with cognitive dissonance and whiplash.
This is one subject that Trump has partly right.
The Democrats did launch the drive to investigate Trump's "collusion" with Russia. And helped to spread the consensus for many now that Russia is the reason Trump won the presidency.
This is the most convoluted attempt and worst choice to take Trump down as it is feathered with disinformation & propaganda.
So in effect, his followers see through this attempt while at the same time damaging even more the democratic party and MSM in it's all out support for less than stellar reporting.
What we miss in all this is the real reason for why Trump was elected.
Our election process is totally corrupted by all the money and our representatives no longer serve most of us.
We need a complete overhaul of the election process in line with Nations who have fair & transparent election processes and take the money out.
We need rank voting so people can vote their conscience and universal standards across the country to prevent the piecemeal, gerry-mandered, antiquated & deceptive system we have.
2
I try not to comment so quickly, but..
Out of the other side of his mouth, Trump says of FBI,"he has their back"...100%. All the better I guess, to "stab" them there.
1
He has painted a "bulls-eye" on every employee. The Abwehr is his new model. Bannon is working on it for him now. The worst is yet to come.
The sad thing to watch is Trump failing miserably at being our president.
1
Is the President holding out as a carrot a pardon to those involved in the Mueller investigation? That would be a horrendous abuse of presidential power. But it would fit a pattern.
Trump is a dream for every federal criminal defendant. He makes statements that will be repeated in every closing by the defense in every federal trial where the arresting agent is FBI.
1
If Trump is thinking about committing a ‘Saturday Night Massacre,’ he had better be prepared for what comes after: massive resistance in the form of strikes, protests, and demonstrations by a susbstantial majority of citizens who believe the investigation is both honest and fair. Trump believes he can shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue, but that someone cannot be Robert Mueller.
2
Trump has only claimed "bias." He has not claimed a violation of statutory procedures or constitutional rights. He has not been physically harmed. Yet on a daily basis there are may instances where police officers violate law enforcement policies and procedures, statutory and constitutional rights, and engage in use of force or make arrests that result in dismissal of charges. Many times these are poor people who have no remedy or access to justice.
I do not hear Trump complaining about this prejudice.
Trump, Sessions, and the DOJ have pulled back on the DOJ monitoring agencies known for violating citizen's rights. Thus, Trump does not care about investigating law enforcement agencies that violate constitutional rights.
Mueller has not violated any of Trump's constitutional rights, and Trump cannot name an instance where that has happened.
The simple fact: Trump does not want his family members and himself caught by Mueller for illegal conduct.
1
It's a well established formula by now:
- The Pres and/or his entourage do something wrong.
- People criticize.
- Anyone who criticizes gets tweeted at and insulted.
- Trump's statements are largely devoid of fact, usually untrue, with their only "proof" being "because I say so".
- His fans cheer for him because they like a good reality show for entertainment.
- Trump's all happy because he loves dumping on people and being cheered for, his primary joys in life.
- He goes on to another issue and repeats the pattern.
There is no basis for his claims about FBI. But his trashing of them seems clear proof that he's guilty and feels the noose tightening.
1
Back in 1 BT (Before Trump) I seem to remember there was a story that the reason Comey announced that the Hillary investigation had been reopened was to head off some Trump supporters in the FBI who were likely to leak it. Where were the complaints from Trump and his enablers then?
1
The chronic enablement of hypocritical sociopaths and present hedonists has obviously numbed the US into catatonia.
The media need to challenge Trump with more specific questions when he comes up with his unsupported accusations. For example, ask him, “Can you give us an example of how the FBI is in tatters?”
3
Trump's response: "Thank you. Thank you everyone." And then he leaves the room.
Trump is preaching to those with their heads buried in the sand. They will believe anything he says. There is a "know-nothing" party in the U.S. But 70% of American citizens don't believe anything he says.
2
What is there to investigate other than a quicksand of lies and deceit? For every lie there is a corresponding activity that the perpetrator does not want to be revealed. Multiply that by twenty people within Trump's inner circle who on multiple occasions lied about their contact with Russians, and you have a tsunami of malevolent behavior which is the trail that the Mueller investigation is following - and that the Cons want to bury.
2
This is how guilty people act.
Nixon did the same thing.
3
No Mr. Trump its a shame what you have done to the dignity of the high office you hold and almost every day you bring disgrace to that office. Commenting on an FBI investigation of your regime is unwise and most attorneys would suggest you not do it. However Trump mentored by that legal viper Roy Cohen of McCarthy days trained him to attack all critics 10X harder then they attack you but this is your FBI and Justice Dept led by republicans its not a democratic hoax obvious to the world but not to Trump obsessed with his image in the ponds reflection the ultimate narcissist King of the World.
Trump's technique is the reverse-sandwich. The sandwich technique is used to motivate or to make people feel good in an uncomfortable setting. The reverse sandwich is to get them in line and keep secrets.
In the sandwich technique, you start by making the person feel good - "wow you are such an important contributor to our team." Next, you hit them between eye "what you did on that project is unacceptable and not in keeping with our standards." And finish with happy-making "I am so glad to have you on our team and see the future as very bright with you here." This motivates because it makes the person feel safe, while also providing clarity that improvement is needed.
The reverse sandwich is where you start by making the people feel unsafe "FBI is in tatters." "This person's opinion disqualifies him from professional service." Next you tell them face to face that you like them "Thank you for your service." Then you return to the attack. This creates the environment where civility is suspect and one needs to stick in the workplace to pre-approved statements and work products.
It's what Trump and the GOP want.
1
Because of the seeming independence of FBI from the meddling of the White House the reputation of the US is not “in tatters” and its standing with the foreign countries is not the “worst in history." Probably President Trump should be thankful to FBI.
Trump wants one thing, he wants an America that's friends with Russia. At which point you have to ask yourself why would I want to be friends with a dictatorship that has people disappear when they disagree with Putin. Then ask yourself why would Putin praise Trump, so that he looks like a good guy trying to be a friend.
Putin's no good and Trump is no good, both will ruin their country in the long run.
So trying to say that the top law enforcement agency in the country is bad is Trump's way of saying that he's going to try and change the FBI to be more like their Russian counterpart.
Not going to happen.
"“It’s a shame what’s happened with the F.B.I.,” the president told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House"
This is a very dangerous situation. We have a president who is trying to scapegoat, discredit, and triangulate against our nation's premier law enforcement agency. It's a clear attempt to manipulate and weaken justice, and democracy.
1
We are supposed to abolish and discredit the whole Mueller investigation because a couple of since fired cogs in the wheel exchanged private emails where they expressed disdain for POTUS. By that standard, based on the incessant and vile bigotry displayed by Trump using very public forms of communication, POTUS should be in a cage. Permanently. This sickening double standard can only be seen through an Orwellian lens if one hopes to decipher what is going on here. Film flam men will lie using their last breath, and we can expect nothing less here. Everyone who is covering for this corrupt and cancerous regime should pay in 2018.
2
Now we know what it means to be ideologically tortured and undermined by a man who is one of the greatest losers in history. POTUS has slithered unscathed from one bankruptcy to another, from oligarchic washing machine to another, from one abusive and merit less lawsuit to another, from one sexual molestation to another...for years. Now he is on the top of the pecking order. Just great. Thank you to the G.O.P for protecting this lunatic. His downfall will be your downfall.
1
How much breath, ink, and money have the Republicans spent on smearing her while trying to pin crimes on Hillary?
And Trump still thinks he can fuel the rage of his base, or at least take their attention away from his barrel of bad apples, with an anti-Hillary rant?
Has anyone else noted that Trump's criticisms of the FBI always follow his conversations with Putin?
1
Let's create a red line. If trump pardons Michael Flynn, trump gets charged with obstruction of justice and goes before the house and then the senate to confirm. No ambiguities. Enough of his nonsense...
1
Donald, quit saying "Everybody" when the correct phrasing is, "I and a few toadies in my circle." Quit saying "a lot of people" when the correct phrasing is, "almost no one in America." You're annoying without being convincing.
1
It's the presidency that's in tatters, not the FBI.
Whenever I hear my phone beep with a news update, I am just hoping that it’s Jared or Jr. getting indicted.
I have no affinity for the current President. But on one of the TVs at the gym tonight I saw him say (subtitles) something to the effect that the FBI was a disaster and he would change it. I could not help but let out an involuntary loud gleeful chuckle. Being around about 60, I'm old enough to reflexively hate & mistrust the agency that set up MLK, stalked John Lennon, and dug up dirt on Nixon's enemies. The FBI has never been the friend of ordinary people of liberal bent in the USA. My reaction was partly that "Trump the blind squirrel" has found his nut so to speak, part that Trump Deranged Liberals are rushing to the defense of the government body that was surely enemy #1 for liberals, for decades. At this point the band should play, "The World Turned Upside Down."
4
Trump's reputation as a pathological liar is the problem here.
He loved the FBI when Comey handed him the election but
now hates it after he tried to strong-arm the same guy.
1
You should also mention who the person was that was the Director of the FBI at the time and it is quite possible those who were involved in the actions you speak of were either close insiders to that Director, were just following orders to insure job preservation or both.
That Director had his own agenda which did taint the FBI, and also shared some of his agenda and goals with a President at the time.
To use such a broad brush today with little evidence, other than what Trump and his supporters parrot indicates you have been duped by the grifter.
2
Dan: your "duped by the grifter" will be the name of the official Trump biography.
1
And the cheat goes on.
Emperor Innuendo strikes again. This presidency rises to the level of high farce amidst it's din of chaos, incompetence, futility, and evil-doing. Sad.
1
The casting call for Universal's new FBI movie will be held in either Leavenworth, or Comey's lawyer's office.
1
Usurping law and order is a prerequisite of fascism. I have no doubt that the outstanding people in the FBI will come though this dark political moment with their colors flying high.
Using the FBI to harass and attack political opponents and exonerate crooked establishment swamp creatures would in fact be politicizing the FBI.
1
This person is a disgrace. When will we be rid of him?
Frankly its too bad I have to read any report related to a denigrating Don utterance. This is a man in a glass house throwing stones... His temper tantrums are sad.
If the NYT discovered that FBI senior FBI agents were exchanging emails anti-Hillary emails whilst supporting Trump, had worked for a smear for hire dis-information company connected to Russian spies, then under contract to the Trump campaign, and were discussing a secret 'insurance' policy in the event that Hillary survived and won the election, my guess is there'd be forty-point font above the fold demanding a special prosecutor at the very least. Mark Penn (Democratic party) describes succinctly the crisis of confidence resulting from the politicization of the FBI and the Justice department under Obama http://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/364873-mueller-fbi-face-crisis-in-p... , as confidence in the impartiality of these institutions collapse and burn as Washington burns. If you were doing your jobs instead of working for the DNC, things might be different. There's no guarantee the debate will remain civil and destroying the integrity of the FBI buy turning it into a campaign tool for one political party does not bode well for the future. I'm with her!
If President Trump is so sure of his facts - let's hear him explain them in an open press conference where he can tell us exactly who is 'very very angry' about this inquiry other than himself and Vladimir Putin. This latest outburst was supposedly triggered by the comments of 2 people in the FBI who think he's a 'loathsome human being' as well as being an 'idiot' - well, here's the bad news: Those opinions are shared by a majority of Americans. ( Quinnipiac University poll. Dec 6 - 11 2017) I'm inclined to believe it has more to do with the humiliation he has been handed in Alabama and the heat he is feeling as the Mueller inquiry gets closer to home. Disciplined, methodical, objective and factual discovery is what the FBI and the special counsel do. Both are very very good at it...and President Trump's squeals of protest are testament to that fact.
The absolute gall of this man.
The vetting of Trump by the US media public is the grossest display of mass incompetence I have ever seen.
1
As President Eisenhower said of another rabble-rousing populist, Senator Joe McCarthy, ‘have some patience, give him enough rope, and he’ll hang himself’.
1
This is so classical narcissist behavior (i.e., externalizing blame, putting everyone else down to inflate one's damaged self worth ) but what else is new with this moron - just more grist for the non-thinking base who read the tabloids and watch the real fake news as they gobble up his conspiracy innuendos and distracting drivel. And since there are multiple ongoing investigations about the Russian matter (yes it does matter!) doesn't this continued critique of the FBI, Mueller and others come pretty close to obstruction of justice?
1
So he spends yesterday with Putin saying sweet nothings in his ear and today he's trashing the FBI. Why am I not surprised?
That person in the White House knows nothing and understands nothing. He has never read our Constitution yet feels free to criticize that which he has no conception about. His only claim to fame are his idiotic tweets which only prove his insecurity.
“It’s a shame what’s happened with the office of the President. It’s a very sad thing to watch. There is an extraordinary level of anger."
PS: Rex Tillerson called Trump something akin to "idiot," so lets launch an investigation into how a Clinton sympathizer was snuck into the State Department. /s
1
He can't be this dumb. He attacks the people who know where the bodies are buried and those who will happily report their locations.
Simple traitor in the white house. Thanks for your concern congressional GOP. He's working harder for russia than for the USA.
Trump has forgotten that the FBI has a LOT more credibility with the public than he does. I read that he averages about 9 lies every 24 hour cycle.
1
The culmination of events from trump has been a really bad roller-coaster ride and that reality TV show that you can switch off has now become our daily reality soap opera.
I just hope that Mueller and company have put all that they've found on a few flash drives that can be given over to the dishonest press should Trump decide to fire Rosenstein and then Mueller and then all the top management of the FBI. Don't think he won't do it. He just about has to. There's way too much damaging information there, which includes the hundreds of millions Trump and his family have tied up in Russia and whatever the Russians may have on him during his extracurricular activities over there during his beauty pageant days. The man's ferocious reactions to anything that even suggests a relaltionship between him and the Russians is tantamount to virtual proof that's it's something that will destroy him.
1
Actually, this is Paul, Susan's husband.
Does anyone think it is a coincidence that these attacks are accelerating after the Post's disturbing retrospective about Russian meddling published on 12/14 stated that the leaders all of the security agencies charged with investigating the matter told Mr. Trump two weeks before his inauguration not only that Russia had interfered with the election but that their intelligence intrercepts included Putin's instructions for the campaign? We were also told that members of his administration know that any request to look at the matter honestly-even apart from the question of any possible collusion- will provoke rage and derail rational discussion because Mr. Trump feels that any suggestion that the Russians tampered with the election undermines his victory.
When a person who has sworn to defend the nation against all enemies- foreign and domestic- squelches inquiry into the appearance that an adversary sought to undermine our electoral process, isn't this a blatant dereliction of duty and a clear call for the examination of his motives? At best, Mr. Trump is subordinating an important and necessary investigation to his insecurities and self-interests. If he is so confident that there was no collusion, why is he afraid to let inquiries demonstrate his innocence and that of his team?
Any representative who abets his efforts or fails to speak the truth deserves history's judgment. There is no middle ground in matters of such consequence.
2
Discredit the press, discredit the judiciary, discredit the intelligence/law enforcement agencies...this is the beginning of authoritarian rule and a sign post of guilt.
At total hoax would not have obtained plea agreements from Papadopoulos and Flynn.
As to the charge that Millions of Tax Payer Dollars are being wasted. What is it worth to out a corrupt Flynn from the cabinet?
Lastly, Mueller is not approaching this as a witch hunt, It is a methodical investigation with each piece of evidence cross checked.
If the rule of law does not stand up to Trump's tweets, I'm seriously looking for another country.
1
Trump is not smart enough to understand, the more he puts the men and women down at the FBI, the harder they may work to get the goods on him. He believes, if he can discredit them, their investigation will be discredited too. It will not work, no one believes him anymore.
Mueller is just a side show confirming the obvious.
The Congress that is presently falling all over itself to enact the tax cheat's tax reform bill is the only body that can remove him lawfully and effectively, by the impeachment process.
Familiarity with the behavior patterns of Adult-Children of Alcoholic/Dysfunctional Families is unsurprised by the Trump's behavior. He has lied to himself all his life. He uses on us the same strategies of aggression and denial to which his sisters can testify. Oh! no-one challenges Donald. He feigns that he has escaped his brother's fate. He has not. And we are witnesses to and suffer from his extravagant displays. Maybe Trump doesn't drink. So what? He has all the other signs of the Adult-Child
3
Our illustrious president is once again hearing things. "The tremendous anger" against the FBI seems to have arisen from the same strange place where those illegal aliens in Maine came from or the crowd estimates of his inauguration. He wants to believe it and his staff, faced with a tantum throwing boss, goes along. Now his apologists from Hannity to Limbaugh will weigh in with "questions" about the supposed objectivity of the Meuller investigation. A preference does not necessarily reflect a bias but to the true Trump loyalists they are the same thing. The fact that the agents were removed is irrelevant. Apparently their very presence in the same office, contaminated everyone. Of course the guilty pleas are just an unfortunate outcome of this "tainted" investigation. Nothing like attacking all our our institutions.
It is a wonder that the Donald ran for president since he doesn't trust the intelligence agencies or law inforcement, the courts or even Congress. He thinks the State Department is a waste, and is busy undoing the work of the EPA and the FCC. He is the master of distruction, intent on undoing all portions of the government he is supposed to run, while expressing contempt for the people who elected him. If this is greatness, I'd prefer ignominy.
When the FBI refuses to hand over information to congress, there is a problem.
Clinton just assumed she would win the election and the coopting and corrupting of the FBI would have all just been swept under the rug.
That over confidence led to sloppiness and too much of a trail.
The Democrats used the FBI to harass their political opponents in true banana republic fashion. And their fellow Democrats cheered.
1
Makes you think that if 45 continues to tweet (or is scream) witch hunt, fake news, etc. that there may be more to the issue than there is? The administration ‘s approach seems to be the tactic of divide and conquer, along with a sprinkling of double-edged rhetoric, will divert public attention, or at least their base, from focusing attention the real issue(s).
“This man cannot be president. She just has to win.”
I support the many honest and hardworking agents at the FBI.
But it is a sad day when an "independent" federal agency undermines -- and with such great power to destroy -- our democracy.
It is time to dismantle the FBI, and rebuild a lean and mean agency with just a handful of professional employees.
Hold POTUS up to same exact standard. If so, he’s not POTUS anymore.
Trump's attacks of the FBI will have some negative impacts on that agency's work with foreign intelligence and security agencies, particularly on counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations.
Vladimir Putin should be ecstatic with the harm Trump is doing to our government, to America's leadership in the free world, and to our nation as a whole. It is no surprise that Putin has been coming to his defense.
One bizarre aspect of all republican denigration of the FBI is how easily politicians will turn on their own in order to cover their ... trail.
Mueller, like many of the FBI's ranks, is a conservative republican. Most law enforcement professionals that I've ever been acquainted with are conservatives who believe in the rule of law. Yes, there are outliers, but for the overwhelming majority, law enforcement professionals are conservatives.
Which makes the current republican witch hunt targeted at the FBI all the more revealing of the character of the republican party and its apologists. Republican willingness to subvert our federal government, its agencies and to support an administration with demonstrable ties to an adversary is something very new and disturbing in our political history.
Perhaps Marx was right in his assessment that at some level of politically suborned capitalism, the system consumes itself. Hope not because regulated capitalism is the best proven economic foundation to advancing the quality of lives for the most people. But something, probably rooted in financial self aggrandizement, is motivating republican apologists for Trump and his cabal.
And how did candidate Trump talk about the FBI in 2016, when Comey announced that the bureau was revisiting the Hillary Clinton email investigation after they seized Anthony Weiner's computer? As I recall, he was quite happy with them at that point, not long before the election. It is very interesting to me that Comey chose to make public the bureau's decisions with respect to Hillary Clinton and Mr. Weiner but kept silent with respect to its monitoring of the Trump campaign's flirtations with Russia. Today I heard that Comey's decisions were influenced by a large number of pro Trump agents in the bureau's New York office who were leaking to Trump's booster Rudy Giuliani. If the FBI is in tatters now, it's because Trump has been at war with it ever since he was elected and has been as insulting about it as he has been about all the other agencies and departments of the executive branch, to which he is doing serious damage. He is too paranoid to carry out his oath of office.
I believe that Trump is building an argument for firing Mr. Mueller. Look at the DC environment next week, The Tac Cuts gets passed with all of the national focus, everyone gets ready for Christmas Holidays, SecState is in the news for his departure. While the Capital is cleared out for the Holidays Trump fires Mueller, regardless of how many Lawyers in Justice quit in the process.
"When you look at what’s gone on with the F.B.I. and with the Justice Department, people are very, very angry.”"
Yes, when the FBI does its job, "people" guilty of money laundering, obstruction of justice, lying under oath, and other law-breaking and treasonous activities are very angry and, I assume, very worried, as well they should be.
1
Unfortunately the matter is no longer just Donald Trump´s probable malfeasance in office. The more Republican lawmakers provide cover for efforts to undercut the investigacions the more they become complict with Russian intervention in the political process. As a Republican I wonder what portion of the party´s leadership has been compromised by Russian dark money slipped into their campaign coffers, provided as bogus speaking fees, etc. They are very much aware no-one will believe the good fairy brought those annymous donations to the campaign.
it is time the FBI stop trying to placate Trump and the Republicans and do some serious investigation. I am an American before Republican and I approve of this message.
1
Keep it up, SexOffenderInChief. 2018 will see a Democratic tsunami and then a return to sanity with an intelligent Democratic President in 2020, which will then bring a complete reversal of every give-it-to-the-rich lame brained policy of yours. Can't wait to see the history books once you're gone, documenting the most damaging regime in American history.
19
You will get a Republican Senate from Hell in 2018 because two thirds of the Senate isn't even running, and the one third that is is already two thirds Democratic.
Our intelligence agencies have confirmed that the Russian government tried to influence the 2016 presidential election. We were attacked by a hostile foreign adversary.
Why isn't our president doing anything about this? It's not the F.B.I. that has a problem, it's Trump himself. He's not doing anything to protect our country.
17
Trump is doing exactly what Putin wants him to do. This tax "reform" is intended to shear the coasts off the US heartland.
1
If Donald really thought there was any chance that Mueller would give him and his family a clean bill of health, he'd be knocking himself out to assure us of Mueller's bona fides. He wouldn't want even the smallest shadow to fall over Mueller's work. But he and his Republican enablers know there's little doubt that something is going to show up that will make their version of Camelot come to an end. Donald's dream of establishing an American monarchy will wither and the Republicans who have been licking their chops at having a built-in stooge to sign every toxic bill they send him will see their fantasies crash and burn. This is why Mueller must be trashed. He's so good, he's dangerous.
16
The Congress and Senate are the only people with the power to do anything at all about Trump. Everything else is just play-acting. Last time I looked, these bodies were drooling all over the tax cut bill advanced by the man whose taxes they never even looked at before voting for the crook.
1
The heat is on Donald know this. This is all political media sadly enabled by a major News Service. Donny 60+ % of Americans do not believe you. Your tirades and lies are just Trump Din. Most Americans know the FBI and Mueller have more integrity in their toe nails than you have in you entire dishonest body.
They must be getting really close after the German Bank Records were made available. Is it a coincidence Deutschebank is a notorious Russian money conduit and Donny's Bank of Necessity,
12
Let's all remember that if a Democratic president was trashing the F.B.I. like this, conservatives would be apoplectic and would certainly be calling for impeachment. That no Republicans are stepping forward and defending the FBI must be demoralizing to that agency. But that's Trump's goal, isn't it? As with all authoritarians, trash any and all institutions until they bend to your will. If Mueller doesn't put an end to this by mid-2018, it will certainly be time for all American patriots to rise up as one to take back our nation from this fascist regime.
66
He's successfully 'gas-lighted' his base and is attempting to gaslight the remainder of the electorate and our democratic institutions.
But we're on to him and I'm confident we'll see him off, with the help of Bob Mueller and his team.
You know I can't imagine how his wife must feel demoralized by the whole experience. Even his families loyalty I bet stems from staying in his good graces given his age and assets.
The intensity of the clamour protesting the Mueller investigation is directly proportional to how close it is to nailing the perps under investigation.
11
Is it just my imagination, or has trump's vocabulary shrunk by about 30% in the last two months? It seems he's down to about 73 words now and he repeats them often.
22
Trump is using the Presidency to tilt the machine, to make/keep more money for himself. The "tax bill," corporate de-regulation (soon to include banks) and his apparent Russian connections are the most visible indicators; no doubt there are more. The ludicrous things he says and does day to day are just filler - he appears to have no real feelings about any of it, one way or the other.
Stunning that his supporters are so uninterested in seeing his tax returns, which are likely a treasure-trove of info about where his heart really lies. So to speak.
11
Sure its sad to watch the inquiry when YOU are in the crosshairs !!!
7
Yes, people are very, very angry. Just not at the FBI, “Mr. President.” It’s our democracy that’s in tatters, thanks to you and your allies in Congress.
17
The Koch conspiracy has spent many $billions since the 1950s to bring about the coup d'etat of 2016. The whole system is seeded with their drones.
If he did pardon Flynn, it could put Trump in more trouble. Having been pardoned, Flynn would then if necessary be compelled to testify as his right not to self-incriminate would no apply as he would no longer be in legal jeopardy. How smart is the special prosecutor!
9
Pardoning Flynn will be moot anyway, because if Flynn doesn't play ball Mueller will just go ahead and nail Flynn's son. I suppose Trump could pardon Flynn's son too, but by that point Trump's presidency will be little more than farce.
11
Trump has already numbed out people to accept any insult to intelligence from him.
How long do we have to endure this farc? These are criminal actions on Trump's part. As much a part of his obstruction of justice as was his dealings with Comey. How he lowers the country that he cosiders to making great!
9
The constitutional crisis, that has been hinted at and slowly smoldering, is getting much too close for comfort. The smearing of the credibility of the FBI by the president of the United States. Pathetic Congressman adding embers to the fire with outlandish rhetoric. As Mueller gets closer and closer to a Trump and his family, Trump will have no other avenue but to demand Mueller. Rosenstein will resign rather than follow the President's order, and the constitutional crises will begin.
5
You guys, the media, can continue to report on Trump, but can't the rest of us ignore him by now? He's a proven liar, but maybe his craving for attention can be satisfied by staying in the news courtesy of the media, and the rest of us can ignore him and just go back to living our lives. All I ask is that you just wake us up when Mueller finishes his investigation and the impeachment trials begin.
4
How can we ignore him when he's undermining our institutions every day?
It is time for Americans to stop chasing shiny objects that this con man throws out there, seemingly every five minutes or so. There is no doubt that this person was installed as President of the United States by Russia. A foreign state that we have rightfully long recognized as an enemy of the US. He has been systematically reversing gains we have made, as well as stacking the deck (the courts) for the foreseeable future. It is time for Americans to stand up to this obvious traitor of the Democracy... He should be indicted and all his illegitimate appointments and executive orders should be reversed.
12
The so-called tax reform bill the Republican Congress presently stampedes to pass is designed to intensify inter-regional hostilities in the US.
Vlad Putin makes Trump look like what Trump makes Marco Rubio look like.
Just follow the money! Money laundering abounds! It is the only object these Trumps adore!
10
And the $145 million the NYT won't mention is just the tip of the iceberg.
The actions of Trump are those of a man clearly caught in the vise of truth.
Whether Trump's pathetic attempts at tossing roses of pardons to Flynn or
Trump's distinct speech patterns of lying, Trump's guilt is crystal clear. In fact, we are so familiar that we no longer need NYT or CNN to tell us that Trump (gasp!) lied.
When Trump precedes comments with "Very sad," "People are very, very angry," "A lot of people..not me" we know what follows are bald faced lies. If in fact there were "a lot of people" then why are Trump's historical submersible polls in a dive mode? At this pace there is no way Trump will see four years, good riddance.
10
Near the end when the deadly consequences of his and his wife's misdeeds are being realized, Macbeth's realization is summarized by: "It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing." The consequences of a life of treason, treachery and misdeeds would soon come to a bitter end.
How much Donald Trump's life runs in parallel to Macbeth's remain to be discovered by Mr. Mueller, his legal team, the FBI and maybe other intelligence agencies as well. Mr. Trump continues to lash out against his antagonists and may even attempt to use his powers as President to block their efforts. But if winds of Shakespeare continue to set the direction of Mr. Trump's future, something akin to a Shakespearian end may be in Mr. Trump's future.
7
Like any perp, he protests his innocence. Methinks he doth protest too much... he knows what is going to be exposed by this steadfast and thorough investigation. He is a fake president, just as he was a fake successful businessman. Sadly, now it is the entire country that is suffering instead of just Trump's creditors.
11
GOP: how can you support Trump? His accusations are all bogus. If there was no Russia connection why worry? If there was a Russian influence on our election does the GOP care?
6
We will have at least 4 years of Trump in office, maybe more. Our democracy is in tatters. The Republicans reveal every day that they ARE the party of Trump while they obstruct justice, steal from the elderly, children and poor, and work concertedly to undermine our intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Where is the Republican outrage over #metoogate? And scarily, the base, that 33% electoral college who voted for the bigoted liar in chief seems to be holding steady. That's what's scary.
6
The longer Trump stays in office the more sickening this tragic presidency becomes. It must be a daily demoralizing event for people working in government as it is for us citizens watching from the sidelines. Disgust is the first word that presents itself when trying to understand this ugly business. There is no dignity, no honor, no respect for the people and the institutions of government. It is damaging and destructive.
8
Here's what's 'sad' and a 'scam': the Trump presidency.
10
I guess Mr. Mueller is getting to the meat. trump appears to be terrified.
9
Now that's what I call a professional! Instead of talking about the facts, blames our own law enforcement. We laugh when a crack-addled flunky blames the cops for his problems with the law. Sadly we cannot laugh the. the same behavior is manifested by an elected official. Is it because he is too big to fail?
5
Trump says the FBI is partisan? Sounds like a case of the kettle calling the pot black.
6
Donald Trump fears the truth.
5
Trump know what FBI knows about him and Putin.
7
Is was 'amazing', 'incredible', 'fantastic'.
Putin opened his mouth yesterday and trump spoke. Trump speaks Russian!
It's obvious Mr. Trump is a coward. He's so tough and confrontational in his tweets but, when he's face to face with the target of his ire, he kisses up. A real profile in courage.
4
The most disgraceful person in the US is none other than donald trump.
If a Mister Disgraceful USA pagent were held he would win, hands down.
7
Could the NYTimes please show a bar graph with the cost of Trump going to Mar-a-Lago versus the cost of the Mueller investigation?
13
Brilliant!
What are you waiting for, Mr. President. Declare your dictatorship now! You must end this constant reviling of everyone but yourself, shut up and announce that you are now King Trump, omnipotent, wise leader of the ignorant, unruly masses. You can do no wrong, King Trump. You must end this debate with your many critics and crown yourself Wise Leader! Then you can speak endlessly about how smart, right and all-knowing you are to the masses every day, and smite those who dare to criticize you. How 'bout it boss: Fire them all!
4
The increased anger is not towards the FBI but towards this Fake "President" who is a complete disgrace and a major black eye to our country. Every day we wake to new stupid tweets, insults towards our Justice Department and other respected leaders, god awful judicial nominees, and praise to Vladimir Putin. "President" Trump must go. Enough is enough.
6
Once a fool, always a fool, but dangerous!
4
Wait, it was a Democrat hoax your son, son in law AND campaign manager had discussions with Russian FSB-agents in Trump Tower???
9
It is too late for Donald's promise tax returns.
It is past time for full financial disclosure of Donald Trump, his cabinet, all members of his family, all business affiliations, and all his businesses.
3
Since the 911 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Towers, we depend upon the FBI to vigorously defend against another foreign attack on US soil. Clearly, the recent buzz which denigrates the FBI and Mueller is out of order. Let the system work and be patient for the results. The big lie, no collusion. is simply not credible. The old line from Shakespeare: Me thinks the gentleman doth protests too much, applies here. If he is not guilty then why the attacks on the credibility of the FBI and the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller?
5
The news media continues its effort to convince Americans that “collusion” is a crime, but collusion is not a crime unless it is part of a conspiracy to commit a crime. We now know both the Clinton campaign and Trump campaign colluded with Russian sources during the 2016 election. The Clinton campaign colluded with Russian officials and Russian intelligence operatives to produce the Russian Dossier, which contained “dirt: on Donald Trump. The Trump campaign colluded with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya in hopes of receiving incriminating information about Hillary Clinton. The Clinton campaign’s collusion attempt was successful while the Trump campaign collusion attempt was unsuccessful, but both would have been legal if the Clinton campaign had not paid former British spy Christopher Steele to produce the Russian Dossier. The Federal Election Campaign Act prohibits paying foreign nationals for campaign work, either directly or indirectly, but it permits foreign nationals to do volunteer campaign work, as long as they are not paid. But neither campaign was guilty of collusion. It is not illegal to solicit or accept disparaging information about foreign national about political rivals.
1
Baloney. If there was “collusion” to come up with a falsified dossier on Trump, why is there no evidence anything in the dossier was falsified and why wasn’t it released before the election? The fact that Steele contacted Russian sources is not evidence of any “collusion.” The lying, the treason, the obstruction of justice, and the money laundering is all Trump’s.
Just as the Trump Admin has been investigated for illegal Collusion with Russia with none being publically disclosed, the department of Justice needs to be thoroughly investigated by a credible investigator outside the FBI. Confidence needs to be restored in the department of Justice. If you want to withold information from Congress because you have internal investigations, you must have a demonstrated stellar level of integrity.
If there was a high level of unmasking by the former U. N. ambassador, we need to understand exactly what happened. There may be no wrong doing, but restoring confidence requires that we invetigate and that congressional oversight is not blocked. There were questions involving the incoming Admin, they were investigated, and so far no illegal collusion has been publically disclosed. Remembering the Hoover FBI, we need an investigation of our justice department with the goal of removing bad apples at the higher levels
We need to hold the F. B. I. to a high standards. If Sheryl Mills and Huma Abidin were proven to have lied to the. F. B. I. and did not get charged when Flynn did, that unequal handling is a large concern. If FISA court surveillance was used as a political weapon, to delegitimize an incoming administration that is very serious. If a largely fake dosier was created with Russians. and paid for by Democrats and then presented as credible to begin investigative actions against the President, that is wrong.
2
The Special Counsel investigation was precipitated by Trump’s firing of James Comey and Trump’s lying about why he fired him. The Trump dossier is not “largely fake.” Much of it has been proven to be true. FISA court surveillance was not “used as a political weapon.” Efforts by Republicans to delegitimize the courts and the F.B.I. are despicable.
If President Obama had pressured James Comey to drop the Clinton email investigation, then fired him when he didn’t, ant then lied about why he fired him, conservatives would be screaming for impeachment.
I don't think the "professionals" at the FBI are any more able to put aside their political feelings in conducting their business than are the "professionals" who occupy our media.
If an entire side of the political divide decides for its own political reasons that the duly elected President should not be legitimized, how does that not damage the objectivity of everybody in any profession in which there exists a potential for political payback?
The Resistance is, first and foremost, a resistance to the product of democracy itself.
So who are the real traitors in our midst?
2
Trump was not “duly elected. ‘ The election was stolen in the Electoral College with voter suppression tactics, including using error prone lists of supposed "double voters” to purge the voting rolls of thousands of legal voters, systematically creating hours long waits to vote in “certain areas” by closing polling places, cutting early voting, under allocating voting machines, and supplying broken voting machines, and creating unnecessary photo I.D. requirements to disenfranchise voters, including elderly disabled veterans.
If the shoe were on the other foot and Trump had won the popular vote by nearly three million votes but lost narrowly in the EC, even without voter suppression tactics Trump would be saying the election was “rigged” and conservatives would be agreeing with him.
It's a shame what's happened with the presidency. It's a very sad thing to watch.
1
I wonder if once the GOP get their tax code signed by Trump, then they will start going sideways with him?
2
According to many news analysts including some from this paper, there is real concern that President Trump along with Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee is about to engineer his own Saturday night massacre. The scenario first involves the House Intelligence Committee, which always has been opposed to the investigation since its Chair Devin Nunes, who was a member of the Trump transition team, tried to undermine it, prematurely concluding their investigation and claiming there's no evidence to support the allegations of collusion by the Trump campaign and Russia. Second, President Trump will then use this to replace Jeff Sessions with a new Attorney General willing to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller. It's sounds like a plot from Hollywood, but we have the Watergate experience of Richard Nixon that makes it credible. The only impediment is the Senate. Would they move to protect Mr. Mueller and not agree to replace Attorney General Sessions? It sounds like a "plot against America' with one chamber of the Legislative branch willing to abrogate their responsibility to the nation and the Constitution as a "check" against Executive authority. It's a truly frightening scenario that would amount to a Constitutional crisis determining whether or not our democracy could withstand the pressure of an autocrat and his Congressional "willing accomplices." I truly hope the analysts are wrong, but the attack on our democracy has noticeably escalated this week.
4
I too am (very) concerned but I'm confident that with General James Mattis in post, trump would not get to use the armed forces against the people and that's what he would need to do to remain in power. The people would surely rise up.
The President was quoted as saying "we'll see" in reply to a question as to whether he will pardon Flynn. Flynn is obviously cooperating with the Mueller investigation based on his lenient guilty plea. Trump's remark could be seen as trying to influence Flynn as to what he tells Mueller. Couldn't this be read as attempted obstruction of justice?
6
For you, Trump, it is a sad thing to watch. For the majority of us who can't stand what you are doing to this country, it offers hope that the GOP will finally come to its senses, join the Democrats, and throw you out.
5
How is "hinting at" possibly pardoning Flynn -- who very likely could be a witness AGAINST the president -- not an attempt at obstruction of justice? Of obstruction of an on-going probe of the very person who would/could/might be doing the pardoning? It's an on-going criminal probe, is it not? Hinting at pardoning a person who's (1) a likely material witness who (2) hasn't even been sentenced yet: This isn't meddling in an investigation?
7
Public feuds between presidents and the FBI are rare only because presidents were afraid to publically confront J. Edgar Hoover.
1
This is all laying the groundwork to either fire Mueller or dismiss his findings.
By attacking the F.B.I.'s competence and biased practices, he can claim all their intelligence and assessments concerning Russian/Trump-team conspiring is faulty. And, if that information is unreliable and was at least partly the basis for initiating a Special Counsel investigation, then all those findings are tainted too.
House Republicans have already begun their enabling by first trying to discredit the information in the Steele Dossier and claiming it was the sole reason for why the F.B.I. began investigating Russia-Trump ties (it wasn't.) Then, they claimed that because the Democrats paid for the dossier it's unreliable. Now, they have the fired Agent on Mueller's team and his biased text chains to crow about.
I can't comprehend why House Republicans are doing this. As we've seen in the November and December special elections, Trump's support and his unwavering base do not guarantee a Republican win. The abyssal tax-cut plan is about to be passed and they don't really need him as much as they did a year ago.
1
Pure and total background noise. What Trump says about the investigation does not matter. What Mueller says is all that does matter.
4
As the spouse of an FBI agent, I am appalled at Trump's statements. The FBI is like every other large organization - it is filled with hardworking, focused and diverse employees. Every agent takes their oath seriously and leaves their personal feelings at the door: they serve no matter who is President. That does not, however, mean they won't share feeling, perspectives or beliefs. That should not cause us worry unless it impacts their work - of which there is zero evidence to date. Trump is a destructive, malignant person and he will destroy everything in his path unless he is stopped.
6
Fox 'News" and some congressional Republicans are egging Trump on to discredit Robert Mueller and the F. B. I.. They're trying to blow up the Russia investigation and should be considered complicit in any charges of obstruction of justice that may be filed against the president.
6
Come on now everybody, while you may dislike Trump you must admit the FBI has been suspiciously biased to the point of danger to the country.
Remember if they can do it to him today, who is tomorrows target ?
3
We’re not talking about the rank and file. We’re talking about a few politically minded folks at the top engaging in “administrative state” guerrilla tactics. And they will have neither the last word nor the last laugh.
4
Of course you have no proof. Even the e-mails were dealt with swiftly when discovered. An Alternative Interpretation Trump knows he is in deep deep dodo and is desperately with help of his media wing at FOX ttyong to discredit the commission. I an ounce of evidence against anyone just Donald's Triads.
3
President Trump will continue to attack the F.B.I., call the fact-based stories he doesn't like "fake news", pardon whomever, and probably find someone to fire special counsel Mueller, but his fraudulent tax returns, supposedly being audited by the IRS, will do him in. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
27
Ha! In your dreams...
If trump, being lawfully elected to his position, is not an agent of russian espionage, having no past associations, having appointed his best choice for FBI Director, as the former was a crackpot and showboat, he should feel wholly comfortable with all current investigations being conducting by whatever agency.
He may, yet, rid this Union of Mueller's wasteful distraction, easing his mind further. And, know good people of the US, it is a unique mind-at-ease. Ask our dear Commander-in-Chief, how does his Administration run? His reply shall be simple and succinct as his own mind ... "as a perfectly fine tuned machine." Impeach the scoundrel, and prosecute him in the courts !
12
I'm a normal person. If I were accused of a crime that I did not commit, and if there were an ongoing investigation, I would do everything that I could to speed the thing along, and applaud the efforts of the investigators, because I would know that ultimately, those accusations would be proven false. I would not be pitching a fit, calling the investigators names, questioning their legitimacy, or trying to stop them from proceeding. Those are the things that I would do only if I were guilty. It's like committing murder in California and then putting on a disguise and speeding to the Mexican border like Scott Petersen did after he killed his pregnant wife, Laci. One doesn't need a disguise and a getaway car, or sling mud at investigators, if one is completely innocent.
4
Impeach him for what? In spite of intense investigation including covert surveillance, nothing has been found concearning illegal collusion with the Russians.
America does not use its Judicial System to overturn Constitution. You may find him a scoundral, but those who voted him an electoral victory did not.
Trump envies Putin and his dictatorial powers. Trump envies the wealth that Putin, the dictator, continues to amass in Russia. Trump wants to be the dictator of America so he can amass wealth Putin style.
But Trump says "No collusion." I don't believe him, do you? I believe Robert Mueller. The FBI is a venerable institution here in the U.S., and trumpies lame attempts to undermine Mueller only serve to underscore trumpies deep guilt.
20
"No collusion." Just meeting with Russians in hopes of getting "dirt," and communicating with Moscow-fueled WikiLeaks about the latter's hacked emails. These were just Russian tea party events to discuss Russian adoption policies (and sanctions. Whoops!)?
5
I can say this: When you look at what’s gone on with the F.B.I. and with the Justice Department, people are very, very angry.”
And when I say people I mean me. And Fox and Friends. We are all very angry.
17
I think more people are angry at Donald Trump his GOP enablers and his Propaganda media at FOX and Friends.
3
What is sad is Trump and his band of know nothings continued presence in the executive branch.
13
Trump is so transparent it's like he's made of glass.
He's so empty it's like no one's there.
31
Just as the Russians did with our election, this president is undermining everything that we hold dear in America.
17
Do you mean Americans really love Socialism. Cultural Marxism and the concept of Equal Poverty for All? That is what you have had for 16 years and now prosperity and world power is returning to the USA you want to return to the old ways? Good luck with that.
1
Prosperity and world power? He's alienated everybody on earth, and probably the whole universe.
It's becoming more clear every day that current President Donald Trump , his loathsome cabinet and his supporters in this highly unpopular Republican administration are walking on thin ice which is cracking and crumbling by the minute. It's they, and not the F.B.I., who are a serious threat to the current well being and future of our nation. Donald Trump's irrational rants and rampages against the F.B.I., which is demonstrably not in "tatters", overlooks the obvious.....that it is his administration which is in "tatters".
17
Day after day, I read articles about this guy, and, more and more, one word pops into my head...”idiot!”.
15
The Trump presidency is illegitimate. The truth hurts. Trump hates the truth. So Trump lashes out.
What's so hard to understand?
14
He did not become president by winning ' a very clear majority in the vast majority of states' - next you'll be telling us he won the popular vote - but did so by securing more votes than Clinton in the Electoral College.
Second, I'm struggling to understand how I could have recognised your 'truth' before the outcome of the election was known.
Think about it, mate.
Trump won the electoral college vote but he did not win the 2016 presidential popular vote. FACT.
Obstruction of Justice
12
Who does Trump think he is convincing with this line of attack? And the GOP members of Congress who are playing along with this fiction are complicit. Trump is damning his intelligence agencies while praising the thuggish Putin. At what point does Trump's aiding and abetting Putin and Russia become grounds for impeachment? Shameful.
101
At some point, the national consciousness is going to move from sputtering indignation, to the full realization that we don't have to put up with these lowlife people. They've done nothing but line their pockets at the public's expense.
Then, we take back Our Country. #2018.
4
When is the public going to see private messages from the NY FBI people who wanted to investigate the Clinton Foundation?
When are we going to find out what communications occurred between Jim Kallstrom, Rudy Giuliani and the Breitbart fan club in the NY FBI field office in the lead up to the election?
If Trump wants to open the can of worms, let's open it right up.
19
Yeah let's hear what they found on Huma's laptop!
In a folder named "life insurance" something was found that caused grown men to seek psychiatric treatments.
Comey wrote the "Comey-letter" to get a warrant to sweep in and get control over that evidence. Days later he had not found anything new even though the number was much higher that the whole of his investigation had been working with?
1
His criticism serves no useful purpose. Federal employees are not billionaires and are essentially a faceless number serving this country. They do what Congress tells them and follow laws they pass.
It is really sad/stupid that Trump has decided to toss the entire agency overboard because he has no clue how this country has operated since 1776.
I think we will survive as long as he stays away from the nuclear codes.
7
Let Donald being glib. Being glib makes more blood sniffs by the foxes of Mueller.
3
Is the entire Republican Party now under Russian control? Is America to be a Russian puppet? If not then why hasn't the Republican Party faced down the president? Why haven't they impeached the traitor?
12
Is this the same FBI that was referred to last year as Trumpland owing to a Republican bent?
5
Dishonest Donald loved the FBI until his team lied to them.
Now he is pulling out all the usual Trump Tricks:
badmouthing,
demeaning,
obfuscating,
ranting,
raving,
yadda yadda.
If there
was a woman around he would be throwing her under the bus
about now. He's entirely predictable- he is a sociopath.
18
What a pathetic, empty little human.
America will survive Donald Trump and all the garbage he exudes. America- will survive a GOP-controlled Congress. America- will survive a Justice Department headed by a Southern Racist. America will even survive the current composition of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Just think back on November 2016, when we thought the world had ended as we knew it: A Republican W.H, GOP Congress; Masters of the Universe-(or so they thought). Yes- they have caused damage in ways they told us they would- but it "ain't" been easy for them. Short of changing the U.S. Constitution- all can be undone; and it will.
The earth rotates on its axes in the same twenty-four hours for each of us and those who presume to know-- in the morning, what the end-of-the-day beholds; is a FOOL: "Fret not thy self because of evil doers...."
10
The more he bawls and brays, the stronger the odor of his guilt. Ever onward FBI.
20
It's called obstruction of justice. A permanent stain on our Country's history.
We must vote these traitors out and reverse the corruption he, who should not be named. Alternative facts WH.
10
The FBI put their thumb on the scale of justice.
3
And how do you know this for a fact? Trump must really appreciate the few who are buying his disinformation campaign. It's the campaign that never ends. Getting elected didn't end it. Maybe Mueller's investigation will.
1
Both Clinton and Trump campaigns complained about Comey influencing the election and putting his thumb on the scale with his comments about Hillary's email server and release of classified information..
Regarding the newly revealed stuff, it may turn out that there was a conspiracy against Trump in particular. Mueller was concerned enough to fire a couple of his FBI investigators.
With Mr. Trump: " ... there is seldom a plan apart from pre-emption, self-defense, obsession and impulse." (NYTimes, 9Dec2017) No plan, just pitbull style gnashing of teeth. Narcissistic and histrionic personality disorders, a bunker mentality, a middle school level of insults, aspirations to tyranny, "a lack of knowledge [that] can be bewildering", a "tenuous grasp of facts, jack-rabbit attention span and propensity for conspiracy theories", and on and on. An utter fiasco overall, while the Republicans in Congress whistle pass the graveyard.
11
It should be noted that Donald Trump spewed all this nonsense against FBI on his way to Quantico, where he was scheduled to speak at the FBI Academy graduation ceremony. Great way to boost the morale of the young men and women who are about to join the ranks of law enforcement officers at the Agency!
14
Nixon also criticized the Washington Post and other news outlets. He ordered the firing of the special prosecutor Archibald Cox , maligned the officials investigating him, and used people in his party for cover.
Guilty people do things like this. Honest people have nothing to lose.
21
I am one of the people who is very, very angry.
but not with the FBI or Justice's efforts to unearth the truth about Russian meddling in our election and whether Trump is being blackmailed by a foreign power,is in hock to them, or whatever may be discovered.
I am angry we have a president who lies and evades and possibly doesn't recognize there is any such thing as truth AND he is abetted by a major party in thrall to the interests only of the Christian right, corporations, and the very wealthiest among us.
and that's more than enough to justify righteous anger.
18
For once, I agree with Ms. Huckabee Sanders, Donald Trump's characterization of the F.B.I being in tatters will not cause Americans to lose confidence in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but it will cause Americans to lose more confidence in Donald Trump, not that much remains.
72
We do not yet know the full story about Trump/Russia. Likely we all will. We do know the following:
Trump has a persistent, amazing, and unexplained affection for Vladimir Putin.
Trump has for one year refused to even allow discussion of the clear Russian interference in the election and thus the attack upon our democracy.
Every statement by Trump, his administration, or his campaign about this matter has been false or grossly misleading.
Trump is plainly personally terrified of the investigation.
Now we have unprecedented and repellent attack upon the FBI and Department of "Justice" (Trump's quotes).
If Trump has nothing extremely damaging to hide all of the above are inexplicable.
35
Nonsense: they've been attacking Trump since before the election. The Democrats are the ones who are in bed with the Russians. And of course, it's the President's job to try to get along with the leaders of other nations. Give me a break!
2
and not to mention: whatever might be revealed if the President released his tax returns.
can't say for sure, but I doubt this Republican strategy of preemptive criticism of Justice efforts to investigate l'affaire Russie are going to play worth a plug nickle in Peoria.
Trump acts guilty. anyone should be able to see that.
or get your eyes examined.
4
I can tell you the full story on Russia. It's ALL FAKE.
Don Jr got a email by someone he thought he knew and med Fusion GPS operative who IS from russia.
You have been given the treatment one more time.
1
Seems that pardoning Flynn amounts to closing the barn door after the horse escapes. Flynn’s already pled guilty to a felony and must cooperate with investigators as part of the deal. A blanket pardon would obviate whatever might be left of Flynn’s Fifth Amendment protections, leaving him obligated to spill all the beans on Trump et Cie.
6
“I don’t want to talk about pardons for Michael Flynn yet,” Mr. Trump said. “We’ll see what happens. Let’s see. I can say this: When you look at what’s gone on with the F.B.I. and with the Justice Department, people are very, very angry.”
I know that usually, "we'll see" is Trump's way of shutting down a discussion he doesn't want to have, but in this case, he's waiting to see if he and Flynn can make a deal, exchanging a pardon for favorable testimony. What does the FBI have to do with that? Nothing more than finding someone to blame for Flynn pleading guilty and telling Mueller what he knows.
1
Also, the "people" he refers to who are "very, very angry" are, in fact, himself. Or the voices inside his head, as it were.
6
President Trump's criticism of the FBI is entirely deserved. Mueller's team is composed Trump hating Democrats who are pro-HRC. Hardly an impartial group. The tweets from Strzok clearly demonstrate the contempt from Trump. The entire investigation is phony. The real problem is with FBI's sloppy investigation of the HRC email disclosure if highly classified information. The FBI eent through the motions of an investigation; it was not serious at all. The FBI is supposed to be nonpolitical, but is with the liberal opposition. Moreover, President Trump demanded loyality from Comey which he did not get because Comey's loyalty was with HRC. We need to go back to the days of J. Edgar Hoover, when the FBI was dedicated to the stopping crime. Thank you.
3
Nonsense
Where to begin...
J. Edgar Hoover kept dossiers on Presidents and politicians so that he could blackmail them.
If Comey and the FBI was backing Clinton, why did Comey break protocol and release the results of the Clinton email investigation? Why did he break protocol again to talk about reopening the investigation right before the election?
10
I recall that during the election there was a cadre of anti-Hillary agents within the New York office of the FBI actively conspiring with Rudi Guliani to bring her down. I'm all for cleaning those guys out but I doubt the Republicans will see it that way.
2
Yea...I get it...you prefer Trump, Pravda, Putin and the KGB's words over your own government....you belong in southern Russia....bye bye
3
If he's so sure he's innocent, then these attacks make no sense. The only reason to attack is to diminish the FBI's credibility. Instead, he diminishes his own.
129
The FBI better get moving before Donald and Sessions decide to reorganize. Donald doesn't seem to understand he is in violation of his oath of office. We don't run the government to prop up a venal president. We don't allow the president to fire the cops who are investigating him.
If the Republicans in Congress don't put a stop to Donald's increasingly frantic response to the Russia matter, the people will vote them out of office.
10
This is part of Trump’s defense strategy. He trashed the Intelligence Agencies because they discovered and documented the Russian assault. Now he is trying to discredit the Mueller investigation into whether or not Russia was aided from within this country.
Whatever anger there is against the Mueller investigation has been ginned up by Trump and his noisy and noxious mouthpieces. And it is a sign of desperation.
Has Trump or his noisy and noxious mouthpieces been able to point to one action that the FBI or Mueller has taken as a result of this so-called partisan bias?
Should Flynn be allowed to walk from his lies or his divided loyalties? Should Manafort or Gates not have been indicted? Should Mueller and the FBI simply ignore the lies, half-truths and omissions uncovered by the investigation?
That members of Congress are participating in this hysteria is appalling.
12
The presidency has been permanently stained by a corrupt pathological liar - that’s THE SAD THING!!!!
20
Angry? Who's angry? I'm not angry. What is there to be angry about? Who are all of these angry people?
10
As Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein pointed out during the House Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this week, the Inspector General is investigating the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Muller's team to determine if the decision to investigate the Trump campaign for alleged collusion with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election was politically biased. The investigators are being investigated. Trump was merely reacting to evidence of bias already revealed in documents the FBI has furnished to the IG and House Judiciary Committee.
5
Since the IG’s investigation is not complete, neither Trump or the House Judiciary Committee has seen it.
6
Both the FBI and IG have turned over email and documents to the House Judiciary Committee. Committee members read them into the record during the hearing.
1
Sorry, but what the House Judiciary Committee had were some of the emails and texts which created an appearance of partiality on one FBI member of the team, who was promptly fired by Mueller.
You, like Trump, are jumping to conclusions which may or may not be borne out when the full IG Report is released
1
How about the NYT providing its readers with a Trump-Free-Day. Your readers will adore you and will aggravate Trump who craves seeing his name in the Times.
14
YES! I love it.
i am a bit overweight. not as much as the president. i can see my feet in the shower. plus i do not wear suits day in and day out. i bet the kitchen staff in the white house have been asked to turn down the heat, cause trump is getting predictable. predictable by the constant noise he creates each friday . his need to dominate every thought in the media worries him on friday's. ''he knows the weekend most people find other pursuits to follow other than his antics. he can barely compete with football, be it NCAA or pro. the kneeling players garner far more respect than he can even pretend to have.
Mr Mueller has him scared shirtless. And no american wants to see that. good luck to America. we will weather his temperament with character that is being discovered once again among the populace. the young see and remember. they are in the process of creating their future. thinking and caring Americans are doing their best to encourage them. Resist.
11
Media outlets are the ones that pick up on it and exploit it...dude. But there is too much ad revenue to be made so here it is right in the NYT.
1
He like to use that word: "Disgraceful". I wonder if he knows what it means?
5
He thinks notoriety is good, so he would never call himself dishonorable.
1
Trump is insecure about the legitimacy of the election that put him in office. When he is insecure, Trump labels the parties that expose or contrast with his weaknesses in demeaning terms and declares every fact and news item attesting to his failings to be "fake news."
That is what is at work here. The confirmed story that Russia was heavily involved in discrediting Hillary Clinton while trying to coordinate with the Trump campaign casts doubt on the integrity of the democratic process that led to Trump’s election. The FBI is a major source of credible information about Russia's nefarious involvement in the election. Therefore, Trump will continue to impugn the reputation of the FBI, without regard to facts or evidence, for so long as the Russian scandal remains a dark cloud hanging over the Trump presidency.
8
Trump's crimes are of a nature that a small /local police force would not investigate them, so he does not see them as a threat. When he moves to declare himself dictator, he may even need them.
On the other hand, the FBI is a clear and present danger to his ability to declare himself dictator.
10
Good for Trump. This is all out war. The rogue operatives in the FBI and the DOJ need to be flushed out, fired, investigated and prosecuted.
6
Drinking the Trump Kool Aid?
4
this really reminds me of Watergate...The closer Mueller gets, the more panic we see from Trump. He's gearing up to fire Mueller. It is clear that he colluded with Putin....Treasonous
3
By "rouge Operatives" you must mean those employees in the FBI and DOJ who are not Trump toadies. Aspiring dictators always try to destroy the Courts and the investigative arms of the Government. To claim that anyone who works for US Government and is a Democrat is a traitor is fascism at its worse. That is exactly what you and Trump are saying.
1
If Trump has "nothing to do with Russia," why is he always talking to Putin?
15
I do hope you're joking. I really really do.
No, watching the FBI does its job is not sad at all. What is sad, however, is a 71 year old man sitting in the Oval Office of the White House in the United States of America who can not control himself with Twitter blasts at the crack of dawn or tell the truth. The Ultimate Lie was the non-disclosure of tax returns during the 2016 election cycle "because I am under audit and not permitted to do so." To which Warren Buffett wrote in this paper that the Federal tax code does not preclude disclosure of tax returns while under audit. Mr. Buffett then promptly released his tax returns for publication in this newspaper while under audit to prove Donald Trump's s flat out lie.
So where are your tax returns, Donald Trump?
18
What is a “very sad thing to watch” is Trump's repeated lies and unfounded accusations. He and his family are unfit to hold any public office. Throw the bum out NOW before the US as we know it no longer exists.
18
“People” are angry for sure, Trump. But not at the FBI.
19
Every day I think we've hit rock bottom, and then the next day it gets worse. When will it end? What a sad, sad little man.
12
I'm trying to see where we're hitting bottom except in purging the liars, addicts and adulterers from the positions they do not deserve. I don;t see anywhere where I would be able to agree that we're at a 'bottom'
1
In episode two of Scientology and the Aftermath, Leah Remini's show, a former Moonie turned mind control specialist lists all the characteristics of and the psychological techniques used by religious cults. Virtually identical to totalitarian tactics. Whether religions, politics,or the ever present conspiracy theory paranoid people, it is debatable whether any fantasy based grab for power is called a cult or something more "respectable".
'NPR had a piece on US scientists, deeply discouraged by anti-intellectualism and an assault on reason & science by Republicans, are leaving the US to find jobs. Another piece told of zero efforts to counter Russian cyber warfare, after all there is none according to Dear Leader.
Reagan & Gingrich's hatred of government pales next to Dear Leader's. If you love truth, Trump hates you, even the intelligence agencies. Welcome to the United States of Orwell and the 'R" Cult.
4
I'm dreaming of a very Mueller New Year. 2018: the Trump hits the fan.
13
What is very sad to watch and listen to, is this National Embarrassment parading around like he has a clue as to what he is doing, and knowing that everyone around him has to treat him like an infant that is constantly on the verge of a temper tantrum.
Today he embarrassed himself, and insult every dedicated Federal Civil Servant, not only in the FBI, but everyone that works day and night to keep this country running and protected, this imbecile has no clue and should be removed from office.
I don't understand in today's climate with every CEO and members in every facet of the work force that have been shown to sexual abuse and assault woman, Donald Trump who has as many as 19 woman speaking out against him with credible sexual assaults and abuse, even his own words recorded more than a few times saying exactly how he feels he can do what he wants and does to women, seems to not affect the Republican's in Congress.
10
FBI, FBI, FBI! Chant it just like we chant USA at the Olympics.
12
He surely criticizes the FBI because he can not influence and control them.
He is a quasi dictator and wants everybody to dance to his tune. Just like a dictator he criticizes the journalists and respectable newspapers as well as anybody who says anything negative about him. Lastly he is never wrong and has no moral compass, just like Putin who he reveres.
11
He criticizes the FBI because he isn't a politician and doesn't care about the bullcrud we're all used to..
IMPEACH TRUMP! You bet he wants to criticize anyone who sees him for the conman liar he is...
4
There are over 35,000 FBI employees. And they all consider Traitor Trump to be their enemy. They're also a lot more savvy than his ignorant and bigoted "base."
6
Yeh, like in Russia they know how to control the spies and thought police.
And in the Philippines they know how to take care of the drug problem.
And in China, they know how to take care of America.
And in North Korea, they know how to build things fast without high overhead labor costs.
And in America, we knew how to take care of blacks, women, unions, gays, lesbians, liberals, and all those other foreigners and ....
Oh, the good ole days.
2
It's about to get much sadder for Donald 'Bone Spurs' Trump.
My hope is that if Mueller is actually sacked, before we get into a Civil War, one of the FBI investigators will leak Trump's tax returns and all other vital information and pull away the curtain of lies that our President hides behind. It would be falling on their sword for sure but it is better for one brave man or woman to do a great service for the USA than for us to lose our democracy to Trump's Kleptocratic junta who do more damage each day to our history and practice of good government than any foreign enemy could even imagine...
If that does not come to pass, then a newly elected Democratic Congress will not hesitate to impeach Trump for obstruction. I want to say win, win but it will still feel like lose, lose...
2
I spend 6 hours a day, 5 days a week teaching a pedagogy in science that asks students to think in this format:
Claim:
Evidence:
Reasoning:
I have 14 year olds that are better critical thinkers than our President.
Without citing specifics, indeed.
11
Yes it IS a very sad thing to watch our president continuously attempt to undermine the rule of law in our country.
6
If we do not take action to fully investigate the the possibility that the federal government itself was the true culprit in an attempt to influence the election, and is presently stonewalling (covering up) their actions . . . they will be emboldened to do it again.
This is a clear and present danger to the Republic, for we are no longer self-governed.
The Democrats have been asserting had the FBI via Comey not interfered by opening, closing, then re-opening an investigation on Hillary Clinton in the closing weeks of the election, she would have won.
Again, it does not matter whose side they attempted (or succeeded) in "helping".
They must be punished if true, and the penalties strengthened sufficiently to deter such activity in the future.
Because it does not get any more serious than this:
Senator Church’s Prophetic Warning
1
The more that The Donald whines about the clear integrity of normal investigative process, the more that the deep state and Congress should prepare for transition to a new administration (vanilla Pence, etc.). One reads (Washington Post yesterday) that Trump is still obsessed with the FACT that he didn't really win The Vote, just the Electoral College by fluke in the final days. He's accomplished nothing himself (credit Ryan and McConnell for the disastrous tax bill). Trump is a golf club king terrified that he has no clothes.
1
“lock him up..... lock him up..... lock him up”. trump can dish it but cant take it.
24
When our president aligns himself with the likes or Roy Moore, alt-right rasicst, Sheriff Arpaio, Duterte and others while spouting racism towards Muslims, Mexicans and others, spouting lies about a tax plan, his own sexual peccadillos and his involvement with the Russians, and more, and more, and more, I find his demeaning comments about the FBI perfectly in line with his overall character.
What really shocks me is that 40% of Americans - plus or minus - still approve of him as President. Why?
28
The 40% that still approve of Trump are the “some of the people” that can be “fooled all of the time”.
2
Easy peazy: Rupert's Fox and right wing political talk radio. Overpaid preachers, misdirecting and Intentionally disregarding facts, spewing a flawed ideology marketed as perfection.
I see the pattern where Trump will discredit and slander the investigation before a new round of inditements comes forth. A very large wolf is at his door. I would think the next step is to his inner circle and family who he is trying to defend. My faith is with the Robert Muller investigation. The attacks on him are minor and distracting.
133
Spot on Grain Boy from a former rural Wisconsinite (Manitowoc County).
1
Trump and Sessions are going all in on attempting to obstruct justice pouting on because the FBI harbors bias against criminals. Mueller has them.
12
This is probably the FBIs finest hour. At a time when no one in government has the guts to speak the honest truth, except people who are retiring, their agents are challenging an out of control megalomaniac.
23
NYT I wish you would be more careful with your language. You conclude the article by referring to Trump's "longstanding belief" that the investigation is a witch hunt. This implies that Trump's statements are driven by a genuine view on his part that the FBI is somehow out to get him. But given a mountain of evidence - the Steele dossier, Flynn's lies, endless meetings with Russians here and overseas, Russian claims to have rigged the election, Trump's open courting of Putin, and on and on - we can fairly conclude that Trump's criticism of the FBI is driven not by "belief" but by an entirely self serving attempt to discredit an organisation that is onto his little scam. In other words, lies. Rather tha referring to Trump's "belief", maybe try Trump's "claim", which doesn't suggest that there's anything genuine about his arguments against the FBI. He's a liar through and through, so please don't imply that he's anything else.
43
I don't think we, as readers, can stress this point enough. Please choose words that accurately portray that these "beliefs" are merely wishful claims countered by reality and evidence.
9
Excellent and important point well made.
12
I still think that his outstanding performance at an intelligence agency took place the day he showed up at the CIA, stood in front of their memorial wall for fallen agents, bragged about how great he was, insulted everybody in the room, and followed up at the Oval Office by handing highly-classified secrets to the Russian ambassador.
36
...while claiming that the CIA gave him a standing ovation, and adored being insulted throughout the campaign.
6
Trump is obviously laying the groundwork to fire Mueller. As Mueller closes in on Trump, we are seeing a concerted effort by right-wing media, the GOP and Trump to discredit the FBI and Mueller.
We're watching Obstruction of Justice happening right before our own eyes.
And no one should think for a second that Trump won't fire Mueller. The scary part is that the GOP will probably let him get away with it. Fox News is on board, egging Trump on.
23
As president, he's obligated to deal with inefficiencies. If the FBI is "in tatters," he should tell us what the problems are--poor training? Insufficient resources? political bias--in enough detail for us to understand.
Then, he should propose fixes.
This president lacks the ability to stand and speak coherently on any complicated subject. His technique is to criticize, and, his targets are predictable. If he is thwarted in any way, it seems to him evidence of malfeasance.
The president is a stunted man, uneducated, inarticulate and dishonest. Like Judge Moore, he prattles about the Constitution; like Judge Moore, he hasn't read it and couldn't understand it if he should read it.
He seems to be preparing some grand coup, to fire Mueller and disband the investigative team in an effort to deflect the investigation.
Sadly, Congress, scarcely more these days than an illiterate mob, will applaud him.
The grand question is how, as a nation, we've become a banana republic so quickly.
191
The pride of UPenn...
1
Spreading sweetness and light, and uplifting the nation with every word (not).
5
An idle question, perhaps - but has the word "feud" been used more in the past year than in the previous 100? Donald Trump would pick a fight with the Tooth Fairy.
8
Trump is bad for democracy. He's a very sad thing to watch . . .
10
The noose is tightening and the bully-moose is bellowing. Let's remember that the Justice Department is controlled by Republicans even if Jeff Session has recused himself, that the new FBI Director, Christopher Wray, was just appointed by the Republicans, and (gasp) Robert Mueller is a Republican. Perhaps there's too much bias in favor of the of Trumpet-ing Moose. If he'd ever acknowledge that Russia did interfere in the election, it might be a good thing. But, for some unknown reason--narcissism or "kompromat" he won't or he can't. And that's the very heart of the problem. Something is and has been going on and all the bluster aimed at undermined "the rule of law" doesn't change it. It only serves to make one feel more strongly that there's a coverup and obstruction. "'It's a shame what's happened with the [rampaging Moose on the loose],'" and it is a "'very sad thing to watch.'"
12
No matter where he is--no matter what the occasion--no matter who he's talking to. . . .
. . our President always contrives to talk about. . . .
. . ..HIMSELF!
Amazing! I call that "single-minded." With a vengeance.
If I were Mr. Trump, I'd be "sad" too. Very sad. Other adjectives come to mind.
"Fearful."
"Apprehensive."
"Frustrated."
"Angry." And best of all. . .
. . ."HELPLESS."
As the toils of justice close--slowly, inexorably--around him and his administration and his minions and everything.
An incredible "level of anger" among those thousands of rank-and-file FBI agents? Well--maybe.
But I doubt it. I think the anger is all on Mr. Trump's part.
Along with "fear"--"apprehension"--"frustration"--all the foregoing emotions. He must be seething by now. He was never a man to sit on his emotions. Or keep them to himself.
So keep plugging, Mr. Mueller. Keep plugging.
Our President complains of "sadness."
Make him sadder.
8
Gee, Mr. President, it's almost like "Investigate" was something they just keep on doing. I know, they're just supposed to investigate Hillary, but they have to keep in practice in between made-up reasons to investigate her.
Don't worry, as the people who advocate spying on all Americans in the name of Security remind us, you have nothing to fear if you've done nothing wrong.
8
We need another Independent Counsel, independent of the Justice Department, to report directly to Congress. Possibly draft the IG office who uncomvered this, and add investigaotrs and lawyers with top secret clearances - a badge - to not take no for an answer. Order the FBI, Justice, the IRS and the former White House NSC to not destroy but preserve all records on penalty of incarceration.
The FBI appears to be culpable in a larger scheme inside the federal government to influence the outcome of the election.
Now they appear to be stonewalling.
What are we going to do about this?
We need to petition our Congress to enact the death penalty for un-elected public servants in certain critical areas of the federal government convicted of attempting to influence our political process.
It wasn't the Russians, it was us.
1
Please, turn off Fox News.
7
There are no words to describe the ineptitude and lack of any kind of intellectual acumen that Trump possesses. The writings of people like George Steiner, Michel Foucault, Max Weber, are unknown to Mr. Trump. I would bet that he knows very little about the history of the Constitution or the people who wrote it and I would also bet that he couldn't name three different types of compositions by Beethoven. He lacks intellectual curiosity and he also hasn't diminished sense of reality. There is a woman who lives in the ghetto who is 27 and has two children with a husband no longer present. She works two jobs in order to pay for the babysitter and when she needs medical care for the children she must go to an emergency room. She earns minimum wage at both jobs. There is a man who has a job that pays him $42,000 a year. He drives a seven-year-old car, has a $300,000 mortgage to pay off, has not had a vacation in four years and questions the reason for his life. These are the forgotten people that all the people in power in Washington ignore. Trump caters to these people but does not deliver any kind of help. He appointed a Supreme Court justice who will be a justice who will be as partisan as his predecessor, Scalia.The nation that I spent 18 months in a combat zone in Korea has disappeared. Power, moral corruption, extreme divisiveness and violence are now the quotidian realities.
5
So if the Russians did influence the outcome of the elections that makes trump not elected by the American people which means he qualifies, using your scenario, for the death penalty. I think your reasoning is sound and I imagine you won't find an honest, good American who wouldn't support this. Bravo!
1
Re Trump's accusation of bias in the FBI:
Mister Trump the law is biased against you. Perjury is unlawful. You do not respect the law or it's federal law enforcers.
8
Another "very sad thing to watch" is that an egomaniac has become President of the United States.
10
As usual, Donald is talking about himself:
"reputation in tatters"
"a sad thing to watch"
"It's a shame what has happened"
"disgraceful"
"witch hunt"
He has a 32% popularity rating.
No one is fooled. He has to get canned.
15
President Trump's words and behavior indicate a desperate man who is cornered. Eventually, the lies and deflections are insufficient. What
Trump fears most is the truth. His ultimate undoing is staring him in the face.
10
“It’s a shame what’s happened with the F.B.I.,” the president told reporters...?? It's a shame the way you, Mr. President, have wreaked havoc on America because you raced into the office to undo as many of President Obama's accomplishments as possible. The country was doing just fine before you got here. In fact, we were all doing quite well. Now you've gone and ruined it. Makes me wonder, what's your real motivation for being president?
12
What a laughable, inadequate, vacant response: "It's a very sad thing to watch."
Yea verily, the same inadequate response holds true for those of us watching the debasement of these disUnited States.
7
"Sticks and stones..." It's the facts and the evidence that will hurt him. For all that we the public already know HE IS GUILTY.
7
Roy Cohn, the mentor-guru-lawyer-criminal of a younger Donald Trump, taught him this tactic: attack-attack-attack your opponents and keep them on the defensive when they bring forth criminal charges.
Trump used this tactic when he was defending the family business against red-lining his housing projects to keep black people from qualifying as renters, and he has used this sort of counter-attack in nearly every legal conflict (and there have been so many) he ever had.
Reckless attacks against celebrities more famous than himself (mayor Ed Koch, Roseanne, etc) was his means of elbowing his way into the media spotlight for decades, and shame upon the media that gave him that unearned gift, because we are all paying for it now.
8
Trump’s disdain is not for the 35,000 rank-and-file FBI agents who work to solve federal crimes but to specific senor FBI agents who worked on the Hillary Clinton investigation as well as the FBI investigation that morphed into Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Trump, as the article points out, didn’t go into specifics, but the House Judiciary Committee furnished the specifics during its hearing earlier this week. Committee members said information provided by the Inspector General show the FBI’s Hillary Clinton investigative report stated that she was “grossly negligent” in the handling of classified information—a felony offense—but a senior FBI agent edited the report to say she was “extremely careless.” In a series of text messages, this agent expressed his disdain from Trump and implied he intended to use his position to stop Trump from being elected. Committee members also said the same agent appears to have colluded with the Clinton Campaign, Democratic National Committee, Fusion GPS, and former British spy Christopher Steele to produce the Russian Dossier. Labeled Russian disinformation by the CIA, the Russian Dossier is regarded as the origin of the Russia collusion conspiracy theory. The FBI apparently used it to obtain FISA warrants, permitting it to spy on members of the Trump campaign. The IG investigation into the allegations against the FBI is still underway.
1
Last week, Deutsche Bank turned over the trump financial records. Not much coverage of this in US press. IDK why- too much other stupid stuff to cover I guess.
Anyone who knows law knows understand what having financial records could mean for trump. Bank records are AWESOME evidence- next year, I expect the trump family to get locked up.
Trump and repubs are panicking. The hang man is coming for them.
If trump fires mueller, we the citizens will need to take justice into our own hands. His criticism is but the panic of a failed human hoping no one will notice. He knows the clock is ticking.
8
Trump's a very sad thing to watch. Who is really listening to him except those people who voted for Roy Moore? Mueller better hurry up with his investigation before Trump fires him!!!
6
Theme to "All in the Cartel," sung solo by the head of the Trump cartel and filmed before a live studious audience:
"Boy, the way Ted Nugent played
(I lied again, I am afraid)
but Guys like us, we had it made
Those were the days.
And you knew who you were then.
Girls were girls and men were men.
Mister, I could use a brute squad run by J Edgar Hoover again.
Didn't need no welfare state
Everybody pulled my weight
Gee, my old Rosebud ran great.
Those were the days !"
4
A desperate man says desperate things. We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis. Trump collusion participants may indeed be guilty of treason.
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 807; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(2)(J), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)
5
Mr Trump: It's probably not wise to criticize the agency that has you by the short and curlies.
7
He has neither.
Hopefully, Trump's non stop disinformation campaign will end when he is imprisoned.
10
When you read this article in conjunction with articles about those who have been nominated and then confirmed as Federal District judges who received a No Qualified ranking from the ABA it is clear that we are moving toward a conflict between the Rule Of Law and this man and his cult of personality. Those who are optimistic about the strength of our institutions are indulging in a form of American Exceptionalism. From Hungary, Poland, Russia tothe Philippines and Venezuela we can see how the rule of law can wilt in the face of so called Populist authoritarians. Each of us as a citizen has to ask themselves if Mueller fired, Flynn Pardoned, and the investigation brought to a halt would we all just go along with our daily business and let Trump be Trump?
13
The text messages make it clear that there was no way in the world that the FBI was going to recommend Clinton be indicted because they knew that would hand the election to Trump and it terrified them. So much for impartiality.
2
What is your problem? Do you not remember Comey going to Congress and telling them he was reopening the Clinton email investigation before the FBI even determined if there were new emails from Clinton on Weiner's computer? How did that help Clinton win the election (not)? NO mention at that time of the Trump-Russia investigation. So who did Comey actually help win the election?
2
Trump's criticism of the F.B.I. is really a compliment. It means that they are doing their job too well.
16
What Trump really wants is loyalty to him rather to the Constitution and the rule of law which he is undermining.
8
If this is a witch hunt, then President Trump is the "@RealWitch." The president has entirely brought the current investigation upon himself. Robert Mueller wasn't appointed by James Comey, nor was Christopher Wray. These figures are either Trump appointees or appointed by a Trump appointee. They seem to possess integrity, which is an attribute that President Trump would never recognize, much less exhibit.
With the full compliance of the political party whose banner he carries, the Chief Executive of the land, the national Commander-in-Chief, persists in shredding the institutions that sustain a credible constitutional democracy.
5
Not a week ago, this so-called 'President' heartily endorsed Roy Moore, a man with a sterling reputation in Gadsden, Alabama as the town's own Chester the Molester and perennial stalker of young girls. The 'President' claimed to do so because Moore's opponent - Doug Jones, the man who prosecuted the Birmingham church bombers and at long last made them pay for their crimes - is supposedly 'weak on crime.'
Our 'President' has no clue what is 'criminal' and what is not. In fact, based on his own numerous pronouncements, it would appear that in Trumpworld, whatever Donald Trump or a member of his entourage does is necessarily 'legal,' because whatever El Presidente says, goes. 'The law does not apply to the President,' quote, unquote.
As for Trump's ongoing vendetta with the nation's intelligence and law enforcement agencies, methinks the man doth protest too much. The closer the flames get to the Oval Office, the louder he hollers. Here's hoping he hollers until he's too hoarse to holler any longer and skulks quietly back to his pink marble palace to spend the rest of his days tweeting lunatic nonsense.
Which appears to be how he already spends most of his time and energy anyway.
19
trump and the GOP are scared as the FBI gets closer to president. Go get'em Muller!
10
Are we at all surprised?
5
I guess this is Trumps version of Alfred E Neuman's "What, me worry?"
4
I resent the comparison. Alfred E. Newman
2
Is he under 30 percent yet? No one cares about this fool and the only thing he is doing is further damage and that is hurting any possibility that any of his enablers are going to be able to escape going down with him. They are circling, faster and faster, going down, down down.
8
Come on Trump, youre coming off like a pathetic amateur. Heres some free advice - when youre trying to get away with something, never criticize the people investigating you. It just makes you look guilty. Congratulate them on their fine work, and keep crowing about how you will be exonerated, no matter how much evidence they have against you.
9
Presidential comments driven by his own self preservation. He knows the reputation of the FBI is not in tatters, yet his negative rheroic persists. Interestingly, it is fact less. Not one nugget of evidence but his persistent and unoriginal use of blanket condemnations.
Come on FBI, the world is routing for you good men and women. Don't let a fraud and a traitor grind you down!
11
I'm certain Trump would prefer the KGB, and a head recommended by Putin. After all, Putin praises, Trump curtseys.
6
Trump vilifies the intelligence community.
He visits the CIA and gives a speech berating the media while standing in front of the CIA Memorial Wall.
Trump discredits the FBI - questioning the morale of the agents and competency of leadership. ( "There's James, he's more famous than me." Big Handshake and whispering "great job" in his ear.)
Trump calls the White House a dump.
This man continues to embolden our enemies.
The professionalism, level of dedication and patriotism of these folks comes to the fore despite the constant debasing from Trump.
6
Great motivation for even further inquiries into this horrid person and his family of crooks and liars.
10
He want to be excused for all abuse to women and save his children for what they done ,a fool ,trying to control the media like Putin, china cannot be compare china is china and we all known that human rights doesn't exist there .So lets be clear all this show with North Korea and all the flashes and attacks without ant source or any answer why he trying to change everything to benefit from deals like the one from Murdoch, a president who running he own business inside the presidential house , is like have a King mafia Sect running business from jail so why just move the corrupted white house to jail
1
How many criminals who were arrested by the "worst in history" F.B.I. are going to seek to have their convictions thrown out? Or ask for an appeal based on the grounds that they were arrested by what the President of the United States calls a corrupt agency? Should we ask the F.B.I. to put a stop to all on going and future investigations until we "can figure out what the hell is going on,”
1
“It’s a very sad thing to watch.” - I wonder how many, if any, FBI agents are contemplating the same sentiment about him.
55
No Donald, You are a " very sad thing to watch ".
39
This is the man who boasts that law enforcement officers and the military are his priority and that most of them across the country voted for him. This is the man who boasts he will do everything in his power to ensure law enforcement has the tools it needs to do the job. More frightening than his bold face hypocrisy, a recent follow-up with Trump supporters in Michigan found that most don't blame Trump for any setbacks in policy. Most stated they wish Congress would get out of his way. RED FLAG!
91
That's why they voted for him in the first place is their twisted perception of things.
Typical of the rise of dictatorial government. "The free press is lying", Paraphrase: "The highest law enforcement officers are corrupt and against me." Can't anyone see what is going on here before it is too late? Trump has no place in the Presidency of this great nation. He is anathema to all that the framers of the Constitution were fighting for.
62
Framers? The democratic government which ran the Revolutionary War was a popular war fought by the people: farmers, small merchants, etc. That democratic government was wiped out by the one percent leaders when they formed a Republic which just happened to formalize slavery, future power to corporations, not give women the right to vote, ignored American Native peoples except to the extent is laid the groundwork to take anything and everything of value of theirs, and did not even guarantee the right to vote for whites, etc.
Conservatively, over 75 percent of the people in the US in 1798 were disenfranchised. In the background behind the war, the war bonds, complicity with the British and turn coating to accept the new one percent government was Wall Street. Even during the Civil War, the first thing that rocky road went to the new President Lincoln to get his views on trading with the South for its fine cotton.
Surprised? Do not be. That secret government is still in control with supporting roles played by oil, etc. That is the reason few see what you do. Americans are conditioned to respond as if they were little puppy dogs. So-called president Farquad-Trump figured that out and decided to run, grope, lie, etc. Why? He figured out it does not matter. The mobs the 1789 one percent once feared are now his storm troopers in waiting.
And now back to the fake news.
1
So maybe the FBI investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election is a witch hunt. Now let us hope that all the witches and warlocks still in the Trump administration are outed by this investigation. Let Mr Mueller leave no stone unturned until we find out how Trump's advisors in the campaign, and maybe Trump himself, were duped into colluding with Russian operatives.
14
Be prepared. Trump will soon do the following:
1. He will sign the GOP scam tax reform bill.
2. He will bask in the glory of his first and hopefully only legislative achievement.
3. He will wait until Congress adjourns for the Christmas Break.
4. He will fire Special Prosecutor Mueller and disband his Team.He will need to fire several others perhaps including Wray and Rosenstein until he finds a toadie willing to fire the Special Prosecutor.
5. He will order Federal agents to seize and destroy all the Special Prosecutors evidence and records.
6. He will pardon Flynn and Manafort.
All of these specious insults are an obvious prelude and the American people need to prepare for this existential attack on our Republic.
28
Maybe, but there are many state charges being used as a protection against this.
1
I pray you are wrong, but I fear you are right.
going to be even sadder to watch from the defendants seat
10
I have managed so far (5+ years!) to avoid even once hear this grotesque example of a human speaks. I would skip quotes of his in reading articles--though I generally avoid articles with him in it (the headline is enough). It's a waste of brain and time. I comment here to suggest you too could avoid spending your precious attention on this. Just vote him (if we are lucky, Mueller could do this part for us) and the GOP out of office and forget this wasted period of this nation. Concentrate on how to repair the institution, the culture, the land and how to restore the razed decency to this country.
7
'before departing for an event at the F.B.I. Academy in Quantico, Va.'
Nice.
9
It's just like the president to trash the FBI while speaking at their graduating class this morning. Is there no decency in this man? He still has an ax to grind with James Comey and the agency's decision to find Hillary Clinton innocent of wrongdoing while he rages at Robert Mueller's investigation of him. For a president who ran on a law-and-order platform, his pettiness against the FBI and US intelligence agencies surely must be comforting to America's enemies, especially Vladimir Putin.
17
I hope the FBI employees in today's Trump audience are inscrutably impartial.
7
How unusual. Like a drunk driver who gets mad at the police officer who arrests him.
American must not sit idly by! WE MUST ACT! Trump will get us into war with North Korea, Iran or both just to try to save himself.
"Lock Them Up, Lock Them Up. Lock Them Up"
15
How dumb does Trump think the American people are ? How dumb is he ? The national security threat of Russia's meddling with US elections, their tsunami of fake news, legions of FSB-paid Macedonian Facebook posters, the hacking of the DNC with wikileaking--the possible financial quid pro quo and blackmail of Trump himself (lurid video or massive debt to Russian oligarchs or VEB).
Trump acts as though he is innocent if not caught red handed ! How silly. He need not have called or colluded personally...despite his many private meetings with Putin. We have heard the strategy of plausible deniability.
More worrisome is the rationalization he may claim- that he really believes colluding/allying with Putin is a smart policy. This could be sincere as trump is arrested at his boarding school mentality- where it might be clever to ally with your most feared enemy. This is wholly inadequate for real life global political statesmanship.
9
Don't you need two parties to have a "feud"??? DT's comments are more in the nature of an "attack" rather than a "feud" between him and the FBI.
9
Replace the "FBI" with the presidency.
2
mr trump is right- it IS a very sad thing to watch.
it's very sad to see that our president is unfit and unable to provide leadership for our country. each day he brings nothing but chaos and low behavior to the office.
he is simply a disgrace.
25
Ooooh-wee! The kitchen is getting really HOT and Trump just can't take the heat!
12
If memory serves me right, the FBI crucified Senator Clinton for her lack of technology expertise, yet openly refrain from criticizing the handful of current Trump Administration Officials using their own servers and private computers.
The FBI made no fuss about many members of the Trump Administration committing treason with the Russians during the Campaign.
If and when FBI agents exercised their 1st Amendment Rights prior to the Muller Investigation-this is not a crime. It is OK for government officials to use the Bill of Right Amendments. Why Republicans and Mr. Trump daily defend American's Second Amendment Rights to gather automatic weapons and kill innocent Americans. Why should the republicans get their panties all tied up in knots.
Doesn't Mr. Trump understand that he successfully stoled the American election from the true winner, Senator Clinton with the help of countless Russian Intelligence Officers and Vladimir Putin???
10
This man spits on his oath of office every minute of every hour of every day. Impeach and remove, Impeach and remove, Impeach and remove if we our to save our Republic.
16
If only this were fiction.
9
What hath the evangelicals wrought?
8
Trump, a draft dodging coward, and pathological liar has the nerve to criticize an agency that has s long history of integrity. Obstruction of justice charges are about two months away.
15
It's a shame that we have this hustler as president. He is using tactics learned from Roy Cohen who was counsel to Sen. Jos. McCarthy. He learned that, all right from a pathological personage. And where are his taxes, anyway?
19
Trump is despicable. This is evident.
Whether it comes from craven malice or deepening dementia is irrelevant, he is a man not worth of respect, admiration or dignity of the office he occupies. That is a sad enough situation for this nation.
But the cabal of lunatic zealots who are rushing to the rooftops in their unhinged attempt rationalize and justify Trump are far, far worse. They know they are lying.
One firm conclusion may be drawn from this manic, free flight hysterial attempt to denigrate and destroy the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice: Trump et. al must be very very scared.
11
What a guilty person says: "It's fake news! It's a witch hunt! It's the worst witch hunt in history! Shut it down!"
What an innocent person says: "Go ahead and investigate, there's nothing there. Next?"
12
Of course Trump is responding this way, what else can you expect from Putin's puppet. Putin's glowing comments regarding Trump is the clear nexus.
7
Strangest thing--whenever this man opens his mouth anymore all I hear is a barking dog...
9
What is REALLY sad to watch is an abusive, corrupt, bigoted, mendacious fake POTUS and his enablers trying to pretend that he is in the least competent.
5
I certainly appreciate (with a print copy subscription) the work journalists do today. After reading whatever Trump has to say on whatever subject I come away thinking "that was a waste of my time". And then the faces and voices of journalists comes to mind, those people who attempt to cover our inane, asinine president. Gawd, you folks are superheros, girding up everyday for what surely must feel like a day at the circus without lunch.
9
Here's what every FBI agent is thinking: Oh, yeah? We'll show you what tatters are.
5
Trump, for once at least, tells the truth. Truly, what the FBI and the rest of the investigators are having to do is a "very sad thing to watch".
However, why it is sad to Mr. Trump and why it is sad to most Americans is very different indeed.
9
The Trump empire will be protected at all costs...even American lives will be spared to protect the Trump name. This seems obvious to all but the GOP.
2
How were these text messages sent, and how were they intercepted? Were they private communications from one cell phone to another, or were they sent on FBI internal servers? If they were sent on privately owned cell phones, how did this information become public? Does this mean that we can expect any and all of our text messages to be made public if we become the subject of political or criminal investigation? Sounds like it's time to encrypt everything coming in/out of our phones.
5
If Trump says the FBI Investigation is a sad thing to watch, that means he is afraid, very afraid. He hasn't told us the truth, lies are the basis of his administration, and he is allowing Putin to influence elections next year. Now that's what I call very sad, and the devolution of our Republic.
10
Criticising the FBI is a little like getting into a fight with newspapers who buy ink by the barrel. I would advise anyone under investigation not to energize the investigators more than they are. Like the British during the Battle Of Britain, they may fight back even harder.
4
Trumps statements illustrate the logical steps of an autocratic dictator. Denigrate the press, the courts, the justice system, and after he gets us into a military quagmire, the generals. This is how they historically operate. The question should be is anyone surprised?
5
My recollection is that a lawyer has an ethical obligation to zealously represent his/her client. In the case of the Russian investigation and the
Special Counsel the client has to be United States citizens and the Constitution. It seems that the President and Congressional Republicans, and even the media, need to keep this in mind when evaluating and commenting on the performance and fitness of the Special Counsel and the FBI regarding the Russian investigation. Inappropriate attacks on them seem to be similar to obstruction of justice.
3
Well it may not be how he intended it, but Trump is certainly correct that it is a "very sad thing to watch" our nation's president be under investigation for possible conspiracy with a hostile nation to help himself get elected.
6
I wonder who wrote the speech Trump will giver later today at the F.B.I. National Academy. Is he going to tell these law enforcement officers that Putin's government does a better job in educating the law enforcement officers than the US ever did? Will Trump suggest that the US should emulate Putin's or Russian Government's style of training? I would not be surprised especially since Putin could not praise Trump enough in front of the Russian Parliament as to what Trump has accomplished. He certainly must relish this moment of adulation given to him by Putin so publicly and give him a lift despite the ne dismal approval rating.
4
I don't understand why the director of the FBI Academy would invite Trump to presumably speak to a group of agents aspiring for leadership roles, in view of his unhinged negative commentary on the institution and, worse, his propensity to spew out unchecked and often false facts, the antithesis of law enforcement deportment. If anything I like to think that he was forced upon the Academy and hence can be conveniently portrait by the instructors as a counter example of behavior agents should not aspire to.
7
I'll tell you what is a sad thing to watch. Our sovereign nation being dictated by a weaker nation ruled by oligarchs who's self interest got our president into the White House by election fraud, social media, disinformation, and cyberwarfare. It's a sad thing to watch an American citizen, who, when he no longer qualified to get American loans because of numerous bankruptcies, went overseas and got loans from our long standing enemy - and because of that, he hates America. An American who thinks he and his family don't need to comply with our American laws because he's got away with money laundering in plain sight for so long. What is also a sad thing to watch is that knowing this, our Congress forges ahead with blinders on working furiously to take away healthcare and raise our taxes so that the Koch brothers, mega corps and the 1% can get their tax break.
So yes, it is a sad thing to watch, but we will act in midterm elections!
9
Greetings to the honest Americans, since the New Year 2018 is round the corner; we hope it gets filled with the promises of a brighter future with the Mueller Investigation. We wish you to get a new elected president who has respect, integrity and knowledge of the US Constitution and a real wish to work for the prosperity of your country and the world.
3
Trump is getting ready to fire Mueller and pardon Flynn. If he does so, there will be a constitutional crisis. Presidents are not supposed to be above the law. Will the Democratic leadership wring their hands or will they grovel in response to this egregious abuse of power?
5
I wonder whether the daily attacks on the FBI, Mueller, the coordinated attacks from Republicans in the House, constitute a conspiracy to obstruct justice. This President crosses lines of integrity almost every day.
232
If the Justice Department is "in tatters" as Trump claims, the beginning of that "tattering" began when Sessions took over. Sessions is making a mockery of the Justice Department and what it stands for, Justice. Mueller and the FBI are doing the job that the taxpayers expect of them.
Trump cannot stand the fact that the investigation is going forward and he could possibly(sic) be implicated. Certainly four of the people he surrounded himself with have been implicated. As the investigation gets closer to his family he is going to be critical and also lying through his tweets.
Why does he still have a Twitter account anyway. He uses it to defame people by lying and causing these lies to harm and defame those he disagrees with.
Doesn't Twitter have a policy against defamation and bullying?
47
"Doesn't Twitter have a policy against defamation and bullying?"
Twitter long ago carved out an exception for Donald J. Trump. He can do anything he wants on Twitter. They are afraid of him. Besides, he's very good for their bottom line. Twitter has no sense of obligation to America. They are in it for the money.
1
Trump on states that reject his voter fraud commission, "What do they have to be afraid of?"
Trump on an investigation into Russian meddling in the election, "It's a very sad thing to watch."
Shameless, all day every day.
78
If Trump is innocent (of conspiracy against democracy, obstruction of justice, and money laundering of Russian oligarch dirty funds) then he should welcome the FBI and Mueller investigations. The fact that he attacks the FBI and the Mueller led investigations tells us that something fishy is going on.
383
Exactly1
Oh you didn't get the memo I see.
Republicans/conservatives/domestic terrorists all believe that the OTHER people are clearly not innocent when they don't like the FBI or police or sheriff poking around.
But when it happens to them, then suddenly it's a big deal and shows how corrupt law enforcement is.
What is a disgrace with his reputation in tatters is Donald Trump. He dare call the nation’s highest law enforcement agency, “a sad thing” when he has destroyed our country’s standing in the world in less than a year. I have more faith in our intelligence agencies and Director Mueller’s integrity to be fair, just, and focused on protecting our country from both internal and external threats than I have in Donald Trump to ever tell the truth. He has aided and abetted Russia to infiltrate our electoral process and continues to do so unabated. None of us are safe with him at the tiller of state. It’s truly a sad thing that he has been allowed to damage our country without restraint. I hope and pray that 2018 will bring an end to such tyrannous behavior.
104
The whole Russia investigation never had any chance of proving anything since the "crime" was made up by Brennan and Clinton et. al. They've allowed a hole so large that Trump can drive a semi through with the sorry machinations of this investigation. The momentum is such that the investigation will limp on to an ignominious end that gives Trump a huge victory. The white supremacy, sexual assault issues and Trump general disgraceful behavior could lose some of their punch with the public.
1
You are as delusional as Trump. This congress does not have the backbone to impeach him but perhaps after the next election in 2018 we will have some representatives with stiffer spines. Everyday he reveals himself to be unfit to serve and most Americans know it. What a relief it will be to see him gone!
9
Trump must have been talking about himself when he said, "it is a very sad thing to watch." He's desperate and has no credibility, so let him try and stop the investigation. It will only backfire and also have a disastrous effect in the 2018 elections. Backing Trump is political suicide. Mueller is just the opposite of Trump, he's a man of integrity, honesty, and intelligence.
25
Trump's kid gloves approach to Russia's world-wide thuggery points directly at Putin having the goods on Trump. It has to be indiscrete escapades or nefarious money issues or both.
29
This presidency is the "worst in history" and will leave the country and its reputation in "tatters".
213
I fail to call this a "presidency". It's an attempt at a dictatorship,, and even that is a failure.
TRUMP IS A LOSER!!!!
3
The sooner Trump leaves the better for the country!
"One would think that someone who has absolutely nothing to hide and has committed no transgression of laws would welcome any investigation that might prove his innocence."
J. J. Cross
37
An innocent man rests well at night while a guilty man tosses and turns.
101
The President condemns the FBI, praises Putin. Again.
Meanwhile, the GOP tries to discredit Mueller, a decorated combat veteran, registered Republican and lifelong law enforcement official.
How is this normal?
247
After Trump leaves the presidency, whether that is on his own or by impeachment, then this Republican party needs to be flushed... The people cannot have a political party that is a pathological liar like it's presidency. They cannot government this county when they cannot be honest with the people.
Yesterday he phones Putin to thank him for his comments of the US economy, today he once again slams the FBI...Trump is a clear and present danger to the security of the United States.
181
This guy will be cooked when he is not longer president. I'll bet he won't be able to walk down a street without being threatened by someone... He has brought this on himself. His title will be THE MOST HATED MAN IN AMERICA.
"Revisionist" used to be a Marxist term for correcting history which they think was distorted by capitalists. So now it means somebody trying to spin-doctor an embarrassing mistake?
4
They know that the FBI and Mueller are closing in on him, so all they have left is to discredit the agency. We will become a fascist nation if the investigation isn't allowed to proceed.
57
After reading about Trump's conversation with Czar Putin, you can't help but wonder what the Russians have on him. Of course, it may be that Trump is just a dupe. Either way the American people need to know how vulnerable their President is to blackmail or if this "chumminess" is about lining Trump's pockets.
17
It seems to me that it's Trump who's "on a witch hunt" here...
21
Another utterly disgraceful speech, this one a rabble-rousing effort to encourage recent graduates of the FBI Academy to join him and his cronies in the alt-right in their "hang-em-high" efforts to bring swift law and order justice to our streets; it reminded me of the one he delivered at the CIA Memorial Wall where he lied about the crowd size at his Inauguration.
What a thoroughly despicable man!
I liked the FBI a lot more when it was in tatters, than I do now with him in charge of fixing it.
18
Gee, I bet everyone will just love him for badmouthing their agency.
11
His derangement gets amplified as Mueller gets closer and closer.
31
We know very well that if these utterances had been made by President Obama he would have been labeled a traitor. How ironic that Fox News is now, along with Trump a witting or unwitting stooge of Putin.
29
So true
2
Well, sure. I bet Al Capone didn't like the FBI, either.
201
Yeah, sad for him and his buddies. The same old whining. Yada, yada, yada. That's the only experience he brings to this job - whining and complaining that "no one likes me. i just want to be loved". Sound familiar? instead of whining so much, why don't you spend time reading the daily intelligence briefings so that you know what's going on in the world and how it may impact the US. Isn't that part of your job? I've known people like you - they continuously complain because they don't know how to do their job. Someone like that usually gets fired - "You're fired!".
11
The only thing I see in "Tatters" is a totally dysfunctional White House led by a "Liar in Chief". The FBI needs to press on with their investigation and hold this poor example of a President accountable. There is no way someone who spouts as many lies as they do hasn't broken multiple laws in their pursuit to be the first world dictator.
20
What is sad is that Trump - and his congressional fellow Despicables - continue an assault on America and its values - laying out for Fox News afficionados and other assorted low-information goobers a soft serve for the destruction of law and justice.
7
It is best to remember, at times like these, that Donald Trump is a pathological liar.
279
"Sad"? How about "treason".
95
Sounds like the usual Conman, blaming others and making himself a victim. Where have we heard THAT before??? Oh, yeah. Every single time a republican is exposed as a Liar and Scammer. Next, his Jesus whisperers will act contrite AND proclaim that all is forgiven. NO, it is NOT.
Thanks, GOP. See you in 2018. Bigly.
70
A rabid cornered junkyard dog behaves like this....
He is so cornered!
21
We can only hope.
2
The only sad thing to watch is a president make a fool of himself everyday. A man who believes he is above the law. A man who only knows how to twist the truth and not take any blame. A man who should not be the president!
It is time for Donald J. Trump to step down and shut up!!
77
This man is a travesty and what he is doing the presidency and this country is despicable.
132
How much damage can one person do to the world? He must be stopped.
Of course potential criminals don't appreciate investigations of their behavior...
86
And will someone please ask what should be done about an FBI Agent that might text something positive about Trump? Wouldn't they be biased in the opposite direction? Wouldn't that undermine the integrity of the investigation? I realize this is a hypothetical...I mean, could there possibly be an FBI Agent supportive of Trump at this point?!
64
"And will someone please ask what should be done about an FBI Agent that might text something positive about Trump?"
That wouldn't happen.
3
@Pat Z: There were; those NY agents who fed sweet-lil-nothings in the ears of Rudolph Giuliani prior to Trump's October "surprise". Yet haven't heard a word of outrage from the House or Senate investigative committees.
2
We have seen how Republicans in Congress, along with Fox News, are laying the groundwork for Trump to sabotage the Mueller investigation by their loud complaints about FBI agent Peter Strzok and his anti-Trump emails, despite the fact that Mueller immediately removed him from the case when the emails were discovered. It could be that both Trump and Republicans are deluding themselves into thinking it will actually be politically feasible for Trump to interfere with or shut down the Mueller investigation. It is incumbent for Americans who are concerned about Trump's toxic combination of authoritarianism and lawlessness to make clear to their elected representatives that any such action will provoke an immediate constitutional crisis, followed by political protests that will dwarf the size of the women's march and the ACA repeal protests. Business in DC cannot go on as usual if Trump follows the course he is contemplating.
35
Stepping back from each of these many Tweets, I would bet that their reception among the public can be divided quite similarly between the fewer than one-in-three that may still constitute Trump's supportive base, and the solid majority that reject the rants and less-than-truths in the froth of his designed rage.
Sad!
But the chances of the vestiges of his base regaining number or power are, I would also bet, are small, carried only by the interests that support judicial appointments and legislative injustice that have made their pact with the devil.
Doubly Sad!
55
How bizarre that you somehow convince yourselves that you are in the majority.
Right up until the moment you meet reality.
Hate to break this to you but Trump is merely a soldier in the movement that gripped a nation, and continues to this day. So I ask you, I beg you - brace yourselves. Steel your loins for 2018.
Looks like the Republicans are poised to pick up 6 to 8 Senate seats in 2018.
33 senators are up for re-election in 2018, including 23 Democrats, two independents who caucus with Democrats, and eight Republicans. 10 Senate Democrats are up for-election in states that Trump won in 2016.
Take Alabama, for instance. The Leftist was a mainstream, garden variety, off-the-shelf New Democrat. The Republican was a one-off suspected pedophile and poor communicator to boot. He had the optics of an early 60s Democrat.
The vote was split 50-50 on those two ideas.
The teachable moment was that a Leftist won against a Weinstein - barely. The lesson for Republicans in 2018 - don't run a Weinstein. The lesson learned for the Democrats - run more Leftists.
Scoff at your peril, your sanity.
Holman:
Come tell us on November 7, 2018 how the Rs did.
SHS said, the president’s characterization of the bureau “in tatters” would not undermine people’s faith in the institution. Then what reason could Trump possibly have for berating the agency this way? That's precisely his goal.
4
He's setting the stage to fire Mueller. Plain and simple. He got his Fox News cronies on board to do his dirty work so it doesn't look as bad coming from him directly. Now we have hearings on the hill that are looking into the internal workings of the FBI. It's all happening before our eyes.
If Trump can't even listen to a briefing, as reported, on Russia meddling, we can only imagine what will happen next.
We must take to the streets if this happens. It's our only hope!
41
Of course this is Trump's position, because Mueller is getting closer to Trump's financial dealings with Deutche Bank, with known laundering activities for Russian oligarchs. There's something there. We all know it, especially Donald Trump.
24
He's likely a money launderer for others, too. He also likely paid Manafort/Flynn to hire the Russian 'marketing' companies who helped sway the election. His tax returns would show those payments but he's not letting anyone see them.
a “very sad thing to watch.”
It's what everyone I know in upstate New York, Democrat or Republican, say about our current President.
And our European cousins are not nearly as polite.
How could we have possibly done this to ourselves?
10
President Trump will be addressing the latest F.B.I. Academy graduating class at Quantico, Va yet all he can muster is public criticism of the agency by saying their investigation into possible links between Russia and his campaign is a “very sad thing to watch.” He truly makes the work of these agents and ALL public servants who ultimately report to him difficult and painful. The fact that he cannot separate his anger, hostility and unprofessionalism between young and eager graduating candidates and the former F.B.I. Director who he fired is a “very sad thing to watch.” He continues to hurt more people than he helps with his own brand of meanness and cruelty. A sincere congratulations to this latest crop of Academy grads. You will no doubt perform your duties with the utmost integrity and honor.
15
This is all part of Trump's plan to abolish the FBI and replace it with a private militia loyal to him provided by Erik Prince (of Blackwater/Academi), the brother of Betsy DeVos. After all, his favorite dictators have their own militias and he needs to keep up with them.
12
What a choice of words -- from the President's limited non-speech-written vocabulary I suppose.
Yes I bet he does think it is a "sad thing" to watch the FBI slowly eke out inappropriate and illegal behavior of his campaign towards Russia. It is always a disappointment to get caught doing something wrong that you've been getting away with for years as a businessman.
9
Perhaps Mr. Trump "doth protest too much" because as the facts close in on him, his last refuge is to "lie,lie, lie" and "blame, blame,blame." That strategy cannot be his lawyers advice, as I'm sure they would prefer he remain a silent non-Tweeter, feigning his innocence and cutting hilarious red ribbons symbolizing nothing, as he did yesterday. Donald, the court of public opinion is watching and listening to the dark comedy of your life. Your tragic downfall is approaching biblical proportions and it most assuredly will make America great again.
10
All of Trump’s responses and blustering are exactly what one would expect from someone who actually is an agent of Russia (whether knowing or unknowing himself).
10
"...very sad thing to watch...". funny...that's the same thing i say to myself everytime i see him playing president....
19
The FBI helps protect POTUS. Maybe it would be a good idea to temper public criticism? Just saying.
8
'Good ideas' are not part of D. J. Trump's modus operandi.
5
He will have no power when we realize that we can just stop listening to him and find workarounds.
2
Regardless of political affiliation, Donald J. Trump is unequivocally not the man to lead the Nation. He simply has no respect for anything.
17
When he makes these vague, outrageous claims--i.e., that the FBI is in "tatters"--the press needs to press him on specifics. What on earth is he talking about? Likewise with Huckabee Sanders. The comparison in the Times yesterday outlining the number and type of lies this president has told relative to his predecessors was appalling. Hold him to account.
206
Too bad that Trump is never under oath when he lies. That's how the Republicans nearly ruined Bill Clinton -- impeachment for lying under oath.
4
With the party base cheering the twisted line, to 'win', his (all the) unchecked lying for political gain is turning the greatest nation on the planet into Bizarro World. Next stop, Twilight Zone.
(that's where they put actual clowns in charge of the Court's and call it utopia)
Trump's presidency is a very sad thing to watch.
285
Bingo!
5
My thought EXACTLY!
2
A sad event for the country.