[tomder55]

Because "no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case."

"In a report released Thursday, the DOJ's Office of the Inspector General said its probe found that Comey violated department policy.
"Upon completing its investigation, the OIG provided its factual findings to the Justice Department for a prosecutorial decision regarding Comey’s conduct, as required by the Inspector General Act. After reviewing the matter, the DOJ declined prosecution," the office said in a statement."
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...IIRw3ode-3FDqA

[Athos]

Comey's purpose was to get a Special Prosecutor appointed to investigate Trump - it worked! Mueller's investigation is proceeding through the courts after finding, among others, at least 10 instances of obstruction of justice.

As for the IOG report, one pundit called it a "technical" finding, like giving a fireman a traffic ticket for speeding to a fire.

"It ain't over 'til it's over", said the wise man.

[tomder55]

I say they will revisit Comey''s conduct when Barr and Durham work the case up the chain of command …..and no ;it doesn't end with Comey . He was proverbial soldier following orders .

[paraclete]

round and round in circles we have been down this road before

[talaniman]

I say they will revisit Comey''s conduct when Barr and Durham work the case up the chain of command …..and no ;it doesn't end with Comey . He was proverbial soldier following orders .

Whose orders was he following? The dufus was his boss.

[tomder55]

Comey ? Nah He went in a hissy fit because Trump fired him .He illegally leaked confidential FBI documents to as the IG report said prompt a special prosecutor investigation . So after more than 2 years of plunging the country into a frenzy .His good buddy Mueller found absolutely no single instance of a criminal conspiracy by Trump. The only thing the investigation revealed was the extent the deep state would go to undermine a President they decided wasn't fit for the job. That included but not limited to high level officials in the FBI ; the CIA and in the emperor's cabal .

For now I'm willing to give Barr the benefit of the doubt . But this move raises my suspicion that he may be possibly part of the problem So far what I see is Comey getting away with leaking FBI memos and lying under oath. Hope there is more there behind door #2 as Barr investigates up the chain of command. Let's see what happens with McCabe.

[Athos]

Comey ? Nah He went in a hissy fit because Trump fired him

Nah. He went because Trump tried to illegally end a lawful investigation.

.He illegally leaked confidential FBI documents

It was the only way to expose Trump. "Confidential" is very questionable, as is "illegally". Those memos can be seen as Comey's private documents. Horowitz saw otherwise.

Mueller found absolutely no single instance of a criminal conspiracy by Trump.

No - all he found were 10+ instances of obstruction of justice.

nvestigation revealed was the extent the deep state would go to undermine a President they decided wasn't fit for the job.

The "deep state"!!!! What a crock. Keep repeating Trump's fantasies. That helps us to understand your position.

That included but not limited to high level officials in the FBI ; the CIA and in the emperor's cabal.

Got any other conspiracies to tell us about? Who really killed JFK? Lincoln?

But this move raises my suspicion that he (Barr) may be possibly part of the problem.

Barr is a HUGE part of the problem as the chief law enforcement officer who doesn't understand the law and who thinks Trump is above the law.

is So far what I see is Comey getting away with leaking FBI memos

Horowitz concluded there was nothing to prosecute.

lying under oath.

What lying under oath?


And there it is: the inspector general of the United States Department of Justice taking the position that a witness to gross misconduct by the president of the United States has a duty to keep his mouth shut about what he saw.

[tomder55]

What lying under oath?

GRASSLEY: Director Comey, have you ever been an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump investigation or the [Hillary] Clinton investigation? COMEY: Never. GRASSLEY: Question two, relatively related: Have you ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation? COMEY: No.

Horowitz concluded there was nothing to prosecute.

no he criminally referred Comey to the Justice Dept. and left it up to Barr to decide . .

It was the only way to expose Trump. "Confidential" is very questionable, as is "illegally". Those memos can be seen as Comey's private documents. Horowitz saw otherwise.

correct . The IG of the Justice Dept saw it different .

Nah. He went because Trump tried to illegally end a lawful investigation.

Dont know what you are talking about . It was in Trump's power to fire the Director and end the investigation any time he wanted to do it . He also had the power to fire Mueller and to end his investigation. Instead Trump largely cooperated .Trump asking Comey to take it easy on Flynn did not constitute obstruction and Trump today could pardon every one of the people who got caught in Mueller's net .

The "deep state"!!!! What a crock. Keep repeating Trump's fantasies. That helps us to understand your position.

I have been using other terms to describe it long before Trump … the leviathan ….the beltway elites ….the bureaucratic state ….the permanent government ...the 4th branch ..etc . It exists and is very real.

Got any other conspiracies to tell us about? Who really killed JFK? Lincoln?

There is more evidence of the coup attempt against Trump than this fanciful notion that he conspired with the Russians to steal the election . Barr is going to climb up the ladder as he seeks a full accounting of the

malfeasance that took place. Let's see if Lisa Page ,Peter Strzok ,Andrew McCabe, Rod Rosenstein all fall on their sword for him . Let's see if Comey is willing to fall on his sword for the emperor . Let's see how they all fare when the IG report about the FISA abuses comes out .

[Athos]

Trump did not conspire with the Russians but the Russians clearly helped Trump win the election. They may have been decisive in the three key states that gave dopey the win.

If I agree Comey lied under oath, will you agree that Trump lied 12,000+ times? Certainly under deposition when he sued (and lost) the writer of his book. Probably under oath, too, but that's de rigeuer for goofy.

Trump cannot fire an official who is investigating Trump. That puts Trump above the law. When Comey refused Trump, Trump fired him. This should be as plain as the egg on Trump's face.

What exactly is your "leviathan", etc?

[tomder55]

Do I believe the Russians have been doing mischief in American domestic politics ? Yes They have been doing that for years . Funny thing is that those who believed it in the past were called McCarthyites .

Do I think that Trump lied in deposition or testimony during one of his many civil suites ? Of that I have no doubt.

You are partly right . Trump needed Rosenstein to fire Mueller under Federal regulations regarding special councils . As far as the Comey firing goes ;he followed Rosenstein's recommendations too.


A leviathan is a biblical sea monster ;a demonic beast . In political philosophy you would have to read Hobbs to understand the nature of the government being forged .Basically he said humans want both liberty and to be dominated .We want to live free and under the control of someone powerful enough to guarantee our security .
The framers were of course aware of Hobbs thinking and tried to create a government that federal in nature would be decentralize with significant powers going to local governance . They would not recognize the government we have today. The rise of the bureaucratic state came about at the end of the 19th century with the birth of the progressive movement especially Woodrow Wilson who wrote .

"

Government does now whatever experience permits or the times demand

.

which by definition goes past the restraints placed on government in the Constitution . But without writing an essay on the subject ,the net effect has been the centralization of power in Washington .Bureaucrats replace elected officials .Regulations replace laws Politicians come and go ;but the civil servant remains under rules that makes them almost impossible to remove. States powers diminish ;The Federal government grows in power and influence . There is hardly anything we do today that is not impacted by some Federal law or regulation. I live right next to the perfect example. My neighbor has about an acre depression in his property where during wet seasons mountain run off collects for a couple months ;makes the land swampy and unusable .He would like to run some pipes to the street drains ,do some grading and some fill to make the property usable . The problem ? The property has been designated Federal wetlands .That's right. There is no other designated wet land anywhere else in our neighborhood .All the other properties that needed to already did fill and grading . But try getting the leviathan to budge .
The Federal Government has grown beyond it's mandate . Do I think that they would resist an outsider Absolutely . They did that to a President of their own party . Jimmy Carter .He wanted to withdraw from South Korea and was met with all out resistance from the deep state . Not only did he reluctantly back away from his plan. But he faced a challenge from the ultimate insider and almost lost his nomination for a 2nd term on the convention floor. Carter to this day thinks he was right about South Korea and that he was undermined by the establishment .

[Athos]

Do I believe the Russians have been doing mischief in American domestic politics ? Yes They have been doing that for years..............[skip]....................ultimate insider and almost lost his nomination for a 2nd term on the convention floor. Carter to this day thinks he was right about South Korea and that he was undermined by the establishment .

Thank you for the history lesson. I enjoyed reading it although my days of Hobbes' Leviathan are far behind me. I congratulate you on keeping up. I don't want this to become a debate on political philosophy since I am clearly outgunned, so I'll move on with one little aside about my favorite president.

Wasn't Republican Lincoln when the Federal government had its first major expansion? Not progressive Wilson?

Back to the present ---- Government requires a bureaucracy to run it. We can't elect all the tens (hundreds?) of thousands every election cycle. I've known many government employees and they are ordinary decent folk doing a job. They would be surprised to be called the "deep state", as ominous a term as I've ever heard.

You imply they're all in some wild, far-flung conspiracy - our in-house Illuminati. Regulations supplement laws. A law needs more than beautiful words to be effective. And not everything can be anticipated - hence, amendments. Anyway, I'm sure you get the idea.

I have always suspected that deeply ingrained into the psyche of the right is a fear of government dating back at least to Jefferson. Maybe it reflected the kings of the time and the unfair class system so common then. Jefferson, however was a realist. See the Louisiana Purchase.

Carter's desire to pull out the troops in South Korea was a bad idea. In that case, the "deep state" performed a valuable function. I don't think there's any doubt the North would have found a reason to invade again. Maybe Carter, a Navy man, was piqued at the Pueblo seizure. Who knows. Carter was a good man who was not a very effective president.

We are no longer in the 18th century, protected by a huge ocean, with farmers being the body politic. Being the leading nation on the planet requires lots of hands doing lots of work. That work is best done by a centralized entity. The states can do their thing but anything big (military, NASA, environment, maybe public education, fiscal policy, et al) needs the Feds.

The best governed is the least governed. Pretty statement, but does it still apply? I would put effectiveness in front of size.