Comey’s dramatic account on Trump rocks Washington- Katie Williams of The Hill

I posted parts of this in another thread but thought the article was good enough to warrant its own topic.

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Comey’s riveting opening statement details multiple interactions with the president, including a January dinner at the White House where Trump said he needed and expected the FBI director’s loyalty.

The one-on-one dinner, Comey felt, was an attempt to create “some sort of patronage relationship” with the president — something that “concerned me greatly, given the FBI’s traditionally independent status.”

Following his first encounter with Trump, which came during a Jan. 6 meeting at Trump Tower, Comey said he felt “compelled” to document the meeting, typing out a memo on a laptop in an FBI vehicle “the moment I walked out of the meeting.”

Comey acknowledged that he did not take such notes about his meetings with former President Barack Obama, though he said he only met alone with him twice, compared with “nine one-on-one conversations” with Trump in four months.

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It's situations such as this which shows which gives the perception that Trump is either extremely ignorant of traditional political procedure, naive or dirty. The President shouldn't be having nine one on one meetings with the head of the FBI. Because whether or not Trump did anything wrong, perceptually it isn't beneficial. Additionally, later events seem to justify Comey's interpretation of that January event.

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On Feb. 14, Trump cleared the Oval Office after a counterterrorism meeting to speak with Comey alone, according to the testimony. Trump then asked Comey to “let go” of any investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had been forced to resign the previous day for misleading Vice President Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

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At the time, Comey felt the president was requesting only that he drop any investigation into Flynn related to a December phone call with the Russian ambassador — not “the broader investigation into Russia or possible links to his campaign.”

During a later phone call with Trump on March 30, a conversation not previously reported, the president complained to Comey that the investigation into ties between his campaign and Russia was hampering his agenda and asked “what we could do.”

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Later, following the March 30 phone call — when Trump asked him what he could do to “lift the cloud” — Comey called acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente.

He did not hear back from Boente before Trump called him, on April 11, to again press him on “the cloud.”

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All of this, though perhaps not criminal obstruction is rather damning. This board may choose to focus on the vindication that Trump wasn't personally being investigated:

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The testimony backs up the president’s claim that Comey had assured him on three separate occasions that he was not the target of the FBI’s counterintelligence probe. Comey said he made those assurances in person on Jan. 6 and 27, and again during the March 30 phone call.

Trump touted that aspect of the testimony as vindication, as he had mentioned those assurances in his letter firing Comey.

“The president is pleased that Mr. Comey has finally publicly confirmed his private reports that the president was not under investigation in any Russia probe. The president feels completely and totally vindicated. He is eager to continue to move forward with his agenda,” said Marc Kasowitz, an attorney who is representing Trump on the matter.

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Comey stated that he refused to do so because:

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He also states that he resisted entreaties from Trump to state publicly that he was not under investigation “for a number of reasons, most importantly because it would create a duty to correct, should that change.”

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In conclusion, I'll reiterate as I stated earlier, this board is mainly focusing on one small part of Comey's account and declaring victorious vindication. That is a rather myopic view because in totality what Comey stated does not show Trump in a good light. And after tomorrow I think most independents and moderates will have a more negative view of the President and his actions.