+1

I mean if anyone is gonna be that shallow then it's Trump, but that's some seriously lazy thinking to actually believe it. Guy investigating his boss gets fired. Nothing shady there.

Eh that line of logic doesn't work because the investigation continues on whether or not Comey is there. If Trump really wanted to kill the investigation, simply firing one person makes zero difference.

As far as what was released in the opening statements goes, there was some specific reasoning Trump insinuated based on what Comey outlined (which was along the lines of "Trump was pissed off at me because I never pursued criminal charges against Hillary in November").

Tomorrow is going to be another no-show for the Russian conspiracy theorists unless Comey can reasonably show that Trump-

A. Literally tried to sideline the Russian investigation (rather than just wishing out loud for it) and
B. Can reconcile his previous testimony ("nobody above me impeded any investigations to my knowledge") with his current testimony

The fact he was originally appointed by Obama is likely a factor in there somewhere though. Trump did say in 2016 he was gonna roll back the previous administration. Looks like he meant that in more ways than one. :laughing:

The logic is perfectly reasonable. What about Trump gives you the impression that he is a mastermind and not just an impulsive blowhard who might just be trying to send a message to the next guy in line for the job regardless of whether or not this would actually be effective? Or he just got mad and wanted to hurt the guy?

Well that's the point really, and one I've iterated here a few times in the past. Trump isn't a grand mastermind, schemer, or the 4D chessmaster that his fans think he is. He's a walking, talking meme who revels in the spotlight. But the strange thing is that everyone I know (friends, work, etc.) who are liberal seem to think he's both at the same time. Sure he's surrounded by people with 2nd or 3rd degree ties to Russia or Ukraine, but they don't seem to be doing much besides picking their noses and crying while Trump pits them against each other for laughs.

And because I've known all that about him for pretty much as long as I've been alive, most of the screeching on the far-to-moderate left about him pulling off some grand coup with Russia is cringey to me and a big distraction from more serious issues.

If Russia's only goal was to reinstall a Cold War mentality in the extremist political echo chambers of our country, then they've achieved their goal with flying colors. If their goal was anything more substantial (such as lifting sanctions or bringing about measureable policy changes on our end in their favor) then they should have worked more with Podesta and "hacked" the election in Clinton's favor. She would have been far easier to predict and manipulate, since Trump has no problem turning 180 degrees on anything without consulting anyone.

Also Hussein rhymes with insane.

I don't expect much to come from the whole Russia ordeal and I'm tired of it too. It's like Benghazi but ****ing everyone is screeching. Also quit saying that they hacked the election. That's the stupidest ****ing term for it I've ever seen. What did the Russy bitches go into the vote database where the information predetermining the election and change a few numbers? Suck my dick you sore losers.

Except, he shared those memos with his aids at the time they were written.

Article 1 of the Watergate Impeachment:

Subsequent thereto, Richard M. Nixon, using the powers of his high office, engaged personally and through his close subordinates and agents, in a course of conduct or plan designed to delay, impede, and obstruct the investigation of such illegal entry; to cover up, conceal and protect those responsible; and to conceal the existence and scope of other unlawful covert activities.

In favor of Clinton? No way. You and everyone else thought Hillary was worse than Trump was so worried about her going to War with Russia. There is no way that she would have been easier to get to lift the sanctions. She wasn't buddy buddy at all with Russia and Putin didn't respect her even before her silly ass red button reset thing.

Yeah but in retrospect (and thanks to our intelligence agencies) we also know that the Russians were attempting to implement different measures to push things in their favor as early as 2015 regardless of who won the election. People talk about the Russian ties between Trump's team and people close to Putin, but those ties existed between some of Hillary's people as well.

But again, as others have pointed out, Russia had no real way of knowing who would win. So they must have had other things in place in the case of a Clinton win. Leverage and all that fun stuff.