Broken Promise? Trump wants to meet FBI director before deciding if he will fire him

FBI directors have a 10 year term, and are rarely fired to keep up the appearance of independence.

Trump has said Comey is no good, then he had a great reputation, back to Comey is part of a rigged system. His opinion changed as the FBI's investigation into HRC was on again off again.
So Trump wants to meet with Comey, and that seems like the right thing to do, Comey is in the 3 year of his 10 year term.

Is rethinking some of his fiery Trump campaign talk, and is Trump taking a sober approach to the institution of POTUS?

Or is he turning into what many wanted to warn about, a Clinton Friend and a liberal with a good talking game?

FBI Director James B. Comey played a major role in the final days of the presidential election. It remains to be seen if he will play a role in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

Trump, in an interview broadcast over the weekend, said that he wants to meet with Comey before deciding whether he will ask him to step down.

“I would rather not comment on that yet,” Trump said in a “60 Minutes” interview aired Sunday night. “I don’t — I haven’t made up my mind. I respect him a lot. I respect the FBI a lot.”

Trump also suggested that he would only make a determination after hearing from Comey, who he regularly criticized during the campaign over the bureau’s actions during an investigation into Hillary Clinton, Trump’s opponent, and her use of a private email server.

“I’m not sure,” Trump said in the interview. “I’d want to see, you know, he may have had very good reasons for doing what he did.”

[Trump could wind up working with an FBI director he lambasted]

During the acrid presidential campaign, Comey and the FBI repeatedly took center stage due to the email server investigation. Trump’s tone on Comey tended to shift along with the FBI’s stance on Clinton and the probe. When Comey announced in July that “no reasonable prosecutor” would charge Clinton for mishandling classified information, Trump assailed the bureau and suggested that the FBI director was corrupt.

“He made a mistake or whatever,” Trump told ABC News at one point. “I don’t even call it a mistake. I think something happened.”

FBI Director James Comey. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

In October, Trump said the FBI and the Justice Department “rolled over.” That same day, Comey wrote a letter to lawmakers alerting them that the bureau had resumed its work to review another collection of emails. Trump shifted his tune, saying that he had “great respect for the FBI” for its sudden action and saying that Comey’s letter “took a lot of guts.”

“He brought back his reputation,” Trump said of Comey. “He brought it back.”

Two days before the election, Comey announced that the bureau’s review of the emails did not change its decision not to recommend charges against Clinton. The next day, Trump again claimed the system was “rigged,” citing as proof the bureau’s relatively prompt examination of the emails.

Clinton, speaking to top donors on Saturday, blamed the two Comey letters for her surprising loss on Election Day.

[A series of strategic mistakes likely sealed Clinton’s fate]

Trump would enter the White House having an awkward relationship with Comey, who he has never met.

Comey is in the third year of a 10-year term that began in September 2013. Unlike the attorney general, who oversees the Justice Department, the FBI director does not change when a new administration comes to town.

Officials close to Comey have previously told The Post that he has no plans to leave, despite the barrage of criticism he faced over his decisions on the Clinton probe.

However, presidents are allowed to remove an FBI director, something that rarely happens out of respect for the position’s independence. In 1993, then-president Bill Clinton, halfway through his first year in office, fired William S. Sessions as FBI director amid allegations of ethical issues.

It is unclear if a meeting between Trump and Comey has been scheduled or when it would take place. A spokesman for the FBI declined to comment, referring questions to the Trump transition team, and a spokeswoman for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.

[President Trump’s Justice Dept. could see less scrutiny of police, more surveillance of Muslims]

During the “60 Minutes” interview, one of Trump’s few public appearances since his victory last week, he also noted that there have been a number of leaks from the FBI. Internal tension at the bureau spilled into the public view in recent weeks, with reporters publishing stories about a feud over the Clinton Foundation and about top Justice Department officials advising against Comey’s decision to send his first letter to Congress.

“There’s been a lotta leaking, there’s no question about that,” he said. “But I would certainly like to talk to him. And see him. This is a tough time for him.”

During a presidential debate, Trump said that if he won the election, he would have a special prosecutor appointed to look into Clinton’s use of an email server, an extraordinary suggestion that he would pursue criminal charges against a political opponent. Since winning, Trump and Kellyanne Conway, who served as his campaign manager, have not ruled out the idea.

Donald Trump. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

The president-elect could take steps to have a special prosecutor appointed, although prominent conservatives have advised against it and said it would be an alarming politicization of the Justice Department.

Trump told “60 Minutes” that Clinton’s phone call conceding the election was “lovely,” and in the same interview called her “very strong and very smart,” a sharp departure from the “Crooked Hillary” nickname he used and “Lock her up!” chants he encouraged at rallies.

When asked if he was going to seek a special prosecutor, Trump did not abandon the idea, saying that he was “going to think about it.”

He went on to say Clinton “did some bad things,” but added: “I don’t want to hurt them. I don’t want to hurt them. They’re, they’re good people. I don’t want to hurt them.” Trump also promised to give a “definitive answer” at some point later.

www.washingtonpost.com...

First order of business is Loretta Lynch. After he sends her packing then deal with Comey. The foundation investigation needs to proceed. No pass for Hillary just because she lost.

this just make sense. It's a good management practice. Get the facts, then make a decision. And leave emotions out of it.

I think it was prudent to wait until he assumes office and has an opportunity to get a report from Comey on the progress of the CF investigation.

a reply to: seasonal

Or is he turning into what many wanted to warn about, a Clinton Friend and a liberal with a good talking game?

You can not turn into something you always have been... what you can do is walk away from the WWE stage and stop with the act.

He is simply Plan B.

One could easily asssume that Hitlery had threatened Comey, which means the decisions he made, were made under "duress"...an exception Trump might make, being a reasonable person instead acting like of an over-reactive Liberal trying to cover his own ass.
Comey HAD a good reputation before Hitlery came onto the scene and ran for President. A lot of people did.

This whole mess isn't because of Trump; it's because of HRC...something MSM avoids mentioning for some reason, probably death threats because .....well, Hilarry.

a reply to: seasonal


Words and words can be used about this meeting, but really it comes down to trust. Can the boss trust one of his chief lieutenants? Face to face and see how the man explains himself. A clear, direct, and decisive way to make a key decision.

originally posted by: network dude
this just make sense. It's a good management practice. Get the facts, then make a decision. And leave emotions out of it.

Exactly. This is when you can see Trump's management skills. He knows there is a lot Comey didn't tell yet. Firing him would be stupid now.

a reply to: seasonal

Maybe Comey knew Trump was going to be the Pres, and to get into his good books, opened the Investigation again.
Sorta like - Hey homie, im on your side...please dont fire me!

originally posted by: IAMTAT
I think it was prudent to wait until he assumes office and has an opportunity to get a report from Comey on the progress of the CF investigation.

I hope your right and this is how it works. I have to admit, Trumps words lately have me a little nervous, as far as the 180 it appears he is doing on certain things.

a reply to: MysticMadman

One could easily asssume that Hitlery had threatened Comey, which means the decisions he made, were made under "duress"...an exception Trump might make, being a reasonable person instead acting like of an over-reactive Liberal trying to cover his own ass.
Comey HAD a good reputation before Hitlery came onto the scene and ran for President. A lot of people did.

This whole mess isn't because of Trump; it's because of HRC...something MSM avoids mentioning for some reason, probably death threats because .....well, Hilarry.

It is scary to think the Director of the FBI was threatened, I recall Hoover and his strangle hold he had on.., well the world with the secrets and info he had.

He had to do what is right. If she was intimidating him it had to be bad, like end your family bad.... And that is a huge IF.

originally posted by: seasonal
a reply to: MysticMadman

One could easily asssume that Hitlery had threatened Comey, which means the decisions he made, were made under "duress"...an exception Trump might make, being a reasonable person instead acting like of an over-reactive Liberal trying to cover his own ass.
Comey HAD a good reputation before Hitlery came onto the scene and ran for President. A lot of people did.

This whole mess isn't because of Trump; it's because of HRC...something MSM avoids mentioning for some reason, probably death threats because .....well, Hilarry.

It is scary to think the Director of the FBI was threatened, I recall Hoover and his strangle hold he had on.., well the world with the secrets and info he had.

He had to do what is right. If she was intimidating him it had to be bad, like end your family bad.... And that is a huge IF.

It is possible that Presidents learned a lesson from J. Edgar Hoover and did things differently after he died.... as in appointing a Director that they had stink on, instead of the other way around.

a reply to: butcherguy

It is possible that Presidents learned a lesson from J. Edgar Hoover and did things differently after he died.... as in appointing a Director that they had stink on, instead of the other way around.
Giving the Wikileaks emails, Washington is filled with fricken freaks. So it almost has to be a given that there is dirt on almost every one of those sick little canaries.

Trump is now in a position to actually find out *WHO* told Comey what to do and how to do it, and find out *WHERE* the pressure was coming from.



Trump might thank Comey now.

Trump is a smart guy, he will do whats best for our murica