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[royalan]

And what if Comey didn't send the letter and due to a combination of FBI leaks and other factors Trump STILL won?

Comey did what he did because he had to cover for the possibility of Trump winning.

I don't see why things don't play out similarly. FBI continues investigation into Hillary's emails, continues to find nothing, eventually moves on.

The implication in thinking that things would have played out differently had Comey not sent the letter is that there's some sort of cover-up now, which there isn't. We all now know that the email "scandal" was bullshit. That doesn't change depending on who wins the presidency.

The conclusion that I reach is the exact opposite of yours. I think Comey did what he did because he expected Hillary to win regardless. Hell, almost everyone did.

 

[x24hrs2livex]

And what if Comey didn't send the letter and due to a combination of FBI leaks and other factors Trump STILL won?

Comey did what he did because he had to cover for the possibility of Trump winning.

That's what I think people fail to get, had Comey not did what he did, the leaking of all this then would have tanked Hilary even more.

 

[BrutishMrFish]

He's the reason this investigation still exists and has validity.

That's only true if he leaked the Steele dossier to Buzzfeed. If Trump still won, the investigation could have been killed and nobody would have known or cared if everything related to the Russia investigation were kept quiet the way Comey seemingly wanted.

He could have coordinated with Lynch, he could have had a lawyer hold that press conference, he could have been more direct in his letter, and he could have had more people focus on verifying that all the emails on Weiner's computer were redundant so that the letter would have been more accurate to what was really there. He could have made the best of a bad situation, but he didn't.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

No it's not.

Actually, it is. Why else didn't Hillary go to Wisconsin? Why else didn't she do more in Michigan or Pennsylvania? They underestimated him. Why couldn't Hillary, one time, when Trump accused her of deleting 30,000 e-mails time and time again not one time say that it was 100% not true, and a shameless lie from a desperate Trump? She never once said it during any of those debates. She literally just smiled and laughed cause he's a joke. Yes, we know he's a joke, but it's her job to take him serious and not allow him any escape routes with lies like that.

Not all of this public statements or speeches were vitriolic nonsense, although those got the most attention. He at times had a very good message that resonated with a lot of people, as dishonest as the messenger may have been. Hillary allowed a man who has spent his entire life conning people look like the guy who was fighting for the little guy, or would level the playing field. She underestimated him, as did her entire campaign.

 

[theWB27]

Actually, it is. Why else didn't Hillary go to Wisconsin? Why else didn't she do more in Michigan or Pennsylvania? They underestimated him. Why couldn't Hillary, one time, when Trump accused her of deleting 30,000 e-mails time and time again not one time say that it was 100% not true, and a shameless lie from a desperate Trump? She never once said it during any of those debates. She literally just smiled and laughed cause he's a joke. Yes, we know he's a joke, but it's her job to take him serious and not allow him any escape routes with lies like that.

Not all of this public statements or speeches were vitriolic nonsense, although those got the most attention. He at times had a very good message that resonated with a lot of people, as dishonest as the messenger may have been. Hillary allowed a man who has spent his entire life conning people look like the guy who was fighting for the little guy, or would level the playing field. She underestimated him, as did her entire campaign.

She won the popular vote and you're ignoring everything that's come out since then about everything that swayed the election.

And a message can't be good and a lie at the same time. The things he spoke of bringing back was a straight up lie.

What are you even talking about.

 

[royalan]

Actually, it is. Why else didn't Hillary go to Wisconsin? Why else didn't she do more in Michigan or Pennsylvania? They underestimated him.

There are a lot of things to criticize Hillary and her campaign strategy for, but this is such a bad take I can't even.

Hillary herself, and her top surrogates practically lived in PA. Her final and largest rally was in Philly. We held the DNC here, and that didn't stop her from losing the state.

So lets stop acting like a rally or two in Wisconsin would have made a difference.

 

[gutter_trash]

All Republicans are all scum, all of them 100%

(R) Comey fuck you

look at this shit we got now; thanks fucko

 

[Version 3.0]

Why are people pretending that they know what would've happened if Comey had done something else? We don't know, and we'll never know. He had a tough call to make, he made it, and now we have to live with it. We don't have the luxury of knowing whether it was the right call (from the perspective of Trump winning).

I will say this, though: it's rock bottom pathetic that he had to consider that faked Russian leaks would be treated as gospel, while we now live in the reality that properly vetted and independently confirmed media sources - ie. actual leaks - are dismissed out of hand by the same significant portion of the population, and in particular, by the majority party of the government.

 

[Acyl]

Can we get a 10 episode HBO mini-series on this whole election and aftermath? Like damn. So confusing.

 

[Fisty]

Just an interesting anecdote about how deep the stupid runs in the right-wing populace...

I was asking a Trump supporter I am forced to deal with for business reasons about his take on this Russia thing. "Who cares if Trump had help from Russia? They are our allies, and I wouldn't mind the US taking a few notes on how Russia handles things."

So yeah, this is the world that a vocal contingent has built in its mind. No amount of truth or fact will change them. The same lot that said Obama is a Muslim socialist that kills the unborn.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Comey was forced to pick his poison.

He made the right choice.

He's the reason this investigation still exists and has validity.

Most polling indicates that Comey's actions had an impact on the election and substantially contributed to Hillary's loss.

So no, he didn't make the right choice.

Had he taken proper action, perhaps even informed the AG, the investigation would likely be continuing under a sane president.

Oh, and also, Comey would still have a job.

I mean, let's just look at events, what actually happened.

Did Comey's actions:

Stop the Russian propaganda machine? No.
Stop the FBI leaks? No.
Stop the congressional leaks? No.
Prevent Russia from successfully achieving their goal? No.
Protect the investigation? No. Trump's incompetence is doing that.

I acknowledge that he had to pick his poison. But the correct course of action would be to fall on the sword for the purpose of exposing the poison.

I don't understand why he kept everything about both russia and the Trump campaign under wraps but refused to remain silent on Hillary. I consistently am given the excuse that information was going to get out anyways, But if you have politically compromising information on both candidates, the worst thing you can do is release information on one candidate but not the other.

If you can't keep the information under wraps, you need to take the fall, rip thr bandaid off, and let the public make a fully informed decision on cleaning things up.

Coney seems to have recognized that he could not preserve his department's professional integrity, but he never accepted responsibility for the department's failures in that regard or attempted to preserve the standing as an apolitical servant of the public.

 

[PabloBolivar]

This is all getting really stupid. Can the world go back to reality?

 

[Somnid]

So it was all an ARG and Metal Gear is real?

 

[Shadybiz]

Why are people pretending that they know what would've happened if Comey had done something else? We don't know, and we'll never know. He had a tough call to make, he made it, and now we have to live with it. We don't have the luxury of knowing whether it was the right call (from the perspective of Trump winning).

I will say this, though: it's rock bottom pathetic that he had to consider that faked Russian leaks would be treated as gospel, while we now live in the reality that properly vetted and independently confirmed media sources - ie. actual leaks - are dismissed out of hand by the same significant portion of the population, and in particular, by the majority party of the government.

Agree 100% with all of this. He was in between a rock and a hard place. I have NO idea what I would have done in his position, and he's got about a lifetime of experience on me. My hardest decision each day is whether I want chicken or pork for dinner.

And yeah...we live in a world where at least half of the voters choose to believe whatever they see on Facebook, instead of independently checking stuff out themselves. It's a frightening

Spoiler

ly stupid

world we live in right now.

 

[TestOfTide]

I don't see why things don't play out similarly. FBI continues investigation into Hillary's emails, continues to find nothing, eventually moves on.

The implication in thinking that things would have played out differently had Comey not sent the letter is that there's some sort of cover-up now, which there isn't. We all now know that the email "scandal" was bullshit. That doesn't change depending on who wins the presidency.

The conclusion that I reach is the exact opposite of yours. I think Comey did what he did because he expected Hillary to win regardless. Hell, almost everyone did.

Here's what could have EASILY happened if Comey didn't send the letter:

- NY Field Office would leak that possible new emails from Hillary's private server were found
- Congressional Republicans would spend ALL of their time on cable new networks demanding Comey explain congress wasn't notified about this
- NYT's story would STILL be "FBI is reopening the Clinton Email investigation" but it would be two days later and would be "according to sources within the FBI"

And I'm supposed to believe that that combination of events couldn't have possibly led Trump to win anyway?

I'm not saying it would be guaranteed, but the fact that it would be a possibility is exactly why Comey had to send to the letter to get ahead of the story.

I acknowledge that he had to pick his poison. But the correct course of action would be to fall on the sword for the purpose of exposing the poison.

I don't understand why he kept everything about both russia and the Trump campaign under wraps but refused to remain silent on Hillary. I consistently am given the excuse that information was going to get out anyways, But if you have politically compromising information on both candidates, the worst thing you can do is release information on one candidate but not the other.

If you can't keep the information under wraps, you need to take the fall, rip thr bandaid off, and let the public make a fully informed decision on cleaning things up.

Coney seems to have recognized that he could not preserve his department's professional integrity, but he never accepted responsibility for the department's failures in that regard or attempted to preserve the standing as an apolitical servant of the public.

Except if Comey did that, then he would have been fired January 21st and been replaced by a Trump crony a few days later and, most importantly, the FBI wouldn't have had the extra 4 months that it got to really start going in deep with the Russia/Trump investigation.

 

[Brashnir]

so like... this can't be the only Friday scoop we get this week, right?

 

[super-heated plasma]

lol my boss sent me this from his trip in San Fran.

 

[Elandyll]

There were other factors and Clinton herself had plenty of blame, but given how close it was, it seems to me that this fake document caused (alongside its ripple effect with the October letter) the result of the 2016 election.

Get that: our current President is Trump because of a single fake Russian document which by its mere existence pushed a FBI director to break protocol and chain of command, make public statements trashing a Presidential candidate, and because of said public statements he followed by a public letter to congress 10 days before the election putting even more doubt on said candidate, benefitting the pro Russia candidate.

If I was Comey, I'd be more than Nauseous tbh.