Is Alan Dershowitz reading my blog?
I think it is important to put to rest the notion that there was anything criminal about the president exercising his constitutional power to fire Comey and to request – “hope” – that he let go the investigation of General Flynn. Just as the president would have had the constitutional power to pardon Flynn and thus end the criminal investigation of him, he certainly had the authority to request the director of the FBI to end his investigation of Flynn.
That sounds very much like what I wrote this morning:
Constitutionally, I don’t see how [obstruction of justice is] possible, because the President has the authority to tell DOJ and the FBI who to investigate and who not to, and furthermore Trump has the power to pardon anyone he wants for whatever reason, so surely he has the lesser power to do whatever it is that liberals think he did.
Notice that we both mention the President’s pardon power.
* * *
Barrack Obama should know very well that the President has the power to tell federal law enforcement what NOT to do. He directed federal agencies not to enforce the immigration laws.
Lion of the Blogosphere 
I haven’t been following all of this. Is there any news about an investigation of the Clinton foundation? If not, does anyone know why Trump didn’t pursue that subject with Comey? Re election interference, what if some Russian Svengali had said to Trump or one of his people, “I can design an ad that’s guaranteed to make black males see Hillary as the antichrist,” and Trump said, “you’re hired,” would that be a crime?
Commercial-Residential
June 8, 2017 at 8:18 PM
Comey was trying to trap Flynn in a perjury trap as a way of goading Trump into committing obstruction of justice (or something that could be construed as obstruction). What Flynn was being grilled about by the FBI was lying about a conversation he had with the Russian ambassador during the transition, not what he had done in terms of the Russian intelligence probe:
https://pragmaticallydistributed.wordpress.com/2017/06/07/the-art-of-trump/
Pragmatically Distributed was right, again.
Judged by his prepared remarks Comey will go before the Senate with only fragments of an obstruction of justice case he was building but did not finish in time.
His prepared remarks are somewhat weaker than what I expected, and my expectations were already low. Trump’s request that Comey look into dropping the case against Flynn dealt with a narrower investigation into a discussion held between Flynn and Russia during the Presidential transition, not a request to drop the broader counter-intelligence probe.
Since you asked, McCarthy, Flynn was grilled by the FBI because Comey had no evidence to backup an underlying conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
If there were strong evidence of a conspiracy, Comey surely wouldn’t have wasted valuable FBI time devoted to hunting for Comey’s next glowing headline by trying to trap Flynn on an ancillary procedural crime.
Once charges were filed against Flynn, and perhaps Manafort for not reporting income from Russia and Ukraine, the plan – as I believe it was – would be to keep records of new hostile encounters with an increasingly frustrated Trump until Comey had enough events to go public with accusations of obstruction of justice.
The salivating over Comey’s pending testimony among anti-Trumpers turns out to be a shadow of what Comey would have been able to deliver if he been given more time to passively-aggressively provoke Trump.
With the release of Comey’s opening statement, it’s finally beginning to dawn on a few anti-Trumpers that what Comey comments had assembled to date are arguably inappropriate, but still collectively inadequate to base an obstruction of justice case on.
The Undiscovered Jew
June 8, 2017 at 8:58 PM
I doubt he’ll be impeached, now OR later, but…damn. I’m almost starting to feel kinda bad for the guy. He’s obviously in way over his head and he’s making himself look like a complete fool.
Beets...mmm
June 8, 2017 at 9:03 PM
Yes. Your blog is brilliant. Jeffrey reads it too. We’d both like you to come down to Little Saint James for a visit. You know where to reach me.
Maybe I'm Alan Dershowitz, and maybe I AM Alan Dershowitz.
June 8, 2017 at 9:07 PM
I get the impression that Lion doesn’t actually think these people read his blog. Steve Sailer seems to actually believe it when he accuses others of stealing his ideas.
Magnavox
June 9, 2017 at 6:50 AM
Ann Coulter might have seen my blog, but I doubt that Dershowitz reads it.
Lion of the Blogosphere
June 9, 2017 at 7:03 AM
Steve Sailer is usually 6+ months ahead of the curve and sometimes years so people really should be reading his blog.
everybodyhatesscott
June 9, 2017 at 10:40 AM
Does Frank Bruni read your blog? Staten Island types are too prole to land on your site.
JS
June 9, 2017 at 1:17 PM
Sailer’s right at least that Ross Douthat takes ideas from him.
Commercial-Residential
June 9, 2017 at 7:39 PM
And yet, this is how that scrofulous man-turd Jeffrey Toobin begins his column at the New Yorker:
“President Trump appears to be guilty of obstruction of justice. That’s the only rational conclusion to be reached if James Comey’s opening statement for his planned testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Thursday, is to be believed.”
Just a flat-out “Guilty!” Ahh, but this is what the great and good read in their echo chambers. They will hear it shouted at them again and again. “GUILTY!!” They will shake their heads at the injustice of it all. That criminal Trump! He gets away with it!
It’s all just too insane. And of course, no comments allowed at the New Yorker. As if anyone over there would question any of it.
peterike
June 8, 2017 at 9:32 PM
The New Yorker has a few bright readers. Chomsky is likely a New Yorker reader.
JW Bell
June 9, 2017 at 12:45 AM
Comey has given the DOJ grounds to criminally investigate himself.
1) While he was still FBI Directer he testified a number of times before Congress that he never felt “pressure” to end the investigation.
2) He testified today that he never received information about the ground rules for Sessions’ recusal. The Justice Department says they sent him a memo about the recusal on March 2nd.
3) By typing a memo on an FBI owned computer about an investigation the memo arguably was the property of the FBI, not Comey. As FBI property Comey arguably violated multiple document retention rules and guidelines.
The Undiscovered Jew
June 8, 2017 at 10:09 PM
But you see, Comey didn’t hand over an actual printed copy of the memo or a thumb drive with a copy of the memo saved on it as a word file. So you see he didn’t really leak govt. property. All he really did was pass on the full substance of a government doc he had specifically in mind. BIG difference.
And don’t forget that Comey said he did this because of an explicit political motivation to get a special counselor appointed. That is a jaw dropping statement. Who the hell does Comey think he is? The man really damaged himself badly today.
Andrew E.
June 8, 2017 at 11:44 PM
the ny times quoted the part of the memos about “honest loyalty,” on may 11. comey said (under oath) that the decision to leak the memos was made at 3am may 13.
ny times reporters on twitter argued that comey didn’t lie because the times didn’t acknowledge they had the memos until may 16.
but how do you quote something you don’t have? simple, someone showed the times the memos, or read them to times’ reporters.
james comey committed perjury.
name can't be blank (@DSGNTD_PLYR)
June 9, 2017 at 1:17 PM
From NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/08/us/politics/trump-speech-faith-freedom-coalition.html
“In all, Mr. Trump watched only about 45 minutes of Mr. Comey’s testimony, the people close to the president said. Much of that time was spent under the eye of his take-charge personal lawyer, Marc E. Kasowitz, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, one of the cabinet members he trusts most.”
Mattis is a general. Flynn is also a general. I think Trump has a mancrush on all military generals and that may be a big part of why he made the requests he did on behalf of Flynn. If Alan Dershowitz is reading, he should add that to his defense strategy.
IHTG
June 8, 2017 at 10:45 PM
I think Trump has a mancrush on all military generals and that may be a big part of why he made the requests he did on behalf of Flynn.
Trump may have a man crush on Generals when it comes to national security.
But he clearly has a Jewish guy crush when it comes to law and money.
Any time Trump wants a lawyer or money guy he more often than not picks somebody Jewish.
Kinda weird for Adolf Hitler 2.0.
Rifleman
June 9, 2017 at 12:07 AM
“He directed federal agencies not to enforce the immigration laws.”
That was a law the media didn’t want to be enforced. They get to choose which laws are enforceable.
Mike Street Station
June 8, 2017 at 10:56 PM
So Nixon should have just fired the head of the FBI and made the new head stop investigating Watergate? And just pardoned himself instead of resigning?
You’re in a weird Aspergery realm with these posts.
Magnavox
June 8, 2017 at 11:13 PM
Then so is Alan Dershowitz. Unless they are tthe same person.
Rifleman
June 9, 2017 at 12:09 AM
Dershowitz is probably just a hack. I think Lion actually believes that just because Trump has the legal right to fire Comey that any congressional investigation or response is illegitimate and stupid and doesn’t have any popular support.
Magnavox
June 9, 2017 at 6:31 AM
I previously stated that impeachment is a political process. How many times to I need to state that?
Clearly Comey and the mainstream media (except Fox) wants Trump to be impeached.
Lion of the Blogosphere
June 9, 2017 at 6:33 AM
You are libetarian/Trucon/Paleocon/contrarian scum.
Bottom line: Trump did nothing wrong and everybody knows it. Furthermore, if Trump actually had done something wrong it wouldn’t matter because Trump is carrying out the destruction of the immigrant community.
Otis the Sweaty
June 9, 2017 at 12:21 AM
Contrarian is actually apropos. You finally hit on one that at least sort of applies.
Are you a contrarian or just a wackjob?
Magnavox
June 9, 2017 at 6:33 AM
4000 refugees so far, 100,000 DACA so far.
He’s arresting a few criminals, he’s slowed down illegals.
No destruction, no wall, no mass deporting.
The economy is going to crash big time in the next few years.
Trump will be a blip.
Back to full uni-party globalism, open borders, oligarch power, third worldization of America and Weatern Europe.
Rifleman
June 9, 2017 at 4:58 PM
Pathetic.
Panther of the Blogocube
June 9, 2017 at 12:30 AM
Two words: Underlying crime.
IHTG
June 9, 2017 at 1:41 AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_crimes_and_misdemeanors
A high crime and misdemanor is not limited to the criminal code. It would be well within the definiton as commonly understood in the late 18th centruy to impeach Trump right now. Plus, the supreme court has ruled that they have no oversight of impeachment and that Congress can essentially impeach for any reason they want.
To the extent that Trump is immune from criminal prosecution (the reality is that the case law simply isn’t settled), it’s because congressional impeachment and removal from office is supposed to replace regular criminal proceedings for the president. So it’s ridiculous to say Trump is immune from criminal prosecution and shouldn’t be impeached because of that immunity.
Magnavox
June 9, 2017 at 6:39 AM
Impeachment is a political process.
He shouldn’t be impeached because he hasn’t done anything besides try to get the witch hunt against Flynn to stop. Flynn was being unfairly investigated because of they were out to get Trump and they thought Flynn was the weakest link.
Lion of the Blogosphere
June 9, 2017 at 7:01 AM
I don’t think he should be impeached either. And I don’t think you’re in a position where you can call the Flynn investigation a witch hunt.
Magnavox
June 9, 2017 at 2:03 PM
Nixon should also fired the assistant FBI director who was leaking illegally to the Wash. Post.
Roger
June 9, 2017 at 2:23 AM
Magnavox, shut up, I directed.
sfd@asf.com
June 9, 2017 at 4:15 AM
NeoGaf is not very happy with the UK election results. They REALLY fucking despise Corbyn and are worried that his strong performance means he will be harder to get rid of.
Otis the Sweaty
June 9, 2017 at 12:22 AM
They should be unhappy. The DUP, a strongly pro-Brexit and REAL Conservative party now control Parliament. May will shortly be turfed out – the Barren Cat Lady can rule no more. Things actually turned out pretty good for Britain.
gda
June 9, 2017 at 11:32 AM
I agree. This is potentially good for Conservatives/Brexit.
May is a fraud and opportunist.
Maybe Boris Johnson next PM. Media can then make an issue of his hair and similarities to Trump.
Rifleman
June 9, 2017 at 5:01 PM
Everything I read from Jeffrey Toobin is biased bullshit. The summum of it is when i writte about Clarence Thomas. I don’t understand how the many very intelligent writter from NY (all biased too but clever) accepts to have this piece of s. among them.
Now, thanks to a commenter, I understand why Trump sacked Comey in such an awfull way : people receiving the memos told him Comey was building up a case for empeachment. Empeachment being just a mediatico-legislative process with no due process or objective law ruling the matter. At the same times, this process is necessary to give plenty of power to the president while making sure he doesn’t abuse them.
Bruno from Paris
June 9, 2017 at 2:56 AM
I agree that Comey wants Trump impeached. It’s very clear to me how much Comey hates him.
Lion of the Blogosphere
June 9, 2017 at 6:30 AM
Supposedly Trump was not himself under investigation. I think Trump was just worried that the investigation would make him and his meager election win look bad. Maybe he honestly thought that since his own hands were perfectly clean with regards to Russia that the whole investigation was faulty and that Comey was at fault. But that would indicate something seriously wrong with Trump’s psychology.
Magnavox
June 9, 2017 at 6:46 AM
How insightful.
Of course he was worried about having a formal adversary within his own organization. Anyone would be. Who in their right mind thinks it’s a good idea to have a permanent antagonist hanging around, listening to all of your conversations, reading all of your correspondence, and attempting to thwart your efforts at every turn?
A determined persecutor will find wrongdoing, because such a person has already decided wrongdoing has occurred, and is only looking for circumstantial evidence to support their prejudice.
Panther of the Blogocube
June 9, 2017 at 11:20 AM
But that would indicate something seriously wrong with Trump’s psychology.
huh? how do you come to the conclusion that trump is psychologically damaged if comey, dnc, cuckservatives, media, etc are the ones who think trump was engaged in a russian plot that trump didn’t know existed?
name can't be blank (@DSGNTD_PLYR)
June 9, 2017 at 1:21 PM
Trump’s crime is violating the law of virtue. Nothing more.
Curle
June 9, 2017 at 12:06 PM
the doj should end the special counsel investigation. it only exists because of the memos, and the memos only exist, and leaked, because comey was legally, and deservedly, fired.
name can't be blank (@DSGNTD_PLYR)
June 9, 2017 at 1:23 PM