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Trump Says There Are No Comey Tapes

Donald Trump today said there are no tapes of him and James Comey. Why couldn't he have said that initially?

Just more confirmation he just throws things out there as part of his stream of consciousness that have no basis in fact. Either that, or he is unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood, or still has a child-like need to make stuff up to boost his position.

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    Or he is not telling the truth now. (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by oculus on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 02:51:04 PM EST


    I'm on your team, (5.00 / 1) (#17)
    by KeysDan on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 06:01:21 PM EST
    he is not telling the truth now...Congress asked for any tapes and this is his answer.  The tapes do not back him up; he used them, in my view, as part of an attempt to influence or persuade Comey to give evidence in a manner that would be favorable to him.

    If not a Pinocchio, a parsing:

    "I did not make and do not have any such tape."  Sure, perhaps Jared made them, and Ivanka has them. Or some such.  Giving Comey the full courtship press, including dinner for two, without desired results, then firing him and calling him a nutjob; and, apparently, trying to influence Coats and the Admiral to dispel the seriousness of the allegations--even Mr. Magoo can begin to see a Russian nesting doll of obstruction.

    Parent

    Just as the Time magazine cover says. (none / 0) (#40)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 06:51:59 PM EST
    "The Lie Detector: Someone's not telling the truth." Correspondent David Von Drehle's cover story is actually pretty good, too:

    Time | June 21, 2017
    Will Robert Mueller Separate Fact From Fiction? - "In Washington, the 'first law of holes' is one of those shopworn maxims that are so familiar, they need not be spoken. It's like what you should do if you want a friend in the capital: 'Get a dog' goes without saying. But maybe things are different where Donald Trump came from. And maybe that's why he didn't know what to do when he found his young presidency in a small hole involving contacts between a few of his underlings and Russian officials. Now he's learning the local folklore the hard way. The first law of holes is, if you're in one, stop digging. Three times, Trump heard assurances from former FBI director James Comey that the Russia investigation wasn't aimed at him. Instead of putting his shovel down, though, Trump worked it furiously."

    Worth a read.

    Parent

    this is pretty amazing (5.00 / 1) (#28)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 08:31:44 AM EST
    i just saw an interview with one of the reporters.  amazing scary stuff about the Obama administration preparing for cyber war with Russia

    Obama's secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin's election assault

    Scary (5.00 / 1) (#29)
    by FlJoe on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 09:01:50 AM EST
    on many levels, Americans no matter what their political stripe should be alarmed, instead we have tRump and his enablers dismissing it as a hoax. Day after day we have more and more proof how real and dangerous this is and day after day we have the GOP proving what craven traitors they are.

    Parent
    reading that (5.00 / 2) (#30)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 09:38:28 AM EST
    i was just thinking that the reason Trump has attacked and insulted every country, every leader, every institution except Putin and Russia is becoming ever more, almost absurdly laughably clear through stories like this and the new reports in TIME and other places about the nature and extent of the election attack.

    Putin got him elected.  certainly there is undeniable evidence of this Putin could easily make available.  what does he have to lose at this point?  seriously.  who, other that republican flat earth mouth breathers, would even be surprised?

    Trump on the other hand has absolutely everything to lose.  Putin owns him.  that becomes more clear by the very hour.

    i can only hope Mueller is up to the task of exposing and prosecuting this.

    i do think if there is a person who is, he and the team he has assembled, are the ones to do it.

    buckle your seatbelt.

    Parent

    one other thing (none / 0) (#31)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 09:42:17 AM EST
    in covering this new NBC/WSJ poll the poll person on MSNBC did a log rant about how 'for most presidents a 40% approval at this point would be disasterous but Trumps approval on election day was 5 points LOWER and NO ONE thought it was possible for him to win'.

    yeah, because it wasnt.

    Parent

    And this is where Obama failed us. Big time. (5.00 / 4) (#32)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 01:29:17 PM EST
    The American people had an absolute right to know what was going on at this point, and President Obama should've gone on national television and leveled with us forthrightly regarding the Kremlin's efforts to ratfck this country by tilting the election toward Trump. That's what his predecessor President Kennedy did only weeks before the 1962 midterms, when he informed the public of the presence of Soviet offensive missiles in Cuba.

    But, no, that would've been too easy. Instead, Obama chose to once again channel Herman Melville's Captain Ahab, lower the boats on the Pequod and give chase to Moby Dick's twin sister, the other great white whale known as "Bipartisan Support." How many times over the course of his eight years in office did that chase wind up running aground on the shoals of Capitol Hill?

    And so, when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell predictably put the kibosh on that effort, just as he did on so many other Obama-era initiatives to reach across the aisle -- oh, well, so much for the U.S. electorate's opportunity to go to the polls with the knowledge necessary to make an informed decision. Only now are we learning about the extent of Russia's penetration, and that's been entirely piecemeal, thanks to a series of leaks from some heroic whistleblowers, eight months ex post facto.

    Obama had a real opportunity here to cement his legacy as a truly great president. But rather than trust us with this information, he chose to keep us in the dark about what's since proved to be the most serious threat to our nation's national security since the Cuban Missile Crisis 54 years earlier.

    And when future historians recount and assess these times, they will undoubtedly note that this was the key and consequential moment when President Obama failed us spectacularly and choked, setting in motion a subsequent series of events which not only washed that legacy away, but further placed the American Republic itself in mortal peril.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Meanwhile (5.00 / 2) (#35)
    by FlJoe on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 03:17:49 PM EST
    Comey remains "mildly nasueous". Comey, Obama, the media and virtually the entire Republican establishment, have America's blood on their hands, to a greater or lesser degree.

    I would throw in Bernie Bots, Greeniacs and other assorted both side are eqally bad idiots.

    Our country is facing an existential crisis and I am not optimistic.


    Parent

    President and Mrs. Obama's (none / 0) (#36)
    by KeysDan on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 03:50:44 PM EST
    concerns for the Russian intervention may have been among factors in their enthusiastic commitment to, and participation in, the Clinton campaign. All efforts toward success in polls and at the polls may have been not only active support for Mrs. Clinton and the defeat of Trump, but also a part of the bulwark against Putin.

    Parent
    I think (none / 0) (#37)
    by FlJoe on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 04:26:05 PM EST
    his entusiastic psrticipstion was a given, Russia or not, if only to perserve his legacy.

    I agree with Donald, no Drama Obama blew it in the end, he watched Hillary get hounded over trivialities and  he the sat on one of the biggest bombshells ever.

    Parent

    I don't know (none / 0) (#41)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 09:42:06 PM EST
    I think it easy to say this now.  At the time I would guess Obama was looking back on his two terms and what republican hysterics had done to them.  It very easy for me to see the dilemma.  If they had really gone at this hard and Hillary had won as everyone expected it would have been Benghazi on injected steroids.

    And we know a lot more now than they did at the time.  

    I can fault Comey for what he did and did not do.  Reading that piece I think Obama did what he felt he could.

    Parent

    There is a conversation (none / 0) (#42)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 10:17:18 PM EST
    Happening right now on MSNBC with Ellen Nakashima, one of the reporters on that post article, that explains a lot about why things happened the way they did.

    It's worth watching.  It should be on the web later.

    One thing was that when the administration finally got the Intel agencies to agree on a public statement they released it and just a few hours later the ACcess Hollywood tape broke and it was completely drowned out.  

    It was a mess.  And I think armchair quarterbacking is just to easy.

    Anyway, I recommend the 11th Hour segment.

    Parent

    You (none / 0) (#43)
    by FlJoe on Sat Jun 24, 2017 at 06:24:17 AM EST
    hit the nail on the head here
    what republican hysterics had done to them.
    Democrats, the media and even some "moderate" Republicans are constantly walking around on eggshells lest they awake the howlers, but it never works.

    Meanwhile the howlers throw feces on everyone and anyone they choose, if and when they are called on it they scream fake news! obstruction! witch hunt!and any other lie de jour.

    Sadly in this blasted political landscape the howlers win more often then not, that my friend is what republican hysteria has done to us.

    Parent

    No argument here (none / 0) (#44)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jun 24, 2017 at 06:52:59 AM EST
    And playing into this was the assumption (5.00 / 3) (#38)
    by Anne on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 05:01:19 PM EST
    that Clinton was going to win, and as such, to go public with this was to feed the rantings of Trump that he was sure the election was being rigged for Clinton.

    I feel like Obama's distaste for drama, his concern for his legacy and his need to always seem to be the wise one, allowed multiple Hobson's choices to mushroom; Obama allowed himself to be painted into a corner, which means he failed as a leader.

    Parent

    I think that's exactly what happened, Anne. (5.00 / 1) (#39)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 06:05:11 PM EST
    And if the Russian penetration turns out to be as serious as it appears to be at this point, given the trajectory of the information tricking out about it, then Obama failed us absolutely.

    We needed a president who would protect this country from harm per his oath of office, and further trust us to support those efforts. What we got instead at crunch time was a Daddy figure who sought to shield us from bad news, out of some misguided notion that we were too fragile to handle the truth in the midst of a national election without unraveling at the seams.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Blaming the victim (5.00 / 1) (#45)
    by Lora on Sat Jun 24, 2017 at 10:01:22 AM EST
    Anything Obama ever did was dragged through the mud by the extreme right wing looney tunes. No reason to think anything different would have happened if he went public.  Then Obama and all the democrats would have been blamed excessively for "allowing" the Russian interference in the first place.  Trump might have won on that alone.

    The fact that all the federal investigators seem so very sure that actual votes were not meddled with may very well be due to Obama's back room strategy.  Apparently he warned Putin not to mess with the actual votes (I think I heard that in the 11th hour report as well).

    Trump was screaming election rigging in favor of Clinton when actually there was rigging in favor of Trump.  Somehow I don't think that is a coincidence.

    Parent

    Amen (5.00 / 1) (#46)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Jun 24, 2017 at 10:13:11 AM EST
    And halleuya.

    To little has been said about the fact Trump was preemptively saying the election was "fixed".

    Obama, more than anyone, knew any statement from him or his administration would open the flood gates of hysteria.

    Trump knew what was happening.  This, I believe, will be known.

    Parent

    ... were also saying only seven months ago that there was no evidence that the Russians had penetrated state voter databases and election systems. And now look where we are.

    I stand by what I said about Obama. He had an obligation last fall to level with the American people about what was going on. He did not, and we are paying dearly for that mistake.

    And honestly, who cares what Trump says? The guy is both a liar and a moron. Why do we as Democrats always let the GOP's bullschitt dictate the course of our own decision making and actions?

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Don't recall the databases (none / 0) (#48)
    by Lora on Sun Jun 25, 2017 at 11:48:20 PM EST
    My recollection is that we were "assured" that Russia didn't hack the vote itself; e.g. flip votes on electronic voting machines.

    However, I don't recall voter databases ever being discussed at the time. Did a google search and came up with nothing.

    Here's a Slate article from Dec. 13.

    I'm not so quick to blame Obama (especially with the right wingnuts jumping all over him for it.  Makes me suspicious already). I don't know that we have enough facts to judge him at this time.

    However, I like your last sentence (even though I do not consider myself a Democrat):

    Why do we as Democrats always let the GOP's bullschitt dictate the course of our own decision making and actions?

    It is time to play offense not defense.

    Parent

    Hear, hear. Offense. (none / 0) (#49)
    by Chuck0 on Mon Jun 26, 2017 at 09:22:36 AM EST
    Democrats, quit being milquetoasts. Get mean, get rude, go for the GOP throat. Trying winning for a change. No more end zone dances for "making a good showing."


    Parent
    My Theory (none / 0) (#50)
    by RickyJim on Mon Jun 26, 2017 at 09:39:24 AM EST
    The CIA has, from its git-go, been interfering with elections all over the world.  So Obama and Co. decided that if a foreign intelligence agency gets caught doing it in the US, it would be best to not awaken sleeping dogs by making a fuss over it.  Instead, strengthen security to prevent future occurrences.  

    Parent
    You could have a point there (none / 0) (#51)
    by Lora on Mon Jun 26, 2017 at 02:39:14 PM EST
    Spy vs Spy.

    If true, that would suggest that any president who had at least a minimal understanding of how the world works and the US covert role in the world (obviously excluding the current administration) might have done the same as Obama.

    Parent

    Color me (none / 0) (#1)
    by Repack Rider on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 01:41:27 PM EST
    ...not surprised.

    Isn't this what everyone else thought?

    I wonder how "intimidation" plays into (5.00 / 2) (#4)
    by Anne on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 01:55:19 PM EST
    a potential charge of obstruction, though.

    Trump seems to say whatever he thinks he needs to say to get himself back on top with whomever he is sparring, or to get whatever is his want of the moment, regardless of whether he said something completely different half an hour ago - and he won't bat an eye about saying something else entirely the next day.

    He creates his own chaos in the belief that if he's driving it, he can take it where he wants to go.

    I think he's a dangerous person, and I'm just hoping that when it all comes to a head (and it will), others aren't made to suffer for his behavior/actions.

    Parent

    they did (none / 0) (#5)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 02:08:54 PM EST
    go out of their way to say he did not intend to "threaten" Comey.  this was a banner off an on at MSNBC today

    Parent
    Given that Trump has pulled this (none / 0) (#7)
    by Anne on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 02:17:05 PM EST
    stunt on more than one occasion in his business dealings (and had to admit as much under oath), I think it's quite obvious that intimidation and threats are exactly why he said it.

    And he is still playing coy and hinting that perhaps "others" were doing the recording.

    It's pathological - I think he believes what he says in the moment.

    Yeah, that's the ticket...

    Parent

    oh yeah (none / 0) (#8)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 02:27:27 PM EST
    threaten was exactly waht he intended.  today seemed the result of advise of his growing legal team.

    on lying.  holy hell.  have you seen the lying hylites from that speech last night?

    i really think its time we stop walking on eggshells about the "Trump supporter" and start calling them what they are.  either they are mouth breathing morons to beleve this sh!t or they know its a lie and dont care.  which is worse.

    f@ck these idiots.  firmly.

    Parent

    I saw that the NYT finally started building (none / 0) (#10)
    by ruffian on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 02:56:10 PM EST
    fact checking right into the story about the speech, not waiting for another time. About time.

    Parent
    Check the body in the desert (none / 0) (#11)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 03:00:00 PM EST
    An NYTimes fact check (none / 0) (#33)
    by KeysDan on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 02:01:15 PM EST
    on Trump's rally speech in Iowa clocked in with at least 12 lies/misrepresentations: Samples: Insurance companies have fled Iowa (false); had "really big legislation" (e.g.,14 roll backs on Obama regulations, 3 named federal buildings, 3 appointments to Smithsonian regents);

     US is the highest taxed nation in the world (ranks near the bottom); building trends are great, starting to build again (May at an 8 month low); Economic Advisor and former Goldman Sachs president, paid $200 million in taxes to serve in the Trump Administration (required divestment resulted in the sale of $200 million in stock; subject to taxation, but not the tax);

     a new coal mine and 33,000 new coal mining jobs,(the new mine was started before his election, and the new coal mining jobs are actually 1,300); and he will ban immigrants from receiving welfare benefits for 5 years. ( This is already prohibited and has been for 20 years.)

    And, the King of Coal, reported to the crowd that he had the great idea of using solar panels on the big wall. The power generated will make it easier on Mexico to pay for the wall.  Great cheers for solar by the crowd.  They loved it all.

    Parent

    The NYT has published.. (none / 0) (#34)
    by desertswine on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 02:50:15 PM EST
    what it calls "a definitive list" of Trump's lies.  More to come, of course.

    Parent
    I was there in November (none / 0) (#12)
    by vicndabx on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 03:02:33 PM EST
    f@ck these idiots.  firmly.

    Welcome to the party.

    Parent

    Seriously (none / 0) (#13)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 03:06:29 PM EST
    I was willing to cut some slack.  The slack is officially gone

    Parent
    Me too (none / 0) (#18)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 08:28:45 PM EST
    but then I know too many of them.

    Parent
    there is a new NBC/WSJ poll today (none / 0) (#19)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 08:34:43 PM EST
    and the results are unbelievable.  something like 65% of republicans think the "russia thing" is made up fake news.
    its easy to find but i wouldnt do it without a stiff drink.

    Parent
    I would imagine (none / 0) (#22)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 08:38:37 PM EST
    it's the same 65% that thinks Obama was born in Kenya too. That is a scary proposition. I just keep telling the Republicans I know the GOP has got to quit lying to them (their voters). I'm not sure how they get out of this disaster they've created or these monster zombie voters they've created.

    Parent
    the implicatios (none / 0) (#23)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 08:41:02 PM EST
    for what could happen when they pull the tigger on Trump is really pretty frightening.  i just hope Mueller has his ducks in a row and has the utterly undeniable goods.

    and even then....

    Parent

    Seriously (none / 0) (#25)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 08:46:17 PM EST
    I think these people will go to their graves not believing Mueller. The GOP better have Trump go on TV and admit to everything he has done to get these people to believe it.

    Parent
    Never going to happen. (none / 0) (#27)
    by Chuck0 on Fri Jun 23, 2017 at 08:12:53 AM EST
    Never, evah. The GOP will foment civil war first.

    Parent
    I don't think that he said... (none / 0) (#2)
    by desertswine on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 01:43:03 PM EST
    there are no tapes, but rather, that he didn't have any.  

    Yup - thus leading to speculation that he (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by ruffian on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 01:44:16 PM EST
    is trying to imply someone else has some.

    He does this stuff on purpose. Typical bully.

    Parent

    Yes, or as in ... (5.00 / 3) (#6)
    by KeysDan on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 02:14:15 PM EST
    he no longer has any tapes. The tapes backed Comey's version, rather than his.  The initial claim was a bully tactic only and no longer serve his purpose.

    Parent
    Mr Bill (none / 0) (#14)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 03:17:51 PM EST
    Just shared an interesting thought on this.

    He said Comey obviously knew what was said in his conversations with Trump.  He probably was not trying to intimidate him.  So perhaps by suggesting there was recordings he was trying to intimidate others who may have had conversations with him on a range of subjects that might not be as careful or innocent as Comey.

    Hey, before you talk to the FBI you might want to think about what you said...

    It's an interesting thought.

    FML (none / 0) (#15)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 05:20:42 PM EST
    After a cascading series of controversies created in large part by Donald Trump's Twitter account, the president took to his preferred medium again on Thursday to float another conspiracy theory: the Oval Office itself could be under surveillance.
    Trump ended speculation on Thursday about whether he had installed a recording device in the Oval Office and made "tapes" of his conversations with former FBI director James Comey, a possibility he first raised in another tweet in early May. "I did not make, and do not have, any such recordings," he wrote.
    But then, unprompted, he floated another possibility: U.S. intelligence or law enforcement officials might have his office bugged. "With all of the recently reported electronic surveillance, intercepts, unmasking and illegal leaking of information, I have no idea whether there are `tapes' or recordings of my conversations with James Comey," Trump wrote.

    Informed of the president's denial that he had recorded his conversations with Comey, a senior administration official replied, "At least that's behind us." When alerted to his apparent suspicions of Oval Office surveillance, the official replied in a text message, "fml."
    That's shorthand for "f@ck my life."

    LINK

    the funny thing (none / 0) (#16)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 05:21:40 PM EST
    they really might

    Parent
    There is speculation (none / 0) (#20)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 08:36:05 PM EST
    that the foreign intelligence community has Trump on tape because they have been following him for quite a while.

    It's likely there are some tapes but likely not of the meeting with Comey unless he did it on his cell phone. I would not put that past him. His "threats" against Comey are now being talked about as witness tampering. Whether it meets any legal standard I certainly would have no idea.

    Parent

    if what we have read (none / 0) (#21)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 08:38:34 PM EST
    is true that they are treating this white house like a mafia investigation i would be surprised if they were not listening in for months.

    Parent
    I've read the investigation (none / 0) (#24)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 08:43:31 PM EST
    is three pronged but I can't remember all the three areas but mafia is definitely one of them and that's mostly the financial part as I understand it where they are looking for money laundering. There's also the ties with Cambridge Analytica and their ties to Russia. So that would deal with the campaign investigation. Mafia style money laundering is apparently going to hit Trump and the family members. The money that was supposedly laundered through the GOP is going to hit lots of people in DC.

    Parent
    Rachel did a great segment (none / 0) (#26)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Jun 22, 2017 at 08:55:17 PM EST
    last night on the things that are slowly coming to light about which voting systems were attacked.  the point being they seem to be democratic areas.

    so far there has been no in depth nationwide look at this.  incredibly.  but it trickling out.

    worth going to the site if you have not seen it.  the site is difficult to link to.

    Parent