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Trump Expected to Keep FBI Director James Comey

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Analysts Believe Comey’s Letter Handed Election to Trump

President Donald Trump reportedly has asked James Comey to stay on as head of the FBI. By law, thanks to reforms put in place after J. Edgar Hoover’s enure, the head of the Bureau is appointed to a ten-year term, designed to overlap more than one administration. But the president can fire the FBI Director. And with the exception of Robert Mueller, who served President George W. Bush during and after 9/11, no FBI chief after Hoover has served their full ten-year term.

On Sunday, President Trump, during a White House reception for law enforcement and first responders, blew Comey a kiss, whispered something in his ear, and gave him a thumbs up sign as the two exchanged greetings.

Many believe Comey is friendly to Trump, given his actions during the election. Comey chose to very publicly tell Congress the FBI had discovered a laptop shared by Clinton top aide Huma Abedin and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner, which had emails on it. 

Election analysts, including Nate Silver, strongly believe Comey’s letter to Congress announcing the discovery of the emails turned the election to Trump’s favor.

Comey also hid the fact that the FBI for many months has been investigating members of the Trump campaign and their relationship with Russian officials. 

Director Comey “told his top agents from around the country that he had been asked by President Trump to stay on the job running the federal government’s top law enforcement agency,” The New York Times reports, citing “people familiar with the matter.” 

“When Mr. Comey and the president-elect met in Trump Tower for the first time earlier this month for an intelligence briefing, Mr. Trump told the F.B.I. director that he hoped he would remain in his position, according to people briefed on the matter. And Mr. Trump’s aides have made it clear to Mr. Comey that the president does not plan to ask him to leave, these people said.”

The Dept. of Justice is reviewing the FBI’s handling of the investigation into Clinton’s emails, including Comey’s decision to publicize the discovery of Abedin’s laptop with Clinton emails.

Some responses via Twitter:

 

RELATED STORIES:

FBI Director Comey Responds to News Inspector General Will Investigate His Actions Surrounding Clinton’s Emails

Analysts Suggest ‘Comey Cost Clinton the Election’

Justice Dept. Opens Review of FBI and DOJ Actions Regarding Hillary Clinton’s Emails, Including FBI Director’s October Letter

FBI Director Says He ‘Would Never Comment’ When Asked if There’s an Investigation or Not Into Trump and Russia

‘Extraordinary Impropriety’: Clinton Attorney Says FBI Director’s Letter ‘Produced Devastating but Predictable Damage’

FBI Forced to Release Clinton Pre-Election Emails Search Warrant – Attorney Says Shows ‘No Probable Cause’

 

 

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News

Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Says It Is Coordinating With Trump to ‘Surrender’

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22 mins ago

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March 30, 2023

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Donald Trump’s attorneys were notified Thursday afternoon a Manhattan grand jury had voted to indict him on felony charges related to his alleged hush money payoff of a porn star he reported slept with.

The ex-president’ attorney recently said if indicted Trump would travel to New York to turn himself in.

The Office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has just issued a strongly-worded statement saying it is “coordinating” with Trump’s attorneys for his “surrender.”

“This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected,” the statement reads.

READ MORE: ‘You Can’t Stand on Fifth Avenue and Just Shoot Somebody’: Donald Trump Indicted – Legal Experts Respond

The Daily Beast’s Jose Pagliery posted the statement to Twitter.

NBC News explains the process, noting he is expected to be arraigned next week.

“After the indictment, Trump will be arrested and taken into custody. He will likely have a mug shot and fingerprints taken,” NBC reports. “Trump will then appear in court to be arraigned, where he will hear charges and enter a plea. Two sources familiar with the situation told NBC News that the former president is likely to be arraigned next week. Trump will either be jailed or released while pre-trial hearings take place.”

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'INDICTED FOR HIS BEHAVIOR'

‘You Can’t Stand on Fifth Avenue and Just Shoot Somebody’: Donald Trump Indicted – Legal Experts Respond

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45 mins ago

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March 30, 2023

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Just past 5:00 PM ET The New York Times broke the news that Donald Trump, the ex-president, had been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on felony charges.

It is a historic moment.

Legal experts are weighing in to help guide Americans through an event that has never before happened in this country.

Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Ackerman says the fact that this is the first time in U.S. history a president is facing criminal charges is itself a problem.

“I think it would have not been a novel event,” Ackerman said on MSNBC, “if we had done this 49 years ago with Richard Nixon, and he had not been pardoned, this will not be a big event [that] it is today.”

READ MORE: New Poll Sends Trump Damning Message About 2024 if He’s Criminally Indicted

“Everybody should be held accountable,” Ackerman added, citing former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s earlier remarks. Cohen testified repeatedly before the Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump late Thursday afternoon after a three-hour session.

Ackerman lamented that despite over 30 people being indicted during Watergate, “Richard Nixon was pardoned, he wasn’t held accountable.”

“I think this is very important,” Ackerman continued, “establishing a principle, a line in the sand, that even if you’re the President of the United States, and you commit a crime, you can’t stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and just shoot somebody.”

Ackerman was referring to Trump’s infamous comments during the 2016 election, when he bragged he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

Attorney and civil rights activist Maya Wiley, also on MSNBC, said, “It’s important and sobering that we had somebody who had the highest office of this country who has now ben indicted for his behavior, his acts, in order to win that office, but also faces what are more shoes that will drop, I believe.”

“It is a sobering moment for this country, that we are witnessing this happened to somebody who was entrusted with such power who has now had a jury of his peers, because that is what a grand jury also is, say we believe he had to face the music.”

READ MORE: Here’s How Five Republicans in Congress Are Responding to the Mass Shooting of 3 Children and 3 Adults in Nashville (Video)

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, now a professor of law, called this a “moment where we would do well to seriously assess who we are as Americans and who we are not as Americans, because we re all so familiar with Donald Trump’s tactics.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

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News

Donald Trump Indicted by Manhattan Grand Jury on Felony Charges: NYT

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2 hours ago

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March 30, 2023

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Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury investigating his role in a hush money payoff scheme that allegedly was designed to aid his election chances in 2016, according to multiple news reports.

“Mr. Trump will be the first former president to face criminal charges. The precise charges are not yet known, but the case is focused on a hush-money payment to a porn star during his 2016 campaign,” The New York Times was first to report. “The unprecedented case against Trump will have wide-ranging implications.”

CNN, citing sources, also reports Trump has been indicted.

Trump’s attorney, Susan Necheles, confirms to CBS News’ Graham Kates that the ex-president has been indicted.

NEW –
Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Says It Is Coordinating With Trump to ‘Surrender’
‘You Can’t Stand on Fifth Avenue and Just Shoot Somebody’: Donald Trump Indicted – Legal Experts Respond

This is a breaking news and developing story.

Image via Shutterstock

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