Here we go again. From the WaPo:
The FBI will investigate whether additional classified material is contained in emails sent using Hillary Clinton’s private email server while she was secretary of state, FBI director James Comey informed Congressional leaders Friday.
The announcement appears to restart the FBI’s probe of Clinton’s server, less than two weeks before the presidential election, an explosive development that could shape the campaign’s final days.
Sweet Weeping Jeebus running running backwards down the up escalator, will this shit never fucking end?
ETA: What he said…
Dropping a letter full of portent but lacking any information 10 days before the election seems like a wild abuse of power, but ymmv.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) October 28, 2016
wenchacha
Fuckinfuckfuckfucketyfuck
Keith P.
Has the FBI ever done this so close to a major election before? AFAIK they have typically postponed investigations like this specifically to avoid looking like a political apparatus.
Thoroughly Pizzled
I wish that email had never been invented.
brendancalling
hi, and welcome to Simple Answers to Simple Questions. Today’s contestant is Ballon Juice’s own Betty Cracker who asks, “Sweet Weeping Jeebus running running backwards down the up escalator, will this shit never fucking end?”
The answer is “No. It will never end. Ever.”
Well, that’s our show! We’ll see you next time on [GONNNNNNNNGGGG!] Simple Answers to Simple Questions!
TK
Can Obama just go ahead and issue a blanket pardon to everyone involved in sending or receiving emails to this server so that the FBI has no crime to investigate (whether or not one occurred) and then the GOP can just go fuck right off? Or would that look too partisan.
PsiFighter37
Fuck James Comey. If Obama was a worse person than he is, he would ask for Comey’s resignation on November 9th.
This is a lesson to Democrats – stop appointing Republicans to anything of importance. They will fucking shiv you because they are all scorpions.
dmsilev
Yeah, no shit. Comey is acting like a partisan here. And a particularly underhanded one at that.
Betty Cracker
@Keith P.: Not that I recall. I don’t consider Comey an honest actor in this little drama. At all. I thought his prosecutorial statement when releasing the findings of the last report was highly improper. And now this?
Trentrunner
And media is running with it. Clinton Rules, through 11/8 and beyond.
Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck
No, it can’t. There’s nothing to find because they already looked, and the media was already hyping Email Questions as high as they could go. Since Trump’s team is keeping him from opening his mouth in public, there is nothing left to happen until the election. All the wikileaks and other email shit has become background noise.
Betty Cracker
@PsiFighter37: Ten thousand amens to that.
Gin & Tonic
Maybe Julian Assange can ask the FSB to steal Comey’s e-mails.
Urza
I very much want Obama to blanket pardon both Clintons for everything they’ve ever done to that point so Republican heads explode when they want to investigate. But not till after she wins because it would look way to suspicious before.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
No one cares about emails except Republicans.
Renie
don’t worry our professional non-partisan media will properly examine the facts and report accordingly….in a parallel universe perhaps
TK
@Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck: I do wonder about that. Frankly, I think a lot of low information voters may have mixed up the Podesta emails with this server anyway.
Betty Cracker
@Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck: I’m confident there’s nothing in the “new” emails, but I’m not confident that this development won’t fuck with Clinton’s and the Democrats’ electoral prospects.
tobie
Comey’s letter is addressed only to Republicans. Is it usual to exclude the ranking minority party members of a committee in announcing the reopening of an investigation?
comrade scott's agenda of rage
This is good news for Mrs Greenspan.
NR
Blame Obama for appointing a Republican in the first damn place.
Chris
@PsiFighter37:
Yep. See also Clinton keeping Colin Powell on as CJCS and Obama keeping Gates around as SecDef.
hovercraft
When is this mofo’s 10 years up?
You know what, they’ve tried this the last couple of years, the polls all show that she is not trusted, it’s built in. They know that she is going to the next president, this is to try to hold onto the senate. If she gets the senate they know that she will tilt the supreme court, and she will push the courts even further to the left than Obama has. 12 years of straight democratic appointments would undo the Federalists project to create a corporatist judiciary.
PsiFighter37
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: No, the media will fucking hype it to make it a big deal. Now Clinton is going to spend the last 10 days playing defense on this shit. This could very well erase chances of picking up the Senate.
God fucking dammit. Fuck Comey.
JPL
@wenchacha: this
Joyce H
Siiiiiigh! Was there ever ANY investigation into the 20+ MILLION emails that the Bush administration illegally stored on RNC servers before they deleted them all? And what with the lying us into a war and outing a CIA agent and committing war crimes and all the stuff that crew got up to, I’d imagine there was plenty of evidence of criminality that went up in smoke there.
Doug R
@Rock the World: That’s what she said.
Hal
Meh. I get the optics, but I think people who have decided to vote Hillary aren’t going to change their mind. I also think as much glee as Trumpsters will have over this, just as many voters will be side eyeing why Comey would do this now. Also, I’m assuming this is going to be weeks or months of “looking into it”? If anything it just gives Republicans fuel for impeachment once Hillary wins. Again, I can’t wait for this election to be over.
Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck
@Betty Cracker:
I am, because to anyone paying attention this is a nothingburger, and to anyone only vaguely paying attention this is no different from every other ‘Ooh, we’ve got her now!’ moment the media talking heads have been leaping on. If Comey had pulled this before ‘BUT EMAILS!!!’ had resumed after Trump’s self-inflicted wounds, maybe it would be big.
Joel
Nah, not getting out of the boat.
Tokyokie
First Comey investigates and finds nothing. Then he issues a scolding memo explaining that although the investigation found nothing, Clinton is still a shady operative. Then he decides 10 days before the election that he’d better investigate again. Do I have that right? And did Ken Starr get hired on as an FBI consultant since his defenestration at Baylor? This strikes me as perilously close to the constitutional protection against double jeopardy, but then, such niceties are only available to right-wingers, apparently.
Tripod
The White House, and Senate control are foregone conclusions, so….
The GOP establishment is seeing the bottom falling out on the House, and state races, and flinging shit at the walls.
Fair Economist
Comey was on the Whitewater witchhunt team. A leopard never changes its spots.
Amir Khalid
@Rock the World:
You don’t know that it’s anything at all. Remember the October surprise that Julian Assange was promising and promising, and all the damage it did to Hillary’s campaign? Yeah, me neither.
Doug R
Stop panicking everybody. Did all those Benghaaaaaaazi hearings really gain any traction? People are sick of this and the needle should barely move, even if they find another three emails missclassified.
maurinsky
And the FBI says that any mention of “reopening the investigation” is premature.
What the fuck ever. If I could vote early, I would have already, I have zero qualms about voting for our first woman president in a week and a half.
Cermet
Since the e-mails, if real, are illegally obtained – they have no legal status; since they cannot be proven to be real, still, no legal status; in sum, useless in all senses of the word and the FBI cannot use them other then saying they can look at them. Even as a joke this doesn’t work. Irrelevant is an understatement. LOL
JPL
@Tokyokie: Before Starr was caught up in his own scandal, he praised Clinton.
NYTimes link
hovercraft
@Rock the World:
This is the map I linked to earlier.
I am shaking in my boots.
Try harder shomi.
Couldn't Stand the Weather
This is the fourth (?) time the g00pers have investigated these emails. As someone else mentioned a minute ago, they won’t find anything cuz if there were something to be found they would have found it by now.
These idiots are just doing what they do.
Starr investigated Whitewater for five years.
The Congressional g00pers have tried to repeal the ACA 50 times.
There a line about the definition of insanity, something abou expecting a different result.
tobie
@Tokyokie: Now’s the time to start digging up the dirt on Comey’s work for Ken Starr in the Whitewater investigation. The guy is an unbelievable partisan sleaze. It galls him that another Clinton could be elected President and he is doing everything within his power to stop that. Shithead. Shame on Obama for appointing him.
Timurid
So this means another big oppo dump is forthcoming? Please?
germy
@Hal: At this point, maybe it’s not so much about preventing her win.
They will find this useful after she wins.
Gin & Tonic
Is this info actually from the FBI, or just from that scumbag Chaffetz?
comrade scott's agenda of rage
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/28/1587925/-Despite-the-horrendous-reporting-the-FBI-is-NOT-reopening-the-Clinton-email-investigation
Looks like the Villagers had an Emily Latella moment except they’ll never actually say “Nevermind”.
Once again, the only satisfying thing about a Trump presidency would be the televised executions of our elite national press members.
gene108
@Betty Cracker:
You can only be FBI director for 10 years, and after that what are your job prospects?
You know there’s sweet, sweet wing nut welfare waiting to pay you, once you step down, as long as you can show you were a foot soldier for the cause.
There’s too much money on the table, waiting to be had, for Comey to do anything else.
Hildebrand
I see this as just pissing off Democrats, which will make them even more motivated to vote for Clinton.
germy
@Gin & Tonic: Letter from Comey to congressional republicans. The letter is featured at the Washington Post website.
Amir Khalid
What seems most likely is that the FBI is just tidying up a loose end in the email investigation. It wouldn’t seem worth an announcement unless they find something incriminating in them emails, which seems highly unlikely.
Betty Cracker
RE: ROCK THE WORLD: This is the troll formerly known as “Right To Rise” and several other lame-ass handles, who has been banned by pretty much everyone who has keys. I drop-kicked the motherfucker, and if he shows up again, I’ll ban his next incarnation. Y’all can answer him if you want, but I won’t guarantee your comments won’t end up in the spam bucket along with the troll.
SiubhanDuinne
@tobie:
The Democrats (Committee Vice-chairs, Ranking Members) are all copied on the second page of the letter. It’s linked in the WaPo story.
Mary G
Oh God, the media is going nuts. Sigh.
Timurid
@Mary G:
WE GOT OURSELVES A HORSE RACE, BOYS!
bemused
Joe Biden is campaigning in Duluth MN now. KBJR tv is streaming it. Hope Joe gives a boost to Rick Nolan.
PaulWartenberg2016
Fuck.
October Surprise.
Anyone Surprised?
Mnemosyne
@Hildebrand:
I re-checked my early voting location and will probably try to go tomorrow if I can wade through all of the CA ballot propositions. Because fuck these guys.
Starfish
A lot of people have voted already and cannot change their votes. October surprises are just not going to be so very effective any more when people have already cast their votes.
Chris
@Betty Cracker:
Thank you. Troll control is a thing I greatly appreciate.
sigaba
@Thoroughly Pizzled: I respect Lindsey Graham’s approach: NEVER SEND EMAILS. Pick up a phone.
Judge Crater
Trump is a horror show, but if Hillary loses it will be her own fault. Good Christ on a hard drive, having her own email server was a blunder of epic proportions. After decades of being ratfucked by the GOP, why would she give them any openings to screw her. Hubris…it’s always hubris. She’s too smart for her own good. This isn’t 20-20 hindsight – her staff was blindsided too.
Mnemosyne
@PaulWartenberg2016:
Doesn’t it have to be something new to be a surprise?
This is more like the nth retread of Godzilla.
PaulWartenberg2016
We already have a Far Right wingnut faction foaming at the mouth over “rigged elections” and here we go again with the goddamn emails that have been INVESTIGATED FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS NOW. /headdesk
MisterForkbeard
@Tokyokie: You forgot that he took the unprecedented step of releasing the investigation notes to the Republican Congress over the summer so that they could look for politically damaging information.
Cacti
I’m dead certain this will turn out differently than the last 25 years worth of investigation the right wing has done on the Clintons.
Mary G
@Timurid: This is Republicans saving Congress.
Cermet
Again, these emails canNOT be used in any court of law – period; either their real and were illegally obtained so cannot be used; or fakes, which again, means useless. Only if they can be proven real can the FBI ask people questions about them (and then use those statements against the person – not the emails) but the emails themselves can never be used. This whole issue is nothing. Hillary isn’t stupid enough to talk about these even to the FBI so, issue is dead in the water. Put a fork in it.
NoraLenderbee
@Timurid: Yeah, hurry up with that.
Botsplainer
Wonder how much comity is being expected of liberals this time around should Trump pull it off?
Trentrunner
People need to stop confusing Wikileaks emails with SoS Clinton’s private server, which is what the FBI investigated, and what Comey is referring to today.
Anyway, it’s all Clinton Rules BS, so might as well conflate. Conflate on!
Gin & Tonic
@Judge Crater:
Like every prior SoS since the invention of e-mail.
Lee
Does these emails actually change the space-time continuum?
Because that is the only way they are pertinent.
gene108
@Doug R:
Benghazi hearings and e-mail investigations are the reasons Hillary is not beating the Donald by more.
They set a narrative that Clinton is dishonest, even if people are not worked up about it, the drip, drip, drip of Clinton “scandals” in the headlines does leave an impact on how many voters view her.
Shell
@wenchacha: That says it all.
Redshift
Meh. They’ll look at some more emails, find nothing because there’s nothing to be found, and re-close the investigation. The media will get excited, but it’s already baked into the election. Republicans have already announced that they’re going to be investigating “the emails” if they hold the House; this isn’t going to change that one easy or the other.
The only thing that seems highly improper, as others have noted, is making an announcement two weeks before the election. Comey seems to have a habit of making improper (and unnecessary) announcements.
JR in WV
You can count me in with those who want this unethical and immoral dolt of a Republican puppet fired on November 9th, along with the Presidential pardon of both Clintons for any crime or misdemeanor committed before January 19th, 2017. This on the grounds that (add up how many here) investigations have never found any sign of criminal behavior, so this puts an end to the pointless harassment. So as to allow President Clinton to run the nation without pointless and meaningless investigations.
I’m sure there will be discussions about this, how to position it, etc. They may decide that it would be better to set out the principle that they will not facilitate continuing harassment of public servants, and so no information or testimony will be provided to Republican committees.
Or maybe it will be moot as Democrats will be in charge of investigations, and they will be requiring testimony from former Republican congress-people. Best case, here, I think.
D58826
And on a Friday afternoon so it will be the one and only topic on the Sunday gab fests.
Chris
@Cermet:
Depends on what the media does with the nothing – as we saw in September, they could narrow the polls quite a bit with nothing but relentless wall-to-wall 24/7 negative coverage of nothingburgers. Legally speaking, it’s useless. Electorally speaking? Probably, but not certainly.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker:
Let me buy you
a beerthe biggest fucking umbrella drink in all of Florida!Cermet
@Trentrunner: I am referring to the wiki-illegal emails; emails that the FBI obtained legally are, of course, usable. Haven’t heard anything about new ones relative to those. Has something been found that is not wiki related?
NR
@Mary G: Every poll says there are still a LOT of undecided voters. This could very well put Trump in the White House.
SiubhanDuinne
IANAL (all too obviously), but wouldn’t double jeopardy or something have kicked in once the earlier investigation was closed with no charges brought against Secretary Clinton? Can the FBI seriously (legally) just keep bringing the same charges again and again?
(Just heard Trump from his campaign rally. Funny how, after spending a year excoriating the DoJ, FBI, etc., he is now full of praise for their professionalism. “I have a tremendous respect for the facts.” I’d LOL, but I feel almost sick to my stomach about this.)
The Moar You Know
@NR: Wholehearted agreement. His major failure, and it’s a bad one, is that he really wanted to trust them. Even after they told him exactly what they were going to do and why.
You should know better...
I have to say, it seems like Comey and the FBi are farked on this one…
If they DON’T say something and this comes out after the election, they’ll be accused of covering it up to protect Clinton and Republicans will be screaming bloody murder about THAT…
What do they do? Sit on it and hold on tight?
Unrelated matter? How do we know this isn’t more Wikileaks bullshit, hand crafted by the Russians?
Trentrunner
Pete Williams on MSNBC confirming that Comey is NOT referring to any Russian-hacked emails.
dr. bloor
@Tripod:
I’ll have what you’re having.
trollhattan
@D58826:
No shit. This is a Friday Drop and nasty bit of work. I especially don’t want the Bundy verdict shoved off the front pages, because typical folks have zero idea how dangerous an action that jury committed.
sigaba
@Judge Crater: Shrug. Colin Powell had his own email server and so did the Bush White House. Running government correspondence through private email servers was basically SOP in 2008. I agree it’s not defensible from an ethical standpoint but it’s not “hubris.”
When people describe Hillary’s behavior as “hubris” or being “too smart for her own good,” more often than not they’re actually describing behavior that men get away with routinely and are rewarded for. It just feels like a fancy PC way of saying she’s uppity.
BTW Come sure turned out swell didn’t he? As a Republican appointee in a Democratic administration I suppose he was a logical choice but we have to face the fact that he’s an Ashcroft loyalist who’s greatest accomplishment was, at a critical moment, to be slightly less of a police stater than Alberto Gonzalez.
Cermet
@Chris: Yes, dumb people use emotion and not any common sense (which, as we have often discovered, is rare in this country.) I was talking from a legal standpoint. Public opinion, as you correctly point out, is another issue.
Tokyokie
@MisterForkbeard: Oh yeah, that as well. But it strikes me that his memo today is either an explicit admission that his previous investigation was inadequate or an implicit admission that he is using his office for partisan purposes, either of which should be grounds for summary termination. (Of course, doing so would make him an instant martyr to the GOP cause, and bring this shitbag even more attention.) And once the ratfucker leaves office and assumes his wingnut welfare sinecure, he should be investigated to determine whether his extraordinarily improper execution of his official duties involved a quid pro quo.
hueyplong
I agree this is an attempt to secure the House and Senate. A way to stem the tide of despondent GOPers losing the will to go to the polls.
If there were really something of substance there and people were cleverly gaming the election, today’s first shot would have come earlier in the timeline (at least a couple of weeks ago). And Roger Stone wouldn’t have been able to resist bragging about the hammer about to fall.
If you want to despair over something, despair of any chance that Republicans are on the verge of shaking off extremism and obstruction. That ain’t happening.
SenyorDave
@trollhattan: The Bundy verdict barely made it to the front pages. Most people don’t understand/don’t care, and its white people anyway.
Gin & Tonic
@Redshift: Kurt Eichenwald is noting on Twitter that Comey had a duty to inform Congress pretty much as soon as something came to light, because he had testified to them that the FBI had finished reviewing evidence.
hovercraft
@Judge Crater:
The server was obviously stupid, but private e-mail was the norm. The media barely bated an eye re. the Bush private e-mails and the millions more that went missing. Clinton Rules mean that this will be the biggest scandal since the last one that fizzled out. The voters have been hearing about the server, e-mails, deleted e-mails and the FBI investigation for over a year and a half now, this will change things only on the margins. Like I said before this will have a bigger effect down ballot than at the presidential level which is already pretty much baked. Comey and the repubes are trying to save the senate.
Cermet
@SiubhanDuinne: Of course they (the FBI) can and as often as they want – double jeopardy only pertains to court rulings from a trial.
Sam
The worst part of this is no idea what Comey is referring to…making it almost impossible to forcefully rebut him.
piratedan
if what is stated is accurate about who the letter was sent to and how it ended up being “leaked” to the press… you have to hand it to those bastards…
sent only to Repubs… check
vagueness to the point of absurdity…. check
no indication of what law was broken… check
no specifics as to whose e-mails they even belong to… check
what they’re looking at in relation to what… yeh.., right
they could have just stated that there was a spy at the airport… go find them…
and naturally, it would be irresponsible to NOT speculate. Those already in the bag for the GOP will have to change their undies because they’ve already soiled the ones that they’re wearing.
Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck
@Chris:
They were already doing this. The moment Trump shut up, they went back to how terribly sinister Clinton’s emails are. This will just disappear into the noise. Although it would be great if it makes Trump do something publicly stupid again. The man is amazing at shooting himself in the groin.
Scamp Dog
@Renie: That universe is so different, it’s probably a perpendicular universe.
hovercraft
@Trentrunner:
Feature not a bug.
The media and republicans talk about “e-mails and the server” as one “scandal” to make her look as shady as possible.
D58826
January 21, 2017 – article one of the second Clinton impeachment.
You should know better...
@trollhattan:
I agree completely… this will only encourage dozens of like-minded, loony-tunes “freedom loving” buffoons to continue seizing Federal lands at gun point… until this all culminates some sort of hideous, over-the-top ‘Ruby Ridge’ shoot out…
Ruckus
@Cermet:
Had a professor in college whose signature statement was “If common sense actually was, more people would have some of it.”
catclub
@Betty Cracker:
I think the best way to ban trolls is to have their comments only show up in their own browser, no one else’s. Kind of like the way that
the ‘your comment is awaiting moderation’ is put on those comments, but without the notice of moderation.
Mnemosyne
Well, we can curl up into a ball and weep hysterically, or we can fight.
All y’all whiners can do what you want, just stay out of my goddamned way.
Percysowner
It will end and I can tell you exactly when. The days after Hillary dies the news media (whatever its form) and all of her enemies will go on about what a wonderful person she was, what a great politician and only then will mention all the good she did in office. They will be the biggest hypocrites ever, but they will do the Hosannas and praise her to the skies.
Cacti
@NR:
Sorry sport. Your dream isn’t coming true.
catclub
Nothingburger.
If Comey wanted to be partisan, all he had to do was recommend prosecution after the previous investigation, and let the Democrats complain that no one else had ever been prosecuted for similar behavior. But he didn’t. He said he was NOT recommending prosecution.
Lots of twisted knickers.
WaterGirl
@PsiFighter37:
Rotating tag!
Ella in New Mexico
Given the above situation, Comey could have gone ahead with the plan he states above to review and verify the authenticity of and therefore the significance of any emails the FBI has in it’s possession with no public announcement. Just like you would any other investigation.
The fact he felt compelled to reassure Chaffetz’s committee and publicly announce his intentions is clearly a desperate attempt at partisan interference in the election and a conspicuous message to them that he supports their agenda to continue to harass Hilary Clinton for the next two years.
With Lynch at his side, Obama should call his saggy white ass into his office and let him have it. And inform him that regardless of the outcome of the election, his days are now numbered and he needs to pack his crap up and leave that office clean and tidy on November 9th.
sigaba
@piratedan: On a certain level Comey is stuck; even if he thinks this is a nothingburger, that there’s really no evidence of anything, that this is all really preliminary etc. he has to immediately dump everything he knows to Congress, because his office already knows he’s been briefed and if he waited, people in his office would immediately rat him out to the Congressional Republicans and then Congress would have an “FBI coverup of Clinton Emails,” which is legitimately worse than vanilla “Clinton Emails.” You know that people in Comey’s briefing were immediately on their iPhones texting Chaffez about it, it was just up to Comey what kind of scandal it was going to be and if he was going to be implicated or the good soldier.
This is why you don’t appoint Republicans to things: even when they want to do the right thing they’re constantly being threatened with their job if they try.
What I wonder is who briefed him about the emails, why were these emails stuck in a hopper until yesterday?
D58826
From Twitter
1. So what is it about?
2. A number of tweets are saying that Comey would look bad if he withheld the info until after the election and there was something incriminating. Which IS BS for any number of reasons. Other than as character assassination the investigation will not be complete till after the election. Since the details are so sparse exactly how does the Clinton camp respond. Assuming there really is something there then impeachment/resignation are always options.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: so, I’m presuming, Ms. Hamilmaniac, that you’ve seen *this*
hovercraft
How much you wanna bet that the timeframe is just long enough to count all the ballots? Or if he’s smart he waits till inauguration day to make it look like she pressured him into killing his investigation, so that she has a cloud over her head from the get go.
D58826
@Ella in New Mexico:
Also could have slow-walked the whole thing by telling his people to go back and double check everything. He is enough of a political insider that he could have found a way to delay this for 11 days.
jk
@You should know better…:
I disagree, it seems like Comey and the FBI are more likely to be fucked than farked.
Jeffro
Already received word of this via a veritably cackling email from RW-dad…I guess he’s been waiting for his “Democratic Nixon” since 1973 or whoever. Well, I’m not going to waste time trying to defend Hillz, she’s done more than enough in that regard. This is clearly just an attempt to have her stumble into the Oval Office as wounded as possible.
Let’s GOTV and make sure that if nothing else, she has a Democratic Senate to work with, one that can confirm every single judicial and exec branch appointment
PaulWartenberg2016
The only thing that could keep this off the headlines over the weekend is Trump physically groping high school cheerleaders at a rally on live television.
hovercraft
@D58826:
POLITICO
gvg
@Betty Cracker: Someone pointed out that if his current name rock the world, it would cause an awful lot of our comments to end up eaten. Hard to se how to avoid the word world on a politics blog and pretty had to avoid rock. I have no better suggestion and have a poor understanding of how banning actually works though.
hueyplong
If Comey walks back any of Chaffetz’s language, then Chaffetz will be the story as much as Clinton is.
Sometimes we underestimate Chaffetz’s stupidity and ham-handed willingness to overstate his case to whiplash effect.
WaterGirl
Me:
Liked Bill as President, not impressed by Hillary Clinton.
Thought the email server issue was predictable, an unforced error, really dumb.
Really did not want her as president, didn’t even want to hear her speak.
Willing to vote for her as 1000x better than Trump.
Fast forward through months of email bullshit and everything else that has been thrown at her.
Witnessed so many lies and so much bullshit thrown at her that it makes me doubt all the things I formerly believed.
Was impressed with her at debate #2 with the stalker on stage.
Thought she did really well with at debate #3.
Voted for her happily enough a couple of weeks ago.
I think all this new email stuff is partisan bullshit, doesn’t change my opinion of Hillary in the slightest. I suspect I’m not the only one.
SenyorDave
24/7 for the next day or so, IMO its big but not cataclysmic. However, since its so vague the pundits can speculate for the next 11 days.
You should know better...
@sigaba: My point exactly…
This is where you end up when certain players in the process go way out of their way to politicize everything…
No matter what some people now do, they’re screwed… and I’m talking about more than just this event…
SiubhanDuinne
@piratedan:
NO NO NO NO NO. All of the Democratic Vice-chairs and Ranking Members were openly cc’d in the FBI letter.
This is a (potentially) bad enough situation. Let’s not make it worse by claiming some nefarious behavior on Comey’s part that is easily and immediately refutable.
NR
@Cacti: You guys said over and over that the emails were a big nothingburger and wouldn’t matter. Don’t blame me if it turns out you were wrong.
Keith G
Good Golly there’s a lot of urine soaking the bed sheets here. This is going to turn out okay or at least reasonably okay. This issue has already been litigated in the minds of the voters who matter and their decision seems to be one of not caring a whole lot about this. If there were to be some issue that results from the investigation, there’s no way it could happen with enough lead time to influence the voting even if it were something that significant. Hillary Clinton’s reputation is already baked in the cake. I don’t see how piling on a bit more innuendo or uncertainty is going to change the voting dynamic in the next 10 days.
catclub
@gene108:
Louis Freeh did a lot of whitewashing ‘investigations’.
Penn State, was one, I think.
You should know better...
@PaulWartenberg2016: i thought that had already happened…
Pogonip
@Betty Cracker: Are you sure he’s not Doug J in a troll costume?
?? (And Happy Halloween!)
Cacti
@NR:
They are and they haven’t.
Trump will not be POTUS and you will cry.
Vhh
@Judge Crater: Because using the State servers would have been even worse. They are open to invasion both inside and outside govt, and the GOPers would have had an easier time raising nothingburgers MN
Zinsky
Has anyone heard a well-articulated, cogent explanation of what exactly Hillary did or didn’t do with regard to her e-mails and the servers that hosted them and why that constitutes a crime? I haven’t. WTF? Seriously, WTF? If they can’t even specify what the crime was or is or could have been, how is it a crime?
Gin & Tonic
@SenyorDave: Will give (has already given?) Andrea Mitchell an orgasm.
NR
@Cacti: We’ll see, won’t we?
Either way, you’ll still be a terrible troll even after the election.
Cacti
@srv:
Meds, dear.
Trentrunner
Absent more substance before election day, this just gives media/GOP a chance to change the story from Trump Is Still Losing to Clinton Is Still Shifty for a few days.
Would be surprised if changed any outcome at all.
Pogonip
@Percysowner: I remember that happened when Nixon died. They all suddenly remembered he went to China.
Cacti
@NR:
Will you leave after your boy loses?
catclub
@gvg:
simple version:
if (Poster name == “rock the world”) then: drop post.
does not kill any other post with those words or that phrase in it.
hueyplong
@Gin & Tonic:
I don’t have a problem with seeing Andrea Mitchell get her hopes up one more time before having them dashed for all of us to enjoy on live TV on Nov 8.
Chyron HR
@NR:
“If”? Woah there, hoss, you have literally spent every day for the past 10 months screaming at us that Clinton is “unelectable”. Isn’t it a bit late to be walking that back to “IF she loses”?
NR
@Chyron HR: Clinton is a terrible candidate. She’s been leading because Trump is even worse.
Of course, that equation may have just changed. We’ll see.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: I am on my way to vote right now.
Cacti
And so begin the walkbacks…
WaPo removes “reopens investigation” from their headlines.
goblue72
@PsiFighter37: This 1,000 times. Why Obama ever appointed a fricking Bush administration DOJ official and life-long Republican as director of the fricking FBI is beyond me. I realized our President has Chronic Bi-Partisanship Appearance Disease that flares up from time to time, but there are creams for that kind of thing.
Major Major Major Major
@Gin & Tonic: Good to know, thanks. That makes me feel better.
ETA: Oh, look, Concern Troll McWorstCandidateBadNews Fuckstick III showed up. This means to me that I have no reason to be concerned and bid you adieu.
debbie
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Someone with a microphone needs to ask GOOPERS if they’re willing to condemn Powell and Rice for doing the same thing as well as condemn Bush / Cheney for not only storing emails on the RNC server to dodge the FOIA, but then destroying them before anyone could see them. And none of that IOKIYAAR shit.
Cacti
@Chyron HR:
Nattering Republican (NR) is a Trumpkin.
Not sure why it still pretends to be an aggrieved BernieBro.
Judge Crater
@hovercraft: I hope this amounts to nothing, but it was an unforced error. It’s not about her being a woman, it’s about political realities. People forget that her health care proposal as a First Lady was a disaster. A disaster caused by her inclination to get the consensus of a chosen few and then expect the political sausage machine to grind out exactly what she wanted. It doesn’t work that way.
And the friggin stakes are so high. Trump is an existential threat to our country. Four years of that buffoon will smash the economy, our political system and our government. I feel really ill.
Gin & Tonic
You know, I enjoy Twitter in some ways, and actually find it useful for niche food/dining-related info, but based on some of this crap, I don’t think I’ll miss it that much when it dies.
NR
@Cacti: Your lies are tiresome, awful troll.
Chyron HR
@NR:
Hmm, nope, you explicitly told us Clinton would LOSE to Trump, not “only win because Trump is worse”. Why do you need to lie about your previous statements?
debbie
@Betty Cracker:
Must you ban him? He/she could be lots of fun on November 9.
Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck
@Judge Crater:
No, it’s not. If anything, this is proof that it wasn’t. The media has pounced on an unbelievably vague pronouncement that some emails exist that were gotten from somewhere that might be relevant that haven’t been looked at. When you’re looking at this scale of presumption of guilt, no human being is capable of beating it. To chide Hillary for doing something her predecessors did, that the department that’s supposed to sign off on these things signed off on, just because it would be used as a political attack is ridiculous. There is nothing she can do that won’t be used that way, as this letter demonstrates so clearly.
Major Major Major Major
@wenchacha: @NR: cacti isn’t a troll, if you’re getting a lot of abuse from cacti it might be something about you, not cacti.
Trentrunner
So the second wave of facts is now out:
Comey is examining a small number of newly-discovered emails “not from Clinton” out of “an abundance of caution” as part of their investigation (which was never officially closed, so it cannot be “re-opened”), which he is legally obligated to inform Congress of since he had testified to them that the previous investigation was complete.
That about cover it?
Cacti
Per Kurt Eichenwald:
3 new e-mails found that “might” be relevant to the investigation.
None from Clinton.
Jason Chaffetz played the media like a Stradivarius.
dr. luba
Kurt Eichenwald@kurteichenwald
Details of FBI: They found 3 emails that “might” be relevant to the case. None of them were withheld by Clinton.
Patricia Kayden
@Joyce H: The answer is “No” to your excellent query. No investigations at all. Poor Secretary Clinton. What a way to lead up to your historic election.
MomSense
@debbie:
We’re like a bunch of bored cats thinking it might be fun to play with it for awhile before killing it.
Mary G
Booman:
From the letter:
So it may be nothing at all.
Betty Cracker
@gvg: I didn’t blacklist the words “rock,” “the” and “world,” so no worries.
Cacti
@dr. luba:
Jinx!
Major Major Major Major
@Trentrunner: so under Clinton rules that means she’s Double Hitler, right?
MJS
@D58826: Which are watched by fewer and fewer people with every passing year. And those who do watch are partisans – they already know who they’re going to vote for, so they watch those shows hoping for validation. To the vast majority of voters, this will just fall under the category of “Clinton’s emails” which has already been adjudicated in their minds, and will lead to “more Clinton email issues means I should vote for Trump” in approximately 10-20 voters, total, nationwide.
burnspbesq
@Tokyokie:
Not even close. Jeopardy doesn’t attach until a trial starts.
Calouste
@dr. luba: 3 emails? How long could it possibly take to investigate them, and why wasn’t that already completed last night?
Major Major Major Major
@Patricia Kayden: could be worse. Obama’s grandma died.
Fair Economist
@Judge Crater:
A private server was not an error. It was the safest way for her to keep her non-classified work-related email. All previous SecStates with email had used non-government servers, but with considerable less secure systems.
There was a mistake in the response. She should never have apologized, because she never had anything to apologize for. She should have said over and over that her email server had been safer than the systems used by previous SecStates, and more importantly, that this is a partisan witchhunt because there was no similar interest shown in the 22 million emails deliberately deleted by Bush administration employees, most unquestionably work-related and many under subpeona even.
SenyorDave
@NR: Of course, that equation may have just changed. We’ll see.
In your opinion, what would make her worse than Trump, remembering the Trump record::
1. Openly bragged about being a sexual predator
2. Has shown himself to be a racist, from the Judge Curiel incident recently to being in charge of dad’s company when the didn’t rent to blacks
3. Mocked a man with a severe disability
4. Brags about stiffing contractors as a business model
5. Serial adulterer who is proud of it
6 Birther for five years AFTER Obama showed his birth certificate
7. Pervert – he used to walk backstage at the Miss Teen USA pageant while the girls were changing (some contestants were as young as 15!)
8. Has indicated he might not accept election results
9. Slapped his name on a sham “university” that has a business model where they target desperate people, the elderly, anyone who is foolish enough to pay for Trump’s “words of wisdom”
Please explain what Clinton could have done to make her worse than tis racist, sexist perverted pig of a man.
jk
Fuck those smarmy, sleazy scumbags Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough who will use this story to try and pull Hillary Clinton down.
Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck
@Fair Economist:
In this, I think, you’re probably right. I hold out the reservation that I haven’t lived a life of politics and seen close up what works and what doesn’t, but I share your reasoning.
dr. luba
@Calouste: Perhaps they have to check the kerning?
Calouste
@Cacti:
More like he is beating them like a three-penny drum. More accurate about:
– the worth of the media
– the skill needed to play them
– the skills Chaffetz possesses
Mikefromarlington
And Chaffetz is laughing all the way to the Capitol Grillle!
Trentrunner
AP Breaking: The emails Comey refers to in his letter “did not come from Clinton’s private server.”
What the actual fuck? How is this related to this investigation?
Keith G
@NR: Well, it seems that even though the greater email issue should have been handled better, the voters really aren’t penalizing Hillary Clinton for those past indiscretions. The vast majority of voters seem to be able to hold two thoughts in their head at the same time. One is that Hillary Clinton should have acted better in regards to emails. Second is that HRC likely the most able person who is eligible to hold the presidency.
Major Major Major Major
@dr. luba: they’re trying to track down the Nigerian prince.
Cacti
@Calouste:
Fair enough.
germy
@Calouste:
Because they want drip drip drip…
debbie
@MomSense:
Exactly the image in my mind! Like swatting little yarn balls around the room.
D58826
@hovercraft: True but the statement is so vague it can be interested a number of different ways. If you are going to drop this 11 days before the election then some level of detail would be nice. Comey had to know that it would become apolitical bombshell so if it really isn’t related to Hillary he should have said so.
Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck
@Trentrunner:
Oh, look. As fast as the story appeared, it is dying. Some October Surprise.
Mike in NC
Months ago didn’t Bernie Sanders say something to the effect, “We’re tired of hearing about the goddamn emails”?
More GOP bullshit and people are going to respond accordingly.
SFAW
A) I see it as Comey’s attempt, in part, to erase Junior G-Man Louis Freeh from the record books as “FBI Director Who Hated the Clintons the Most.” He’s got a lot of catching-up to do, but I’m sure he’ll make up for temps perdu.
B) Is “unrelated” Comey-speak for a WikiLeaks drop? Or for him telling his minions “OK, I had to eat shit about the last investigation — go out and find me SOMETHING, ANYTHING, that I can use to fuck with Hillary”?
C) Curious timing. Two weeks ago, it would have been dropped within 24 hours, due to Deadbeat Donnie’s “winning bigly” at the Debate. Today, it’ll give the MSM morons something to screech about for 72 hours.
D) If Hillary’s campaign has any more killer oppo on the Ferret-Headed Shitgibbon, now would be a good time to get it out there. Not so much to change the trajectory of the race, but to get the MSM morons to get distracted by a newNewNEW Shiny Object. (Although I guess there’s a risk of the MSM ignoring the new oppo, because it’s not aimed at Hitlary.)
Fucking Comey. He should kill himself out of shame.
Trentrunner
So, Clinton didn’t send the email and it didn’t come from her private SoS server?
Again, how is this relevant?
PsiFighter37
A.P. now reporting that the emails did not come from her private server.
If they didn’t, then what the hell is this all about?
If it really is nothing, it will make the GOP look like a bunch of idiots. The media, too…
debbie
@Trentrunner:
They need to let NPR know. They’re still talking about the server.
laura
@Joyce H: no. No there wasn’t any effort to investigate the millions of bush missing emails or any other republican using a non-gov email system.
Betty Cracker
@debbie: It wasn’t me who banned him originally. I’m just enforcing an existing ban, which I believe he got for spewing a bunch of racist crap. But regardless, he wouldn’t be any fun on November 9 because he won’t show up when Trump loses. He’s kinda like NR in that way — only shows up when there’s negative news to gloat about.
Sloane Ranger
To be fair, a number of CNN commentators have raised the timing of the announcement and the paucity of information within it as issues and questioned whether the FBI is being politicised.
The point is, once it’s out there, the media has to report it.
What I don’t understand is, Trump has just as many potential legal issues, the upcoming sexual assault case of a 13 year old as just one example. Why can’t a pro-Clinton PAC or someone start hammering on these as hard as the Repukes are at the e-mails?
I listened to that man rejoicing in this news just now and still feel physical sick as well as dirty!
Cacti
@Betty Cracker:
Speaking of…
Now that the story is already unraveling, NR seems to have exited stage right.
D58826
@Trentrunner: then why didn’t he say so in the letter?
At this point it doesn’t matter what the FBI is investigating. The next 11 days will be optics, unseemliness, dark clouds, raises questions, etc etc etc.
Major Major Major Major
@debbie: NPR has been referring to the Podesta emails as “more news about Hillary Clinton’s emails” all fall.
Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck
@Betty Cracker:
To my considerable surprise, NR has shown up a couple of times to express scorn for Trump when the polls turned against him. It’s only 90% of the time that NR’s posts consist of ‘piss on whatever democrat is being talked about.’
EDIT – @Sloane Ranger:
They do, although for TV commercials ‘quote Trump being vile’ seems to be the preferred (and I have to admit, brilliant) tactic.
National journalists aren’t listening. It took something unbelievably salacious to get them to interrupt their obsessive hatred of Hillary Clinton. Hell, they tried to spin all the debates as Trump wins, but the public wasn’t having it.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@debbie:
NPR, like Mrs Greenspan, won’t let facts get in the way of their eternal fixation on Clinton’s emails.
Reason #1352 to a) never give money to public radio, and b) never listen to NPR.
Citizen_X
@Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck: Well, that was the quickest Ohmigod New disturbing Clinton revelations! scandal ever.
Amir Khalid
@Cacti:
If these three emails are not from or to Hillary, I am inclined to think that this is going to be the next big October nothingburger. Indeed, if there was time for the FBI to brief its director about them, there was probably time to finish reviewing them already, nd to decide of there was any incriminating content.
patroclus
I think you guys are over-reacting.
randy khan
@Urza:
Sadly, I don’t think the pardon power extends to impeachment.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
From an earlier post that never made it out of moderation hell:
Given how the story is already unravelling, looks like the Villagers had an Emily Latella moment except they’ll never actually say “Nevermind”.
Once again, the only satisfying thing about a Trump presidency would be the televised executions of our elite national press members.
Cacti
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage:
NPR: Nice Polite Republicans
Kay
Ugh. That press conference Comey gave was completely out of line and this is worse.
Tell me again why everyone worships this guy? He’s either really bumbling or a political hack.
Matt McIrvin
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage: They’d be fine for a little while at least, since they would become his lackeys. He’d execute actual journalists like Fahrenthold.
randy khan
@Chris:
Powell had not announced his party preference at the time he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and it would have been highly unusual for him to have done so.
Cacti
@Amir Khalid:
I’ve got to say that this looks like the fastest fizzling of a “new OMG Clinton Scandal” that I’ve ever seen.
Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck
@Kay:
He refused to sign off on blatantly illegal Bush activities. He’s highly partisan, he just draws the line somewhere.
redshirt
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage: Agreed, but I think it’s easy to forget that we live in a bubble of our own here. Whenever I tell someone that NPR stands for “Nice Polite Republicans” they scoff at me. The same with any insinuation that MSNBC is not the liberal tv news network.
We’re much more distrustful of the media than most folks.
Kay
I’m just going to file this under “nothing an ordinary person can do”
If they want to elect Trump they’ll try and they’ll either succeed or fail. That’s always been true. Not one thing anyone outside the inner circle can do about it.
Botsplainer
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage:
I’d actually have a pay-per-view party for the Trump Administration execution of our elite national punditry.
Hearing Mark Halperin scream for his life while flinching and cringing would make the following cannibal wars amid the radioactive rubble nearly worth it.
Lurker Extraordinaire
Let’s see: email server “issues” when several Repub SOS’s had the same set up vs. a straight up fascist.
Are people fucking serious with this shit? Not even a difficult choice to mark….
sacrablue
My wild guess is that this has to do with communication between Huma and Anthony Weiner. Supposedly, DOJ is investigating Weiner’s communications, so they probably are looking at something Huma messaged or emailed to Weiner, tangentially mentioning the State Department.
germy
Matthew Miller has been interesting on the subject:
WarMunchkin
What the fuck shit. Can we just do the impeachment now, just to get it out of the way.
Major Major Major Major
@Sloane Ranger: STOP POLITICIZING THE POLITICIZATION OF THE FBI
Wapiti
@PsiFighter37:
And anything that you think is so unimportant that you could appoint a Republican to do it should be removed from the budget as a demonstrated cost savings.
Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck
@PsiFighter37:
I generally agree with Obama’s ‘talk nice with the Republicans’ strategy for the first two thirds of his presidency, but yeah, appointing Republicans to anything proved to be a mistake.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
Olberman:
OGLiberal
NY Times reporting that these new emails came up during the investigation of Weiner’s sexting.
Major Major Major Major
@Wapiti: @Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck: Gates was fine.
PsiFighter37
@sacrablue: You are right – NYT now saying it is from a device from Huma and Carlos Danger.
WTF is this even about? Did Weiner say ‘Hillary’ in an email and it got flagged?
Betty Cracker
@Kay: That’s about where I am. Still pisses me off, though.
D58826
@OGLiberal: I’m waiting for the photos of Trump groping Weiner (gag, gag)
SiubhanDuinne
Meanwhile, the Zombie-Eyed Granny Starver had this to say:
FFS, ZEGS.
hovercraft
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
Never take statements from GOP mouthpieces like Chaffetz at face value.
MomSense
Fucking Weiner sexting strikes again? WTF?
I’m about ready to call for a ban on all boys until we figure out what is going on.
Trentrunner
@OGLiberal: Well holy fuck. Men’s dicks will bring down Hillary yet…
hovercraft
@OGLiberal:
So maybe Huma’s e-mails, if they are investigating him maybe they found something on their home computers?
piratedan
@SiubhanDuinne: fair enough, my bad
waysel
@Betty Cracker: Thanks for blacklisting. It contributes nothing to the conversations we try to have here.
hueyplong
Glad to see that the Zombie Eyed Granny Starver waited for days to comment, the way he did after release of the Hollywood Access video.
Upside to all this is that if this gets walked back for real, it might innoculate Hillary against any further “disclosures” between now and Nov 8.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
Rick Wilson says that there will be an October surprise for Trump next weekend, stay tuned….
You should know better...
@OGLiberal: WTF???
Was the aptly named Weiner sexting Clinton?
Major Major Major Major
I think that shomi may, in fact, simply be insane.
Sherparick
@Keith P.: He is covering his butt. If he did not disclose it now and when it came up after the election, and it is definitely going to show up, he would get fried by Republicans and the media. The original sin was when she and her principal aides failed to turn over the e-mails when she left State at the end of 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/us/politics/hillary-clintons-use-of-private-email-at-state-department-raises-flags.html She and her chief advisors, Mills and Abedin, appear completely oblivious about e-mails, their durability, and security issues (although Wikileaks is giving them a hard lesson). Then they aggravated the mistake by going to ground the last two years and letting everything come out in drips and drabs.
trollhattan
@MomSense:
Heh. We’ll still tease you about girl cooties through the FEMA camp fence, you know.
Emerald
@Gin & Tonic: Andrea Mitchell, as with Citizen Kane, will breath out “emails” in her dying breath.
Wapiti
@Major Major Major Major: I think that’s true, with two caveats: the Democratic Party didn’t do itself or its bench favors by filling DoD with a Republican almost half the time (McNamara, Cohen, Gates, Hagel) and going forward, finding non-nutso Republicans will be harder.
Major Major Major Major
@trollhattan: I got my cootie shot ages ago.
Brachiator
@redshirt:
This is quite funny. There is not much healthy distrust of the media here. There are the same complaints about the media that conservatives make, only with the enemies and usual suspects reversed.
@Kay:
This almost makes me nostalgic for the gentlemen’s agreements, smoked filled rooms and back room deals of earlier generations.
The Republicans have to know that Trump would be a disaster as president. He is ignorant, vindictive, and capricious. They could never be sure that he would go along with their agenda, and who knows what might happen if he was in power and openly appealed to his core supporters to overthrow the government to back him up. They should be working out some compromise with Clinton, some promises, some exchange of prisoners.
Instead we have this nonsense in which the Republicans are happy to see Clinton be brought down, or neutralized. American democracy. It had its moments. What’s next?
FlipYrWhig
@Emerald: Just barely beating out previous pick for last words, “the horror.”
retr2327
@JR in WV: Well, someone else has probably already raised this point, but let me offer this qualified defense of Comey’s actions: just imagine the absolute sh*tstorm that Trump and republicans would raise if it came out in a few days, or after the election, that there had been “new developments” in the email investigation and Comey had not promptly updated them; there’d be calls for impeachment, revolution, new elections, etc. (although we may get all that anyway . . .).
That said, the manner in which he provided the update, and the complete lack of any context or explanation, is unfortunate, to put it mildly, and likely to be revised w/in 48 hours.
hovercraft
A bullet from the bloomberg story on:
“FBI Reopens Clinton E-Mail Probe 11 Days Before Election”
Sloane Ranger
@Major Major Major Major: NO!
trollhattan
BTW, anybody who thinks it’s we who are overreacting should wander over to Wall Street. IMO it’s a good tell that they want Trump kept well, well far away from the handle of anything but his gold-plated toilet. (And no, that does not mean Killery is “in their pocket.”)
Sherparick
@SiubhanDuinne: There is no evidence that she mishandled “highly classified information.” The only clearly classified information was classified “confidential,” the lowest level. What a wuss.
Poopyman
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Unless it results in the immediate Trump perp-walk, that’s too late.
NoraLenderbee
@sigaba:
Yup. I think this also applies when people describe the Clintons as “elites” who “think they are above the rules and can do whatever they want.” They’re saying that those uppity hicks think they’re as good as the Bushes and the Romneys.
jk
@hovercraft:
Very good roundup. Thanks for posting it and Fuck James Comey.
Major Major Major Major
@Brachiator: I’ll certainly agree some here overdo the media thing.
@Sloane Ranger: YOURE BEING SHRILL NOBODY LISTEN TO SLOANE RANGER
trollhattan
@Major Major Major Major:
Wait, there’s a shot? Well dayumn.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
I don’t give a fuck if she sent every email to Chairman Mao, I’d still vote for her.
jk
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap:
MSNBC needs to fire useless asshole Chris Matthews and replace him with Keith Olbermann.
Poopyman
@hovercraft: Someone should remind Bloomberg that Correlation !=Causation.
SW
There are no undecided voters. Anyone who supports Clinton doesn’t give a rat’s ass about her e-mails. “Enough with the e-mails”. Anyone who supports Trump is excited about the implications. In the end it will just be a device to sustain interest and suspense regarding the outcome of the election. The only winners are the media companies who will continue to reap windfalls both from the advertising and the coverage. They need a cliff hanger to sustain their audiences.
Another Scott
PK is burning up the Twitter machine on this. I’ve never seen him post so much about much of anything on Twitter before.
The latest seems to be that it’s stuff found while investigating Weiner…
(sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
MomSense
@trollhattan:
Well at least you won’t be able to pull my pigtails.
SiubhanDuinne
Jeesus Keerist. Rep. Peter King is just grabbing huge handfuls of shit and flinging them in every direction. “Well, it could be about emails between Obama and Clinton. That’s one of the suggestions I’ve heard.” Earlier, Jan Brewer was no better, and arguably worse.
Peale
@sacrablue: Yep. Anthony Fuckwit Weiner.
D58826
OT and a ray of sunshine – SCOTUS will hear the case of the transgender boy from Va. according to CNN
chopper
wow, so this whole thing blew up and died down over the course of two hours or so. amazing.
AnonPhenom
All Clinton surrogates slated for Sunday talking head shows should review the Abbot & Costello ‘Who’s on First’ comedy bit in preparation.
Who’s emails? Hillary’s?
The Russian hacked emails?
Podesta emails?
Clinton Foundation emails?
Wikileak emails?
Screw ’em! Have some fun with it!
Major Major Major Major
@obsequiesclarvoyant: copy-paste, nice. You finally turned into your own robot.
SiubhanDuinne
@Another Scott:
This tweet in particular is excellent and on point:
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Lincoln Lincoln I’ve been thinkin’
What a good world this might be,
If the men were all transported
Far beyond the Northern Sea.
Poopyman
@chopper: Died down?
Still on WaPo website:
CNN:
With Hillary’s picture
And while the NY Times does have an overarching headline about them being Weinergrams, it still has:
Trentrunner
Podesta just released a statement saying, basically, “FBI: Put Up or Shut Up. Release the details of what you’re examining. Also, WTF with doing this 11 days before a national election?”
the Conster, la Citoyenne
John Podesta is not having any.
Amir Khalid
@Poopyman:
Maybe Anthony Weiner sent his dick pictures to his wife’s boss. Because otherwise, why is Hillary involved in this at all?
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Trentrunner: Just saw that, also, Every Motherfucking Democrat on the planet should be screaming from Comey’s resignation by COB today.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Elizabelle
@hovercraft: getting slapped by Norm Ornstein should get under Comey’s skin. Ornstein is a straight shooter, one of the few people genuinely respected in Washington. When you have drawn Ornstein’s attention, you have screwed up.
SiubhanDuinne
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Wow, haven’t thought of that song since about 1950!
Trentrunner
@Amir Khalid: My guess is that, while investigating Weiner’s sexts and emails, the FBI found 3 emails from Huma that was part of a chain that included Hillary. They’re potentially connected, so Comey was obligated to include them.
Trentrunner
@Elizabelle: Not according to Brit Hume, who just Twittered to Ornstein that he was a “leftist” and everyone knows it.
Not even kidding.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@SiubhanDuinne:
I know there’s more to it, but I’ve had that verse banging around in my head my whole life. ;-)
Peale
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: WOULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN WHAT THE HELL THIS IS ABOUT THEN? (Sorry to shout, but I’m confused, and because I’m getting older, I get worried during states of confusion that I might be losing my mind.) IT WAS SO MUCH BETTER IN 1992!
Trentrunner
Pete Williams on MSNBC now: Confirms device/emails’ source is FBI investigation of Weiner. Unclear whose device (Huma vs. Anthony) it was.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Poopyman
NYT front page says
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: How are we to know who PK is? Paul Krugman? Maybe Peter King? I do not get the love for acronyms that everyone does not know. (yes, I’m feeling cranky.)
trollhattan
If anything good comes out of this, let it be John Oliver resurrecting the Carlos Danger music and dance move Sunday. You owe us, Oliver!
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Peale:
I can’t help you out. White men are losing all their shit and making a mess all over the place.
Sloane Ranger
@Major Major Major Major: Just exercising the freedom of expression that is my birthright as an English woman!
Seriously, I am watching CNN and the more they learn the more the talking heads are describing Comey’s actions as unprecedented. one has just complained that he has injected the FBI into an already fraught election.
If the intention was to hurt Hilary I think this could rebound on Comey.
Nina
If Hillary Clinton could actually order someone killed, why is Anthony Weiner still alive?
liberal
Don’t like Clinton much at all. But Trump is Cthulhu.
That all being said, put me in the camp of “This is a nothingburger.”
Whether Comey should have kept his yap shut isn’t so clear, as people mentioned above.
But…I really really really don’t get why Democratic presidents insist on appointing Republicans to top posts.
Yeah, as someone pointed out, Gates was OK (OK = not a bloodthirsty neocon psychopath). But there were no qualified Dems?
Major Major Major Major
@Sloane Ranger: I am wondering if this might not be one of those “oh COME ON!” moments the media has every so often.
liberal
@WaterGirl: You could, you know, mouse over the link and look at the URL.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@liberal:
Really that shit has just got to stop.
Calouste
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Except for Corney, he can go to the dole queue.
Jeffro
3 emails
Not to/from Clinton
Not on her blessed server
THIS is what the hopes of the Trump Old Party rest upon…unbelievable.
Looking forward to Payback Time once Hillz takes the oath…I hope she has a first 100 days that fills the entire judiciary (INCLUDING SCOTUS) with people so far Left they can’t walk straight.
PBO, do your part, sir: Pull the Garland nom on Election Day
Major Major Major Major
Maybe Comey is trying to keep the senate in R hands so his successor is as much of an evil shitbag (as opposed to less of one; fuck the FBI)
NotoriousJRT
@Judge Crater: WAAAAHHHHHH
Felanius Kootea
@WaterGirl: Voted for her already. The problem with “October surprises” is early voting.
Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck
@Jeffro:
He’s not going to pull the nomination. Obama put Garland forward because he thinks Garland is the best candidate for the job.
redshirt
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: I strongly suspect Hillz will be the first Dem President in a while not to appoint Repukes to any positions.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Jeffro: This.
Mary G
@Major Major Major Major: This was my first reaction; the Republicans trying to influence Senate and House elections to minimize damages.
mark k
This is less than 24hrs after Obamas AG reassigned FBI agents from NYC over the Garland trials.
Obvious payback by Comey
dogwood
@liberal:
Obama didn’t appoint Gates; he just left him in place. And given the crashing of the economy in the middle of two wars, I don’t think that was a bad call.
Matt McIrvin
You know, there’s going to be a lot of fast-breaking crap like this that is probably nothing over the next 10 days. We need to maintain some emotional equilibrium.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
why is the FBI investigating sexting anyway?
Trentrunner
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Possibly underage participants.
Major Major Major Major
@Trentrunner: nothing to do with Huma’s proximity to it?
LAC
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I will try this again – amen. Minus the cursing, since my previous comment is in moderation.
Trentrunner
@Major Major Major Major: I thought the question was “Why was the FBI investigating Weiner’s emails/texts?”
But if the question is “What is the connection between Weiner’s communication and the Clinton SoS private server investigation?” the answer is Huma.
burnspbesq
Any lingering doubt has now been erased. Comey is seeking the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 2017. This is a favor he hopes will be repaid next year.
germy
Newsweek
Major Major Major Major
@Trentrunner: I figured her proximity to a potential sexual blackmail/mobile device issue might have led to scrutiny.
Yes I know that’s a reach.
MJS
@Matt McIrvin: No, you maintain your emotional equilibrium. I intend to drink heavily for the next 11 days.
sigaba
@Matt McIrvin:
There’s a $600 billion industry that has its energies focused completely on keeping everyone as agitated as physically possible all the time. We do what we can.
Sloane Ranger
@Major Major Major Major: Let’s keep our fingers crossed. I like the put up or shut up tack the Clinton campaign is taking. Anyone going on the Sunday talk shows should repeat what’s in the statement and then refuse to be drawn into speculation, saying they want to talk about the issues.
redshirt
@Matt McIrvin: I like to think I’m pretty rock steady, but jeez does this election have me nervous. I go from NOTHING CAN STOP US NOW to Welp! At least we’ll hold the Presidency.
I have no doubts Hillary will win. It’s the Senate I’m far more concerned about. And every little thing matters.
PaulWartenberg2016
It’s turning out the email bruhaha is actually about Anthony Weiner’s investigation.
It’s turning out FBI Director Comey has no idea how to write letters to Congress to spell things out in a clear, concise and coherent manner.
It’s turning out this is another goddamn attempt at an October Surprise that’s going to turn into another goddamn useless headache.
“Fortunately I keep my feathers numbered, for, for just such an emergency” – James Comey after getting caught in the wringer for this shit.
MJS
@germy: The issue is with “emails that required examination.” Simply because Clinton had an email issue does not mean that any and all emails from anyone connected to her “require examination” especially given that said emails did not come from her server. It’s BS, pure and simple, regardless of what Newsweek has to say.
burnspbesq
And of course …
another disgusting Trump video emerges
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: Sorry about that. When things are ambiguous I assume people will “hover” their mouse pointer over the link (or equivalently (what is it, long-press?) on your phone) to see what the link is. It says explicitly in the link that it’s Paul Krugman’s Twitter feed.
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
D58826
@Nina: or Comey, let alone Ken Starr!!!!!!!
dogwood
@MJS:
I’m actually thinking about retreating into a personal “cone of silence” for the duration. I pretty much did that during August and part of Sept. It was great. There are probably a few Trump scandals I missed, but I can always read the book or watch the movie when this effing thing finally ends.
D58826
@PaulWartenberg2016:
That line from Looney Tues always crack me up.
redshirt
@burnspbesq: Awesome! I’m sure all the news channels will lead with this.
SiubhanDuinne
@Matt McIrvin:
Well, you’re no damn fun.
Major Major Major Major
@dogwood: I try to go most of August not paying attention. It was reasonably calm. I played a lot of video games ?
MattF
Welp, I wuz just goin’ about my biznez, downloading and installing software upgrades, upgrading some hardware, trying things out to see if they still all worked together… And then, stupidly, brought up the WaPo front page and saw Cillizza’s article. Wasted half an hour demonstrating to myself it was all bullshit and getting exceedingly pissed off. What, exactly, was the point of all that?
MJS
I want Hillary to spend the next 11 days sending emails that say things like, “Jason Chaffetz told me he likes to eat his own boogers. That’s disgusting.” And, “Paul Ryan said the pages on his copy of “Atlas Shrugged” stick together. Gross!”. Then let Comey release those emails.
MomSense
@burnspbesq:
Gross. AAAARRRGGGHHH.
Major Major Major Major
@MattF: what did chinchilla say?
I hate that guy.
eric
Rule number 1 of a good attorney: never over promise and under deliver. Comey is 0 for 2.
(Rule 2 is never ask a question you dont know the answer too, but that is sometimes moderated by the “there is no good answer rule”)
Bobby Thomson
Meh. I really don’t see this changing any minds whatsoever. So Huma Abedin accessed work email from her home computer? Big fuckin’ deal. Anyone partisan enough to assume the worst from this was already voting Republican.
MattF
@Major Major Major Major: Oh, it’s all a disaster for Clinton, she’s having a catastrophic week, yadda yadda.
ETA: Also, WaPo touts new poll, characterizes gap between Trump and Clinton as ‘slight’. Head hits desk.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: Yeah, I never think to do that. I’ll try to remember. As I said, I am feeling pretty cranky about this new round of bullshit from Comey. And i never got lunch.
Seriously, sometimes I feel like more than half of the moms in the world forgot to teach their kids that if you win by cheating, it doesn’t count as a win.
Maddening to play by the rules and do what’s right when the other side doesn’t care about that in the least.
Major Major Major Major
@MattF: oh, so he used his usual template.
Have you ever met a chinchilla? zOMG so soft ?
MattF
@Major Major Major Major: No, but I’ve met a couple of ferrets. Much nicer than I expected.
Peale
So my take away from this is that whenever the FBI investigates anyone connected to the Clintons for the next 8 years and find an e-mail from her, or her name in an e-mail, or an e-mail where she has been copied, they will “reopen” the investigation to see if it was one of the “missing” e-mails. And the reason Comey will send these letters and only CC the the Democrats is that they’ve requested these special updates. So basically, the investigation will never end. Good to know.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
Funny meme
Major Major Major Major
@MattF: I had a couple of ferrets as a kid. Coincidence?
Trentrunner
Erections have consequences.
FlipYrWhig
@MattF: IMHO the media still has no idea that a 52-48 election result is what passes for decisive these days and 55-45 would be an epoch-defining blowout. And also IMHO there’s no way with polling to tell 50-50 (squeaker!) from 55-45 (landslide!).
Major Major Major Major
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: no it’s not
germy
Herr drumpf called this “Bigger than Watergate”
Betty Cracker
Anthony Weiner should just donate his fucking organs. Not including the one that’s caused all the trouble, of course — I mean heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, etc. What a beyond worthless piece of shit he is.
hueyplong
That’s the 193rd thing a Republican has called “bigger than Watergate.”
Sloane Ranger
So it looks like Human Abedin? sent work e-mails to the home computer she shared with Weiner. WTF has that got to do with Hilary? Speaking as a former Brit civil servant it’s a breach of security and a disciplinary offence (although everyone did it). The point is that Huma did it, not Hilary and it would have happened regardless of whether a State Department or private server was used.
MattF
@FlipYrWhig: That’s right. You have to aggregate to even have a shot at a meaningful statement. And, btw, everybody knows this.
Jeffro
@Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck:
I hear you, I’m pretty certain he won’t either…but circumstances change, and I can think of no better way to pay back the obstructionism than seeing NFLTG Obama calling a Rose Garden press conference saying he’s come around to McConnell’s logic, and now that “the people have spoken and elected Hillary Clinton, she should be the one to fill the vacancy.”
SenyorDave
How can anyone not think that this is 100% political on Comey’s part? There were many different ways to frame this and his letter is pretty much the most damaging way he could find in terms of how it makes Clinton look. Assuming this is the biggest nothing burger of all, its pretty damaging. Comey – biggest political mistake of the Obama administration.
I hope to hell something additional is out there on Trump, maybe they can get the woman who claims Trump raped her when she was 13 to come forward.
MattF
@Jeffro: Agree, except that I think Garland should be the one to say it.
SenyorDave
@Betty Cracker: I personally think Clinton should have cut Huma loose when he did again, she had stuck be her man but it backfired. Its nice to be loyal, but Huma showed poor judgment in staying.
Miss Bianca
@Jeffro: And why, exactly, would you advise President Obama to do a shameless and dishonorably thing, again?
Betty Cracker
@SenyorDave: I think it’s kinda admirable that Clinton didn’t kick Abedin to the curb over Weiner’s malfeasance. If anyone understands what it’s like for a wife to get shit dumped over her head for her husband’s actions, it’s Hillary Clinton. As far as I’m concerned, Abedin’s bad taste in men shouldn’t disqualify her from government work. Now, if she emailed classified docs to a computer she shared with that worthless piece of shit, that’s something else. But we don’t have any evidence of that. This strikes me as partisan undie-sniffing by Comey.
WaterGirl
I want to know just how pissed Obama is that Comey has so clearly put his thumb on the scales. Not just once, but twice. And right before the election. He should be brought up on ethics charges. Between last night’s verdict and this total abuse of power today… I have to stop feeling so angry.
Omnes Omnibus
Back from voting. Straight ticket D.
SenyorDave
@Betty Cracker: I feel at a certain point the connection to Weiner is damaging in of itself, certainly politically, and potentially literally from a security standpoint. Weiner has to be pathological to have thrown away such a promising career. Loyalty is admirable to a point, but after the second time maybe you cut your losses. And I agree with you on Weiner’s other organs.
Peale
@SenyorDave: She did cut Huma loose. I can see why she kept her on. A lot like the targeting of Susan Rice, there was a concerted effort to get Huma out and a lot of that had to do with that she is a high-profile Muslim. Unfortnately, this investigation of Weiner has nothing to do with the Republicans targeting Huma. The republicans will try to cast this as “Poor Decision” by Hillary to keep her on, but at the same time, it isn’t exactly up to Hillary to ask Huma leave her husband in order to keep her job.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: That would be nice! Hard to do where I live in Illinois – way too many of the races have only a Republican to vote for. Very unsatisfying not to vote, I wish they would have an “I don’t care if there isn’t another person running, I don’t want this person” button that I could pencil in.
Brachiator
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap:
Now, that would be a hell of an email service. Ghostery.
But yeah, I’d still vote for her, too.
SFBayAreaGal
Hopefully, president Clinton will not nominate any Republicans for any position.
I have never understood why Democratic presidents always need to show bipartisan by nominating a Republican.
Stop just stop with the imaginary bipartisan. There are plenty of qualifed people from the Democratic Party.
(What they do)
(They smile in your face)
Smiling faces smiling faces sometimes tell lies (back stabbers)
(They smile in your face)
I don’t need low down, dirty bastards (back stabbers)
BruceFromOhio
@dogwood:
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS. It unfortunately means you have to rely on others to filter through things that actually matter. But oh the peace and tranquility! I have yet to hear more than 10 words uttered by the dumpster fire, or any of the hyperventilating by any of the news orgs. It’s also allowed me to focus on in-depth Rolling Stones or Mother Jones long reads about things that are for more interesting and relevant.
Mostly, though, I retain my fucking sanity.
WaterGirl
@BruceFromOhio: Speaking of long reads, did you read the long expose from the person who went undercover as a prison guard? I made it through the first part, but it was so very long, I just couldn’t make it through. It was super interesting, though, so I am a bit chagrined that the sheer length caused me to give up on the article.
I blame the internet!
Feebog
So this is about Anthony Wieners virtual wiener? If the FBI is investigating HIS alleged sexting to an underage girl, why would they confiscate Huma”s device? What is the justification for that? It now looks like the FBI is homing in on a few emails on Huma’s device that may are may not be considered classified. Unless the emails were to or from Clinton, how is this relevant to the FBI investigation of Clinton’s email server?
Iowa Old Lady
I’ve been out most of the day and am just catching up on this. It looks like it was pumped as a big story that then turned out to have nothing to do with Clinton herself. Like all the email stories, it just feels confusing, which I suppose is the goal.
hovercraft
There must be pigs in the sky. F**king Morning Joe is saying he questions the leadership of James Comey. Basically says that unless there is a smoking gun, dropping this 11 days before the election is inexcusable. He disagrees with the decision not to prosecute, but then says if that is your call then leave it at that, criticizes the press conference, his congressional testimony, and now this. Knowing that it would be a bombshell that could alter the election, if this turns into the nothing burger he will be crucified.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
LGM Headline:
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Many of the down ticket races here had only a Dem.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@hovercraft: Every elected Democrat and Democratic official in the country should be screaming for his resignation.
Betty Cracker
@hovercraft: My guess is Comey will drag this out past the election, then announce it’s a nothingburger. People will question his integrity, but he already demonstrated his partisan motivations with his Perry Mason act when he announced the conclusion of the investigation.
Brachiator
@Betty Cracker:
Not Abedin’s fault in any way, shape or form. I think that Abedin has been with Clinton since Abedin was an intern. That’s some admirable loyalty. Also, some of the purported Wikileaks emails show Abedin doing a hell of a job in preventing idiot celebrities from doing supremely stupid shit with respect to Haiti, post earthquake. Donna Karan wanted to fly in alternative health doctors. Abedin said the emphasis was on doctors who could provide critical care and that there was already problems getting necessary flights into the country.
Also, there was a child involved. I don’t know what the Weiner household was like, but it has to be a hell of a thing to make decisions when there is a young child in the mix as well.
There is bad taste in men to go around for a shitload of involved here.
Unless somebody’s selling nukes, or there is some wild Weiner connection to something nefarious, I think I’ll just ignore this. I feel sorry, though, for anyone being dragged through the mud as a result of this pointless political gamesmanship.
Matt McIrvin
@SFBayAreaGal: Watch: there’ll be a million calls for Hillary to heal the nation by appointing a cabinet of Republicans, because after all she was only elected by ticket-splitters who were outraged at the horribleness of Trump. If the Rs keep the Senate they might even put up a list of Republicans they’re willing to approve as executive appointees, so when Hillary appoints Democrats they can say she’s not meeting them halfway.
jk
@SiubhanDuinne:
Rudy Ghouliani is doing the same thing on CNN. Later tonight, ratfucker Chris Matthews will have an hour long orgasm over this goddamn story.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: You must have heard that on Ball Juice.
chopper
@PaulWartenberg2016:
oh, he knows how all right. but why, when a generic letter can rile up the RW and make clinton look bad?
Cacti
@Feebog:
There actually is a legit investigatory purpose for that. Simply to see whether Wiener had used any of his wife’s devices to make illegal communications to the alleged victim.
debbie
@WaterGirl:
Listen to it instead.
Iowa Old Lady
Steve Benen says the emails in question weren’t from or to Clinton, weren’t from or to her private server, weren’t withheld, and had nothing to do with WikiLeaks. I am confused.
Captain C
@The Moar You Know:
In other words, he trusted them to do the right thing, and didn’t trust what they were saying, over and over and over.
Bobby Thomson
NO
THERE
THERE
Bobby Thomson
@Iowa Old Lady:
Comey is a Republican and the press are almost uniformly hacks. That clear it up?
Shell
@BruceFromOhio: I know, I keep saying that everyday, but as a moth to the flame….
Betty Cracker
@Bobby Thomson: Amy Siskind! Now there’s a blast from the past. She was one of the most unhinged PUMAs back in the day.
bupalos
On the face of this thing it’s nothing, it could only be very tangentially related to Clinton. So I’d guess the whole strategy here by the repubs iis just to do the “dark cloud” thing, with their lie about the case being “reopened,” and hope FBI doesn’t correct them or comment in any way. But it seems like playing with fire just a little the way they are pushing it initially–no surprise that Trump tried to make it sound like the big reveal that is sending her to jail, he’s trump. But Pence (without irony) is calling for the immediate release of these shocking new top-secret emails that would single-handedly destroy America’s vital security interests if the secret Muslims ever saw them. I don’t think he could actually want that. This whole email thing only succeeds as long as the actual contents of the messages are left to the imagination, because in reality I’m pretty sure what would be shocking is how completely not-secret the “classified information” actually is.
It would be awesome if there was some way to call the bluff here aside from relying on the feckless Comey.
Bobby Thomson
@Betty Cracker: She was. But at least she legitimately believed in Clinton, unlike her ratfucking fellow travelers.
Shalimar
Not that there aren’t many other better reasons she is getting a divorced, but Huma Weiner sounds like a crank call name.
Corner Stone
I would just like to repost a few thoughts I had on Comey. Here’s one from 2013:
And another from 2015:
Barbara
Teach’em how to say goodbye by making the loss incotrovertible. I was so angry when I first saw this that I left my office and made the deadline to vote early “absentee” by less than 10 minutes. Ten people were doing the same thing in the time it took me to vote.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Corner Stone: I blame Obama.
Peale
@Corner Stone: You, sir, have an odd taste in men.
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus:
Good man. My basic rules for each office are (1) if there is a D running, then vote for the D; and (2) if there is no D running then don’t vote (this one is flexible, but we have one office here where the only candidates are a republican and a libertarian who are equally awful and, let’s be honest, who are both republicans, so I left that one blank).
FlipYrWhig
@Iowa Old Lady:
My working hypothesis is that what Comey means is that the investigation of the private server led to the larger issue of the mishandling of classified information at State when Hillary was in charge, and Abedin’s emails are potentially relevant to the mishandling of classified information at State, even though they have nothing to do with the private server.
Corner Stone
Now we are going to hear what “voters” think about “Clinton’s emails”.
That’s going to be great.
NR
@Betty Cracker: Funny enough, what Comey did may actually have been illegal. It’s a violation of the Hatch act to “use official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.”
Want to know the punch line?
You have to prove intent!
Corner Stone
@Peale: Not sure what you mean. Comey’s been covering his ass since he refused to sign anything when Ashcroft was in the hospital. BTW, that wasn’t courage, that was pure dyed in the wool CYA. He knew it would come back on him and he didn’t have time to game it out.
He covered his ass with the despicable and reckless press conference he held re: HRC investigation by the FBI. And he now thinks he’s covering his ass again by being “transparent”.
I can’t think of a better partner than this hunky young stud.
tony in san diego
@Couldn’t Stand the Weather: 62 times
KS in MA
@debbie: This x 1,000.
redshirt
@Steve in the ATL: Why not write someone in? I looked at my sample ballot and one race has a Republican running unopposed. I was planning on voting for Barack Hussein Obama as a write in.
Captain C
@Betty Cracker:
FTFY
Uncle Cosmo
@srv: Time for the obligatory “Fuck off & die, shitstain.” I need to have that on a hotkey.
Uncle Cosmo
@NR: Once more with feeling; “Fuck off & die, shitstain!”
Corner Stone
“For the next 24 hours+ it will be Godzilla+”
/Halperin
The Dangerman
Yeah, I thought we were due for at least one more “you’re shitting me, right?” moment and having something pop up related to Weiner’s pride and joy probably qualifies. Good fucking grief…
Corner Stone
Also thought I would pull an srv and bring back this thread where many BJ’ers were vigorously defending Comey at FBI, for no good fucking reason except the fact that Obama had nominated him.
Great thread to reflect on scorpions, turtles, etc.
mike in dc
This feels like the political equivalent of point-shaving. Drop something vague to reignite the email “scandal”, just in time to save the GOP majorities in Congress. Trump is still toast, though.
waysel
So to all you lawyers out there, what does “appear to be pertinent” mean in the context of Comeys statement?
Lizzy L
I keep my sanity (mostly) by never turning on a TV or the radio (except Terri Gross sometimes.) I don’t listen to any pundits or political journalists. I don’t listen to Trump or Clinton: I read transcripts when I need to know what’s been said. No Morning Joe or Mika no Tweety, no Giuliani or Gingrinch, no PK or CK, no blithering any of it. Life is bland and boring — NOT. I read, follow multiple political websites obsessively and hang out here.
debbie
This was fun to read:
Barbara
@waysel: Anything, nothing.
Chyron HR
@Corner Stone:
There you go, folks: If you think NR and company are going to stop fighting the 2016 primary after the election is over, remember that Corner Stone is still fighting the 2008 primary.
Cacti
@waysel:
Not much, absent additional info.
WarMunchkin
Looks like we’re about to elect the third black president, by Toni Morrison rules.
@Steve in the ATL: If there is no (D) running, then run as the (D).
@Chyron HR: I don’t know what this primary thing is about, but I do think there’s this bizarre tendency to try to find Good Republicans when they are in fact scorpions, as mentioned above.
Lizzy L
@Lizzy L: Oh, and I drink good beer. It really helps. I can’t imagine trying to get through the next eleven days with only Bud Light.
Corner Stone
@Chyron HR: So…you’re fine with Comey heading up FBI? And you’re argument against me is that I disagreed with this nomination in 2013?
Seems, odd TTYTT. I mean, not odd for a dumb fuck like you. But odd, nonetheless.
waysel
Link to Comeys letter.
eclare
@PsiFighter37: When has that ever stopped them?
MCA1
@germy: No they won’t. Like she wouldn’t fire Comey immediately? This goes nowhere. They can’t even get the fucking paperwork and staffing started on an “investigation” between now and the announcement that Clinton’s won the election. At which point Obama regretfully asks for Comey’s resignation on behalf of his elected successor.
different-church-lady
We have clearly reached the part of the movie just before the end, where the villain seems vanquished and the audience is setting back into their seats, but then there is one last surprise deadly threat to the hero.
MCA1
@waysel: Loose translation? “Optics!!!11!!”
waysel
@different-church-lady: Good one.
Lizzy L
Fuck this. Jennifer Rubin in The WaPo is calling for Clinton to appoint Republicans to her government, especially in such positions as White House counsel and Attorney General. She suggests “With regard to Congress, the White House should explicitly waive “executive privilege” for White House officials’ testimony and records production.” The title of her piece is “How to drain the Clinton Swamp.”
redshirt
@different-church-lady: Heh. I swear if I ever have to fight a monster, I’m going to be double damn sure that thing is dead before I relax and start making out with my co-star.
Ian
@Tripod:
Where have you heard that? The most optimistic scenario I have seen is 51 seats, more likely 50 seats and tiebreaker.
Cacti
@Lizzy L:
Nice to see that Jenghazi still has a sense of humor.
Elliott
Ms Cracker, are you on FB or twitter?
JR in WV
@Kay:
Either, or???
Why not both? Bumbling AND a political hack !!!
Matt McIrvin
@Lizzy L: Called it!
Prediction: If the Republicans retain the Senate, they’re going to try to appoint Clinton’s Cabinet themselves. Put up a slate of all Republicans sworn to insubordination, and say that these are the only people they’ll confirm.
Matt McIrvin
@Tripod: electoral-vote.com is still predicting 51 Republican seats. Sam Wang’s median is 50-50 with a significant probability for 51 Republican.
eclare
@SFBayAreaGal: Great song, so appropriate!
Corner Stone
No, Heidi Pryzbyla. The democrats were not praising James Comey after his fucking press conference.
Ian
@Botsplainer:
AxelFoley
@NR:
You still here, fuckwad? Eat a plate plate full of salted dicks.
Corner Stone
Man I love me some Jennifer Granholm. Can we get her Canadian self in the HRC admin somewhere?
AxelFoley
@tobie:
Aw, STFU.
Bobby Thomson
@Corner Stone: the paid Facebook trolls are hitting the same talking point.
Betty Cracker
@Elliott: Twitter: @bettycrackerFL
AxelFoley
@The Moar You Know:
No, dude. He campaigned on trying to work with the other side. If he didn’t, then the GOP and their media acolytes would complain about him not trying to be bipartisan.
Obama is smarter than you or anyone else on this blog. If we knew the GOP wouldn’t govern in good faith, I’m pretty sure he knew that, too. But he had to make an attempt.
tobie
@AxelFoley:
Such compelling commentary, Axel. Did you write it yourself?
Betty Cracker
@AxelFoley: Has Obama ever made a mistake, or is he a living god?
amk
president deadbeat!!!!!
Doing my part for the famed tbogg unit.
different-church-lady
@Betty Cracker: “He once made a mistake… just to see what it felt like.”
Betty Cracker
@different-church-lady: Captain America wears Obama pajamas!
No One You Know
@Wapiti: Wins the thread.
LAC
@Chyron HR: every fucking day with that revisionist drunk . Must have taken a while to cherry pick through that vile puma shit to find that goody.