[Special] Former FBI Director James Comey to Testify Before Congress

As the country awaits James Comey's testimony today, June 8, let's take the time to go back about a month ago to when Comey was fired by Trump. After that, feel free to read Comey's prepared opening statement, with annotated notes by Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall.

NBC News: What You Need to Know About Trump, Comey and the Russia Probe by Benjy Sarlin

The Washington Post: Inside Trump’s Anger and Impatience — and His Sudden Decision to Fire Comey by Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, Sari Horwitz and Robert Costa

Politico: Behind Comey’s Firing [Was] An enraged Trump, Fuming About Russia (the president deliberated for more than a week before ousting the FBI chief who was investigating Trump associates) by Josh Dawsey

The Washington Post: Why Trump Expected Only Applause When He Told Comey, ‘You’re fired.’ by Marc Fisher

The Atlantic: 'There Is a Real Risk Here Things Will Spin Out of Control' by Rosie Gray and McKay Coppins

The New Yorker: Donald Trump's Firing of James Comey is an Attack on American Democracy by John Cassidy   

The Atlantic: This is Not a Drill by David Frum 

The Washington Post: Did Trump Already Blow His Own Cover Story About Comey’s Firing? by Jennifer Rubin

Politico: Russia's Oval Office Victory Dance (the cozy meeting between President Trump and Russia’s foreign minister came at Vladimir Putin’s insistence) by Susan B. Glasser

CNN: Source Close to Comey Says There Were 2 Reasons the FBI Director Was Fired by Jake Tapper [1) Comey never provided Trump with any assurance of loyalty and 2) the FBI's investigation into possible collusion with Russia in the 2016 election was accelerating]

New York Times: Days Before Firing, Comey Asked for More Resources for Russia Inquiry by Matthew Rosenberg and Matt Apuzzo

Bloomberg: Why Trump Really Fired Comey (two things have always driven the president: self-aggrandizement and self-preservation) by Timothy L. O'Brien

Talking Points Memo: Some Key Fact Points to Get Our Bearing by Josh Marshall 

[Special] FBI Director James Comey Fired by White House

• New York Times: F.B.I. Director James Comey Is Fired by Trump by Michael D. Shear and Matt Apuzzo

President Trump on Tuesday fired the director of the F.B.I., James B. Comey, abruptly terminating the law enforcement official leading a wide-ranging criminal investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s advisers colluded with the Russian government to steer the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

The stunning development in Mr. Trump’s presidency raised the specter of political interference by a sitting president into an existing investigation by the nation’s leading law enforcement agency. It immediately ignited Democratic calls for an independent prosecutor to lead the Russia inquiry.

Mr. Trump explained the firing by citing Mr. Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, even though the president was widely seen to have benefited politically from that inquiry and had once praised Mr. Comey for having “guts” in his pursuit of Mrs. Clinton during the campaign.

But in his letter to Mr. Comey, released to reporters by the White House, the president betrayed his focus on the continuing inquiry into Russia and his aides.

“While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau,” Mr. Trump said in a letter to Mr. Comey dated Tuesday.

NBC: Family of Syrians Deported From Philadelphia Supported Donald Trump

By David Chang, Alicia Victoria Lozano and Gabe Gutierrez:

A Pennsylvania family fighting to have their relatives return to the United States after they were detained at Philadelphia International Airport and sent back overseas under the immigration order told "NBC Nightly News" that they supported Donald Trump for president.

“I understand he wants to make America safe,” Sarmad Assali said. "We're all on with this. I definitely want to be in a safe place. But people need us and we need to be there for them."

Assali and her husband, Dr. Ghassan Assali, who has a dentistry practice and received his degree from New York University, are originally from Syria but have been living in the United States for more than 20 years.

Assali's two brothers, their wives and their two children initiated their immigration attempts in 2003 while living in Syria. In December 2016, they were approved to join Assali and her husband in Allentown after the couple bought and furnished a home for them.

But early Saturday morning, after they landed at Philadelphia International Airport, Assali's relatives were detained. They were then sent on an 18-hour flight back overseas.

The detainment and deportation occurred only hours after the president signed an executive order that immediately restricted travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries, temporarily halted the refugee program and indefinitely blocked refugees from Syria.

"Two security guards were waiting for them," Assali said. "They took them. They said, 'Are you Syrians?' They said, 'Yes.' They said, 'Come with us.'"

Assali's relatives, who are all Orthodox Christians, had visas and proof of green cards. The six Syrians were told they had to go back on the next flight and return to the Middle East, according to Assali. The next day, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus announced that the order would not extend to green card holders.

The Full Story (January 31, 2017)

[Special] Donald Trump: Perpetual Liar, Vainglorious Blowhard (Russian Hacking Edition)

• Yahoo News: Donald Trump Rips ‘NBC Nightly News’ as ‘Biased, Inaccurate and Bad’ by Brian Flood (December 12, 2016) - 

President-elect Donald Trump blasted “NBC Nightly News” as “biased, inaccurate and bad,” adding another twist to his bizarre relationship with the network continues.

Trump apparently didn’t like an NBC segment that showed excerpts of his “Fox News Sunday” interview with Chris Wallace in which he said he rejects CIA findings regarding Russia hacking the election and opts not to receive daily intelligence briefings.

• NBC News: Trump Has Been Strikingly Consistent in Denying Russian Hacking Role by Chuck Todd (January 6, 2017) - 

As President-elect Donald Trump today receives his intelligence briefing from top officials on Russia's role in the 2016 presidential race, it's worth listing his remarkable consistency denying Russian interference, which dates back to the debate season.

[Todd lists eight (8) separate direct quotes from Trump denying Russia was behind the hack]

• Washington Post: Trump Admits to Russian Hacking Even As He Attacks U.S. Intelligence Committee by Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker (January 12, 2017) - 

President-elect Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time here Wednesday that Russia was responsible for hacking the Democratic Party during last year’s election, but he denied that the leaks were intended to boost him and argued that Moscow would cease cyberattacks on the United States once he is sworn in.

In a rollicking hour-long news conference, Trump furiously denounced as “fake news” the reports that Russia had obtained salacious intelligence that could compromise him. He suggested that any damaging information collected by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration would already have been released — and he celebrated what had leaked out about Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

“As far as hacking, I think it was Russia,” Mr. Trump said. “Hacking’s bad, and it shouldn’t be done. But look at the things that were hacked, look at what was learned from that hacking.”

NBC: Trump Transition Shake-Up Part of 'Stalinesque Purge' of Christie Loyalists

By Ken Dilanian and Alexandra Jaffe:

The Donald Trump transition, already off to slow start, bogged down further Tuesday with the abrupt resignation of former Congressman Mike Rogers, who had been coordinating its national security efforts.

Two sources close to Rogers said he had been the victim of what one called a "Stalinesque purge," from the transition of people close to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who left Friday. It was unclear which other aides close to Christie had also been forced out.

* * *

He and his top aide had been working for months, preparing the groundwork for transition. Two sources close to the situation described an atmosphere of sniping and backbiting as Trump loyalists position themselves for key jobs.

The Full Story (November 15, 2016)

NBC News: 'Not Wanted' - Black Applicants Rejected for Trump Housing Speak Out

by Cynthia McFadden, Anna R. Schecter, and Hannah Rappleye:

Court documents, however, show that putting the allegations behind him was tougher than the candidate suggests.

Three years after the consent decree, the Justice Department went back to court to say the Trumps were not complying with the settlement. The claim was not resolved before the decree expired.

Then, in 1982, Trump Management and eight other New York City landlords were hit with a class-action discrimination lawsuit by a housing advocacy group. Two years later, they settled by agreeing to rent one of every four vacant apartments in some neighborhoods to blacks, according to a New York Times account from the time.

The breadth of the allegations doesn't surprise Maxine Brown, who applied for an apartment in a Queens building owned by Fred Trump in 1963.

"I was turned away because of my color," said Brown, 86, whose account was first reported by the New York Times in August.

Brown's application was taken by rental agent Stanley Leibowitz, who said there's no doubt Brown didn't get the apartment because she's black — and no doubt that Donald Trump, then just 17, knew that.

"Mr. Trump and his son Donald came into the office. I asked what I should do with this application because she's calling constantly and his response to me was, 'You know I don't rent to the N-word. Put it in a drawer and forget about it,'" Leibowitz, 89, told NBC News.

"Donald Trump was right alongside his father when I was instructed to do that."

Brown also filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission and was offered an apartment after the hearing; she still lives there. Fortt also took an apartment in a Trump building as a settlement.

"I wasn't interested in suing Trump. I wasn't interested in getting money. What I wanted was a place to live," she said.

The Full Story (October 25, 2016)

NBC News: A Full List of Donald Trump's Rapidly Changing Policy Positions

By Jane C. Timm:

After a year of campaigning, hundreds of interviews, stadium rallies, and press conferences, it is still difficult to glean a platform from the Republican nominee's powerfully incoherent rhetoric and constantly evolving views.

Donald Trump changes his mind so frequently and so dramatically that a compilation of his current policies would not tell the whole story, nor would it be up to date for very long — he once offered up three different views on abortion in eight hours. By mixing facts with exaggerations and outright falsehoods in hundreds of interviews while simultaneously refusing to offer specifics — insisting that unpredictability is an advantage he'll use to cut better deals — Trump and the Republican Party that's nominated him are putting forward the most elusive presidential platform in modern history.

To wit: This list features 117 distinct policy shifts on 20 major issues, tracking only his reversals since he announced his candidacy on June 16, 2015.

The Full Story (September 7, 2016)

NBC News: Trump Bankruptcy Math Doesn't Add Up

By Tom Winter:

Over the course of 18 years, Trump's companies went into reorganization six times — five times in New Jersey, where he had his casino holdings, and once in New York:

• Trump Taj Mahal Associates, Atlantic City casino — 1991 
• Trump Castle Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City casino — 1992 
• Trump Plaza Associates, Atlantic City casino — 1992 
• Plaza Operating Partners, Manhattan hotel — 1992 
• Trump Casino Holdings, Atlantic City casinos — 2004 
• Trump Entertainment Resorts, Atlantic City casinos — 2009 

"It would be six separate bankruptcies," said bankruptcy lawyer Ted Connolly, author of "The Road Out of Debt: Bankruptcy and Other Solution to Your Financial Problems."

* * *

During an August debate, he defended his record by saying, "Out of hundreds of deals that I've done — hundreds — on four occasions, I've taken advantage of the laws of this country, like other people.

"Hundreds and hundreds of deals. Four times, I've taken advantage of the laws," he continued.

In an October debate, his math memory got a little fuzzier.

"Hundreds of companies I've opened," he said. "I've used it [bankruptcy] three, maybe four times. Came out great."

The Full Story (June 24, 2016)