• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Official James Comey testimony thread

BobTheCoward said:
If the president orders no one can investigate him, who in the executive branch has the power to continue ivestigating him?
Click to expand...

If the president were actually that obstinate then there are the other two branches of the government which can deal quite effectively with a tyrannical president.
 
BobTheCoward said:
Why does Trump complain about his DoJ not defending his travel ban when it is undisputed he has the power to order them to defend it as he wishes?
Click to expand...

Because Trump is a dumbass. Nixon wasn't a dumbass.

To answer your questions in order he wanted to do it secretly, he wasn't about to be removed under executive power so it doesn't actually say anything about executive power which is why I called it a political question, and after removal from office an ex president no longer has the power to determine investigation priorities.
Click to expand...

So why not go to the director of the FBI and order him to drop it and never say anything about it.

Also, why did people in the Nixon administration go to prison for obstruction. After all they were just acting as agents of the president and he has unlimited power to obstruct any investigation he wants.
 
BobTheCoward said:
All executive power is vested in the president. No one in the government has the power to investigate him if he says they don't.
Click to expand...

That's not quite true. Congress can still investigate any president. They can't do much with such an investigation other than impeachment, but the presidential pardon cannot prevent impeachment either.
 
BobTheCoward said:
There was a complete lack of criminal charges filed against Nixon while he was in office and he resigned to avoid a political impeachment.
Click to expand...

You are wrong again.

The case against Nixon was not a case of political impeachment. It was flat-out shown that Nixon obstructed justice and there was considerable evidence that he engaged in many criminal activities.
 
Crossbow said:
If the president were actually that obstinate then there are the other two branches of the government which can deal quite effectively with a tyrannical president.
Click to expand...

Which is what I said. It is a political question. But neither the DoJ nor FBI possess a power to counter that intransigence.
 
Ziggurat said:
That's not quite true. Congress can still investigate any president. They can't do much with such an investigation other than impeachment, but the presidential pardon cannot prevent impeachment either.
Click to expand...

I thought it was clear in my repeated statements of "political questions" versus "vested executive power" that investigation in this case meant executive branch investigation. Sorry if I didn't make it clear.
 
Crossbow said:
You are wrong again.

The case against Nixon was not a case of political impeachment. It was flat-out shown that Nixon obstructed justice and there was considerable evidence that he engaged in many criminal activities.
Click to expand...

All impeachment is political because it is never criminal. It is a legislative power.
 
C.D.C.: MILLIONS OF AMERICANS IN AREAS COLORED BLUE WILL BE TOO SICK TO REPORT TO WORK THURSDAY MORNING
Click to expand...
Damn, and tomorrow is the one full-schedule work day I've all all session. If there's anything I'd like to be following moment-to-moment on TV, it's this.
 
Tony Stark said:
Because Trump is a dumbass. Nixon wasn't a dumbass.



So why not go to the director of the FBI and order him to drop it and never say anything about it.

Also, why did people in the Nixon administration go to prison for obstruction. After all they were just acting as agents of the president and he has unlimited power to obstruct any investigation he wants.
Click to expand...

He didn't exercise his power to obstruct it. Why not do those things? Humans are social creatures. While we say things like, "war to the knife, knife to the hilt," we don't actually do that.
 
BobTheCoward said:
He didn't exercise his power to obstruct it. Why not do those things? Humans are social creatures. While we say things like, "war to the knife, knife to the hilt," we don't actually do that.
Click to expand...

He tried to. That's why he was forced to resign and why a bunch of people in his administration went to prison.
 
Last edited:
BobTheCoward said:
To the extent he did something is not evidence that he exercised the fullest extent of the power available to him. As I said, it is a rare thing for people to exercise the fullest extent of their resistance.
Click to expand...

But still people went to prison for it (and Nixon himself could have if not for his pardon). For something you believe the president had the legal power to do.
 
Tony Stark said:
But still people went to prison for it (and Nixon himself could have if not for his pardon). For something you believe the president had the legal power to do.
Click to expand...

When he is out of office, he no longer has the legal power to prevent investigation.
 
BobTheCoward said:
When he is out of office, he no longer has the legal power to prevent investigation.
Click to expand...

But he would have been prosecuted for the obstruction he committed while president and you claim that the president can't obstruct justice.
 
Tony Stark said:
But he would have been prosecuted for the obstruction he committed while president and you claim that the president can't obstruct justice.
Click to expand...

While in office. Once out of course he can. He can also be investigated in office if he allows it.
 
BobTheCoward said:
Yes. Once out of office, he no longer has the power to stop it.
Click to expand...

You literally said that "the president cannot obstruct justice". The obstruction he likely would have been prosecuted for if not for the pardon occurred while he was president.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom