2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: FBI Chief Is WILD CARD For Clinton [View all]in_cog_ni_to
(41,600 posts)General James Comey refused to sign on to an extension of the program amid concerns about its legality and oversight.
Remember that? I DO! Comey had to race Gonzales and Card to Ashcroft's hospital bed to inform him of how ILLEGAL the Domestic Spying program was. He beat Gonzales there and Ashcroft refused to sign off on it - thanks to Comey.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2007/05/15/12881/comey-silence/
In his testimony today, Comey spoke for the first time about:
The high-speed pursuit that took place when Comey learned that Card and Gonzales were on their way to see Ashcroft at the hospital;
The hospital meeting, in which the seriously ill Ashcroft stunned Comey by lifting his head off the pillow and in very strong terms rejecting Card and Gonzales effort to have him reauthorize the spying program;
Comeys admission that he believed he had witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man, who did not have the powers of the attorney general because they had been transferred to me;
Andrew Cards subsequent very upset call to Comey, in which Card claimed that he and Gonzales had visited Ashcroft just
to wish him well;
The White Houses eventual agreement to suspend the warrantless spying in the face of a threat of mass resignations, including from FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General Ashcroft