ABC: Comey will stop short of saying Trump obstructed justice

[Mr. Morden]

This article seems to miss the point:

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Why does it matter if Comey himself thinks that rises to the level of obstructing justice?  Comey's not in a position of authority anymore.  If Comey testifies that Trump did in fact say that to him, then it's up to the legal system (or Congress, if they want to impeach Trump) to decide if they believe him or not, and if they do, if they consider that to be "obstructing justice" or not.  It's not up to Comey.

[Mr. Morden]

This hearing wasn't going to break any new ground ever folks.

Comey hasn't publicly said that Trump asked him to drop the Flynn investigation.  It's been reported that he's saying that behind closed doors and that he wrote a memo saying so, but all we have to go on right now are leaks.  So if Comey testifies that Trump said that, it would be the first time we've heard that accusation coming out of Comey's mouth.

[Mr. Morden]

Sure, Trump said it, but did he mean it? Did he understand the implications? Was he ignorant?

So, you're saying that Trump may be not guilty because he's mentally incompetent and therefore incapable of realizing that he comitted a crime? If that's the case, wouldn't this be sufficient reason to invoke the 25th amendment and declare him unfit to serve as president?

I mean, in all fairness to Sanchez's JAQing off, DoJ does look at intent and weighs that heavily when considering whether or not to pursue charges. It's not uncommon for them to pass on indictments and the like for those who have unknowingly or unintentionally committed crimes. Intent is an important element in securing conviction, and it's why DoJ has like a 99% conviction rate.

However, that's the standard for your average federal criminals. For the President of the United States, I would imagine the bar is going to be a bit higher, including but not limited to the fact that POTUS should very well know better by virtue of being in the position.

Wait, to be clear here, *can* they actually charge him with anything while he's in office as POTUS?  I thought that the POTUS can't actually be charged until he's out of office, but maybe I have that wrong?  What would Mueller actually do if he decided that Trump himself should be charged with something?

[Mr. Morden]

I think his testimony to the motivation is going to be critical, though. Sure, Trump said it, but did he mean it? Did he understand the implications? Was he ignorant?

If the legal defence of the most powerful man in the world is "he's too stupid to understand what he was saying"... jfc

Jonathan Chait has a good column on this very subject:

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/trump-firing-comey-biggest-political-crisis-since-watergate.html

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