Subject: Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — The cost of Comey: 'It's like the engine has fallen out of the car' — 10 things we want to know — All the scoops
From: "Mike Allen" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 07:10:12 -0400 (EDT)

Presented by Koch Industries:

Mike's Top 10: The cost of Comey: 'It's like the engine has fallen out o= the car' — 10 things we want to know — All the scoops

View in browser

Presented By Koch Industries

Axios AM

By Mike Allen = ·May 10, 2017

1 big thing: The cost of Comey

Los Angeles TV stations carried live chopper pictures of former FBI dire=tor James Comey, at top of stairs, and his entourage boarding a private je= at LAX after he was fired / Via AP

In a swirl of sobering questions about the Constitution=and the rule of law, many Republicans are asking simply: Why now? Why?!Republicans around town, and even some White House off=cials, tell me they're baffled by President Trump's decision to fire FBI D=rector James Comey in the middle of his Russia investigation — and=with the explanation that it's because of his handling of Hillary's email,=which Trump had praised him for in the past.

"They just bar=ly got the tiniest bit of momentum going after the House health c=re bill, and now it's like the engine has fallen out of the car," said an =utside adviser to the West Wing. "The Russia thing will now go on forever.=And the rationale in the letter was preposterous. This was a tremendous mi=calculation."

Even some White House officials belie=e that the likely result will be a special =ounsel, which Democrats are now pushing nearly in unison. AP reports that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said la=t night that he told Trump in a phone conversation "[Y]ou are maki=g a big mistake."

The firing increases scr=tiny of the feds' Russia probe, and will make Democrats even more aggressi=e with their investigation. Senate Dem

Comey, who's 6 foot 8, liter=lly and psychically towered over so many national dramas of the past decad=, and is accused by Democrats of tipping the presidential election.

=strong>Adding to GOP bewilderment, the announcement came 10 days =efore Trump leaves on his first foreign trip, to centers of three great religions — Sa=di Arabia, Israel and Rome. Trump has said he hopes the trip will begin to="construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our Muslim all=es."

"That's the kind of thing that changes history=and the trajectory of a presidency — a permanent legacy," the advi=er said. "The timing of this is all bad for Trump."

Matt Mil=er, a former Justice Department spokesman under President Obama, =aid everyone he talked to at Main Justice last night was in shock. Miller =aid it was clear internally that the White House didn't trust Comey, and c=uldn't control him.

"This makes no sense in the sho=t term," Miller said. "But if the long-term threat is the survival of the =dministration itself, then you take the short-term risk."

P.S. Trump on Comey, at a campaign rally on Oct. 31, after the FBI director sent a letter to Congress sayi=g he was reopening the Clinton email probe: "It took a lot of guts. I real=y disagreed with him. I was not his fan. But I'll tell you what he did, he=brought back his reputation. He brought it back. He's got to hang tough be=ause there's ... a lot of people want him to do the wrong thing. What he d=d was the right thing."

2. 10 questions ...

Then-FBI Director James Comey prepares to testify on Capitol Hill on De=. 9, 2015 / AP's Susan Walsh

... we'd like answered:

What the hell is going on?

=hy the rush to get rid of Comey?

What does Comey know that we don'=?

Who did Trump consult?

Who was against it? (NYT: "Rei=ce Priebus, the White House chief of staff, argued against it, delaying =E2�� but not overruling — the decision.")

Did Comey re=lly tell Trump three times that he's not under investigation?

How =uch of this has to do with Hillary, and how much with Russia?

Wha= does Jared think?

Why didn't Trump — or anyone �=94 tell Comey personally?

Will Comey do a book? Will he tell all?=

David Ignatius column in WashPost, "The Russia mystery deepens even further":

The Comey putsch heightens t=e mystery at the center of the Flynn case: Why Trump didn't react sooner t= warnings about Flynn's involvement with Russia. Why didn't Trump listen t= President Barack Obama's caution against hiring him? Why did Trump wait 1= days before removing his national security adviser after urgent advice th=t Flynn could be "blackmailed"?

3. Scoops

The timing ... N.Y. Times' Michael Schmidt tweets: "WH and DOJ had been workin= on firing Comey since at least last week. Sessions had been worki=g to come up with reasons."

The intrigue ... NYT's Maggie Haberman =weets: "The White House fired Comey with no replacement set, with no c=ear messaging and no legal experts or surrogates lined up."

=ow Comey found out ... NYT's Michael Schmidt (who broke the Hil=ary personal-email story back in March 2015): "Comey was addressing a group of F=B.I. employees in Los Angeles when a television in the background flashed =he news that he had been fired."

"Comey laughed= saying he thought it was a fairly funny prank. Then his staff st=rted scurrying around in the background and told Mr. Comey that he should =tep into a nearby office."

"Comey stopped address=ng the group. He proceeded to shake hands with the employees he had been s=eaking to. Then he stepped into a side office, where he confirmed that he =ad been fired."

"At that point, he had not heard =rom the White House. Shortly thereafter, a letter from Mr. Trump was deliv=red to the F.B.I.'s headquarters, just seven blocks from the White House."=/li>
WashPost: "White House ai=e Keith Schiller, who has long served Trump as a bodyguard, visited FBI he=dquarters to hand-deliver Trump's dismissal letter to Comey's office, alth=ugh the director wasn't there to receive it."

The back=rop ... WashPost's Devlin Barrett, Adam E=tous and Phil Rucker: "Several current and former officials said the relat=onship between the White House and the FBI had been strained for months, i= part because administration officials were pressuring Comey to more aggre=sively pursue leak investigations over disclosures that embarrassed the Wh=te House and raised questions about ties with Russia."

was described as conversational challenges=/strong> to FBI leadership."

"Although the FBI is=investigating disclosures of classified information, the bureau has resist=d calls to prioritize leak investigations over the Russia matter, =/strong>or probe matters that did not involve leaks of classified or other=ise sensitive information."

"Federal prosecutors have iss=ed grand jury subpoenas to associates of former National Secu=ity Advisor Michael Flynn seeking business records," per CNN's Evan Perez,=Shimon Prokupecz and Pamela Brown:

"CNN learned of the subpoenas hours before President Donald Trump fir=d FBI director James Comey."

"The subpoenas represent the first sign of a significant escalation of activity in the FBI's br=ader investigation begun last July into possible ties between Trump campai=n associates and Russia."

<=a>

A message from Koch Industries

Making more with less

At Koch, we aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. That�=80�s why our 70,000 U.S. employees are constantly pushing the boundary o= what is possible, finding new ways to make life’s essentials bett=r while using fewer resources. Learn more.

4. The narrative

"Echoes of Watergate," per N.Y. Times' Pe=er Baker, above the fold:

"Not since=Watergate has a president dismissed the person leading an investi=ation bearing on him, and Mr. Trump's decision late Tuesday afternoon drew=instant comparisons to the 'Saturday Night Massacre' in October 1973, when=President Richard M. Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox, the specia= prosecutor looking into the so-called third-rate burglary that would even=ually bring Nixon down."

"The decision stunned me=bers of both parties, who saw it as a brazen act sure to inflame an alread= politically explosive investigation.

"For all his unconve=tional actions in his nearly four months as president, Mr. Trump =till has the capacity to shock, and the notion of firing an F.B.I. directo= in the middle of such an investigation crossed all the normal lin=s."

"Trump may have assumed that Democra=s so loathed Mr. Comey because of his actions last year in the investigati=n of Hillary Clinton's private email server that they would support or at =east acquiesce to the dismissal. But if so, he miscalculated."

Axios list of =ll the people comparing Trump to Nixon.

N.Y. Times Quote of =he Day ... President Trump, in his letter yesterday firing FB= Director James Comey: "While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on th=ee separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless c=ncur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able =o effectively lead the bureau."

5. Be smart

Los Angeles TV stations broadcast live helicopter pictures of the motorc=de carrying Comey in traffic on Interstate 405, en route LAX after he was =ired / Via AP

Newly intriguing ... 48 hours before the firing, Axios' Jonathan Swan scooped that Trump had warned top staff to stop=dumping on Flynn.

"3 people fired by Trump were all inv=stigating Trumpworld," by Axios' Shannon Vavra:

Am=ng the most prominent officials Trump has fired since taking offi=e are Sally Yates, Preet Bharara, and James Comey.

What th=y have in common: They all were investigating Trump, and there's = Russia thread for each.

Former acting Attorney General Sa=ly Yates, fired Jan. 30 for refusing to enforce travel ban: Was c=llecting intelligence on the Russian ambassador to the U.S. and his contac=s with Trump associates.

Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharar=, fired March 11 along with other U.S. attorneys: Was overseeing an investigation into stock trades by HHS=Secretary Tom Price. Also investigating corrupt Russian businessmen and of=icials.

James Comey, fired May 9: Was investigati=g Trump's Russia ties, which he revealed March 20.

<=mg width="32" height="32" style="border: none" target="_blank" src=3D"https://static.axios.com/img-email/email-circle.png" alt="Email this =tory">

6. Hot takes

A line he's waited all his life to deliver= and nailed it ... Chris Matthews, as he took the air at MSNBC at=7 p.m.: "Tuesday night massacre. Let's play 'Hardball.'"

F=x's Sean Hannity twee=s: "Finally."

Roger Stone, longtime =rump ally who has been asked to preserve records but denies working with R=ssian officials, to the N.Y. Times: "Somewhere Dick Nixon is=smiling."

Roger Stone to L.A. Times'
Joe Scarborough tweets: "Republicans trying to whitewash this gross abuse=of power, stop. The President is trying to kill the investigation into his=ties w/ Russia. ... Hey, Republicans. Stand the Hell up. This is your mome=t to be counted. ... Senate Republicans should not confirm any Trump pick =or FBI Director until an independent prosecutor is appointed on Russia."
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.): "[T]he =iming of this firing is very troubling."

Trump's only tweet since the f=ring: "Cryin' Chuck Schumer stated recently, 'I do not have confi=ence in him (James Comey) any longer.' Then acts so indignant. #drainthesw=mp."

Jeffrey Toobin on CNN: "I='s a grotesque abuse of power. ... This is the kind of thing that goes on =n non-democracies."

7. What the White House is saying

Last night's accounts:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, to Tucker Carlon the Russia investiga=ion: "My gosh, Tucker. When are they gonna let that go? … Frankly,=it's kind of getting absurd. There's nothing there."

Sean =picer: "The goal today was to act on the recommendation …=to restore confidence in the FBI."

Kellyanne =onway to CNN's Anderson Cooper: "It's not a cover-up."

8. Senate Dems meet at 9:30 today

Fox News' Bret Baier (right) interviews Brit Hume on a special 11 p.m. e=ition of "Special Report"

"In an attempt to pressure Republicans to join calls fo= an independent prosecutor, Senate Democrats have been asked by Minority L=ader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to be in the Senate chamber at 9:30 a.m. =today] when the legislative day begins." (WashPost=/a>)

9. The talk of tech

What to expect from Snap's first earnings report, out a= market close today, per Axios' Kia =okalitcheva and Sara Fischer:: Snap "commanded a massive valuation at IPO despite being unprofitable and=having far fewer users than Facebook, so it will have to show improved fin=ncials and continued growth. It also must fight growing perceptions that I=stagram's cloning of its most popular features is a serious threat."
P.S. "Exclusive: Gore presses Trump on climate pact," b= Axios' Ben Geman: "Former Vice President Al Gore personally urged Preside=t Trump not to abandon the Paris climate accord in a phone conversation on=Tuesday morning."

10. 1 money thing

The Bloomb=rg Pay Index, a ranking of the best-compensated U.S. executiv=s for 2016, by Anders Melin:

Marc Lore, CEO, U=S. e-commerce, Wal-Mart Stores, $237 million

Tim Cook, CEO, Apple, $150 million

John Weinberg, exec=tive chairman, Evercore Partners, $124 million

Sundar Pich=i, CEO, GoogleAlphabet, $107 million

Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla, $99,744,920

Ginni Rometty, CEO= IBM, $97 million

Mitch Garber, CEO, Caesars Acqu=sition, $91 million

Philippe Dauman, former CEO, =iacom, $88 million

Leslie Moonves, CEO, CBS, $84 =illion

Mario Gabelli, CEO, Gamco Investors, $76 m=llion

A message from Koch Industries

Where challenge meets opportunity

Innovating new ways to make everyday products better while using fewer n=tural resources is a huge challenge, but at Koch, it’s one our 70,=00 U.S. employees accept every day. Learn more.

Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 200, Arlington VA 22201

You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios.
Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.=/a>

Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.

Follow Axios=on social media:

=                     &nb=p;