TRUTH & CONSEQUENCES

Readers assess the impact of FBI Director Comey’s testimony and how it was reported

Has ‘loyalty’ become a dirty word now?

WE ALL KNOW President Trump is an outsider in that mess that is the Washington Beltway. Let us all pretend for a moment that President Trump does insist on “loyalty.” Has our value system become so twisted and perverted as to make such an expectation not only inappropriate but also, in the view of some, illegal?

Isn’t it possible that President Trump expects and should expect people serving in his administration to exhibit loyalty to him and his agenda? Is is possible that being loyal under the president’s definition might just not include lying, leaking and back-stabbing? Is it possible that within the Beltway lying, leaking and backstabbing are precisely how the “insiders” prove their “loyalty” to each other?

When Comey (says he) heard the president ask for his loyalty, is it possible he actually thought he was hearing a request for the Beltway version of loyalty? In that case Comey would have had to shift his loyalty from the universe of people and institutions he was already lying, leaking and backstabbing for to doing so for President Trump. He obviously wasn’t prepared to do that.

I have served in leadership positions for over 40 years. I not only insisted on loyalty but took great pride in the loyalty I had from the people in my charge. That did not mean I expected them to lie for me. I did expect them to respect my position and objectives and not to spread rumors and misinformation or undermine me in any way. True loyalty requires character, courage and integrity; Comey appears to have none of those attributes. The real question is how such a weak and feckless man ever become the head of the FBI? As with Naval officers, my line of work, Comey served at the pleasure of the president, and the president can fire him for any reason. Based on Comey’s testimony he needed to be fired simply due his indecisive, cowardly incompetence.

I believe the truth about loyalty is that few within the Beltway have (ever) known (or can) remember what that word really means. TOM CHILDRESS Albuquerque

Incompetence of Comey on display

(FORMER FBI DIRECTOR James) Comey said he was fired over (the) Russia probe; no, he was fired because he was incompetent. Watching him during the Senate hearings, he talked just like today’s millennials. JOE GONZALES Rio Rancho

Report on hearing was one-sided

I JUST READ your (June 9) article about (James) Comey’s testimony to Congress’s intel committee and noticed that you forgot to include some pertinent testimony:

Comey testified he understood he served at (the) pleasure of president and could be let go at any time.

Trump did not order him to stop investigation into war hero (Michael) Flynn. Trump said he “hoped” he could let it go . ...

He was concerned when (former) Attorney General Loretta Lynch asked him to call the (Hillary) Clinton investigation a “matter,” not an investigation.

Comey testified that Trump asked what could be done to lift the cloud of the investigation, (that) this cloud was still messing with his ability to do the rest of his agenda. Trump agreed there would be great benefit if work was done quickly and nothing was found. Comey testified that Trump said that if someone in his “satellite” did something wrong, it would be good to know that, too.

At the private dinner with Comey, did the president order one or two scoop(s) of ice cream?

As a long-time subscriber to the Albuquerque Journal I would really appreciate it if you offered both sides of stories so that readers could form accurate (opinions) for themselves. ALBERT SALAS Albuquerque

Headline reflects anti-Trump attitude

(JUNE 9) HEADLINE: “Comey testifies he was fired over Russia probe” Why is (it) so difficult for anyone in the media to find anything positive about (President) Trump?

The headline should have read (as) any one of these points:

1. Trump was never under investigation.

2. Trump did not obstruct justice.

3. Trump did not collude with Russia.

4. Russia did not alter the election outcome.

5. (James) Comey leaked his own memo.

6. Loretta Lynch pressured Comey to cover for Hillary Clinton.

7. There was ample evidence to put Hillary in jail but Comey chose not to pursue it.

8. CNN and other fake news outlets have been lying/making things up this entire time.

9. The Democratic Party no longer has the ability to scream “RUSSIA” every time Trump tries to do something.

10. The Russia story is dead — any Democrats who continue to push it will look foolish and insane to the American people. DAVE FOLSON Albuquerque

Was outcome of election changed?

AS THE MEDIA is flooded with accusations and insinuations of collusion, obstruction and Russian interference in the recent presidential election, the most important question is not being asked, partly because the answer cannot definitively be known. That question is whether or not the extensive hacking, posting of those hacks, posting of false information alongside hacked data, all to the detriment of the Democratic candidate and party, while ... Republican sources were also hacked but not posted or otherwise released — ... this huge volume of information, used extensively as negative campaign material by those opposed to Hillary Clinton and supporting Donald Trump for president — actually (did) sway the very close election and therefore become the deciding factor in electing Trump president?

While it is extremely important to investigate and determine to what extent Russian operatives hacked into election and party databases, websites, email accounts, etc., and whether and to what extent Trump campaign operatives, and possibly Trump himself, conferred with, colluded with, and conspired with the Russians in this endeavor, and whether Trump is guilty of trying to obstruct these investigations, the more important question is whether these efforts by either the Russians alone or with the assistance from the Trump campaign, added enough negative campaign material, often the most extensively used and most effective, to actually sway enough voters to change the outcome of the election.

This is the real question overhanging the Trump presidency but one that won’t be asked because the answer cannot be known and because there is no remedy in law or in the Constitution if the answer is yes, that that is what really and actually happened. So we will have to be satisfied with investigations into the many related activities, the ones that were done to produce the effect that cannot be known, has no remedy even if it could be known, and therefore cannot be investigated. ROBERT DIGIULIO Albuquerque

Support for Heinrich dictates ‘reporting’

HAVE BEEN A customer of your paper since 1978. It really saddens me to see the total commitment to (U.S. Sen. Martin) Heinrich regardless of the truth of any event. I read online late (June 8) and (later that night) over 25 articles regarding the (James) Comey matter. Not a single one, including the Post or the Times, slanted what occurred during the hearing as anything near what your paper carried . ...

Does it not matter what is really said or done? Your overreaching support for this senator cannot even be considered news. Why do you not try to get information from some other source besides his office? Running his picture with every article, quoting him, just makes my case that your paper is part of his constant campaign. The outcome of what occurred (June 8) is so far different from your article it is a lie to print what you did print. ... And you wonder why the informed public has no trust in the media. RICHARD GRIMES Albuquerque

Media’s negativism leads to violence

NOW WE HAVE a consequence of ignoring the good news and focusing on the negative news about President Trump. The media has desired “to make a difference” for a long time, and (has) succeeded. Polls show the way the people’s opinions have been shaped by the media and opposition party supporters and officeholder communications, even to the point of discussing impeachment so soon after the election. Angry rhetoric has progressed to the point where those with half a mind to take the matter into their own hands have started. The attack on the GOP baseball team is a case in point.

There are some who can’t see any good to what Donald Trump campaigned to do and is trying to do in order to fulfill his election promises. The media’s continual harping on the negative feeds the anger. Now we have attempted murder. Isn’t concern about radical jihadists enough to worry about? The enemy gains strength when attention is diverted from the real danger. The media better change the tone of their reports or we can expect more of what happened on the baseball field. DICK BARTLETT Roswell