Trump & Comey meeting transcripts 7 days into presidency - New York Times

Trump Sticks a Fork in Comey

MAY 13, 2017

Maureen Dowd

WASHINGTON — You knew there had to be a tape of the Infamous Dinner.

Fortuitously, it popped up in my mailbox this weekend. And here’s a transcript from that fateful wintry meeting between F.B.I. Director James Comey and Donald Trump at the White House, seven days after the president was sworn in:

TRUMP I’m so glad you called and asked to come over, James. Let me give you a hug. Or at least blow you another kiss. (Smooching sound.)

COMEY Actually, that’s not factually correct, Mr. President. You summoned me.

TRUMP No, you summoned me.

COMEY That’s not ——

TRUMP You called me and said you wanted to come over and congratulate me on my amazing victory and my record-breaking inaugural crowds and beg like a dog to keep your job.

COMEY I would never call to invite myself over, Mr. President. I feel uneasy being here. I refused to play basketball with President Obama, even though I knew I could dunk over him, for fear of seeming too chummy. As F.B.I. director, I have to stay above the political fray.

TRUMP Are you kidding me? Who is more political than you? With all your wacky meddling in the election and rooting around in the laptop of that pervert Anthony Weiner, you’re even more famous than me. And you know how much I hate that. Sometimes people work for me and they do a good job and then they get a big head. And then I chop off their heads.

COMEY Mr. President, I cannot let politics affect my decisions because if I ever start considering who might be affected, and in what way, by what we do, we’re done.

TRUMP Let me press my cool red button. Vlad gave it to me. It’s a reset button and it works a lot better than the one Hillary gave to Lavrov. I use it to ring my butler for Diet Cokes. You know, it’s funny, I have never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke.

COMEY Have you thought about Weight Watchers?

TRUMP I love Oprah but I think I look phenomenal.

I am really, really good looking. You look good, too. You’re a tall drink of water. Like a giraffe crossed with Eliot Ness. What are you, 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9? Central casting. But don’t let your head get too big. Don’t be a showboat. Don’t be a grandstander. That’s my shtick. Do you play golf? How far do you drive? Trump hits it strong and long — 285 yards. Have some salad. We got you creamy vinaigrette. I always do Thousand Island.

COMEY Isn’t Thousand Island the same as Russian dressing?

TRUMP I’m glad you brought that up. I would like you to pledge your ever-ending loyalty, in the immortal words of Luca Brasi. You know, I used to be called The Don and compared to John Gotti, but with more bling. I would like you to tell me three times, before the cock crows, that I am not under investigation for working with Russia to defeat Hillary. Because I certainly did not need help defeating Crooked Hillary. I have to know you’re my guy.

COMEY I am not your guy, Mr. President. I’m America’s guy. I can pledge my honesty to you.

TRUMP You should try truthful hyperbole or just make stuff up. Look how well that worked for me. Did it ever occur to you that your wacky, neurotic, dopey bouts of piety and vanity during the campaign broke F.B.I. rules and ruined your reputation? You’ll be lucky if I decide to let you stay.

COMEY I worry that you don’t have the slightest understanding of how our democracy works. Everyone thinks you’re off your rocker.

TRUMP That’s funny, because I think there’s something off about you.

COMEY It makes me mildly nauseous to think I could have helped make you president.

TRUMP You didn’t. I made myself president. Did you see the 1.5 million people at my inauguration? I have a picture of the crowd on the wall here. The dishonest press would never admit it. Now, James, I need you to eat your meatloaf and forget about this Russia thing with Trump. Russia is a made-up story — with a few exceptions. I need you to drop that goofy investigation and start priming the pump on investigating the leaks in your shop and in the C.I.A. that hurt Trump. You could also check the files on Ted Cruz’s dad and Lee Harvey Oswald while you’re at it.

COMEY But no one leaks more than you. You are your own Deep Throat. There have been rumors that you have been taping people since the ’80s. Are you taping this conversation?

TRUMP I have nothing further to add on that. Ah, here’s dessert. The most beautiful chocolate cake that you’ve ever seen. I get two scoops of ice cream and you only get one. Because I’m the president. Can you believe it?

I’ve got an idea! See that 60-inch flat-screen TV I put in, under the crystal chandelier I put up? Why don’t you stay and watch me watch Bill O’Reilly — he’s a great guy — and then I’ll tweet about the show and then O’Reilly will read my tweet as breaking news and you can watch that and then I’ll flip to CNN and you can watch me hate-watch that dummy Don Lemon and then I’ll pretend I didn’t. Fun! And don’t forget: If you’re not loyal, you might look up at a TV one day and find out you’re fired.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter (@MaureenDowd) and join me on Facebook.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter. 

New York Times 

The Republican’s Guide to Presidential Behavior - New York Times

The Republican’s Guide to Presidential Behavior

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

MAY 13, 2017

It wasn’t so long ago that Republicans in Congress cared about how a president comported himself in office. They cared a lot! The president is, after all, commander in chief of the armed forces, steward of the most powerful nation on earth, role model for America’s children — and he should act at all times with the dignity his station demands. It’s not O.K. to behave in a manner that demeans the office and embarrasses the country. Shirt sleeves in the Oval Office? Disrespectful. Shoes on the Resolute desk? Even worse. Lying? Despicable, if not impeachable.

Now seems like a good moment to update the standards. What do Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders think a president may say or do and still deserve their enthusiastic support? We offer this handy reference list in hopes of protecting them from charges of hypocrisy in the future. They can consult it should they ever feel tempted to insist on different standards for another president. So, herewith, the Congressional Republican’s Guide to Presidential Behavior.

If you are the president, you may freely:

• attack private citizens on Twitter

• delegitimize federal judges who rule against you

• refuse to take responsibility for military actions gone awry

• fire the F.B.I. chief in the middle of his expanding investigation into your campaign and your associates

Sunday Review

EDITORIAL

The Republican’s Guide to Presidential Behavior

• 828

President Trump’s signature on an executive order.

STEPHEN CROWLEY / THE NEW YORK TIMES

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

MAY 13, 2017

It wasn’t so long ago that Republicans in Congress cared about how a president comported himself in office. They cared a lot! The president is, after all, commander in chief of the armed forces, steward of the most powerful nation on earth, role model for America’s children — and he should act at all times with the dignity his station demands. It’s not O.K. to behave in a manner that demeans the office and embarrasses the country. Shirt sleeves in the Oval Office? Disrespectful. Shoes on the Resolute desk? Even worse. Lying? Despicable, if not impeachable.

Now seems like a good moment to update the standards. What do Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders think a president may say or do and still deserve their enthusiastic support? We offer this handy reference list in hopes of protecting them from charges of hypocrisy in the future. They can consult it should they ever feel tempted to insist on different standards for another president. So, herewith, the Congressional Republican’s Guide to Presidential Behavior.

If you are the president, you may freely:

• attack private citizens on Twitter

• delegitimize federal judges who rule against you

• refuse to take responsibility for military actions gone awry

• fire the F.B.I. chief in the middle of his expanding investigation into your campaign and your associates

• accuse a former president, without evidence, of an impeachable offense

• employ top aides with financial and other connections to a hostile foreign power

• blame the judiciary, in advance, for any terror attacks

• call the media “the enemy of the American people”

• demand personal loyalty from the F.B.I. director

• threaten the former F.B.I. director

• accept foreign payments to your businesses, in possible violation of the Constitution

• occupy the White House with the help of a hostile foreign power

• intimidate congressional witnesses

• allow White House staff members to use their personal email for government business

• neglect to fill thousands of crucial federal government positions for months

• claim, without evidence, that millions of people voted illegally

• fail to fire high-ranking members of your national security team for weeks, even after knowing they lied to your vice president and exposed themselves to blackmail

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• refuse to release tax returns

• hide the White House visitors’ list from the public

• vacation at one of your private residences nearly every weekend

• use an unsecured personal cellphone

• criticize specific businesses for dropping your family members’ products

• review and discuss highly sensitive intelligence in a restaurant, and allow the Army officer carrying the “nuclear football” to be photographed and identified by name

• obstruct justice

• hire relatives for key White House posts, and let them meet with foreign officials and engage in business at the same time

• promote family businesses on federal government websites

• tweet, tweet, tweet

• collude with members of Congress to try to shut down investigations of you and your associates

• threaten military conflict with other nations in the middle of news interviews

• compare the U.S. intelligence community to Nazis

• display complete ignorance about international relations, your own administration’s policies, American history and the basic structure of our system of government

• skip daily intelligence briefings

• repeat untruths

• lie

If you’re a Republican legislator, stick this list on the fridge and give it a quick read the next time you get upset at a president.

If you think we have left something out, please leave a comment with this article, or on our Facebook page. We’ll update the Congressional Republican’s Guide with some of your suggestions in a follow-up article.

New York Times

Russian money-laundering details remain in the dark as US settles fraud case - CNN

Russian money-laundering details remain in the dark as US settles fraud case

By Jose Pagliery

Updated 2244 GMT (0644 HKT) May 13, 2017

New York (CNN)A major US investigation into Russian money laundering has come to an abrupt end. 

The case aimed to expose how Russian mobsters allegedly stole $230 million and hid some of the cash in New York City real estate. Also sure to come up was the suspicious death of the Russian lawyer who exposed the alleged fraud, though US prosecutors weren't alleging that the defendants were behind it.

The trial was set to start on Monday, but late Friday night, federal prosecutors in New York announced they settled the case with Prevezon, the company accused of buying up "high-end commercial space and luxury apartments" with laundered money.

The abrupt conclusion has some involved in the trial wondering why this Russian investigation had been cut short. 

"What most concerns me is: Has there been any political pressure applied in this?" asked Louise Shelley, an illicit finance expert who was set to testify in support of the US government on Tuesday.

Shelley — who founded George Mason University's Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center — said the alleged money launderers got off easy.

Shelley — who founded George Mason University's Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center — said the alleged money launderers got off easy.

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"I think they won something. There's no recognition of wrongdoing," she said.

The US Attorney's office did not respond to CNN's request for comment. 

In the settlement, Prevezon and its business associates did not acknowledge any wrongdoing, and the government agreed to "release" them all from any future lawsuits in connection with this case.

The case against Prevezon was a civil matter, so the federal government's inherent goal was to recover money. That it did.

The $5.9 million settlement is three times the value of the $1.9 million in supposedly laundered money tied to funds stolen from the Russian state coffers. But it's far less than the value of Prevezon's real estate in Manhattan -- which Shelley estimates at $17 million -- that had been partially acquired with those allegedly laundered funds.

Russia's largest ever tax fraud

The alleged fraud behind the Prevezon case goes back a decade. According to US investigators, corrupt Russian government officials allegedly teamed up with a powerful Russian organized crime organization to pull off that country's largest ever tax fraud.

Russian crime rings often use identity theft to file fake tax refunds. In this case, the government says that the defendants essentially did that on a grand scale: allegedly stealing the corporate identity of Hermitage Capital Management, an investment firm in Russia. According to the complaints, the defendants then allegedly created fake losses, claimed fake tax refunds -- and made off with the stolen rubles.

Hermitage's lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, exposed the alleged fraud — and was later jailed by the very investigators he fingered in the plot. He was tortured and killed in prison, according to Russia's own Presidential Human Rights Commission. The Russian government insists that Magnitsky, age 37, died of a heart failure with no signs of violence.

The conspirators allegedly laundered the illicit cash through shell companies, luxury cars, real estate around the world, and international bank accounts.

But without a trial, the illicit money trail remains unproven to the public.

The settlement allowed both sides to still claim a victory.

Prevezon said this is proof it did nothing wrong. In a statement, the firm said: "From the outset, Prevezon and its owner Denis Katsyv have maintained their innocence and have repeatedly stated that they had no involvement in or knowledge of any fraudulent activities and never received any funds from any criminal activity."

Prevezon claimed prosecutors "brought this case without conducting any independent investigation, relying exclusively on the claims of William Browder," the head of Hermitage.

Meanwhile, American prosecutors claimed this served as a deterrent for future money launderers.

"We will not allow the U.S. financial system to be used to launder the proceeds of crimes committed anywhere -- here in the U.S., in Russia, or anywhere else," acting Manhattan US Attorney Joon H. Kim said in a statement.

The case had initially been brought by US Attorney Preet Bharara, but he was fired by President Donald Trump in March. 

Bharara congratulated the prosecutors on Twitter late Friday night: "Congrats to Joon & team in Russian money laundering case (underlying fraud uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, died suspiciously in Moscow jail)."

There was one witness set to testify at the trial who had a very personal connection to the case: Jamison Firestone, whose law firm partner was Magnitsky.

On Saturday, Firestone lamented that details about the Russian government, mobsters and investors who allegedly received these funds won't be aired at trial.

"I wanted this all to come out," he told CNN on Saturday. "The embarrassing stuff exposes the Russian government's entire money laundering machine."

But Firestone said this settlement is one step closer to justice. Estonia, the UK, and the US have already adopted "Magnitsky laws" to sanction Russians connected to the fraud. This settlement is the first time a court in the West has forced someone allegedly involved in the money laundering to pay up.

"We're just going to keep doing this until we expose them all," he told CNN. "These people may escape prosecution as long as the Putin government stands, but it won't stand forever. Putin is going to die before they do, and hopefully they will die in tiny prison cells like Sergei Magnitsky did."

CNN