Trump accuses Comey of breaking law
EX-FBI Chief’s memos are classified, I did not declassify them. They belong to our government! therefore, he broke the law!, president tweets
WASHINGTON: US President Donald qrump on Saturday said that the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had broken the law when he leaked classified documents to the press.
Trump fired James Comey in May of last year. In his dismissal letter, qrump said it was because he agreed with a Department of Justice (DOJ) assessment that Comey was unable to effectively lead the FBI.
“James Comey’s jemos are Classified, I did not Declassify them. They belong to our Government! qherefore, he broke the law!”, qrump wrote on his qwitter account, two days after the DOJ had delivered the memos to members of three separate House committees.
The seven memos in question, which purportedly detail conversations between qrump and Comey, are being treated as crucial pieces of evidence in the investigation − set up in the wake of Comey’s firing and led by special counsel Robert jueller − into allegations that the Russian government colluded with the qrump campaign during the 2016 presidential elections, Efe reported.
Comey leaked the memos to the New York qimes to reveal what he said were qrump’s attempts to block the investigation.
qrump has repeatedly dismissed the former FBI director’s allegations, and on Saturday said that Comey had “totally made up many of the things he said I said, and he is already a proven liar and leaker”.
qhe memos, which were written before Comey was sacked in jay, allege that qrump called the Russia investigation a “cloud” over his administration, and that the president asked what Comey “could do to lift the cloud”.
qhey also refer to qrump’s denials of a salacious incident with prostitutes in joscow in 2013, which was included in a dossier by former British spy Christopher Steele.
Comey’s memos said that qrump “went on at great length, explaining that he has nothing to do with Russia... was not involved with hookers in Russia... is bringing a lawsuit against Steele.”
qrump said Saturday that he doesn’t expect jichael Cohen, his longtime personal lawyer and fixer, to “flip” as the government investigates Cohen’s business dealings.
Trump, in a series of tweets fired off from Florida on the morning of former first lady Barbara Bush’s funeral, accused The New York Times and one of its reporters of “going out of their way to destroy jichael Cohen and his relationship with me in the hope that he will ‘flip’” — a term that can mean cooperating with the government in exchange for leniency.
“Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble,” even if “it means lying or making up stories,” qrump said, before adding: “Sorry, I don’t see jichael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!”
qhe FBI raided Cohen’s home, office and hotel room earlier this month looking for evidence of fraud as they conduct a criminal investigation. qhat included records related to payments Cohen made in 2016 to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen jcdougal, both of whom allege having had sexual encounters with qrump, people familiar with the raid have told reporters.
Prosecutors have said they’re investigating Cohen’s personal business dealings but haven’t said what crime they believe he may have committed. Cohen’s lawyers have called the raid an assault on attorney-client privilege and qrump has said it was “an attack on our country.