Comey: I was asked to ease off
WASHINGTON: Former FBI director James Comey said United States President Donald Trump asked him to drop an investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn as part of a probe into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
In written testimony, Comey said Trump told him at a meeting in the White House in February: ‘‘I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.’’
The testimony from Comey, who is appearing in person before a Senate panel this morning, puts more pressure on the Republican whose presidency has been overshadowed by allegations that Moscow helped him win last year’s election.
But Trump said he felt ‘‘completely and totally vindicated’’ by the account.
‘‘The president is pleased that Mr Comey has finally publicly confirmed his private reports that the President was not under investigation in any Russian probe,’’ Marc Kasowitz, Trump’s attorney, said.
Trump fired Flynn in February in a controversy over contacts between the retired general and the Russian ambassador to the United States.
In his statement, posted on the Senate intelligence committee’s website, Comey said Trump also called him on March 30 to say he had nothing to do with Russia and asked what ‘‘we could do to lift the cloud’’ of the FBI’s Russia investigation.
Comey said that during that phone call, he told Trump the FBI was not investigating the president personally.
‘‘He repeatedly told me: ‘We need to get that fact out’,’’ Comey said.
Comey said he had told Trump on three occasions he was not being investigated, confirming an earlier account from the president.
Some legal experts said Comey’s written statement could be used to show Trump engaged in obstruction of justice.
‘‘It shows the president was doing everything he could to shut down the Flynn investigation,’’ Andrew Wright, of Savannah Law School, said.
However, professor of law at Fordham University School of Law Bruce Green said it would be difficult to show Trump intended to obstruct justice. Trump could say he was merely vouching for Flynn’s character and voicing concerns about how the probe was interfering with his ability to function effectively as president.
While a sitting president is unlikely to face criminal prosecution, obstruction of justice is an offence that could lead to impeachment hearings, in which Congress must determine that a president committed a ‘‘high crime or misdemeanour’’.
Comey said Trump told him at a oneonone dinner on January 27, a week after the president took office, that: ‘‘I need loyalty. I expect loyalty.’’
During the dinner, the president asked him if he wanted to stay on as FBI director, Comey said. The former FBI head said he became concerned Trump was trying to create ‘‘some sort of patronage relationship’’.
After a February 14 meeting in the Oval Office on counterterrorism, Trump dismissed all the participants except Comey, according to the testimony.
The president then initiated a conversation about Flynn.
Comey quoted Trump as telling him: ‘‘I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.’’
Trump yesterday ended a fraught monthlong search for a replacement FBI chief by selecting whitecollar crime lawyer Christopher Wray.
Wray, who must be confirmed to the post by the Senate, and Comey served together in the Justice Department under former president George Bush.
For the past 12 years, he has been a defence lawyer with Atlantabased firm King & Spalding and is head of its government investigations practice.
Clients of the practice he leads include AT&T, Deutsche Bank, General Motors and Wells Fargo.
Legal ethics experts said yesterday he would be likely to face conflicts of interest at the FBI and be forced to step aside from some investigations.
‘‘If there are investigations of a client, he’d need to recuse himself,’’ Steven Lubet, of Northwestern University, said. — Reuters