Probe call slammed
This is a witch-hunt: Trump
US President Donald Trump, striking a defiant tone yesterday after days of political tumult, denied asking former FBI director James Comey to drop a probe into his former national security adviser.
Trump’s terse denial followed reports by media about a memo written by Comey alleging that Trump made the request to close down the investigation into Michael Flynn and Russia in February. Trump fired Comey on May 9.
“No. No. Next question,” Trump told a news conference in the White House, when asked if he “in any way, shape or form” ever urged Comey to end the probe.
Comey’s dismissal last week set off a series of jarring developments that culminated on Wednesday in the Justice Department’s appointment of a special counsel to probe possible ties between Russia and Trump’s last year’s presidential campaign.
They included media reports that Trump discussed sensitive intelligence on the Islamic State militant group with Russia’s foreign minister.
In Twitter posts and at a later news conference, the president described calls by some on the left for his impeachment as “ridiculous” and said he had done nothing to warrant criminal charges.
“The entire thing has been a witch-hunt and there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign – but I can always speak for myself – and the Russians. Zero,” he said.
In his earlier Twitter posts, Trump criticised the naming of former FBI director Robert Mueller as a special counsel by deputy attorney-general Rod Rosenstein, an official he himself appointed.
“This is the single greatest witch-hunt of a politician in American history!” Trump tweeted.
Democrats rejected Trump’s characterisation.
“This is a truth hunt,” said Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar.
Russia has denied US intelligence agencies’ conclusion that it interfered in the election campaign to try to tilt the vote in Trump’s favour. Trump fired Flynn on February 14.
Rosenstein, the No 2 Justice Department official, named Mueller amid mounting pressure in Congress for an independent investigation beyond FBI and congressional probes into the Russia issue.
Trump later said that Mueller’s appointment was a “very, very negative thing”, adding: “I believe it hurts our country terribly, because it shows we’re a divided, mixed-up, not-unified country.” – Reuters