The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Startling Trump FBI claim
USA: President claims recently sacked FBI director James Comey told him he was not under investigation
President Donald Trump asserted in his extraordinary letter firing James Comey that the former FBI director told him three times he was not under investigation.
If true, that claim would be a startling breach of protocol.
Former Justice Department officials and federal prosecutors said they doubted Mr Comey would have spoken to President Trump in those terms – or even offered any assurances at all.
Mr Comey has publicly confirmed the FBI is investigating possible contacts between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia.
President Trump offered no details about exactly what he was told, or when.
The White House declined to provide back-up or explanation for President Trump’s assertion in the letter.
The president also defended his decision to fire Mr Comey, who was “terminated” while speaking to agents.
Mr Trump asserted in a flurry of tweets that both Democrats and Republicans “will be thanking me”.
He did not mention any effect the dismissal might have on FBI and congressional investigations into contacts between his 2016 election campaign and Russia.
In brief remarks to reporters in the Oval Office, Mr Trump said only that he fired Mr Comey “because he was not doing a good job”.
The abrupt firing of Mr Comey threw into question the future of the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s possible connections to Russia.
It also raised suspicions of an underhanded effort to hinder a probe that has shadowed the administration from the outset.
Mr Trump has ridiculed the probe as “a hoax” and denied any campaign involvement with the Russians.
Democrats compared Mr Comey’s ousting to President Richard Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre” during the Watergate investigation and renewed calls for the appointment of a special prosecutor.
Some Republicans also expressed serious concern.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, urged attorney general Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, to appear before the Senate to answer questions about the circumstances surrounding Mr Trump’s action.
However, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell brushed aside calls for a special prosecutor, saying a new investigation into Russian meddling would only “impede the current work being done”.
He noted that Democrats had repeatedly criticised Mr Comey in the past and some had called for his removal.
Mr Trump made a similar case on Twitter, saying Mr Comey had “lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington”.