Trump pulls back on threat of shutdown
The White House has signaled to congressional Republicans it will not shut downthe government in October if money isn’t appropriated to build a wall onthe U.S.-Mexico border, potentially clearing a path for law makers to reach a short-term budget deal.
Congress has only appropriated money to fund government operations throughthe end of September, and President Donald Trump has threatened to shutdown the government if law makers don’t include $1.6billion in new funding so that 74 new miles of wall and secondary fencing can beadded to the border.
“Build that wall,” Mr. Trump said at an Aug. 22 rally .“Now the obstructionist Democrats would like us notto do it. But believe me, ifwe have to close down our government, we’re building thatwall.” But two days later, White House officials told Congress the $1.6 billion would not need to be in a “continuing resolution” that was meant to fund government operations from October until sometime in December, a senior GOP congressional aide said. White House officials have signaled to lawmakers, however, that the wall’s construction remains a top priority for Mr. Trump.
Trump letter on Comey
WASHINGTON—Special Robert Mueller’s team of investigators is in possession of a letter drafted by President Donald Trump and an aide, butnever sent, that lays out a rationale for firing FBI Director James Comey, accordingto a person familiar with the investigation.
The letter was written in the days before the May 9 firing of Mr. Comey, but was held after objections fromthe president’s lawyer andothers, according to twoother people familiar with the process who were not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Ont hat day, the White House released a different letter announcing Mr. Comey’s firing, one signed by Deputy Attorney General Attorney Rod Rosenstein that cited the handling ofthe Hillary Clinton email investigation as a basis for Mr. Comey’s dismissal.
Mr. Trump had been fuming about Mr. Comey forweeks, upset that he wouldnot say publicly that the president was not under investigation, which Mr. Trump said Mr. Comey had assured him privately.
Trump tweet on emails
President Donald Trump on Friday accused James Comey, the FBI director he abruptly fired in May, of exonerating Hillary Clinton before his agency’s probe into her private email server was complete, taking to Twitter to charge thereis a “rigged system.”
“Wow, looks like James B. Comey exonerated Hillary Clinton long before the investigation was over . . . and so much more,” Mr. Trump wrote in a tweet Friday. “A rigged system!”
The president seemed to be referring to a letter Sens. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Charles Grassley, RIowa, both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday.In their letter, the senators wrote they had recently reviewed transcripts from interviews the Office of Special Counsel conducted last fall with FBI officials as part of its inquiry into Mr. Comey’s handling ofthe Clinton investigation.
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