Justice Department hands Comey memos to Congress

WASHINGTON » President Donald Trump expressed deep concerns about the judgment of his national security adviser Michael Flynnweeks before forcing him to resign, according to memos kept by former FBI Director James Comey that recount in detail efforts by Trump to influence the bureau’s expanding investigation of Russia.

The memos also reveal the extent of Trump’s preoccupation with unproven allegations that he had consorted with prostitutes while in Moscow in 2013. Trump, according to the memos, repeatedly denied the allegations and proded Comey to help disprove them, while also recalling being told by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia has the most beautiful prostitutes.

The details were disclosed Thursday as the Justice Department released redacted versions of memos — some of which contained previously classified material— that Comey composed in the immediate after- math of his interactions with Trump, a step he says he took because he was troubled by their conversations and worried that the president might one day lie about them. The documents, first published by the Associated Press, provide a significantly more detailed account of those conversations than had previously been revealed though Comey’s contemporaneous records are largely consistent with his statements before Congress and in his newly publish memoir.

In a Jan. 28, 2017 memo, Comey said Trump blamed Flynn for botching the scheduling of a phone call with British Prime Minister Theresa May. “In telling the story, the President pointed his fingers at his head and said, ‘ the guy has serious judgment issues,’ “Comey wrote. Comey said he did not comment at the time.

Flynn has since pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is now cooperating with Special Counsel RobertMueller III’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.