Congress gets ‘explosive’ memos of Comey on Prez
Washington, April 20: A series of explosive memos prepared by former FBI director James Comey a lurid intelligence dossier detailing US President Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to influence the bureau’s expanding investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 elections have been submitted to Congress.
The memos cover Trump’s concerns about a lurid intelligence dossier and also go into his relationship with the then National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn.
Trump claimed vindication after the release of memos and said they “'show clearly that there was NO COLLUSION and NO OBSTRUCTION.”
“WOW! Will the Witch Hunt continue? he asked.
The redacted and declassified memos running 15 pages in total — had previously been provided to Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller to assist his investigation into Trump’s possible attempts to obstruct the probe of Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections.
They give details of the telephonic conversations and meetings that Comey has had with Trump before he was fired by the president last May. They detail the President’s alleged demands for loyalty from the former director and his requests for Comey to shut down its investigation into Flynn.
Flynn later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his pre-inaugural contacts with Russia ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn is now cooperating with Mueller’s investigators.
Among the disclosures in the memos is a February 8, 2017, encounter in which Trump confronted Comey about the contents of a dossier prepared by a former British intelligence agent purportedly describing Trump’s involvement
THE MEMOS detail Comey’s account of several now-famous incidents: Trump demanding his loyalty; Prez asking him to probe allegations in dossier that he paid Russian prostitutes to urinate on a hotel bed
with prostitutes during a 2013 visit in Moscow.
In the January 7 memo, according to CNN, Comey writes that Trump interjected, “there were no prostitutes; there were never prostitutes” about his 2013 trip to Moscow.
Trump, according to the memos, repeatedly denied the allegations and prodded Comey to help disprove them, while also recalling being told by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia has the most beautiful prostitutes, it said. According to The Hill, the memos detail Comey’s account of several now-famous incidents including the request that Comey “let go” of the Flynn probe. Expressing frustration over the leaks, in one of the memos Trump is suggesting jailing reporters to find out what they know. Comey, told Trump that he was “eager to find leakers and would like to nail one to the door as a message,” but explained that prosecuting reporters was “tricky”.
“I said something about the value of putting a head on a pike as a message,” Comey wrote.
“(Trump) replied by saying it may involve putting reporters in jail. They spend a couple days in jail, make a new friend, and they are ready to talk.' I laughed as I walked to the door Reince Priebus had opened,” Comey wrote. “I was a fan of pursuing leaks aggressively but that going after reporters was tricky, for legal reasons and because (the Justice Department) tends to approach it conservatively. He replied by telling me to talk to (Attorney General Jeff) Sessions and see what we can do about being more aggressive,” Comey wrote.