Comey raises possibility of Trump obstruction
WASHINGTON: Former FBI director James Comey accused President Donald Trump yesterday of firing him to try to undermine the agency’s investigation into possible collusion by his campaign team with Russia’s alleged efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
He further told the Senate Intelligence Committee the Trump Administration had lied and defamed him and the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the President dismissed him on May 9.
During more than two hours of testimony, Comey said he believed Trump had directed him in February to drop an FBI probe into the Republican president’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, as part of the Russia investigation.
He would not say whether he thought the President sought to obstruct justice, but added it would be up to special counsel Robert Mueller, who is now investigating the Russia allegations, ‘‘to sort that out’’.
‘‘I don’t think it’s for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct. I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning,’’ Comey testified.
Comey painted a picture of an overbearing president whom he did not trust and who pressured him to stop the FBI Flynn probe.
After Trump fired him the administration gave differing reasons for his dismissal, but Trump later acknowledged he fired Comey because of the Russia matter.
Asked why he thought Trump fired him, Comey said he did not know for sure. He added: ‘‘Again, I take the president’s words. I know I was fired because of something about the way I was conducting the Russia investigation was in some way putting pressure on him, in some way irritating him, and he decided to fire me because of that.’’
Comey repeatedly said there were details he could not discuss in a public session, making clear he had sensitive information.
He said Trump’s Administration had defamed him after he was fired by saying the FBI was in disarray and the workforce had lost confidence in its leader.
‘‘Those were lies, plain and simple,’’ he said.
Comey testified he kept notes after meeting Trump because ‘‘I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, and so I thought it really important to document’’.
He said he felt he needed to get his account of his conversations with Trump in the public sphere in the hope it might prompt the appointment of a special counsel, which later occurred. He gave copies of his memo recording his talks with Trump to people out side the Justice Department and ‘‘asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter’’.
He said he shared the memo with a professor at Columbia Law School, a reference to Daniel Richman, who confirmed to Reuters he was the one referred to.
Comey said he did not know if there were tapes of his conversations with Trump but if so, they should be made public.
‘‘Lordy, I hope there are tapes,’’ he said.
Comey said Trump did not attempt to get him to drop the overall Russia investigation, just the part of if that related to Flynn, whom the President fired for misleading Vicepresident Mike Pence about his conversations last year with Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio asked Comey whether he perceived the president’s request to let the Flynn matter go as an order, given Trump’s position as president, the setting and the circumstances surrounding the conversation.
‘‘Yes,’’ Comey replied. Following Comey’s testimony, Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, said it proved the President was not under any investigation and there was no evidence a single vote was changed as a result of Russian interference in last year’s election. He denied Trump ever told Comey he needed and expected his loyalty, as Comey said.
He also sharply criticised Comey for leaking what he called ‘‘privileged communications’’ and tried to link him with others in the Government who he said had illegally leaked classified information to undermine the Administration.
He suggested Comey might have broken the law and it would be up to the appropriate authorities to determine whether the leak should be investigated.
Some legal experts said Comey’s actions did not run afoul of the law.
Faiza Patel, codirector of public policy group Brennan Centre for Justice, noted that Comey testified that he was careful to avoid putting classified information in memos of his conversations with Trump.
Other experts said the claim that Comey leaked ‘‘privileged’’ information was off the mark, citing the fact that Trump previously had disclosed details of his interactions with Comey.
Laura Donohue, a Georgetown University Law Centre professor, said if Trump fired Comey to change the course of the Russia investigation, that would constitute obstruction of justice.
Both the conversation about Flynn and the firing itself were obstructive acts, she said. ‘‘He wanted to scuttle the investigation — it is hard to see it any other way.’’
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he did not believe Trump had committed a crime, adding, ‘‘I’ll just say it, if being crude, rude and a bull in a china shop was a crime, Trump would get the death penalty.’’
In a speech to supporters, Trump vowed to fight on.
‘‘We’re under siege . . . but we will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever,’’ he said. ‘‘We know how to fight and we will never give up.’’ — Reuters