President calls report on FBI probe ‘most insulting’
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Saturday called “most insulting’’ a published report that federal law enforcement officials were so concerned about his behaviour in the days after he fired James Comey from the FBI that they opened an investigation into whether he had been working for Russia against US interests. The New York Times report on Friday cited unnamed former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation. Mr Trump reacted on Saturday during a telephone interview broadcast on Fox News after host Jeanine Pirro asked whether he is currently or has ever worked for Russia. “I think it’s the most insulting thing I’ve ever been asked,’’ he said. “I think it’s the most insulting article I’ve ever had written, and if you read the article you’ll see that they found absolutely nothing.’’ Mr Trump went on to say that no president has taken a harder stance against Russia than he has. “If you ask the folks in Russia, I’ve been tougher on Russia than anybody else, any other ... probably any other president, period, but certainly the last three or four presidents.’’ The inquiry forced counterintelligence investigators to evaluate whether Mr Trump was a potential threat to national security. They also sought to determine whether Mr Trump was deliberately working for Russia or had unintentionally been influenced. The Times reported that FBI agents and some top officials became suspicious of Mr Trump’s ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign but didn’t launch an investigation at that time because they weren’t sure how to approach such a sensitive and important probe, according to the unnamed officials. But Mr Trump’s behaviour in the days around Mr Comey’s May 2017 firing as FBI director, specifically two instances in which he seemed to tie Mr Comey’s ousting to the Russia investigation, helped trigger the counterintelligence part of the investigation. Mr Trump tweeted early on Saturday that the report showed that the FBI leadership “opened up an investigation on me, for no reason & with no proof’’ after he had fired Mr Comey. Robert Mueller took over the investigation when he was appointed special counsel soon after Mr Comey’s firing. The overall investigation is looking into Russian election interference and whether Mr Trump’s campaign coordinated with the Russians, as well as possible obstruction of justice by Mr Trump. The Times says it’s unclear whether Mr Mueller is still pursuing the counterintelligence angle. Mr Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani told the Times he had no knowledge of the inquiry but said that since it was opened a year and a half ago and they hadn’t heard anything, apparently “they found nothing’’.