Putin offers help over Trump row
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered to provide Congress with records of President Donald Trump’s discussions with his diplomats in which Mr Trump is said to have disclosed classified information.
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has offered to provide Congress with records of President Donald Trump’s discussions with his diplomats in which Mr Trump is said to have disclosed classified information.
Washington was already reeling over allegations that President Trump personally appealed to FBI Director James Comey to abandon the bureau’s investigation into National Security Adviser Michael Flynn over alleged links to Russia.
The White House issued a furious denial after Comey’s notes detailed Trump’s request.
The White House has played down the importance and secrecy of the information President Trump gave to the Russians, which had been supplied by Israel under an intelligence-sharing agreement.
Trump himself said he had “an absolute right” as president to share “facts pertaining to terrorism” and airline safety with Russia.
Yet US allies and some members of Congress expressed concern bordering on alarm. Critics say Mr Trump has compromised sources of information and potentially endangered agents and informants working undercover.
President Putin told a news conference that he would be willing to turn over notes of Mr Trump’s meeting with the Russian diplomats if the White House agreed.
He dismissed outrage over President Trump’s disclosures as US politicians whipping up “antiRussian sentiment”.
Asked what he thinks of the Trump presidency, Mr Putin said it is up to the American people to judge but his performance can only be rated “only when he’s allowed to work at full capacity,” implying that someone is hampering President Trump’s efforts.
As for Mr Comey, whom President Trump fired last week, the FBI director wrote in a memo after a February meeting at the White House that the new president had asked him to shut down the FBI’s investigation of Mr Flynn and his Russian contacts, said a person who had read the memo.
The Flynn investigation was part of a broader probe into Russian interference in last year’s presidential election.
Mr Comey’s memo, an apparent effort to create a paper trail of his contacts with the White House, would be the clearest ev- idence to date that Trump has tried to influence the investigation.
Rep Jason Chaffetz, Republican chairman of the House oversight committee, sent a letter to the FBI on Tuesday requesting that it turn over all documents and recordings that detail communications between Mr Comey and President Trump.
He said he would give the FBI a week and then “if we need a subpoena, we’ll do it”.
John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said late on Tuesday that the developments had reached “Watergate size and scale”.
When Mr Trump fired Mr Comey, he claimed it was because of Mr Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe.
John McCain said developments had reached ‘Watergate size and scale’.