Source: Mueller team has draft letter on Comey firing

WASHINGTON - Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of investigators is in possession of a letter drafted by President Donald Trump and an aide, but never sent, that lays out a rationale for firing FBI Director James Comey, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

The letter was written in the days before the May 9 firing of Comey, but was held after objections from the president’s lawyer and others, according to two other people familiar with the process who were not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

On that day, the White House released a different letter announcing Comey’s firing, one signed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that cited the handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation as a basis for Comey’s dismissal.

The earlier letter could serve as key evidence to Mueller’s team, which is now investigating whether Trump fired Comey to impede the FBI investigation into his campaign associates’ ties to Russia. The White House has said Trump was acting on the Justice Department’s recommendation when he fired Comey, though the president said in a television interview days later that he had planned to fire Comey “regardless of recommendation.”

The new letter, which was first reported by The New York Times, could provide additional context on Trump’s thinking and motive as he prepared to oust Comey.

The Justice Department turned the letter over to Mueller’s team, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity.

One week after Comey was fired, Rosenstein appointed Mueller as special counsel to oversee an investigation into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

During a May weekend at the president’s New Jersey golf club, Trump asked White House aide Stephen Miller to draft a letter outlining a case for Comey’s firing, according to two people familiar with the situation.

But the letter was not sent after White House counsel Don McGahn objected.