TRUMP TO RUSSIANS: COMEY WAS ‘A NUT JOB’
Oval Office boast to Russia envoys
President Trump told Kremlin officials visiting the Oval Office that ousted FBI chief James Comey was a “nut job” and that firing him took “great pressure” off him, according to a report Friday.
“I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Trump said, according to a memo that summarized the meeting, The New York Times reported.
“I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off. I’m not under investigation,” the president added in his May 10 meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
The information came to light shortly after Trump and First Lady Melania Trump left Washington for his first trip abroad as president.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer confirmed that Trump discussed Comey with the Russian officials.
“The president has always emphasized the importance of making deals with Russia as it relates to Syria, Ukraine, defeating ISIS and other key issues for the benefit and safety of the American people,” Spicer said.
“By grandstanding and politicizing the investigation into Russia’s actions, Comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with Russia,” he added.
“The real story is that our national security has been undermined by the leaking of private and highly classified conversations,” he said.
The meeting with the Russians took place a day after Trump abruptly fired Comey, a move that has led Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate Russia’s meddling in the US presidential election and possible ties to the Trump campaign.
Kislyak is at the center of the investigation. Ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was forced to resign after he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about having had contact with the Russian ambassador.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the probe following revelations that he had met with Kislyak even though he testified at his Senate confirmation hearing that he had not.
In a closed-door session with lawmakers Friday, Rosenstein said he stands by a memo he wrote bluntly criticizing Comey.
But he made clear it was not his intention for Trump or other White House officials to use the document to justify firing Comey.
Meanwhile, a top Republican congressman shot down Trump’s claim that the Russia probe was “a witch hunt” and threw port behind Mueller.
“I don’t personally believe in witches,” Rep. Darrell Issa of California said after Rosenstein briefed the House on his decision to appoint Mueller.
Also, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Trump aides held an “intervention” to address some of the accusations launched by the president on Twitter.
The aides were reportedly worried about the legal and political “corners” Trump’s tweets were putting him in. his sup-