Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey documented his conversations with United States President Donald Trump, including those about how Trump had asked him to drop an investigation of then national security adviser Michael Flynn, CNN reported. Trump also reportedly told Comey that Vladimir Putin had said that Russia has the “most beautiful hookers in the world”.
The 15-page memos were released to Congress on Thursday. They document the conversations Comey had with Trump between January 7, 2017 and April 11, 2017. Comey was sacked in May that year.
Four of these notes are classified and partially redacted, while three of them are unclassified.The Justice Department sent the memos to Congress under pressure from House Republicans, who said they would show why Comey’s claims about Trump over a number of matters were not credible, AP reported.
Trump and Comey have been at loggerheads for a year, with Trump calling the former FBI boss a liar and disputing the contents of the memos, The Financial Times reported.
Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee in June 2017 that the president had asked him in February to shut down the federal investigation into Flynn, Bloomberg reported. According to the memos, Trump said: “I hope you can see your way to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
Flynn later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. On February 13, 2017, he was fired after White House officials said he had misled them about his Russian contacts during the transition period.
In a memo dated March 30, Comey said Trump complained to him about how the Russia inquiry – about alleged Russian involvement in his election – was affecting his ability to run the country. Trump said he wanted the FBI director to make it clear publicly that he was not being investigated, the notes said.
While the White House is yet to release a statement, Trump and the Republicans sought to use the memos to discredit allegations of obstruction of justice. Trump said on Twitter, “Will the witch hunt continue?” Democrats said the memos only strengthened the case that the president had tried to interfere with an FBI investigation.
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