NATION
Thursday, May 11, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 7A
Before the ax, Comey was pushing Trump-Russia probe
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Days before
he was fired by Donald Trump, FBI
Director James Comey requested
more resources to pursue his
investigation into Russia’s election
meddling and the possible involve-
ment of Trump associates, U.S.
officials said Wednesday, fueling
concerns that Trump was trying
to undermine a probe that could
threaten his presidency.
It was unclear whether word of
the Comey request, put to deputy
Attorney General Rod Rosenstein,
ever made its way to Trump.
But the revelation intensified the
pressure on the White House from
both political parties to explain the
motives behind Comey’s stunning
ouster.
Trump is the first president
since Richard Nixon to fire a law
enforcement official overseeing an
investigation with ties to the White
House. Democrats quickly accused
Trump of using Comey’s handling
of the Hillary Clinton email inves-
tigation as a pretext and called for
a special prosecutor into the Russia
probe. Republican leaders brushed
off the idea as unnecessary.
Defending the firing, White
House officials said Trump’s confi-
dence in Comey had been eroding
for months. They suggested Trump
was persuaded to take the step by
Justice Department officials and a
scathing memo, written by Rosen-
stein, criticizing the director’s role
in the Clinton investigation.
“Frankly, he’d been considering
letting Director Comey go since the
day he was elected,” White House
spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee
Sanders said, a sharply different
explanation from the day before,
when officials put the emphasis
on new Justice complaints about
Comey.
Trump’s daring decision to
oust Comey sparked comparisons
to Nixon, who fired the special
prosecutor running the Watergate
investigation that ultimately led to
his downfall. And Trump’s action
left the fate of the Russia probe
deeply uncertain.
The investigation has shadowed
Trump from the outset of his presi-
dency, though he’s denied any ties to
Russia or knowledge of campaign
coordination with Moscow.
Trump, in a letter to Comey
dated Tuesday, contended that the
director had told him “three times”
Senate intel panel subpoenas Flynn documents
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Senate intelligence committee on
Wednesday subpoenaed former
Trump national security adviser
Michael Flynn for documents
related to the panel’s investigation
into Russia’s election meddling.
Sen. Richard Burr, the
Republican chairman, and Sen.
Mark Warner, the committee’s
Democratic vice chairman, issued
a joint statement saying the panel
decided to issue the subpoena
after Flynn, through his lawyer,
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump talks to reporters during a meeting
with Dr. Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State and National
Security Advisor under President Richard Nixon, in the Oval Office
on Wednesday.
“Frankly, he’d been considering letting Director
Comey go since the day he was elected.”
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House spokesman
that he was not personally under
investigation. The White House
refused Wednesday to provide any
evidence or greater detail. Former
FBI agents said such a statement
by the director would be all but
unthinkable.
Outraged Democrats called for
an independent investigation into
the Trump campaign’s possible ties
to Russia’s election interference, and
a handful of prominent Republican
senators left open that possibility.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell, with the support of the
White House, brushed aside those
calls, saying a new investigation
would only “impede the current
work being done.”
The
Senate
intelligence
committee on Wednesday subpoe-
naed former Trump national
security adviser Michael Flynn
for documents related to its inves-
tigation into Russia’s election
meddling. Flynn’s Russia ties are
also being scrutinized by the FBI.
The White House appeared
caught off guard by the intense
response to Comey’s firing, given
that the FBI director had become
a pariah among Democrats for his
role in the Clinton investigation.
In defending the decision, officials
leaned heavily on a memo from
Rosenstein, the deputy attorney
general, that criticized Comey’s
handling of the Clinton investiga-
tion.
But Rosenstein’s own role in
Comey’s firing became increasingly
murky Wednesday.
Three U.S. officials said Comey
recently asked Rosenstein for more
manpower to help with the Russia
investigation. Sen. Dick Durbin,
D-Ill., said that while he couldn’t
be certain the request triggered
Comey’s dismissal, he said he
believed the FBI “was breathing
down the neck of the Trump
campaign and their operatives and
this was an effort to slow down the
investigation.”
Justice Department spokes-
woman Sarah Isgur Flores denied
that Comey had asked Rosenstein
for more resources for the Russia
investigation.
Trump advisers said the presi-
dent met with Rosenstein, as well
as Attorney General Jeff Sessions,
on Monday after learning that they
were at the White House for other
meetings. One official said Trump
asked Rosenstein and Sessions for
their views on Comey, then asked
the deputy attorney general to
synthesize his thoughts in a memo.
The president fired Comey the
following day. The White House
informed Comey by sending him
an email with several documents,
including Rosenstein’s memo.
It’s unclear whether Rosenstein
was aware his report would be used
to justify the director’s ouster.
White House and other U.S.
officials insisted on anonymity to
disclose private conversations.
The president kept a low profile
Wednesday, relying largely on
Twitter to defend his actions. In a
series of morning tweets, he said
both Democrats and Republicans
“will be thanking me.”
In an awkward twist of timing,
the only event on the president’s
public schedule was a meeting
with Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office.
Among those participating in the
meeting were Russian Ambassador
to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak, whose
contacts with Trump advisers are
being scrutinized by the FBI, and
Henry Kissinger, who served as
Nixon’s secretary of state.
In brief remarks to reporters,
Trump said he fired Comey because
“he wasn’t doing a good job. Very
simply. He was not doing a good
job.”
Trump’s assessment marked a
striking shift. As a candidate, he
cheered Comey’s tough stance on
Clinton’s use of a personal email
and private internet server during
her tenure as secretary of state.
He also applauded the director’s
controversial decision to alert
Congress of potential new evidence
in the case 10 days before the elec-
tion — an announcement Clinton
and other Democrats blame in part
for election results that put Trump in
the White House.
Sanders attributed Trump’s shift
to the difference between being a
candidate and president. She said
Trump became concerned about
Comey’s efforts to work outside
declined to cooperate with an
April 28 request to turn over the
documents.
Flynn and other associates of
President Donald Trump have
received similar requests from
the committee for information
and documents over the past few
weeks.
Copies of request letters sent to
longtime Trump associate Roger
Stone and former Trump foreign
policy adviser Carter Page were
shared with The Associated Press.
the Justice Department’s chain of
command during the Clinton inves-
tigation, citing congressional testi-
mony from last week that provided
more details of his actions last year.
Yet as recently as last week,
White House Press Secretary Sean
Spicer said Trump had “confidence”
in Comey.
Meanwhile, a farewell letter
from Comey that circulated among
friends and colleagues said he does
not plan to dwell on the decision
to fire him or on “the way it was
executed.”
He said in the letter that though
he’ll be fine, he will miss the FBI
and its mission “deeply.” Comey
said that “in times of turbulence,
the American people should see
the FBI as a rock of competence,
honesty, and independence.”
He also said “it’s very hard to
leave a group of people who are
committed only to doing the right
thing.”
The letter was posted online by
CNN Wednesday night. A person
who had seen the note confirmed
the online version as authentic to
the AP.
Trump is only the second presi-
dent to fire an FBI director, under-
scoring the highly unusual nature of
his decision. President Bill Clinton
dismissed William Sessions amid
allegations of ethical lapses in 1993.
The White House said the Justice
Department was interviewing
candidates to serve as interim FBI
director while Trump weighs a
permanent replacement. Sanders
said the White House would
“encourage” the next FBI chief to
complete the Russia investigation.
“Nobody wants this to be
finished and completed more than
us,” she said.
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