NATION/WORLD
Thursday, June 8, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 7A
U.S. intelligence chiefs decline Comey: Trump sought to ‘lift
to discuss Trump contacts
the cloud’ of investigation
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Lawmakers verbally sparred
with top intelligence chiefs
on Wednesday after they
staunchly refused to answer
questions about conversa-
tions they had with President
Donald Trump regarding
probes into Russian activities
during the election.
Members of the Senate
intelligence
committee
wanted to know about news
reports claiming Trump had
asked Director of National
Intelligence Dan Coats and
Adm. Mike Rogers, the
director of the National Secu-
rity Agency, to publicly state
that there was no evidence of
collusion between Moscow
and the Trump campaign.
Trump has consistently
pushed back against sugges-
tions that his campaign
coordinated with Russia and
says the investigations into
the matter are a hoax.
“In the three-plus years
that I have been the director
of the National Security
Agency, to the best of my
recollection, I have never
been directed to do anything
I believe to be illegal,
immoral, unethical or inap-
propriate,” Rogers told the
committee. “And to the best
of my recollection, during
that same period of service,
I do not recall ever feeling
pressured to do so.”
Coats, who was confirmed
as Trump’s national intelli-
gence director in mid-March,
said: “In interacting with the
president of the United States
or anybody in his adminis-
tration, I have never been
pressured.
“I’ve never felt pressure
to intervene or interfere in
any way and shape — with
shaping intelligence in a
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
National Security Agency Director Adm. Michael
Rogers appears before a Senate Intelligence
Committee hearing about the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday.
political way, or in relation-
ship to an ongoing investiga-
tion.”
Those answers didn’t
satisfy the senators. Even
mild-spoken Sen. Angus
King, I-Maine, got testy. He
demanded to know what
legal basis justified Coats’
refusal to answer questions.
“I’m not sure I have a
legal basis, but I am more
than willing to sit before
this committee ... in a closed
session and answer your
questions,” Coats said.
With
the
frustrated
lawmakers gearing up for
Thursday’s
long-awaited
testimony from ousted FBI
Director James Comey, the
committee on Wednesday
afternoon took the unusual
step of releasing the written
statement Comey plans to
deliver.
During
Wednesday’s
hearing, which was about the
reauthorization of a federal
foreign intelligence collec-
tion law, Democrats and
Republicans pressed Coats,
BRIEFLY
Trump promises
‘first-class’
infrastructure
system for U.S.
CINCINNATI (AP)
— Dogged by allegations
in Washington, President
Donald Trump traveled
to friendlier territory
Wednesday and promised
to create a “first-class”
system of roads, bridges
and waterways by using
$200 billion in public
funds to generate $1 trillion
in investment to pay for
construction projects that
most public officials agree
are badly needed and long
overdue.
“America must have
the best, fastest and most
reliable infrastructure
anywhere in the world,”
Trump said, pushing his
infrastructure plan in middle
America as Washington
geared up for Thursday’s
appearance before Congress
by fired FBI Director James
Comey.
“We will fix it,” said
Trump, standing along the
Ohio River. “We will create
the first-class infrastructure
our country and our people
deserve.”
But the controversies and
distractions in Washington
continued to dog the
president throughout the
day. As he was speaking,
the Senate intelligence
committee released the
prepared testimony Comey
is expected to deliver
Thursday. It includes
detailed descriptions
of meetings and phone
conversations between
Trump and Comey.
In the speech, the
president also pressed
the Senate to send him a
health care bill, criticized
congressional Democrats
as “obstructionists” and
revisited his controversial
decision to pull the U.S.
out of the Paris climate
agreement.
Trump said that as he
campaigned across the
country last year, people
often asked him why the
U.S. was spending money to
rebuild other countries when
the roads and bridges they
travel on needed rebuilding.
Islamic State
claims stunning
attack in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran (AP)
— The Islamic State group
claimed responsibility
Wednesday for a pair
of stunning attacks on
Iran’s parliament and the
tomb of its revolutionary
leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, which killed 12
and wounded more than 40.
Tehran Police Chief
Gen. Hossein Sajedinia
announced late Wednesday
Rogers and also acting FBI
Director Andrew McCabe
and Deputy Attorney General
Rod Rosenstein.
The senators said they
were puzzled as to why
McCabe would not answer
questions about conversa-
tions he had with Comey
regarding the former FBI
director’s meetings with the
president.
McCabe said it would
be inappropriate to discuss
issues that might end up
being part of the special
counsel’s investigation into
Russian activities during the
election.
At the close of the hearing,
the Republican committee
chairman, Sen. Richard Burr
of North Carolina, said that
executive branch officials
have the option of briefing
the committee or congres-
sional leaders in a classified
setting.
“At no time should you be
in a position where you come
to Congress with no answer,”
Burr told the witnesses.
night that five suspects
had been detained for
interrogation, according to
a report in the semi-official
ISNA news agency.
Sajedinia did not offer any
further details.
Reza Seifollahi, an
official in the country’s
Supreme National Security
Council, was quoted by the
independent Shargh daily as
saying that the perpetrators
of the attacks were Iranian
nationals. He did not
elaborate.
The bloodshed shocked
the country and came as
emboldened Sunni Arab
states — backed by U.S.
President Donald Trump —
are hardening their stance
against Shiite-ruled Iran.
The White House
released a statement from
Trump condemning the
terrorist attacks in Tehran
and offering condolences,
but also implying that Iran is
itself a sponsor of terrorism.
In recent years, Tehran
has been heavily involved
in conflicts in Syria and Iraq
against the Islamic State,
but had remained untouched
by IS violence around the
world. Iran has also battled
Saudi-backed Sunni groups
in both countries. Iran’s
powerful Revolutionary
Guard indirectly blamed
Saudi Arabia for the attacks.
A statement stopped short
of alleging direct Saudi
involvement.
WASHINGTON (AP)
— Fired FBI Director James
Comey will testify under
oath Thursday that President
Donald Trump repeatedly
pressed him for his “loyalty”
and directly pushed him to
“lift the cloud” of investi-
gation shadowing his White
House by declaring publicly
the president was not the
target of the probe into his
campaign’s Russia ties.
Comey’s detailed and
vivid recollections of his
one-on-one conversations
with Trump were revealed in
seven pages of prepared testi-
mony released Wednesday,
the day before his much-an-
ticipated appearance before
the Senate intelligence
committee.
His remarks paint a
picture of an FBI director
so disconcerted by his
interactions with the presi-
dent that he began keeping
written memos of their
private discussions. He’ll
tell lawmakers he believed
the president was trying to
create a “patronage relation-
ship” with him and describe
in detail an Oval Office
meeting in which Trump
urged him not to investigate
ousted National Security
Adviser Michael Flynn’s
contacts with Russian offi-
cials.
But the ex-FBI director
also will validate Trump’s
assertion that he was not
personally a target of the
federal counterintelligence
investigation into possible
campaign collusion with
Russia. Comey says he
did offer the president that
“assurance,” but resisted
Trump’s appeals to make
that information public.
“The FBI and the Depart-
ment of Justice had been
reluctant to make public
statements that we did not
have an open case on Pres-
ident Trump for a number of
reasons, most importantly
because it would create a
duty to correct, should that
change,” Comey says in the
prepared remarks.
Trump’s personal lawyer
said Trump was cheered by
the testimony.
“The president is pleased
that Mr. Comey has finally
publicly confirmed his
private reports that the
president was not under
investigation
in
any
Russian probe,” attorney
Mark Kasowitz said in a
statement. “The president
feels completely and totally
vindicated. He is eager to
continue to move forward
with his agenda.”
Comey has not spoken
publicly since he was
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File
In this March 20 file photo, then-FBI Director James
Comey pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before
the House Intelligence Committee hearing on
allegations of Russian interference in the election.
abuptly fired by Trump on
May 9. His dismissal, four
years into a 10-year term,
fueled claims Trump’s ulti-
mate aim was to quash the
investigation and obstruct
justice, potentially a federal
crime or an impeachable
offense. Some legal experts
said Comey’s account could
bolster such a case.
Ryan
Goodman,
a
professor at New York
University
School
of
Law, said Trump’s efforts
to protect Flynn provide
“strong
evidence”
of
obstruction of justice.
However, Jonathan Turley,
a law professor at George
Washington University, said
that while Trump’s dealings
with Comey were inappro-
priate, “We do not indict
people for being boorish or
clueless.”
Comey’s
statement
came hours after two top
intelligence officials told
lawmakers they never
felt “pressured” to do
anything inappropriate by
the president. But Director
of National Intelligence
Dan Coats and Adm.
Mike Rogers, the director
of the National Security
Agency, angered members
of the Senate intelligence
committee by staunchly
refusing to answer questions
about conversations they
had with Trump.
The ex-FBI director’s
testimony
recounts
his conversations with
the apparent precision
of a veteran lawman.
Comey notes he had nine
one-on-one interactions with
Trump over a four-month
stretch, compared to two
private conversations with
President Barack Obama
between September 2013
and the end of 2016. He also
says he did not keep written
memos of his interactions
with Obama.
The first meeting with
L i t t le
D a r l i n gs !
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messages for adorable little darlings from Umatilla County.
Families will want to keep this special keepsake for
their child and family for years to come.
PUBLISHES:
June 28, 2017
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DEADLINES:
June 08, 2017
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A detailed business plan will be required as part of the application process.
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For additional information on open recruitment for new retail liquor locations and application information, visit:
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Additional open recruitments for these areas and others in the state may occur in the future.
Trump after the inaugura-
tion occurred Jan. 27, during
a private dinner that Comey
came to view as an attempt
by the president to “create
some sort of patronage
relationship.”
According to Comey,
Trump asked if he wanted to
remain as FBI director and
declared: “I need loyalty.
I expect loyalty.” Comey
says he replied that he could
offer his honesty, and that
when Trump said he wanted
“honest loyalty,” Comey
paused and said, “You will
get that from me.”
Comey also describes at
length a Feb. 14 meeting in
the Oval Office in which he
believed Trump asked him
to back off an investigation
into Flynn.
“He then said, ‘I hope
you can see your way clear
to letting this go, to letting
Flynn go. He is a good guy.
I hope you can let this go,’”
Comey says, according to
the prepared remarks. He
said he believed the presi-
dent was talking only about
Flynn, not about the broader
Russia probe.
White House spokes-
woman Sarah Huckabee
Sanders said she was
unsure if the president read
Comey’s testimony after its
release. Asked whether the
president stood by earlier
assertions that he had neither
sought Comey’s loyalty nor
asked for the Flynn inves-
tigation to be dropped, she
said: “I can’t imagine the
president not standing by his
own statement.”
Trump allies have raised
questions about Comey’s
credibility ahead of his
testimony, noting that the
FBI had to correct some of
his remarks from his last
appearance on Capitol Hill.
They’ve also questioned
why Comey did not raise
his concerns about Trump
publicly or resign.
Send in, or drop by, a
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photo, your child’s name
and a message to
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Little Darlings
211 SE Byers, Pendleton, OR 97801
333 E. Main, Hermiston, OR 97838
or email
classifi eds@eastoregonian.com
Child’s Name:
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