A series of explosive memos prepared by former FBI director James Comey detailing US President Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to influence the bureau’s expanding investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 elections have been submitted to Congress.
Trump claimed vindication after the release of memos and said they “’show clearly that there was NO COllUSION and NO OBSTRUCTION.” “WOW! Will the Witch Hunt continueIJ” he asked.
The redacted and declassified memos — running 15 pages in total — had previously been provided to special counsel Robert Mueller to assist his investigation into Trump’s possible attempts to obstruct the probe of Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections.
They give details of the telephonic conversations and meetings that Comey has had with Trump before he was fired by the president last May.
They detail the president’s alleged demands for loyalty from the former director and his requests for Comey to shut down its investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Flynn later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his pre-inaugural contacts with Russia ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn is now cooperating with Mueller’s investigators.
Among the disclosures in the memos is a February 8, 2017, encounter in which Trump confronted Comey about the contents of a dossier prepared by a former British intelligence agent purportedly describing Trump’s involvement with prostitutes during a 2013 visit in Moscow.
Trump, according to the memos, repeatedly denied the allegations and prodded Comey to help disprove them, while also recalling being told by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia has the most beautiful prostitutes, it said.
According to The Hill, the memos detail Comey’s account of several now-famous incidents: one in which Trump allegedly demanded his personal loyalty; one in which he asked him to investigate allegations in the dossier that he had paid Russian prostitutes to urinate on a hotel bed once slept in by former President Obama; and the request that Comey “let go” of the Flynn probe. Expressing frustration over the leaks, in one of the memos Trump is suggesting jailing reporters to find out what they know.