Indiana Republicans in Congress are dismayed by reports President Trump asked the FBI to kill an investigation of his former national security adviser - but they're urging people to take a breath.
But criminal charges of interfering with an investigation are hard in ordinary circumstances, several former federal prosecutors cautioned Wednesday, a day after word of the existence of the memo broke.
But while some members of Congress have called for outside investigations and deemed the memo a possibly impeachable offense, Louisiana's Republican delegation members said it was too early to make that call.
His comments were the first since Mr Trump was hit with accusations that he shared secrets while meeting Mr Lavrov in Washington, the latest crisis to hit the White house amid existing investigations into whether Mr Trump's aides colluded with Moscow during the campaign.
"On its face, this is a textbook prima facie case of an attempt to obstruct justice", concluded Sen.
"This is not a time to rush to conclusions without the full facts, and that's why the House Oversight committee has requested the memo in question", Bond said.
But the swirling questions about his conduct were clearly on his mind when he told graduates at the US Coast Guard Academy in CT that "no politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly". Two days later, Trump left his surrogates out to dry when he stated he was determined to fire Comey "regardless of recommendation", and that he had considered "this Russian Federation thing" before making the decision.
"I'm convinced that the president did nothing that he thought was outside the best interest of the country", said Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz. "It's not a two-foot putt, but is it a viable prosecution?
Presidents don't have a good record of going up against the intelligence community or the FBI", Continetti said. Justice Department lawyers under presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton also concluded a president can't be indicted because it would interfere with his constitutionally assigned duties.
Eric Freedman, a Hofstra University law professor, has long believed that a president can be prosecuted while in office. "I don't know the facts", he said.
There are multiple obstruction of justice statutes on the books. "There are a lot of Republicans that think that no matter what this person does he ought to be allowed to do what he wants to do, that he has the authority to hire and fire", he said.
Subpoenas have been issued to businesses that worked with Flynn and his associates, according to The Times.
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Proving Trump's mental state would be a tall task, but prosecutors could have some clues.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Firing FBI Director James Comey is already coming back to haunt President ...
The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday asked the FBI to turn over memos written by former bureau Director James Comey as part of its ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in November's presidential election.
"It's falling out of the trees, the evidence", he said.
Comey's response could also be an indication.
"If in fact it's true that the Federal Bureau of Investigation director immediately wrote a memo to the file, it indicates that he thought something was amiss", Rendon said.
We're heartened to see Colorado's Republican delegation getting on board for a review of the memos and testimony from Comey.
Based on what you already know about Mike Flynn's trips to Russian Federation, are you inclined to believe there is fire behind the notes that James Comey took after his meetings with Trump back in February, or is it probably just more smoke?
"If these allegations, senator, are true, are we getting closer and closer to the possibility of yet another impeachment process?"
And across the Hill, Republicans in both the Senate and the House were virtually united in saying investigators should chase the new leads and talk to Comey. Yes, many news stories look bad for him, and have for some time.
Days before he left office, Clinton reached a deal with independent counsel Robert Ray that spared Clinton possible indictment after leaving office.
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