Comey said he believes Trump ultimately fired him "because of the Russian Federation investigation".
The Post reported that the obstruction of justice investigation of the president began days after James Comey was sacked as the FBI Director on May 9.
An American lobbyist for Russian interests who helped craft an important foreign policy speech for Donald Trump has confirmed that he attended two dinners hosted by Jeff Sessions during the 2016 campaign, apparently contradicting the attorney general's sworn testimony given this week. Had Mueller not followed up, the same people now saying that this is a "major turning point" in the investigation would be attacking Mueller for not doing his job.
Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Trump's outside attorney, Marc Kasowitz, slammed the Post's reporting. The obstruction of justice investigation into Trump began days after Comey was sacked on May 9, according to people familiar with the matter, the Washington Post said.
The White House narrative has been that Assistant Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the man who allegedly told him to fire the FBI Director James Comey, did so because of the ineptitude and disruptions caused by Comey during the Clinton investigation. Yes, Trump can be, and has been, his own worst enemy in these matters, and he would be well advised to shut up, avoid Twitter and let the investigation run its course. Trump later fired Comey.
Fleetwood pictures changed life with Open win
That was the kind of day it was and the kind of Open it is, as scores are unprecedentedly low and everyone seems fearless. And instead of leaving Erin Hills fretting about how much better he could've done, he was thankful it wasn't any worse.
The memo to former transition team members on Thursday also seeks specific information on five people, the Times reported. The investigation into Trump reportedly began shortly after he fired FBI Director James Comey.
The first is into whether anyone on Mr Trump's presidential campaign or associated with it, with him or with any of his businesses, may have had any illegal dealings with Russian officials or others with ties to the Kremlin. There are questions about whether the deputy attorney general, who wrote the memo the administration initially used to justify firing Comey, will have to recuse himself from the investigation if he becomes a witness in the obstruction case.
Also, Mueller stacked his staff with lawyers who had donated more than $56,000 to Democrats. Comey later testified that he'd authorized a friend to disclose to the media his notes on conversations with Trump about the investigation, in hopes that it would lead the Justice Department to name a special counsel. He has denied there was any collusion between his campaign and Russian officials to interfere in the USA election.
But the allegations that Mueller is too close to Comey have moved to the forefront of the debate around the special counsel and go to the heart of whether the special counsel can conduct an impartial investigation around Trump and his associates.
Trump advisers and confidants describe the president as increasingly angry over the investigation, yelling at television sets in the White House carrying coverage and insisting he is the target of a conspiracy to discredit - and potentially end - his presidency. He says he does not believe there is now enough evidence to prove the charge against Trump. But as prosecutors sometimes say about those under investigation: We may not know what he did wrong, but he does. However, he said Comey's removal after refusing to carry out the president's wishes is "a serious matter". "I can go around them".
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