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Ex-FBI chief Comey says Trump pressured him on Russia probe
Former FBI chief James Comey has claimed US President Donald Trump put pressure on him to shut down an investigation into a senior adviser’s links to Russia
Donald Trump asked James Comey to drop his investigation into the former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, Comey’s first written account of his interactions says
Fired FBI director James Comey said Wednesday that US President Donald Trump urged him to drop an investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn as part of a probe into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
In written testimony released the day before he appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey said Trump had raised the sensitive FBI probe into Russia's alleged meddling in the US election in multiple discussions, leaving him deeply uneasy over whether the president was attempting to interfere.
"I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy," Comey quoted Trump as telling him on 14 February as they sat alone together in the Oval Office.
"I had understood the president to be requesting that we drop any investigation of Flynn in connection with his false statements about his conversations with the Russian ambassador in December," Comey added.
Comey was fired by Trump in early May.
However, Trump felt "completely and totally vindicated" by the written testimony, his private attorney said, as Comey confirmed he had told the president he was not personally under investigation.
Comey also said Trump demanded a pledge of loyalty in a meeting on 27 January, just days after the Republican billionaire took office under a cloud of allegations that Russia's interference had helped him win the election.
"The president said, 'I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.' I didn't move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed," Comey said.
The testimony puts more pressure on Trump, a Republican, whose presidency has been overshadowed by allegations that Moscow helped him win last year's election.
Some legal experts said Comey’s testimony could strengthen any impeachment case built on obstruction of justice, but US markets shrugged off the news from the testimony for lack of any major disclosures.
To build a criminal obstruction of justice case, federal law requires prosecutors to show that a person acted with "corrupt" intent. It does not matter whether the person succeeds in impeding an investigation.
