A firing that backfired
Alex Wong/Getty Images
It’s been about a week since President Trump tweeted he was “vindicated,” after former FBI Director James Comey testified he had told Trump he wasn’t under investigation in connection to Russian meddling in the 2016 election. [Donald Trump via Twitter]
And for much of this year, Trump himself wasn’t under investigation. But he is now, according to a new report from the Washington Post.
Special counsel Robert Mueller, who is now heading up the FBI investigation, is reportedly widening his inquiry to look at whether Trump committed obstruction of justice by firing Comey last month. [Washington Post / Devlin Barrett, Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima, and Sari Horwitz]
Obstruction of justice happens when someone tries to impede or stop a federal investigation by threatening or coercing investigators. If Mueller’s team decides there’s enough evidence to mount a case, they must demonstrate intent — that Trump knew full well what he was doing by telling Comey to stop investigating former NSA Director Michael Flynn. [Cornell Law School / Wex Legal Dictionary]
Up until this point, the FBI probe has been focused on Russian interference into the 2016 election, and whether any Trump campaign officials colluded with the Russians. But now the focus is shifting more toward Comey himself, and what exactly happened before Trump fired him. [Washington Post / Devlin Barrett, Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima, and Sari Horwitz]
Mueller reportedly plans to question key members of Trump’s intelligence staff, including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, head of National Security Agency Adm. Michael S. Rogers, and former NSA Deputy Director Richard Ledgett, to see if they know more about the circumstances behind Comey’s firing. [NYT / Michael Schmidt and Matt Apuzzo]
Trump also publicly stated he would “100 percent” be open to testifying under oath as part of Mueller’s investigation. [NBC / Ali Vitali]
He could have other ideas; Newsmax CEO and Trump friend Chris Ruddy made waves this week when he said the president is seriously considering firing Mueller, complaining the special counsel has “real conflicts.” But so far, Trump has not made any moves to do so. [PBS Newshour / Judy Woodruff]
Mueller has assembled a star team, including James Quarles, who worked on the Watergate investigation. Trump, one the other hand, is being represented by his lawyer Marc Kasowitz (of “predisent” fame). [Vox / Rebecca Tan and Alex Ward]
In response to the news, the Republican National Committee quickly distributed a list of talking points to try to poke holes in the Washington Post report, calling the leaks coming out of the FBI and the special counsel the real crime, and drawing parallels to the lack of an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails under former AG Loretta Lynch. [Philip Rucker via Twitter]
Trump had a characteristically Trumpian response, calling Mueller’s probe a “witch hunt” and “phony” today. [Donald Trump via Twitter]
www.fotavgeia.blogspot.com
Alex Wong/Getty Images
It’s been about a week since President Trump tweeted he was “vindicated,” after former FBI Director James Comey testified he had told Trump he wasn’t under investigation in connection to Russian meddling in the 2016 election. [Donald Trump via Twitter]
And for much of this year, Trump himself wasn’t under investigation. But he is now, according to a new report from the Washington Post.
Special counsel Robert Mueller, who is now heading up the FBI investigation, is reportedly widening his inquiry to look at whether Trump committed obstruction of justice by firing Comey last month. [Washington Post / Devlin Barrett, Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima, and Sari Horwitz]
Obstruction of justice happens when someone tries to impede or stop a federal investigation by threatening or coercing investigators. If Mueller’s team decides there’s enough evidence to mount a case, they must demonstrate intent — that Trump knew full well what he was doing by telling Comey to stop investigating former NSA Director Michael Flynn. [Cornell Law School / Wex Legal Dictionary]
Up until this point, the FBI probe has been focused on Russian interference into the 2016 election, and whether any Trump campaign officials colluded with the Russians. But now the focus is shifting more toward Comey himself, and what exactly happened before Trump fired him. [Washington Post / Devlin Barrett, Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima, and Sari Horwitz]
Mueller reportedly plans to question key members of Trump’s intelligence staff, including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, head of National Security Agency Adm. Michael S. Rogers, and former NSA Deputy Director Richard Ledgett, to see if they know more about the circumstances behind Comey’s firing. [NYT / Michael Schmidt and Matt Apuzzo]
Trump also publicly stated he would “100 percent” be open to testifying under oath as part of Mueller’s investigation. [NBC / Ali Vitali]
He could have other ideas; Newsmax CEO and Trump friend Chris Ruddy made waves this week when he said the president is seriously considering firing Mueller, complaining the special counsel has “real conflicts.” But so far, Trump has not made any moves to do so. [PBS Newshour / Judy Woodruff]
Mueller has assembled a star team, including James Quarles, who worked on the Watergate investigation. Trump, one the other hand, is being represented by his lawyer Marc Kasowitz (of “predisent” fame). [Vox / Rebecca Tan and Alex Ward]
In response to the news, the Republican National Committee quickly distributed a list of talking points to try to poke holes in the Washington Post report, calling the leaks coming out of the FBI and the special counsel the real crime, and drawing parallels to the lack of an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails under former AG Loretta Lynch. [Philip Rucker via Twitter]
Trump had a characteristically Trumpian response, calling Mueller’s probe a “witch hunt” and “phony” today. [Donald Trump via Twitter]
www.fotavgeia.blogspot.com
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