Ex-FBI director Comey's memos detail Trump conversations
April 20, 2018
Copies of memos documenting ex-FBI director James Comey's meetings and phone calls with US President Donald Trump were posted online late Thursday.
The release of the documents has been highly anticipated since their existence was made public last year, as they are believed to be critical to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into whether the Trump tried to interfere with a probe into potential collusion between his campaign team and Russia in the 2016 US elections.
Read more: Why the question of how James Comey understood Donald Trump is so crucial
Key points from the memos
According to the memos Comey says Trump told him:
- He expected loyalty from him
- "The cloud of this Russia business" [a dossier of allegations examining potential ties between Trump and Russia] was making his job of running the country "difficult."
- How Putin told him, "we have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world."
- Allegations about the Moscow "hookers thing" was nonsense.
- He had serious concerns about the judgment of his first national security adviser Michael Flynn.
- He had mulled pursuing information leakers and imprisoning journalists.
'No obstruction'
Trump said on Twitter that Comey's memos showed there was no collusion with Russia and no obstruction of justice, adding that Comey had leaked classified information.
The Republican chairmen of three US House committees, Robert Goodlatte, Devin Nunes and Trey Gowdy, released a joint statement saying the 15 pages of documents showed Comey never "felt obstructed or threatened."
The three suggested the memos "would be Defense Exhibit A" if Trump were charged with obstruction of justice.
Read more: What you need to know about the five inquiries looking into Donald Trump, James Comey and Russia
Who is James Comey? Comey was the former director of the FBI. He was fired in May 2017 while he was leading an investigation into possible Russian intereference in the 2016 US presidential election.
Who is Michael Flynn? Flynn is Trump's former national security advisor who was fired in February 2017 after White House officials said he misled them about his Russian contacts because he said that he had not discussed sanctions. He has pleaded guilty to misleading the FBI on Russia conversations and is now cooperating with investigators.
Why are the Comey-Trump memos important? The memos detail three months of conversations between Comey and Trump from before the former FB director was fired. They are thought to be key in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian involvement in the 2016 election, and collusion between Trump and Russia.
law/rt (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)