Trump to Russia: Comey’s firing relieves probe pressure
US President Donald Trump has reportedly told Russian officials in a meeting in Washington that the firing of the former FBI director, James Comey, has eased “great pressure” on him from an investigation into his campaign's alleged ties with Russia.
According to a document that has summarized a meeting in the Oval Office on May 10—the day after Trump fired Comey—the president told Russian diplomats that he was under "great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off,” The New York Times reported Friday.
“I just fired the head of the FBI,” Trump said. “He was crazy, a real nut job.”
“I’m not under investigation,” he further said.
The document that contained Trump’s comments during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov along with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, was read to the Times by an American official, who had asked to remain unnamed.
It was based on notes taken from inside the Oval Office and has been circulated as the official account of the meeting.
Comey, who had been leading an investigation into alleged ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia, was fired earlier this month. The president said he fired Comey because it was time for a "new beginning" at America’s "crown jewel of law enforcement."
Trump, who has repeatedly denied any collusion between his campaign and Russia, described the investigation as the “greatest witch hunt” in the US history on Thursday.
Comey’s firing, however, has sparked controversy among both Democrats and Republicans after it was claimed that the president had asked Comey to end an investigation into alleged ties between Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, with a Russian diplomat. Flynn was fired in February over undisclosed contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US.
Comey will testify before the US Senate intelligence committee during a public hearing, which will be scheduled after May 29 Memorial Day holiday, according to the committee.
He will certainly be asked whether his firing was aimed at disrupting "an investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election," according Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that oversees the FBI.
The revelation in Comey’s memo has triggered calls for Trump’s impeachment and raised questions that whether he could even survive four years in office.
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