President Donald Trump asked former FBI Director James Comey to end his agency’s investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
According to the bombshell report, Trump made the request of Comey during a February meeting in the Oval Office. Comey reportedly detailed the meeting in a memo, which an FBI official later shared with the Times.
A White House statement to HuffPost denied the events described in the memo:
While the President has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the President has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn. The President has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the President and Mr. Comey.
“Also please note that the Acting Director McCabe said last week that the WH had not interfered in the investigation,” the White House added.
Last week, Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said the White House had not tried to interfere.
“There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date,” he said. “It is my opinion and belief that the FBI will continue to pursue this investigation vigorously and completely.”
Just last week, former Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller noted that Comey has left paper trails before:
Flynn, who was asked to resign from his White House post in February after it was revealed he had discussed sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the U.S. before Trump’s inauguration, is one of several Trump associates under FBI investigation over potential ties to Russia.
Trump abruptly fired Comey last week. In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt two days later, he cited “the Russia thing” as a consideration before deciding to fire Comey.
Read the full New York Times report here.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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