In an interview with 'Fox & Friends,' Trump said he would have been in 'some trouble right now' had he not fired former FBI Director James Comey.
Donald Trump put himself in even more legal jeopardy Friday morning, when he admitted on live television that he fired former FBI Director James Comey because Comey was investigating him.
"By the way, and if I didn't fire Comey, I would be in some trouble right now, because they were coming after me," Trump told "Fox & Friends" in an hourlong interview during which he repeated conspiracy theories and attacked witnesses in the impeachment investigation. "It turns out to be the best move I ever made, firing Comey, because they were looking to take down the president of the United States."
Now, some say Trump's comment amounts to an admission of obstruction of justice.
Of course, this isn't the first time Trump admitted that he fired Comey to stop the investigation into his possible collusion with Russians who meddled in the 2016 election.
In an interview with NBC News days after he fired Comey, Trump said he had the Russia investigation in the back of his mind when making the decision to let Comey go.
Now-former special counsel Robert Mueller investigated whether Trump obstructed justice, and laid out 11 instances that could be considered obstruction. However, Mueller determined that he could not prosecute a sitting president and said that it was up to members of Congress to determine whether the conduct warranted impeachment.
The House is already weighing whether to add obstruction of justice charges in possible articles of impeachment against Trump, as Trump is personally directing witnesses in the impeachment inquiry to defy congressional subpoenas.
And now Trump reminded those very House members weighing impeachment that he fired Comey to stop an investigation into his conduct.
Former President Richard M. Nixon faced impeachment charges for that very behavior, when he ordered the firing of a special counsel investigating Nixon's role in the Watergate break in — a move that is now known as "the Saturday Night Massacre."
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
