Trump tried to pressure intel chief to 'do something to stop' investigation
Trump abused his power to try to get others to shut down James Comey’s investigation.
Trump pressured the Director of National Intelligence to help shut down an ongoing FBI investigation into Trump’s alleged interactions with Russia during the 2016 campaign, according to the censored version of the Mueller report released Thursday morning.
In early 2017, Trump met with Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, and encouraged Coats to contact Comey in order to pressure Comey to end the FBI’s investigation into Trump.
In an interview with Mueller’s team, Coats denied that Trump asked him to speak to Comey. But in the course of their investigation, Mueller’s team found that some of Coats’ staffers had difference recollections of the event.
“According to senior ODNI official Michael Dempsey, Coats said after the meeting that the President had brought up the Russia investigation and asked him to contact Comey to see if there was a way to get past the investigation, get it over with, end it, or words to that effect,” the Mueller report states.
Coats, however, refused to follow through on Trump’s desire to obstruct justice.
“Dempsey said Coats made it clear that he would not get involved with an ongoing FBI investigation,” the report adds.
Trump eventually fired Comey and bragged to Russian operatives that in doing so, Trump relieved himself of a “great pressure.” Trump also told the Russians that Comey was “crazy” and “a real nut job.”
Shortly after Trump fired Comey, special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to investigate both Russian interference and Trump’s attempts to obstruct justice.
Now we have a Mueller report that is full of several instances of Trump pressuring aides to obstruct justice.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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