A Democrat congressman is threatening to subpoena the White House over a draft of a letter President Donald Trump wrote regarding firing former FBI director James Comey.
Adam Schiff, the ranking representative of the minority members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he believes there could be evidence to support that the president attempted to obstruct justice in his reasoning for Comey’s ousting.
Schiff, who represents California, told CNN host Dana Bash: ‘It’s probably far past time for our committee to subpoena the White House to make sure we get all relevant documents.’
The House Intelligence Committee has requested notes, tapes and materials relating to Trump’s conversations with Comey. Schiff said he has not seen the document himself.
Representative Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said it was past time for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence subpoena the White House over a draft of a letter President Donald Trump wrote regarding firing former FBI director James Comey
President Trump (pictured in Houston on Saturday) criticized ex FBI director James Comey, calling him a showboat. He also said Comey ‘lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington’
The committee sent the request after the president famously tweeted saying Comey ‘better hope there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press’.
Schiff also said they requested emails from Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen regarding the ‘Trump Tower-Moscow’ project.
According to the New York Times, the Comey draft is currently in possession of special counsel Robert Mueller who is investigating whether or not the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the presidential election. The letter is believed to be more detailed than the one released on May 9 when Comey was fired.
Trump said he fired the FBI director in May on the advice of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Rosenstein reportedly revised a draft Trump gave him on May 8 as to why Comey was let go.
Trump has said his final decision to fire Comey was not based off of this information and has repeatedly called him a ‘nut job’ and a ‘showboat.’
He defended himself on Twitter on May 10, saying: ‘Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me!’
This letter should provide insight as to Trump’s intent regarding firing Comey. Under federal law, the president is allowed to fire the FBI director. But whether or not he did so because of the Russia investigation could raise questions.
The president implied to Lester Holt that Russia was part of his reasoning.
He said: ‘I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story; it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.’
In a June testimony before Senate Judiciary Committee, Comey said he was concerned when he thought Trump implied he wanted him to to draw back the probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn
In June, Comey testified that the president asked him to ‘lift the cloud’ and publicly say he was not under investigation regarding the Russia inquiry. Comey also believed Trump implied that he wanted him to draw back the probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Comey said though Trump never ordered him to drop the probe, he equated this conversation with the president to when King Henry II asked his subordinates ‘Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?’
Comey’s firing came the same day it was reported that he backtracked on claims that Hillary Clinton had ‘hundreds and thousands’ of emails containing classified information in her private server.
On May 3, Comey testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he was ‘mildly nauseous’ to think the timing of his actions may have influenced the presidential election. In the month before the election, he announced the investigation into Clinton’s emails was not over.
Clinton has blamed a ‘combination of Jim Comey’s letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks’ for changing vital voters’ minds right before the election.