President Donald Trump told former FBI Director James Comey that Vladimir Putin told him Russia had ‘the most beautiful hookers in the world,’ that he was bothered by allegations he had sex with Russian prostitutes, and that he had serious concerns about the judgment of his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
The 15 pages of documents contain new details about a series of interactions with Trump that Comey found so unnerving that he documented them in writing.
Those encounters in the weeks before Comey’s May 2017 firing include a Trump Tower discussion involving allegations of prostitutes and Russia, a White House dinner at which Comey says Trump asked him for his loyalty and a private Oval Office discussion where the ex-FBI head says the president asked him to end an investigation into Flynn.
Comey recalls conversations about about prostitutes – as he reveals awkward talks where President Trump vigorously disputed the idea he would ever consort with Russian sex workers.
During one exchange, Comey writes that Putin bragged to Trump that his country has the most attractive prostitutes.
Putin told Trump ‘We have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world,’ Comey writes.
President Donald Trump (left) told fired FBI director James Comey that his wife, First Lady Melania Trump (right), was hurt by rumors that he slept with Russian hookers in Moscow, according to memos released on Thursday
The fired FBI director recounts each time he claims the topic came up during briefings, phone calls, and meetings with Trump.
According to Comey’s memo, the then-FBI director received a telephone call from Trump on March 30, 2017.
In the 11-minute call, Comey said Trump told him he wanted to life the ‘cloud of this Russia business’ was ‘making it difficult’ to ‘run the country.’
Comey said the president denied having anything to do with Russia.
Trump then told Comey that he would never get involved in hookers in Russia.
‘Can you imagine me, hookers?’ Comey writes in the memo as he recalls the conversations with Trump.
‘I have a beautiful wife,’ Trump told Comey, according to the memo. ‘And it has been very painful.’
Trump also told Comey that he was suing Christopher Steele, the former British spy who compiled the so-called ‘dossier’ which first contained the allegation that the president was filmed cavorting with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel.
The dossier alleges that Trump asked the prostitutes to perform a ‘golden showers’ routine.
Trump has denied these claims.
In Comey’s memo, Trump says he always advised people that they were being recorded whenever they were in Russia.
Comey, who is on a book tour promoting A Higher Loyalty, wrote the memos because he was bothered by the nature of his conversations with Trump
Trump is also said to have told Comey that he wanted the FBI and the Department of Justice to make a public statement indicating that the president was not under investigation.
According to memos maintained by Comey and obtained by The Associated Press, Trump and his chief of staff asked days later if Flynn’s communications were being monitored under a secret surveillance warrant.
The documents had been eagerly anticipated since their existence was first revealed last year, especially since Comey’s interactions with Trump are part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the president sought to obstruct justice.
The memos have been turned over to Mueller.
Comey has said publicly that, ‘I knew there might come a day when I would need a record of what had happened, not just to defend myself, but to defend the FBI and our integrity as an institution and the independence of our investigative function.’
According to one memo, Trump complained about Flynn at a private January 2017 dinner with Comey, saying ‘the guy has serious judgment issues.’
He then blamed Flynn for a delay in returning the congratulatory call of an international leader, telling Comey he would be upset if he had to wait six days for a returned phone call.
‘I did not comment at any point during this topic and there was no mention or acknowledgment of any FBI interest in or contact with General Flynn,’ Comey wrote.
At that point, the FBI had already interviewed Flynn about his contacts with the Russian ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, and the Justice Department had already warned White House officials that they were concerned Flynn was vulnerable to blackmail.
Flynn was fired February 13, 2017, after White House officials said he had misled them about his Russian contacts during the transition period.
In a separate memo, Comey says Trump cleared the Oval Office of other officials, encouraged him to let the investigation into Flynn go and called him a good guy.
The memos reveal that days before Flynn’s firing, then-White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked Comey if Flynn’s communications were being monitored under a secret surveillance warrant.
‘Do you have a FISA order on Mike Flynn?’ Priebus asked Comey, according to the memos, referring to an order under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Comey said he ‘paused for a few seconds and then said that I would answer here, but that this illustrated the kind of question that had been asked and answered through established channels.’
Comey’s response is redacted on the unclassified memos.
The memos were provided to Congress earlier Thursday as House Republicans escalated criticism of the Justice Department, threatening to subpoena the documents and questioning officials.
The 15 pages of documents contain new details about a series of interactions with Trump that Comey found so unnerving that he documented them in writing
Those encounters in the weeks before Comey’s May 2017 firing include a Trump Tower discussion involving allegations of prostitutes and Russia and a White House dinner at which Comey says Trump asked him for his loyalty
It also included a private Oval Office discussion where the ex-FBI head says the president asked him to end an investigation into Michael Flynn
According to one memo, Trump complained about Flynn at a private January 2017 dinner with Comey, saying ‘the guy has serious judgment issues’
In a separate memo, Comey says Trump cleared the Oval Office of other officials, encouraged him to let the investigation into Flynn go and called him a good guy
The memos reveal that days before Flynn’s firing, then-White House chief of staff Reince Priebus asked Comey if Flynn’s communications were being monitored under a secret surveillance warrant
The memos were provided to Congress earlier Thursday as House Republicans escalated criticism of the Justice Department, threatening to subpoena the documents and questioning officials
Comey describes his conversations with Priebus in Page 8 of his memos above
Trump once again asks Comey whether his deputy, Andrew McCabe, ‘had a problem with him’
In a letter sent to three Republican House committee chairmen Thursday evening, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote that the department was sending a classified version of the memos and an unclassified version
The department released Boyd’s letter publicly but did not release the memos
Justice officials had allowed some lawmakers to view the memos but had never provided copies to Congress
Boyd wrote that the department had also provided the memos to several Senate committees
Comey said in an interview Thursday with CNN that he’s ‘fine’ with the Justice Department turning his memos over to Congress
Last week, the GOP chairmen of three House committees demanded the memos by Monday
In a letter sent to three Republican House committee chairmen Thursday evening, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote that the department was sending a classified version of the memos and an unclassified version.
The department released Boyd’s letter publicly but did not release the memos.
Justice officials had allowed some lawmakers to view the memos but had never provided copies to Congress.
Boyd wrote that the department had also provided the memos to several Senate committees.
Comey is on a publicity tour to promote his new book, A Higher Loyalty.
He revealed last year that he had written the memos after conversations with Trump.
Boyd wrote in the letter that the department ‘consulted the relevant parties’ and concluded that releasing the memos would not adversely affect any ongoing investigations.
Mueller is investigating potential ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign as well as possible obstruction of justice by the president.
Boyd said the decision to allow the release of the memos ‘does not alter the department’s traditional obligation to protect from public disclosure witness statements and other documents obtained during an ongoing investigation.’
Comey said in an interview Thursday with CNN that he’s ‘fine’ with the Justice Department turning his memos over to Congress.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted on Thursday that the memos ‘are further proof of [Trump’s] contempt for the rule of law
‘I think what folks will see if they get to see the memos is I’ve been consistent since the very beginning, right after my encounters with President Trump, and I’m consistent in the book and tried to be transparent in the book as well,’ he said.
Last week, the GOP chairmen of three House committees demanded the memos by Monday.
The Justice Department asked for more time, and the lawmakers agreed.
The three senior Republican lawmakers who demanded the memos be released – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte; House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy; and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes – released a statement saying that the memos ‘show the President made clear he wanted allegations of collusion, coordination, and conspiracy between his campaign and Russia fully investigated.
‘The memos also made clear the “cloud” President Trump wanted lifted was not the Russian interference in the 2016 election cloud, rather it was the salacious, unsubstantiated allegations related to personal conduct leveled in the dossier’ by former British spy Christopher Steele, the statement read.
But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, differs.
She tweeted on Thursday that the memos ‘are further proof of [Trump’s] contempt for the rule of law.
‘His attempts to intimidate, circumvent the law & undermine integrity of law enforcement investigations demand immediate action to protect the Mueller investigation,’ Pelosi said.