Republican lawmakers refuse to back Trump’s attacks on Comey

Source: Politico | June 11, 2017 | Kyle Cheney

The president is not finding help from Congress as he brands Comey a ‘leaker’ and questions whether he acted illegally.

If President Donald Trump was hoping congressional Republicans would rally to his side in his effort to discredit former FBI Director James Comey, he’s probably pretty disappointed.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Trump might bring down his own presidency. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said Trump’s interactions with Comey were “very inappropriate.” And Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said it’s unclear whether Trump’s actions toward Comey — leading to his abrupt firing on May 9 — amounted to a crime.

Across national news shows on Sunday, Republican lawmakers showed varying degrees of concern about Trump’s handling of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and his decision to fire Comey in the midst of that probe. Though many contended the reaction to Comey’s testimony was overblown, most said Trump had acted improperly — even if it was out of naivete and not malice.

None embraced Trump’s depiction of Comey as a liar or attempted to dispute Comey’s account of private meetings with the president. Comey told the Senate intelligence Committee that in several meetings prior to his ouster, Trump asked him to help “lift the cloud” of the Russia inquiry and, in the most damaging instance, said he hoped Comey would let go of his related investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

“He doesn’t strike me as someone who would lie under oath,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said of Comey.

More troubling to some lawmakers was the fact that Trump continues to weigh in on the investigation — in public and on Twitter — and has launched a campaign to attack Comey’s credibility.

“You may be the first president to go down because you can’t stop inappropriately talking about an investigation that if you just were quiet would clear you,” Graham said on CBS‘ “Face the Nation.”

Since Comey testified Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Trump has questioned the former FBI director’s credibility. Comey revealed that after his firing, he steered the content of memos memorializing his account of meetings with the president to the press. Though he maintains the material in those memos was unclassified, Trump has begun attacking him as a “leaker” and suggested Sunday that his decision to make his concerns public could be illegal.

Comey’s testimony “showed no collusion, no obstruction, he’s a leaker,” Trump said on Friday in the White House’s Rose Garden. On Sunday morning, he tweeted, “I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very ‘cowardly!’”

But even Trump’s staunchest Republican defenders declined to directly back up that claim on Sunday. “I don’t know whether it’s a crime,” Lee said. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said that “even if the law were not broken,” Comey shouldn’t have leaked to the press.

……..

Viewing 2 posts - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
Viewing 2 posts - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.