President
Donald Trump on Thursday ran into resistance for calling ousted FBI chief James
Comey a "showboat," an attack that was swiftly contradicted by top
U.S.
senators and the acting FBI leader, who pledged that an investigation into
possible Trump campaign ties to Russia would proceed with vigor.
In his first
interview since firing Comey on Tuesday, Trump appeared to try to underscore
that Comey's dismissal was about his performance at the Federal Bureau of
Investigation and not about the Russia probe.
Trump faces
accusations from Democrats that he fired Comey to hinder the FBI investigation
into U.S. intelligence agency allegations that Russia meddled in the 2016
presidential election to benefit Trump. The probe has hung over Trump's
presidency since he took office in January and threatens to overwhelm his
policy priorities.
"He's a
showboat. He's a grandstander," Trump told NBC News. "The FBI has
been in turmoil. You know that, I know that, everybody knows that."
Trump's
characterization was odds with that of the top Republican and Democratic
lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
At a hearing
on Thursday, the Republican chairman of the panel, Richard Burr, and the top
Democrat, Mark Warner, praised Comey. Warner said he was offended at Trump's remarks.
Acting FBI
Director Andrew McCabe, testifying in place of Comey, contradicted Trump's
appraisal of turmoil at the FBI, saying that Comey had "broad
support" from the rank and file "and still does to this day."
A White
House spokeswoman on Thursday morning had said that Trump was expected to soon
visit FBI headquarters, but MSNBC later reported that plan had been thrown out
after agency officials told the White House that Trump would not be greeted
warmly following his firing of Comey.
Several
candidates are being considered to replace Comey, a senior White House official
said, including Mike Rogers, a former Republican representative; Trey Gowdy, a
Republican representative and former federal prosecutor; Alice Fisher,
assistant attorney general in the George W. Bush administration; and Ray Kelly,
former commissioner of the New York Police Department.
The nominee
must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
PROBE TO
PROCEED
McCabe
promised to tell senators of any White House meddling into the agency's probe
on Russia. Democrats have called for a special counsel to look into the matter.
"It is
my opinion and belief that the FBI will continue to pursue this investigation
vigorously and completely," McCabe told the senators.
Moscow has
denied interference in the election, and the Trump administration denies
allegations of collusion with Russia.
In firing
Comey, Trump said he knew he ran the risk he would "confuse people"
and "lengthen out the investigation" into ties to Russia.
"In
fact when I decided to just do it, 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," he told
NBC.
Trump said
in the interview that he never pressured Comey into dropping the FBI probe,
adding: "If Russia did anything, I want to know that." Trump said
there was no "collusion between me and my campaign and the Russians,"
but that "the Russians did not affect the vote."
His
explanation of why he fired Comey ran counter to previous administration
explanations of Comey's dismissal.
The White
House and Vice President Mike Pence had said Trump fired Comey on the
recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and No. 2 Justice Department
official Rod Rosenstein.
On Thursday,
Trump said he would have taken the action regardless. "I was going to fire
Comey. My decision," Trump said. "I was going to fire regardless of
recommendation."
Rosenstein,
who met privately with some senators on Thursday, was invited to brief all 100
senators next week, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. Schumer said
he hoped that Sessions would also speak to senators separately on the firing of
Comey.
In the House
of Representatives, Justin Amash, a Republican member of the conservative House
Freedom Caucus, said on Twitter that he had signed onto Democratic-sponsored legislation
calling for an independent, bipartisan commission to probe Russian meddling in
last year’s U.S. election campaign.
U.S.
intelligence agencies concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered
an effort to disrupt the election that included hacking into Democratic Party
emails and leaking them, with the aim of helping Trump.
Leaders of
the U.S. intelligence agencies, including Director of National Intelligence Dan
Coats and CIA chief Mike Pompeo, testified to the senators on Thursday that
they agreed with that finding.
Trump, in
his interview, also gave further details of his account that Comey had told him
on three separate occasions that he was not under investigation in the Russia
matter.
Trump said
he had asked Comey once over dinner and twice by telephone. "I said: 'If
it's possible, would you let me know, am I under investigation?'" Trump
told NBC. "He said: 'You are not under investigation.'"
Trump said
the dinner with Comey was at the White House and Comey wanted to discuss
staying on as FBI chief. "We had a very nice dinner. And at that time, he
told me: 'You are not under investigation.'"
White House
spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she believed it was not a conflict of
interest for a president to ask the FBI chief such a question.
Comey has
not publicly discussed any conversations he had with Trump.
At the
Senate hearing, McCabe testified it was not typical practice to tell people
they were not a targets of an investigation.
Republican
chairman Burr asked McCabe whether he ever heard Comey tell Trump that the
president was not the subject of investigation. McCabe sidestepped the
question, saying he could not comment on an ongoing probe.
Warner, the
top Democrat on the panel, said it was "hard to avoid the conclusion"
that Trump's firing of Comey was related to the Russia investigation.
"And
while it's clear to me now more than ever that an independent special counsel
must be appointed, make no mistake our committee will get to the bottom of what
happened during the 2016 presidential election," Warner said.
REUTERS
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