The prospect of President Donald Trump being impeached has arisen again after revelations he asked then-FBI director James Comey to shut down the investigation into disgraced national security adviser Michael Flynn.
The disclosures are in a memo written by Mr Comey about an Oval Office meeting in February, held the day after Mr Flynn resigned, a New York Times report claimed.
“I hope you can let this go,” Mr Trump told Mr Comey, according to the memo which the sacked FBI boss is reported to have shared with senior bureau officials and close associates after the meeting.
Mr Trump’s request has raised allegations that the President tried to influence the FBI and Justice Department investigation into links between Trump associates and Russia.
It also represents the biggest crisis to face the Trump administration to-date. If proven, it involves a potential obstruction of justice — an impeachable offence.
Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, demanded the FBI turn over all “memoranda, notes, summaries, and recordings” of discussions between Mr Trump and Mr Comey.
Mr Chaffetz added he was prepared to subpoena the FBI to secure the documents.
“.@GOPoversight is going to get the Comey memo, if it exists. I need to see it sooner rather than later. I have my subpoena pen ready,” Chaffetz tweeted.
Mr Comey reportedly wrote the memo outlining his conversation with the President immediately after the meeting, which took place the day after Mr Flynn resigned for failing to reveal his dealings with Russian officials, two people who read the memo told the NYT.
Erwin Chereminsky, a constitutional law professor and dean of University of California, Irvine School of Law, told Reuters: “For the President to tell the FBI to end a potential criminal investigation, that’s obstruction of justice,” he said.
“This is what caused President Nixon to resign from office.”
NEW: House Oversight chair sends letter to FBI requesting Bureau to provide Comey memo "no later than May 24, 2017." https://t.co/N4tvhDqa98 pic.twitter.com/sSkgKs6jjw
— ABC News (@ABC) May 17, 2017
Mr Comey reportedly documented what he perceived as the President’s improper efforts to influence a continuing investigation. An FBI agent’s contemporaneous notes on conversations are normally supported in court as credible evidence.
The NYT said it was yet to view a copy of the memo, which is unclassified, but says an associate of Mr Comey read extracts of the memo to a NYT reporter.
“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Mr Trump told Mr Comey, according to the memo.
“He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
According to the memo, Mr Comey made no undertakings to the President, only replying: “I agree he is a good guy.”
The White House denied the memo’s version of events in a statement.
“While the President has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the President has never asked Mr Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn,” the statement said.
“The President has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the President and Mr Comey.”
James Comey routinely penned memos after speaking with President Trump. Photo: Getty
The FBI’s Mr McCabe told a Senate committee last week there had been “no effort to impede our [Russia] investigation to date”.
The investigation into Mr Flynn was a separate probe.
Mr McCabe said that claim was not accurate and that Mr Comey “enjoyed broad support” within the agency and he personally held Mr Comey in the “absolute highest regard”.
He said it was the “greatest privilege” of his career to serve under him.
Mr Comey created memos about every phone call and meeting he had with President Trump, his associates told the NYT.
President Trump drew comparisons to disgraced former President Richard Nixon and the infamous Watergate scandal after sensationally sacking Mr Comey on May 10.
The President later warned Mr Comey against leaking to the media, saying he had “better hope that there are no tapes” of their conversations.
In a series of tweets, Mr Trump threatened Mr Comey and also warned that he may cancel all White House press briefings.
Political analyst and former strategist to President Barack Obama, David Axelrod, said the latest revelations presented a real risk of impeachment, if Mr Trump was proven to have obstructed the course of justice.
I've been resistant to impeachment talk until now, but if Comey memo is true-and Comey is very credible-we are into a whole new deal here.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) May 16, 2017
