Trump morally unfit to be prez, causing damage to US: Ex-FBI chief Comey

Donald Trump is "morally unfit" to be president, former FBI chief James Comey asserted on Monday as he claimed "it's possible" that Russia may have some information on him that Moscow could use to compromise him.

Comey, 57, who was unceremoniously fired by the US president in May last year, in a wide-ranging interview to ABC News warned that "The foundation of this country is in jeopardy when we stop measuring our leaders against that central value of the truth."

He also cautioned that if Trump ever tries to sack special counsel Robert Mueller, then it would be his "most serious attack yet on the rule of law" and causing "tremendous damage" to the country's institutions.

Mueller is investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election and any potential ties between Trump campaign and Russia. Trump has repeatedly called the investigation a witch hunt and denied any collusion.

Comey led the federal probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election before he was fired by Trump

Comey's upcoming memoir says Trump denied allegations of lewd behaviour

President Donald Trump denied allegations of lewd behaviour made in an intelligence dossier and asked whether the FBI would consider proving it was a lie, former FBI Director James Comey wrote in an upcoming memoir, according to the Washington Post.

Comey, fired by Trump in May 2017, wrote in “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership” that Trump raised the dossier with him at least four times during meetings, the Post said. The dossier was compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele about Trump’s ties to Russia, and included an allegation that involved prostitutes.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters. Comey’s publicist also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment.

New York Times sues FBI to get notes of James Comey-Donald Trump talks

The New York Times sued the FBI, seeking a court's help in getting the agency to turn over documents created by fired FBI Director James Comey after his conversations with President Donald Trump.

The Manhattan federal court lawsuit was filed a day after CNN sued the Justice Department in Washington, seeking the same information.

Both actions seek documents Comey told the Senate he created earlier this year immediately after meetings and conversations with the president.'

Comey said he typed notes describing the conversations because he was worried Trump "might lie" later about them. He testified that he leaked information about the notes through a friend to the Times to increase pressure for the appointment of a special prosecutor after he concluded Trump's administration "defamed" him and the FBI after his May 9 firing.

Former FBI head Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel a day after a report stemming from the notes was published.

Comey said the notes contain his recollections that Trump asked for his loyalty when they met for a January dinner and then urged him during a private meeting in the Oval Office two weeks later to drop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Trump has disputed both claims, saying flatly that he never asked Comey to drop the Flynn probe.

The Times and CNN both said in their lawsuits that the FBI has not turned over documents and has failed to properly respond to their Freedom of Information Act requests. They asked judges to order the FBI to produce the records.

The Associated Press also filed a FOIA request for the documents but has not received any documents and has not sued.
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Donald Trump appears to confirm he's under probe, slams it as witch hunt

US President Donald Trump appeared to confirm that he was being probed for firing the FBI chief and described it as a "witch hunt", as he asserted that there was no proof of his "collusion with the Russians" even after seven months of investigation.

"I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director (James Comey) by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt," Trump said in an early morning tweet.

Trump's apparent confirmation that he is under probe for obstruction of justice by special counsel appointed to probe alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential polls came a day after a Washington Post report pointed to such an investigation.

The probe by special counsel Robert Mueller, a former FBI chief, "marks a major turning point in the nearly year-old FBI investigation, which until recently focused on Russian meddling during the presidential campaign and on whether there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin," The Washington Post had reported.

Trump did not respond to shouted questions from the media as he was leaving the White House lawns to board Marine One for the Joint Andres Air Force Base for his day-long trip to Florida.

"Despite the phony Witch Hunt going on in America, the economic and jobs numbers are great. Regulations way down, jobs and enthusiasm way up!" said the US President in another tweet.

He accused the mainstream American media of allegedly spreading the wrong news.

"The Fake News Media hates when I use what has turned out to be my very powerful Social Media -- over 100 million people! I can go around them," Trump said.

In the past, he has frequently used the term 'Fake News Media' for outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN.
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What James Comey's gripping Senate hearing told us about Donald Trump

On the surface, former FBI Director James Comey’s long-awaited Senate Intelligence Committee hearing was underwhelming, failing to turn up a clear smoking gun. A closer analysis of what Comey said, however, portrays a damning picture of the president’s behaviour and, in doing this, undermines several of the arguments used by both the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress. In particular, three main themes stood out.

First, from the outset, and in his answers to senators, Comey highlighted the reality and the gravity of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. He stated that there should be “no fuzz on [the issue] whatsoever”: the Russians interfered in the electoral process.

“It’s not a close call,” he added, “it’s about as unfake as you can possibly get” – a sure reference to Trump’s suggestion that the allegations regarding his campaign collusion with Russia was “fake news”.

More ominously yet, Comey also stressed that the Russian effort is clearly directed from the Kremlin and is a long-term strategy aimed at undermining future elections and the integrity and credibility of American democracy. This is made even more concerning by Comey’s admission that the president has never shown any interest in Russia’s behaviour and actions, nor in what measures could be taken to prevent future interference.

Second, while being very cautious in his account, Comey made unmistakably clear how poor an opinion he has of the president and the White House. In his opening statement, he accused the White House of lying about the FBI and, in particular, of lying regarding the reasons for Comey’s firing and, by doing so, discrediting the bureau. The administration decided to defame Comey and the FBI, saying that the bureau was in disarray and that it had lost confidence in Comey’s leadership. “Those,” said Comey, “were lies.”
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Enough evidence for case against Trump: Preet Bharara after Comey testimony

Preet Bharara, the former US Attorney who was fired by Donald Trump, has asserted strongly that there is "absolutely evidence" to initiate a lawsuit against the President of the United States.

A naturalised US citizen born in India, Bharara, who was a former US attorney in the southern district of New York, said in a Saturday television interview that "there is absolutely evidence to begin a case" of obstruction of justice against the President, reports Sputnik.

"It's very important to be clear that no one knows right now whether there is a provable case of obstruction," he said, while simultaneously claiming that "there is also no basis to say there is no obstruction".

This was Bharara's first public statement since he was fired by the Trump administration over unclear reasons.

Commenting on the recent testimony of former FBI Director James Comey, who was also fired by Trump, Bharara stated that he agreed with Comey, who also disputes the nature of conversations he had with the President.

"The President seems to have a reputation of saying things that are not true," Bharara said in regard of his "uncomfortable" conversations with Trump.

Terminated by the President after refusing to return a third and last phone call in almost 22 hours, Bharara stated that he still has "no idea why I was fired."

However, he said, "It doesn't bother me... I am living a great life very happily."
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Trump's requests on Russia probe 'very disturbing': James Comey

Fired FBI director James Comey said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump's requests to stop probing the Russia ties of a former national security advisor as "very disturbing" and accused the White House of defaming him.

He said Trump misguided the American public when he said the FBI was in disarray last month after his firing.

"Those were lies, plain and simple," Comey said in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"I don't think it's for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct. I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning," he said.
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Trump's requests on Russia probe 'very disturbing': James Comey

Fired FBI director James Comey said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump's requests to stop probing the Russia ties of a former national security advisor as "very disturbing" and accused the White House of defaming him.

He said Trump misguided the American public when he said the FBI was in disarray last month after his firing.

"Those were lies, plain and simple," Comey said in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"I don't think it's for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct. I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning," he said.
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Asian markets trade lower ahead of ECB meet and UK election

Asian shares wobbled in early Thursday trade as investors braced for any surprises from former FBI director James Comey's congressional appearance, the European Central Bank's policy meeting and the UK general elections.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.27 percent while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.3 percent thanks to the dollar's rebound against the yen.

Wall Street shares ticked up on Wednesday, despite sharp decline in energy prices, after written testimony from Comey did not add major revelations about an investigation into Russian meddling with last year's US presidential election.

The 10-year US Treasuries yield ticked up to 2.185 percent after having fallen to a seven-month low of 2.129 percent on Tuesday.

Many investors are wary ahead of Comey's Senate appearance later in the day for any hints that President Donald Trump may have been engaged in obstruction of justice - an offence that could lead to impeachment hearings.

"If the hearing does not produce clear-cut evidences of obstruction of justice, uncertainties will remain but for market the issue will likely be put on a back burner," said Hiroko Iwaki, senior fixed income strategist at Mizuho Securities.

"Unless you assume there will be a complete chaos in US politics or a downturn in the U.S. economy, it is hard to see further falls in US bond yields," she said.

In the foreign exchange market, the dollar stayed near its seven-month low against a basket of currencies as doubts over Trump's ability to push through his stimulus plans have eroded the greenback's gains late last year.

The dollar index stood at 96.695, near Wednesday's seven-month low of 96.511.

The euro traded at $1.1258, near its seven-month high of $1.1285 touched earlier this month, ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting later in the day.

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Donald Trump wishes ex-FBI chief Comey 'luck' ahead of testimony

US President Donald Trump wished his ousted FBI director, James Comey, "luck" ahead of what promises to be a dramatic testimony to Congress on Thursday that could spell more bad news for the White House.

Meeting Republican leaders in the Roosevelt Room, Trump was asked whether he had a message for Comey, whom he summarily dismissed last month in the middle of an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the US election last year, and the possible collusion of Trump campaign aides.

"I wish him luck" Trump said.

The expelled FBI director will appear on Thursday before the Senate intelligence committee for a hearing sure to be replete with political drama and intrigue.

Comey's testimony will be his first public remarks since he was summarily fired by Trump in early May, and represents a moment of great peril for this already embattled president.

He will face a barrage of questions from lawmakers about the circumstances of his firing, as well as suggestions that Trump tried to get Comey to shelve the investigation.

Most major US television networks plan to carry the event live. Some bars in the US capital are even planning to open early for viewing parties.
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Trump meets two candidates for FBI chief

US President Donald Trump has met two candidates to head the FBI at the White House, presidential spokesman Sean Spicer said.

The two candidates are Chris Wray, who served as an assistant attorney general from 2003-2005, and John Pistole, the former head of the Transportation Security Administration who also served as deputy FBI chief from 2004-2010, Spicer said on Tuesday, Efe news reported.

"The president will be meeting with two additional candidates this afternoon, both Chris Wray and John Pistole," Spicer told reporters at his daily press briefing.

"When the president feels as though he's met with the right candidate he'll let us know," he said.

Currently, Wray is a partner at the law firm of King & Spalding, where he heads a group involved in government investigations.

Meanwhile, Pistole, who left the government in 2014, served at the FBI under Robert Mueller, whom the Justice Department on May 17 named special counsel for the investigation into Russian involvement in the November presidential election and possible coordination between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign to favor the mogul.

Mueller was succeeded at the FBI by James Comey, who was abruptly fired by Trump on May 9, a decision that ignited a political firestorm in Washington.

Finding a new FBI director has become an issue of crucial importance for the White House, which has not clearly explained why, how and when Trump made the decision to fire Comey, who at the time was heading the agency's investigation into the links between the Kremlin and the president.

The favorite so far to take over the FBI had been former Sen. Joe Lieberman, who on May 25 told the White House that he was not interested in the post.

Besides Lieberman, Trump has interviewed three other candidates for FBI chief: Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who took over from Comey, former FBI agent Richard McFeely and Frank Keating, the former Republican governor of Oklahoma.
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Trump to Russians: Ex-FBI Director James Comey was a 'real nut job, crazy'

US President Donald Trump told Russian officials at an Oval Office meeting last week that firing FBI Director James Comey eased pressure on him as he was a "real nut job" and "crazy", a media report claimed today.

"I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job," Trump told Russian Minister Sergei Lavrov and the country's Ambassador to the US, the Times reported, citing minutes of the meeting between Trump and the Russians.

According to the US daily, the quotes and other excerpts from the minutes was readout to its correspondent by a Trump administration official.

Another on the condition of anonymity confirmed the quotes from the said document.

"I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off...I am not under investigation," he was quoted as saying by said the daily.

The White House did not comment on the authenticity of Trump's conversation with the Russian officials in the Oval Office on May 9.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told The New York Times in a statement that Comey had behaved politically and put unnecessary pressure on the president's ability to conduct diplomacy with Russia on matters such as Syria, Ukraine and the Islamic State.

"By grandstanding and politicising the investigation into Russia's actions, James Comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with Russia," Spicer said.

He said the investigation would have always continued, and the termination of Comey would not have ended it.

"Once again, the real story is that our national security has been undermined by the leaking of private and highly classified conversations," he added.
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US stocks suffered $8.9 bn outflow as Trump stirs trouble in White House

Investors ditched almost $9 billion of US equities as political turmoil in Washington built up in the past week, Bank of America Merrill Lynch figures showed on Friday.

Funds invested in US equities saw outflows of $8.9 billion in the week to Wednesday- their third straight week of outflows -- while those dedicated to European stocks added $1.1 billion, the largest in 39 weeks and the ninth straight week of inflows.

"Washington DC disruption: new risk ... Washington political malaise causes capital flight from US," BAML summarised, referring to White House battles over the struggles over alleged links to Russia and to the removal of the FBI director.

The big winner for the week, meanwhile, were global tech stocks, now enjoying the biggest annualised inflows since the dot-com bubble.

Tech stocks raked in $1 billion in the week to Wednesday in their 11th straight week of inflows, BAML said in its regular 'Flow Show' analysis.

It also noted that the Nasdaq internet index, a modified market capitalisation-weighted index designed to track the largest and most liquid US online firms, was running at an annual rate of 75 per cent gains year to date.

It expressed some concern about this.

"(The) longer it takes the economy and yields to pick-up, greater (the) risk of tech mania," BAML said.

Investors also remained in emerging markets, with equities adding $3.9 billion in a ninth week of gains while developing market debt saw inflows of $1.6 billion in their 16th straight positive week.

"Emerging markets equal year-to-date flow winner and year-to-date return winner as weaker dollar, lower yields overwhelm China credit fears," BAML said in its note.

The data, however, was collected before a broad sell of roiled emerging markets on Thursday following allegations that Brazil's President Michel Temer condoned bribes to silence a key witness in a corruption probe.

Overall, bond funds attracted $9.7 billion of inflows in the week to Wednesday, with around two thirds of that ($6.6 billion) going into investment grade funds, BAML said.
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How Donald Trump could be removed from office under the US Constitution

As Washington becomes increasingly engulfed by the spiralling crises in Donald Trump’s presidency, and even prominent Republicans compare it to the dark days of Watergate, even Republican voices have been asking how Donald Trump might be replaced.

Six decades ago, Dwight Eisenhower’s various illnesses stimulated a serious debate in the Congress over this question, but it was not until the 1963 assassination of his successor John F. Kennedy that Congress approved the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, which provided a set of procedures for replacing a president in the event of death, removal (permanently or temporarily), resignation, or incapacity.

This plugged a significant constitutional gap. Although Article II, section one of the US Constitution discusses the issue of presidential succession, it did not spell out how a vice-president would assume the presidency if an incumbent died, resigned or was unable to perform the office’s duty. When Kennedy died, the new president, Lyndon Johnson, had known health issues; the next two people in line for the presidency were 71-year-old House speaker, John McCormack, and the 86-year-old Senate president pro tempore, Carl Hayden.

Ultimately ratified by a majority of the states in 1967, the 25th Amendment’s procedures were first invoked in 1973, when Richard Nixon’s vice-president, Spiro Agnew, resigned after pleading no contest to a charge of federal income tax evasion in exchange for the dropping of political corruption charges. The amendment was triggered again less than a year later during the Watergate affair, after the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives approved articles of impeachment against Nixon for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress.

Nixon resigned, and his new vice-president, Gerald Ford, was sworn in as the 38th president under section one of the amendment; for his new vice-president he nominated Nelson Rockefeller, whom both congressional chambers confirmed by simple majorities. Thus the nation’s two highest offices were filled without a popular vote.
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With James Comey gone, how can US probe Russia, Trump and the 2016 polls?

Now that James Comey has been fired as FBI director, how will the U.S. conduct a fair and accurate investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and links with President Donald Trump’s campaign?

U.S. congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle are discussing options.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats have called for a special prosecutor to be appointed.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi has called for the creation of an independent commission. Justin Amash, a Republican leader of the House Freedom Caucus, said he is considering that option.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator John McCain has urged the formation of a select congressional committee.

Each of these alternatives may seem reasonable, but there are key differences between them. My research on more than 50 government investigations reveals that independent commissions, like the one Pelosi is advocating for, are more likely than regular or select congressional committees to achieve consensus about controversial events.

A congressional investigation into Russian activities and ties to Trump’s advisers is likely to be riven by partisan discord. An independent commission has greater potential to generate a widely agreed-upon understanding of Russian misbehavior.

At a time when Congress is sharply polarised along partisan lines, congressional investigations tend to become microcosms of that polarisation. This is all the more true when an investigation involves an issue about which the president is vulnerable to political embarrassment or attack.
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Donald Trump sacks FBI director James Comey: Read full letter

In a surprise move, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired FBI Director James Comey - who was leading an investigation into alleged links between Trump's team and Russia

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement that Comey has been 'terminated and removed from office.' Trump was said to have acted on "clear recommendations" from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

In a separate letter, Rosenstein argued that it was his transgressions over the Clinton email investigation that were the cause of his dismissal, while laying out the reasons for Comey's firing.

Comey was also accused of attempting to "usurp the attorney general's authority" by publicly announcing why he felt the case should be closed without prosecution.

Accoring to the New York Times, James Comey thought his firing was a prank.

While addressing a group of FBI employees in Los Angeles, Comey saw a television flash news that he had been fired. In response, Comey laughed.

Shortly thereafter, a letter from Trump was delivered to the FBI's headquarters.

Below is President Donald Trump's full letter to James Comey terminating him from the position of FBI director, dated May 9, 2017.
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