Consternation and confusion overtook Capitol Hill on Tuesday as Republicans confronted the revelation that President Donald Trump had disclosed highly classified information to the Russians.
President Donald Trump had asked FBI director James Comey to end the investigation into his first National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's Russian connections, according to notes Comey kept of the conversation that he had shown to some associates, multiple USA news media outlets reported on Wednesday.
House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), surrounded by members of the media, leaves after a closed House Republican election meeting to pick the next GOP House Speaker nominee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., October 8, 2015.
Last week, the Republican president fired Comey, who had been leading an investigation into the Trump 2016 presidential campaign's possible collusion with Russian Federation to influence the election outcome. The White House denied what was first reported by The New York Times.
A source said the encounter between Comey and Trump unfolded after the then FBI Director was in the Oval Office briefing Trump along with Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
"He's a good guy".
"I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go", Trump told Comey, according to the memo.
White House officials have stressed that the Russian Federation probe had nothing to do with Trump's firing of Comey, although Trump himself has suggested in interviews that it was at least partly a motivation.
Flynn was forced to resign from his position as national security adviser when it emerged that he had misled Vice President Pence about contacts he'd had with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee ordered him to hand over all documents related to Russian Federation, after his refusal to cooperate with the investigation without prior immunity.
The White House says the report is "not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey". But what we don't know, though, is what the president actually did say to the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director during that meeting.
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If Chafettz manages to get his hands on the Comey memos and the committee discovers incriminating evidence proving that Trump did, in fact, try to influence FBI's probe into Flynn's connection to Russian Federation, the president may face charges of obstruction of justice.
"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".
But McConnell acknowledged that "it would be helpful to have less drama emanating from the White House".
"I believe Donald Trump is completely unfit to be President of the United States and it's an embarrassing disgrace that the Republican Party continues to defend him", Jolly told ABC Action News over the phone Tuesday night.
In dismissing Comey last week, Trump created the very real possibility that a respected law enforcement official known for an outspoken nature and willingness to buck political convention could resurface in public.
And veteran Republican Senator John McCain called the allegations about the Trump-Lavrov meeting "deeply disturbing".
" "Close it down" is an instruction to stop investigating President Trump's campaign".
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers said that the White House needs to answer questions about what happened and that Comey needs to testify "as soon as possible".
"We're a long ways from a conviction - the fact that we simply have a headline in the New York Times", Republican Representative Trey Gowdy said.
But how did Comey, who's often described as the last Boy Scout in Washington, handle his public humiliation? When that ended, Trump asked everyone to leave except Comey, and he eventually turned the conversation to Flynn.
The newspaper said Comey was in the Oval Office that day with other national security officials for a terrorism threat briefing.
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