Senate panel requests any memos, tapes from Comey-Trump meetings
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday requested any memos or recordings from President Trump’s meetings with former FBI Director James Comey.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the top members on the committee, and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) sent the request to acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and White House counsel Donald McGahn.
The senators want any Comey memos from his investigation into Russia’s election meddling and the probe into Hillary Clinton’s private email server that detail his talks with top Trump and Obama administration officials, including Trump, former President Barack Obama, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Pointing to reports that Comey frequently documented conversations with memos, the senators wrote that “presumably this means that Mr. Comey created similar memoranda relating to other controversial conversations, whether with officials in the current administration or the prior one.”
{mosads}They are asking McGahn to hand over any recordings tied to “the FBI’s investigation of alleged ties between President Trump’s associates and Russia, or the Clinton email investigation, including all audio recordings, transcripts, notes, summaries, and memoranda.”
They added that if the recordings have already been archived, in compliance with federal law, they “make the relevant personnel there aware of the request and authorize them to release the records to the Committee.”
Trump hinted last week in a tweet that there could be “tapes” of his conversations with Comey.
The New York Times also reported Tuesday that Trump asked Comey to quash an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, citing a memo written by the former FBI chief.
Both the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee are investigating Russia’s election interference. The Intelligence panel has sent a request for Comey to publicly testify before the committee.
The Judiciary Committee is also expected to hold hearings tied to Russia’s election interference, leaders said in a release.
The push for information tied to the now-closed investigation into Clinton’s email server comes after Grassley sent a string of letters during the Obama administration asking for information on Clinton and top aides. The move sparked outrage from Democrats, who accused Grassley of using the committee to help Republicans in the 2016 elections.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
