Fired FBI director James Comey testified that President Donald Trump wasn’t under investigation, but that’s likely no longer the case, according to Rachel Maddow.
Trump is very likely now the target of an obstruction of justice probe, she explained on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” Friday. The host said she concluded this after Comey essentially said so under oath — twice.
Comey testified that when the president tried to convince Comey to back off probing fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, there was already an “open FBI criminal investigation” against him. The former FBI director said it wasn’t his place to determine whether the president’s conversation with him was an effort to obstruct justice. “That’s a conclusion I’m sure the special counsel will work towards to try to understand what the intention was,” he added. Comey later responded to another question asking if Trump had tried to obstruct justice. “I don’t know. That’s Bob Mueller’s job to sort that out,” he said, in reference to the special counsel leading an independent investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials.
Comey also said during his testimony that he has since turned over all of his memos to the special counsel. “That means any notes, any memoranda James Comey wrote about his interactions with President Trump, he has handed them over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller,” Maddow said.
Mueller’s spokesperson has declined to comment on whether Trump is under investigation. But Maddow said the special prosecutor’s position allows him to investigate “any other matters that might arise from the Russia investigation.” “We’re still pretty darn sure that’s what he’s working on,” she added.
There’s no indication that the men discussed Russian interference in the presidential election, the other subject Mueller is examining, Maddow said.
That “implies pretty strongly that the special counsel is investigating potential obstruction of justice by the president,” she added. “It really seems clear by every indication.”
Check out the full segment above.
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