President Donald Trump’s White House was rocked on Tuesday night by another news report, this one alleging Trump tried to shut down an FBI investigation into one of his former aides, as the administration struggles to contain a cascade of scandals.

The New York Times reported on Tuesday that former FBI Director James Comey wrote a memo detailing how Trump had asked him in the Oval Office to drop the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, a request that came just one day after Trump ousted Flynn for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

A friend of Comey’s confirmed the existence of the memo to POLITICO.

"It's very rich in detail and hopefully it will come out soon,” said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "There are other memos about his meetings too. He wrote down every word Trump said to him as soon as he could."

The news adds to the controversy overwhelming the White House, which was already dealing with the fallout from Trump’s firing of Comey last week and his alleged disclosure of highly classified information to Russian officials.

The White House immediately pushed back against the story.

“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 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,” the White House said in a written statement.

But the allegation, which suggests Trump tried to interfere in a federal investigation into one of his top associates, represents some of the most serious allegations against Trump to date.

The reports also come at a critical time for Trump’s young administration, which sparked a furor last week when Trump abruptly fired Comey as the FBI is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to influence the 2016 election.

The initial explanation was that Trump fired Comey based on a recommendation from top Justice Department officials, but Trump later refuted this, saying he was going to fire Comey regardless and did it with the Russia investigation in mind.

The move prompted questions from both Democrats and Republicans about whether Trump was impeding an investigation into his own campaign.

Then, on Monday, news broke in the Washington Post that Trump had divulged classified information to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The White House scrambled to contain the fallout, alleging Trump had done nothing improper even while declining to say whether he had in fact divulged confidential information.

The report that Trump asked Comey to drop the investigation into Flynn follows months in which Trump has defended his former national security adviser, even after asking for his resignation.

He said on Twitter that Flynn was right to ask for immunity and blamed “fake media” for their treatment of Flynn — even though top government officials have since corroborated media accounts.</s>We are following developments this evening about a serious new accusation against President Trump. Back in February, Trump apparently asked then FBI Director James Comey to drop the bureau's investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's connections to Russia. The White House denies this account.

Joining us now is NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson who has some new reporting on this story. Hi, Carrie.

SHAPIRO: FBI Director James Comey apparently wrote a memo just after that February meeting with the president. What have you learned about what the memo says?

JOHNSON: Yeah, I'm told that the FBI director, the former FBI director, Comey, wrote a memo the day after Mike Flynn lost his job in the White House memorializing his conversation with President Trump. I asked a source close to Comey, a Comey associate, why Comey felt the need to memorialize this conversation. The source says Comey was concerned.

And in the memo, the former FBI director wrote that President Trump said, I hope you can let this go, referring to the FBI investigation of Mike Flynn. I'm told Comey gave a nonresponse response, and the meeting ended but that this was not the only conversation with President Trump that James Comey decided to take contemporaneous notes of for his files. Those materials were shared with a small circle of people inside the FBI and, later, other friends and associates of James Comey who are speaking about them now.

SHAPIRO: And we're hearing tonight that lawmakers may subpoena those memos. If in fact the president did ask the FBI director to drop an investigation into one of his associates, does that constitute obstruction of justice?

JOHNSON: Ari, that's a sensitive and complicated legal analysis. We need to know what was in President Donald Trump's mind at the time of this alleged request. Of course as you note, the White House denies the president asked Comey to end the Mike Flynn investigation or any investigation. The White House said tonight it has tremendous respect for law enforcement and would never meddle in that way.

This could come down to a credibility test between President Trump, who's reported via Twitter that he has some kind of tapes of conversations with Comey, and Comey's own notes, which Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah and a House committee chairman, says he wants to subpoena. Lindsey Graham, a senator from South Carolina, Republican, also says he wants Comey to testify in public about all this.

SHAPIRO: This is a big mystery about whether or not there are tape recordings. If it comes down to Trump's word against Comey's, how does something like that get resolved?

JOHNSON: Well, you know, it's a credibility test. James Comey has been known to take notes of sensitive and controversial issues in the past. In fact, Ari, during the George W. Bush administration, Comey was the deputy attorney general. Years later, memos came out that Comey had written to his chief of staff and right-hand man with respect to enhanced interrogation techniques or torture of detainees after 9/11. And in fact, those were reported on by the press years later and mostly held up as accounts of what happened in real time. James Comey and his friends may be hoping the same thing happens with respect to Mike Flynn, Russia and his firing - surprise firing only a week ago by President Donald Trump.

SHAPIRO: NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson, thank you very much.</s>President Trump asked then-FBI Director James Comey to close down the agency's investigation into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn just one day after Flynn was let go.

An associate of Comey's who is familiar with the matter confirms that the former FBI director memorialized the conversation with Trump in a memo he wrote immediately after their Oval Office conversation on February 14. The news was first reported by the New York Times.

Comey — who was fired one week ago by Trump amid the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia — wrote in the February memo that Trump asked for the investigation of Flynn to go away — to which Comey gave a non-response response. Then he left and wrote detailed notes, according to the source.

"It was an ask" not a command, the source said. A small number of FBI agents were made aware of the memo and the conversation, and agents kept working on the investigation.

A second Comey associate told NPR that Comey wrote notes for his files after several conversations with Trump.

"He was concerned," the second source said.

"'I hope you can let this go,'" Trump told Comey of the Flynn investigation, the same source said.

Flynn was fired on February 13 after it was revealed he had misled Vice President Pence about his conversations with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak about U.S. sanctions recently imposed on Russia; Flynn had been speaking with Kislyak during the transition period between Election Day and Trump's inauguration.

Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who was also fired by Trump after she refused to defend his travel ban, testified last week before Congress that she had told the White House more than two weeks before Flynn was asked to resign that he had been "compromised with respect to the Russians" because he had misled Pence.

Comey's bombshell account of the February conversation is the latest headache for a White House increasingly in turmoil. On Monday, The Washington Post reported that Trump had revealed "highly classified information" to two top Russian diplomats — Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov — whom he met with in the Oval Office last Wednesday, the day after firing Comey, in a shocking display of puzzling optics.

And amid the bubbling crises, Trump is set to depart at the end of the week on his first foreign trip as president, traveling to a NATO meeting in Brussels, Belgium; a G7 meeting in Italy; Saudi Arabia; the Vatican; and Israel — the country whose intelligence about an ISIS plot to use laptops on airplanes Trump reportedly breached protocol by sharing with the Russians.

A White House official denied The Times' report about Trump's conversation with Comey in a statement:



The FBI said they have no comment on the Times story.

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who took over last week after Comey was fired, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week that, "There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date."

Comey has a history of memorializing controversial conversations and issues — he did so during the George W. Bush administration, where he served as deputy attorney general, with respect to those controversial "enhanced interrogation techniques" used by the CIA on terror detainees in the wake of 9/11. He sent memos to his chief of staff that surfaced years later in The Times.

Trump fired Comey last week, with the White House initially claiming it was because of a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that concluded Comey had mishandled the investigation into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's private email server.

But Trump told NBC's Lester Holt days later that he was going to fire Comey regardless of Rosenstein's memo, and that is was, indeed, in part, because of the ongoing Russia investigation, which Trump has dismissed as a "hoax."

"When I decided to just do it [fire Comey]," Trump told Holt. "I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won."

Trump also claimed in his letter firing Comey that the FBI director had told him on three separate occasions that he was not under investigation. He also tweeted on Friday suggesting he has secret recordings of his conversations with Comey, though the White House has since repeatedly refused to confirm or deny whether any such tapes actually exist.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said Tuesday he intends to subpoena the FBI for the reported Comey memo.

"We need to have all the facts, and it is appropriate for the House Oversight Committee to request this memo," House Speaker Paul Ryan's spokeswoman AshLee Strong also said in a statement.

Democrats immediately pounced on The Times' report and called on their GOP colleagues to push for the truth from the White House.

"Concerns about our national security, the rule of law, the independence of our nation's highest law enforcement agencies are mounting," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor shortly after the Times story broke. "The country is being tested in unprecedented ways. I say to all of my colleagues in the Senate, history is watching."

"If these reports are true, the President's brazen attempt to shut down the FBI's investigation of Michael Flynn is an assault on the rule of law that is fundamental to our democracy. At best, President Trump has committed a grave abuse of executive power. At worst, he has obstructed justice," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a statement.

In response to the news of Comey's memo, more House Republicans on Tuesday evening called for a combination of White House briefings and public testimony from the former FBI director to assess the scope of the situation.

"I think Director Comey should testify before Congress as soon as possible," said Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., a moderate lawmaker from a swing district said Tuesday evening.

When asked if he was concerned that Trump could hurt his reelection prospects, Lance replied: "I'm confident that I represent the views of the overwhelming majority of my constituents."

"Obviously, we want a briefing from the White House," said House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., "I don't know that it's important to have Comey testify, but it is important to get to the bottom of it. We've got one standard and we need to make sure that applies to everybody."

Meadows also told reporters that if memos exist, Congress should have access to them. "I just want to understand it better. It's one thing to have to have the New York Times report it, it's another to be able to look at what it is," he said.

The president's loyalists on Capitol Hill echoed the White House's attacks on the media to question the latest revelation.

"What seems overwhelmingly clear to me is that the White House is besieged by a spectrum of the media dedicated to the far left that is relentlessly committed to doing everything they can to delegitimize this president. So that alone sometimes calls into question almost all of these discussions," said Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz.

However, Franks also said he would like Comey to testify. "I think it would be great," he said, "I'm someone who has always believed in sunlight, and that clarity is our friend, and truth is the best ally."

As reporters huddled off the House floor questioning GOP lawmakers about the Comey memos, another staunch Trump loyalist, Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, walked by and entered the elevator as he quipped: "Almost sounds like fake news."

Overlooked in The Times report: Trump also reportedly told Comey that he "should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information."</s>James Comey’s unexpected ouster last Tuesday sent Washington into an unprecedented tailspin as the White House communications apparatus tried to explain away Donald Trump’s seemingly abrupt decision to fire the man heading the Justice Department investigation into his campaign’s alleged Kremlin ties. But, one week later, that scandal seems rather quaint by comparison. In another twist in the seemingly endless Russian melodrama, The New York Times’ Michael S. Schmidt reported that Trump explicitly asked Comey to shutter the F.B.I. investigation into Mike Flynn, his former national security adviser, shortly after his inauguration.

“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” the president said, according to a memo that Comey prepared after the meeting, part of which was read to the New York Times by an associate of the former law enforcement official. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.” Comey reportedly responded, “I agree he is a good guy,” but did not promise to close the probe. The existence of the memo was quickly confirmed by NBC News and The Washington Post. (Trump and his associates have denied any wrongdoing.)

According to the Times report, the conversation between Trump and Comey took place in the Oval Office on February 14—the day after Flynn resigned amid scandal following the Post’s report that the former general had misled White House officials, notably Vice President Mike Pence, about whether he discussed election-related sanctions against Moscow with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Comey reportedly informed other F.B.I. officials of the existence of the memo, which sources told the Times was part of a broader paper trail kept by the seasoned law enforcement officer, detailing his interactions with the president. According to those two sources, Comey took detailed notes on every phone call and meeting he had with the president.

The White House flatly denied the Times report. “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,” an official said in a statement. “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.”

Acting F.B.I. Director Andrew McCabe also denied that the White House or Trump had attempted to interfere with the Justice Department investigation in sworn testimony before the Senate last week. “There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date,” said McCabe.

The revelation that Trump allegedly asked Comey to close the Flynn investigation is the latest in a string of devastating headlines for the White House. Within hours of Comey's ouster, CNN revealed that federal prosecutors in Virginia had recently issued grand jury subpoenas seeking business records from associates of Mike Flynn, fueling speculation that Trump dismissed the F.B.I. director over the Russia investigation. The White House press shop subsequently spent the next few days denying that this was the case—arguing that Comey was dismissed for mishandling the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal, and on the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein—only to be undermined by Trump himself.

“Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey,” the president told NBC News's Lester Holt. In the interview, Trump created further headaches for his embattled staff when he revealed that he had a private dinner with Comey shortly after the election, during which the president reportedly asked for the F.B.I. director’s loyalty. On Friday, Trump seemingly leveled a threat against Comey when he wrote on Twitter, “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” (According to the Times, Trump began his February 14 conversation with Comey by suggesting that the F.B.I. consider jailing journalists who leak classified information.)

The Trump administration was dealt another blow Monday when the Post reported that the president had revealed “highly classified” information to Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov—a move intelligence experts characterized as “a stunning lapse in judgement.”. (The White House has denied that Trump did anything inappropriate during the meeting with the Russian officials.)

The response from lawmakers on Captiol Hill to the Times report was swift. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was “shaken” by the news and that the “country is being tested in unprecedented ways.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi warned that if the reports are true, “At best, Trump has committed a grave abuse of executive power. At worst, he has obstructed justice.” When asked during an interview with CNN by Wolf Blitzer whether the Times report could lead to an impeachment process, Independent Senator Angus King conceded, “Reluctantly, Wolf, I have to say yes.” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said, “We are witnessing an obstruction of justice case unfold in real time.” Obstruction of justice was the first article of impeachment against President Richard Nixon, who resigned from office in 1974 amid a similar controversy.

A number of Republicans, the vast majority of whom stopped short of publicly rebuking Trump over the past week, also began to speak out soon after news of the alleged Comey letter broke. Rep. Carlos Curbelo wrote on Twitter that “If recent allegations are true, they mark the beginning of a new and very sad chapter of scandal and controversy in our country.” House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told NBC News, “If the memo exists, I need to see it and I need to see it right away,” adding that the subpoena process is already underway. Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also stressed the importance of obtaining the memo. “I think the burden is on the New York Times, if they’re reporting it and they’ve got somebody who’s got the document,” he told Politico. “They need to get the document and get it released."</s>U.S. President Donald Trump asked then-FBI Director James Comey to end the agency’s investigation into ties between former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia, according to a source who has seen a memo written by Comey.

The explosive new development on Tuesday followed a week of tumult at the White House after Trump fired Comey and then discussed sensitive national security information about Islamic State with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The Comey memo, first reported by the New York Times, is likely to raise questions about whether Trump tried to interfere with a federal investigation.

Comey wrote the memo after he met in the Oval Office with Trump, the day after the president fired Flynn on Feb. 14 for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the extent of his conversations last year with Russia’s ambassador, Sergei Kislyak.

“I hope you can let this go,” Trump told Comey, according to a source familiar with the contents of the memo.

The New York Times said that during the Oval Office meeting, Trump condemned a series of government leaks to the news media and said the FBI director should consider prosecuting reporters for publishing classified information.

The White House denied the report in a statement, saying it was “not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the President and Mr. Comey.”

Flynn’s resignation came hours after it was reported that the Justice Department had warned the White House weeks earlier that Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail for contacts with Kislyak before Trump took office on Jan. 20.

Kislyak was with Lavrov at the White House last week when Trump disclosed the sensitive information.

A spokeswoman for the FBI declined to comment on the details of the memo.

The new development came as Republican and Democratic lawmakers pressured Trump to give a fuller explanation for why he revealed sensitive intelligence information to Lavrov.

The information had been supplied by a U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State militant group, the officials said.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App now</s>WASHINGTON — Besieged from all sides, the Trump administration relented and appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller Wednesday evening as a special counsel to oversee the federal investigation into allegations Russia and Donald Trump’s campaign collaborated to influence the 2016 presidential election.

The appointment came as Democrats insisted ever more loudly that someone outside Trump’s Justice Department must handle the politically charged investigation. Republican congressional leaders had resisted the idea, and there had been no clear sign that Trump or his top White House aides were about to announce it.

However, an increasing number of Republicans had joined in calling for digging deeper, especially after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey who had been leading the bureau’s probe — and after Comey associates said he had made notes of a meeting in which Trump asked him to drop the FBI’s investigation.

Early reaction from Congress was generally positive to the appointment of Mueller.

Democrats said it was not a moment too soon, though they also expressed caution, waiting to how Mueller would perform.

Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah said Mueller was a “great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted.”

Fellow Republican Peter King of New York was more leery because of the broad authority special prosecutors have. He said, “I’m worried with all special counsels because there’s no control over them and they can abuse their power.”

In the 1990s, Democrats complained that independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who investigated President Bill Clinton, overstepped his authority.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump gave no indication of the announcement to come in a commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy.

He made no reference to the controversies about Russia or the Russia ties for fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn or Comey’s dismissal. But he complained bitterly that about criticism of his still-young presidency.

“No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly,” he said. “You can’t let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. ... I guess that’s why we won. Adversity makes you stronger. Don’t give in, don’t back down. ... And the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face.”

On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, three congressional committees, all led by Republicans, confirmed they wanted to hear from Comey. Congressional investigators have been seeking Comey’s memos on his meeting with Trump, as well as documents from the Justice Department related to his firing.

The latest political storm, coupled with the still-potent fallout from Trump’s recent disclosure of classified information to Russian diplomats, overshadowed all else in the capital and beyond. Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street as investors worried that the latest turmoil in Washington could hinder Trump’s pro-business agenda.

Republicans, frustrated by the president’s relentless parade of problems, largely sought to cool the heated climate with assurances they would get to the bottom of scandals.

“There’s clearly a lot of politics being played,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said before the announcement of Mueller’s appointment. “Our job is to get the facts and to be sober about doing that.”

Unimpressed, Rep. Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on a key House oversight panel, said, “Speaker Ryan has shown he has zero, zero, zero appetite for any investigation of Donald Trump. He accused the Republicans of taking great pains to ”do as little as humanly possible, just to claim that they’re doing something.“

Interest was hardly limited to the U.S. No less a commentator than Russia’s Vladimir Putin called the dramatic charges swirling around Trump evidence of “political schizophrenia spreading in the U.S.” He offered to furnish a “record” of the Trump-diplomats meeting in the Oval Office if the White House desired it.

There was no word on what that record might entail, a question many were likely to raise in light of Trump’s recent warning to Comey that he had “better hope” there were no tapes of a discussion they’d had.

The White House disputed Comey’s account of the February conversation concerning Flynn, but did not offer specifics. Several members of Congress said that if Trump did suggest that Comey “let this go” regarding Flynn’s Russian contacts, it was probably just a joke, light banter.

Questions about Trump’s conduct have been mounting for weeks, most recently with the two explosive revelations — that in February the president pressed Comey to drop a federal investigation into Flynn’s contacts with Russia and that he disclosed classified information to the senior Russian officials last week.’

Both allegations came from anonymous sources, and the White House was quick to denounce the leaks and deny any impropriety, insisting the president never tried to squelch the Flynn investigation nor did he make inappropriate disclosures to the Russians.

On Capitol Hill, Comey was clearly the man in demand, with three committees working to seat him at their witness tables.

— The House oversight committee set a May 24 hearing on whether Trump interfered in the FBI probe, and invited Comey to testify.

—The Senate intelligence committee invited Comey to appear in both open and closed sessions. It also asked acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to give the committee any notes Comey might have made regarding discussions he had with White House or Justice Department officials about Russia’s efforts to influence the election.

—Top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the FBI to provide any Comey memos and asked the White House to turn over any audio recordings that might exist of conversations with the now-fired director. They expect to bring in Comey in to testify, as well.

Trump is preparing to leave town Friday on his first foreign trip, and aides have been hopeful the journey will be a chance for the administration to get back on track after weeks of chaos and distractions.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speculated Trump was probably happy to get out of town — “and a lot of us are glad he’s leaving for a few days.”

His advice to the president: “Stay disciplined, stay focused and deliver on the world stage.”

Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann, Eileen Sullivan, Erica Werner, Matthew Daly and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report</s>WASHINGTON — Besieged from all sides, the Trump administration relented and appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller Wednesday evening as a special counsel to oversee the federal investigation into allegations Russia and Donald Trump’s campaign collaborated to influence the 2016 presidential election.

The appointment came as Democrats insisted ever more loudly that someone outside Trump’s Justice Department must handle the politically charged investigation. Republican congressional leaders had resisted the idea, and there had been no clear sign that Trump or his top White House aides were about to announce it.

However, an increasing number of Republicans had joined in calling for digging deeper, especially after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey who had been leading the bureau’s probe — and after Comey associates said he had made notes of a meeting in which Trump asked him to drop the FBI’s investigation.

Early reaction from Congress was generally positive to the appointment of Mueller.

Democrats said it was not a moment too soon, though they also expressed caution, waiting to how Mueller would perform.

Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah said Mueller was a “great selection. Impeccable credentials. Should be widely accepted.”

Fellow Republican Peter King of New York was more leery because of the broad authority special prosecutors have. He said, “I’m worried with all special counsels because there’s no control over them and they can abuse their power.”

In the 1990s, Democrats complained that independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who investigated President Bill Clinton, overstepped his authority.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump gave no indication of the announcement to come in a commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy.

He made no reference to the controversies about Russia or the Russia ties for fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn or Comey’s dismissal. But he complained bitterly that about criticism of his still-young presidency.

“No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly,” he said. “You can’t let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. ... I guess that’s why we won. Adversity makes you stronger. Don’t give in, don’t back down. ... And the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face.”

On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, three congressional committees, all led by Republicans, confirmed they wanted to hear from Comey. Congressional investigators have been seeking Comey’s memos on his meeting with Trump, as well as documents from the Justice Department related to his firing.

The latest political storm, coupled with the still-potent fallout from Trump’s recent disclosure of classified information to Russian diplomats, overshadowed all else in the capital and beyond. Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street as investors worried that the latest turmoil in Washington could hinder Trump’s pro-business agenda.

Republicans, frustrated by the president’s relentless parade of problems, largely sought to cool the heated climate with assurances they would get to the bottom of scandals.

“There’s clearly a lot of politics being played,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said before the announcement of Mueller’s appointment. “Our job is to get the facts and to be sober about doing that.”

Unimpressed, Rep. Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on a key House oversight panel, said, “Speaker Ryan has shown he has zero, zero, zero appetite for any investigation of Donald Trump. He accused the Republicans of taking great pains to ”do as little as humanly possible, just to claim that they’re doing something.“

Interest was hardly limited to the U.S. No less a commentator than Russia’s Vladimir Putin called the dramatic charges swirling around Trump evidence of “political schizophrenia spreading in the U.S.” He offered to furnish a “record” of the Trump-diplomats meeting in the Oval Office if the White House desired it.

There was no word on what that record might entail, a question many were likely to raise in light of Trump’s recent warning to Comey that he had “better hope” there were no tapes of a discussion they’d had.

The White House disputed Comey’s account of the February conversation concerning Flynn, but did not offer specifics. Several members of Congress said that if Trump did suggest that Comey “let this go” regarding Flynn’s Russian contacts, it was probably just a joke, light banter.

Questions about Trump’s conduct have been mounting for weeks, most recently with the two explosive revelations — that in February the president pressed Comey to drop a federal investigation into Flynn’s contacts with Russia and that he disclosed classified information to the senior Russian officials last week.’

Both allegations came from anonymous sources, and the White House was quick to denounce the leaks and deny any impropriety, insisting the president never tried to squelch the Flynn investigation nor did he make inappropriate disclosures to the Russians.

On Capitol Hill, Comey was clearly the man in demand, with three committees working to seat him at their witness tables.

— The House oversight committee set a May 24 hearing on whether Trump interfered in the FBI probe, and invited Comey to testify.

—The Senate intelligence committee invited Comey to appear in both open and closed sessions. It also asked acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to give the committee any notes Comey might have made regarding discussions he had with White House or Justice Department officials about Russia’s efforts to influence the election.

—Top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the FBI to provide any Comey memos and asked the White House to turn over any audio recordings that might exist of conversations with the now-fired director. They expect to bring in Comey in to testify, as well.

Trump is preparing to leave town Friday on his first foreign trip, and aides have been hopeful the journey will be a chance for the administration to get back on track after weeks of chaos and distractions.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speculated Trump was probably happy to get out of town — “and a lot of us are glad he’s leaving for a few days.”

His advice to the president: “Stay disciplined, stay focused and deliver on the world stage.”

Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann, Eileen Sullivan, Erica Werner, Matthew Daly and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report</s>WASHINGTON — Surrounded by multiplying questions, President Donald Trump complained Wednesday that “no politician in history” has been treated worse. Democrats demanded an independent commission to dig into his firing of FBI Director James Comey, but Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan cautioned against “rushing to judgment.”

Ryan said Congress needs to get the facts, but “it is obvious there are some people out there who want to harm the president.” Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on a key House oversight panel, countered that Ryan and the Republicans had shown “zero, zero, zero appetite for any investigation of President Trump.”

The White House has denied reports that Trump pressed Comey to drop an investigation into Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. In addition Trump is facing pointed questions about his discussions with Russian diplomats during which he is reported to have disclosed classified information.

Also Tuesday, in an extraordinary turn of events, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to turn over to Congress records of Trump’s discussions with the diplomats.

The White House has played down the importance and secrecy of the information Trump gave to the Russians, which had been supplied by Israel under an intelligence-sharing agreement. Trump himself said he had “an absolute right” as president to share “facts pertaining to terrorism” and airline safety with Russia. Yet U.S. allies and some members of Congress have expressed alarm.

Republicans and Democrats alike were eager to hear from Comey, who has increasingly emerged as a central figure in the unfolding drama.

The Senate intelligence committee on Wednesday asked Comey to appear before the panel in both open and closed sessions. The committee also asked acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to give the committee any notes that Comey might have made regarding discussions he had with White House or Justice Department officials about Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Putin told a news conference that he would be willing to turn over notes of Trump’s meeting with the Russian diplomats if the White House agreed. He dismissed outrage over Trump’s disclosures as U.S. politicians whipping up “anti-Russian sentiment.”

Asked what he thinks of the Trump presidency, Putin said it’s up to the American people to judge and his performance can be rated “only when he’s allowed to work at full capacity,” implying that someone is hampering Trump’s efforts.

Trump himself hasn’t directly addressed the latest allegations that he pressured Comey to drop the Flynn investigation. But the swirling questions about his conduct were clearly on his mind when he told graduates at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut that “no politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly.”

Striking a defiant stance, he added: “You can’t let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. … I guess that’s why we won. Adversity makes you stronger. Don’t give in, don’t back down. … And the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face.”

As for Comey, whom Trump fired last week, the FBI director wrote in a memo after a February meeting at the White House that the new president had asked him to shut down the FBI’s investigation of Flynn and his Russian contacts, said a person who had read the memo. The Flynn investigation was part of a broader probe into Russian interference in last year’s presidential election.

Comey’s memo, an apparent effort to create a paper trail of his contacts with the White House, would be the clearest evidence to date that the president has tried to influence the investigation.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Republican chairman of the House oversight committee, sent a letter to the FBI on Tuesday requesting that it turn over all documents and recordings that detail communications between Comey and Trump. He said he would give the FBI a week and then “if we need a subpoena, we’ll do it.”

John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said late Tuesday that the developments had reached “Watergate size and scale.”

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate, said simply, “It would be helpful to have less drama emanating from the White House.”

The person who described the Comey memo to the AP was not authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. The existence of the memo was first reported Tuesday by The New York Times.

The White House vigorously denied it all. “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,” a White House statement said.

Trump fired Flynn on Feb. 13, on grounds that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with Russians.

The intensifying drama comes as Trump is set to embark Friday on his first foreign trip, which had been optimistically viewed by some aides as an opportunity to reset an administration floundering under an inexperienced president.

Mark Warner of Virginia, top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said he would ask Comey for additional material as part of that panel’s investigation. “Memos, transcripts, tapes — the list keeps getting longer,” he said.

According to the Times, Comey wrote in the February memo that Trump told him Flynn had done nothing wrong. Comey said he replied that “I agree he is a good guy” but said nothing to Trump about limiting the investigation.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — Firing FBI Director James Comey is already coming back to haunt President Donald Trump.

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 while Comey himself has been silent, his associates have been exposing intriguing details of his encounters with Trump.

On Tuesday, an associate revealed that Comey had written a memo in which he described Trump asking him to shut down an FBI investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Comey, who was known to keep a paper trail of sensitive meetings, chronicled the president’s request soon after the February Oval Office meeting with the president, an associate who has seen the memo told The Associated Press. The associate was not authorized to discuss the memo by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The FBI and Justice Department declined to comment Tuesday on accounts of the memo, which was first reported by The New York Times. The White House disputed the account.

The conversation occurred weeks after the FBI interviewed Flynn regarding his contacts with the Russia ambassador and after the acting attorney general, Sally Yates, warned the White House that Flynn had misled them about those conversations and could be vulnerable to blackmail.

Flynn was forced to resign Feb. 13 after reports of the Yates-White House conversation.

News Tuesday of Trump’s request of Comey immediately renewed concerns from congressional Democrats that Trump was trying to obstruct an investigation that’s been examining potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.

“We are witnessing an obstruction of justice case unfolding in real time,” Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Judiciary Committee member and former federal prosecutor, said in a statement. He called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate.

Some Republicans also called for action, asking Comey to speak to Congress and demanding that any memos or recordings of his conversations with the president be presented to them.

Comey, appointed as FBI director in 2013 by President Barack Obama, spoke often about his desire to be as transparent as possible about FBI actions and about proving to the public that his agency was independent, competent and thorough.

“We’re not on anybody’s side, ever,” he said in a March speech. “We’re not considering whose ox will be gored by this action or that action, whose fortunes will be helped by this or that — we just don’t care and we can’t care.”

He riled administrations of both parties with his moral certitude and decisions that critics said strayed from ordinary protocol, such as his public announcement — without the involvement of the Justice Department — that the FBI would not recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton for her email use.

Testifying before Congress is familiar to Comey, a former Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration.

As FBI director, he was accustomed to hours-long oversight hearings before Congress, including one a week before his firing. In 2007, he recounted to a rapt congressional audience the dramatic hospital room clash three years earlier with Bush officials over the approval of a domestic surveillance program.

Comey was abruptly fired May 9 and learned of the dismissal as he was giving a talk in Los Angeles. While the White House initially cited a Justice Department recommendation and Comey’s very public handling of the Clinton email investigation as reasons, those explanations quickly shifted.

Trump later admitted in a television interview about Comey’s firing that he was bothered by “this Russia thing” and said he would have fired Comey regardless of the Justice Department recommendation. He also tweeted a veiled threat warning the ex-director against leaking information.

Soon after the firing, a Comey associate told the AP that Comey recounted being asked by Trump a January dinner if he would pledge his loyalty. The White House has denied that report.

After Tuesday’s revelation, the White House said 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.”

There is no sign the FBI’s Russia investigation is closing. Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told Congress last week the investigation is “highly significant” and said Comey’s dismissal would do nothing to impede the probe.

Associated Press writers Sadie Gurman, Julie Pace, Chad Day and Stephen Braun contributed to this report.</s>The White House grappled late Tuesday with the political ghost of James Comey, as an explosive new report said a memo written by the ousted FBI chief claimed President Trump once asked him to end the probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

The White House sharply disputed the report, as Democrats seized on it as potential proof of "obstruction" of justice.



According to The New York Times the memo quoted Trump as saying he hoped Comey could "let this go" with regard to Flynn.

The Times said Comey wrote the memo shortly after an Oval Office meeting on Feb. 14, the day after Flynn resigned from the Trump administration. The paper acknowledged it had not seen a copy of the memo, but said a Comey associate read parts of it to a reporter over the phone.

The memo was presented as the clearest evidence yet that Trump tried to influence the Justice Department and FBI probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign and alleged links to Trump’s associates.

But the White House rejected the characterization that the president tried to shut down an investigation.

“[T]he President has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn,” an official 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.”

Trump reportedly told Comey, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. … He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”

According to the Times, Comey wrote in the memo that Trump told him Flynn had done nothing wrong. But Comey did not say anything to Trump about limiting the investigation, replying, "I agree he is a good guy."

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe also testified last week on Capitol Hill that there “has been no effort to impede our investigation to date." The FBI had no official comment on the Times report Tuesday.

The Justice Department also declined to comment on the New York Times report, on the existence of the Comey memo, or whether there was any such conversation between Trump and Comey.

A law enforcement source confirmed to Fox News that Comey documented a meeting with Trump that made him uneasy. The source added that the former FBI director is a copious note-taker, dating back to his days as a federal prosecutor.

Last week, the Senate intelligence committee subpoenaed Flynn for documents related to its investigation into Russia's actions during the 2016 election campaign.

Other congressional committees and the Pentagon's inspector general are also separately examining whether Flynn was fully forthcoming about his foreign contacts and earnings from organizations linked to the governments of Russia and Turkey.

Trump’s inner circle has been dogged by critical reports about his discussions behind closed doors. His team is still grappling with a Washington Post report that he shared classified details on an ISIS threat with visiting Russian officials – the White House has defended Trump’s discussions as “wholly appropriate.”

But more broadly, Trump has faced growing accusations from Democrats that he fired Comey last week out of frustration with the Russia investigation.

“Enough is enough,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House intelligence committee, told reporters moments after the Times report was published. “Congress really needs to get to the bottom of this.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. said on the Senate floor that he was “shaken” by the report.

“On a day when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, they have,” Schumer said. “Concerns about our national security, the rule of law, and the independence of our nation’s highest law enforcement agencies are mounting … the country is being tested in unprecedented ways.”

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a statement that Trump's request "appears to cross the line into ... obstruction of justice" and called for the appointment of a special prosecutor.

House Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, requested that the FBI turn over all documents and recordings that detail communications between Comey and Trump by May 24.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., had no immediate comment, but his spokeswoman AshLee Strong said, "We need to have all the facts, and it is appropriate for the House Oversight Committee to request this memo."

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told Fox News he had not read the Times report, but said, "In today’s Washington, I find there are a lot of allegations and small truths."

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, told reporters the Times was obligated to produce the memo.

"I could write something and I could read it over the phone and tell them that it came from [Comey]," he said. "If they're reporting it and they've got somebody that's got the document, they need to get the document and get it released."

Burr added that that he and ranking member Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., had met with Comey the day before he was fired last week.

"The director of the FBI shared more information with Sen. Warner and myself than any director has ever shared," Burr said. "I think something as material as that probably would have been something he would have shared, had it happened."

Fox News' Chad Pergram and Catherine Herridge contributed to this report. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
The New York Times reports that a memo from James Comey, read in part to a reporter by a Comey associate, revealed that President Donald Trump asked him to end the F.B.I. investigation of Michael T. Flynn. The White House denies the version of events in the memo.