Ex-FBI official McCabe gives memo on
Comey firing to Mueller: New York Times
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[May 31, 2018]
(Reuters) - Former Acting FBI
Director Andrew McCabe wrote a confidential memo last spring recounting
a conversation that provided "significant behind-the-scenes" details on
the firing of former FBI director James Comey, the New York Times
reported on Wednesday.
The Times reported that McCabe had turned in his memo to Special Counsel
Robert Mueller, who is investigating whether Moscow colluded with
President Donald Trump's campaign to meddle in the 2016 U.S. election.
Comey's firing is one part of Mueller's inquiries into whether Trump
tried to obstruct the investigation.
McCabe and the Justice Department declined to comment to the Times.
The Times reported, citing several people familiar with the discussion,
that in the document McCabe described a conversation at the Justice
Department with Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein after Comey
was abruptly fired. Rosenstein had played a main role in Comey's May
2017 dismissal, writing a memo in which he rebuked Comey over his
handling of an investigation into Democratic presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton during the election campaign.
But in the meeting at the Justice Department Rosenstein added a new
detail: that Trump had originally asked him to reference Russia in his
memo, The Times reported, citing the sources familiar. Rosenstein did
not elaborate on what Trump had wanted him to say, according to the
newspaper.
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![](../images/053118pics/news_y39.jpg)
Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe testifies before a Senate
Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC,
U.S., June 7, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein/File Photo
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Trump's lawyers have cited Rosenstein's involvement in Comey's
firing as proof that there was no effort to obstruct justice, the
Times reported.
The Times reported that Trump wanted Rosenstein to mention that he
was not personally under investigation in the Russia probe, but
Rosenstein did not include the reference. Until his dismissal, Comey
had been leading an investigation into the Trump campaign's possible
collusion with Russia.
The Kremlin has denied meddling in the election and Trump has denied
that there was any collusion between his campaign and Moscow
officials.
(Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru; editing by Grant McCool)
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