Ten days after President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, another account emerged from Trump's controversial Oval Office meeting with senior Russian officials.
According to reporting based on a document summarizing the May 10 meeting, Trump told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that removing Comey had relieved pressure he was experiencing because of the Russia investigation.
Trump reportedly told the two officials:
“I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off.”
He also reportedly described Comey as “crazy, a real nut job.”
The remarks immediately became important because Trump had fired Comey only one day before the meeting — while the FBI was investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible connections involving people associated with Trump's campaign.
A Conversation Behind Closed Doors
The comments were made during Trump's May 10 Oval Office meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak.
That meeting had already generated considerable controversy.
American news photographers had not been admitted to photograph the meeting, while photographs taken by the Russian side were subsequently released.
Days later, reports emerged that Trump had discussed highly sensitive intelligence concerning an ISIS threat during the same meeting.
Then came another revelation.
According to a document summarizing the Oval Office conversation, Trump had discussed Comey's firing directly with the Russian officials.
Trump reportedly said:
“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job.”
Then he discussed the pressure surrounding Russia.
“I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off.”
Trump reportedly added:
“I'm not under investigation.”
The White House Doesn't Dispute the Account
The White House did not deny that Trump had made the reported remarks.
Instead, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer offered an explanation for them.
Spicer said Comey's handling of the Russia investigation had created unnecessary pressure on Trump's ability to conduct diplomacy with Russia.
According to the White House's explanation, removing Comey would allow the administration to engage Russia more effectively on issues including Syria, Ukraine and the fight against ISIS.
Spicer also emphasized that firing Comey did not terminate the Russia investigation.
That was correct.
The FBI investigation continued after Comey's departure.
And by the time Trump's remarks to Lavrov and Kislyak became public on May 19, the investigation had undergone an even more significant transformation.
Robert Mueller had been appointed special counsel two days earlier.
Why the Comments Mattered
Trump's remarks attracted attention because the White House had initially emphasized a different explanation for Comey's dismissal.
When Comey was fired on May 9, the administration pointed to recommendations from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Rosenstein had written a memorandum criticizing Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
But Trump subsequently told NBC's Lester Holt that he had already decided to fire Comey regardless of Rosenstein's recommendation.
During that interview, Trump also said he had been thinking about “this Russia thing” when making his decision.
The reported Oval Office remarks added another statement from Trump himself connecting Comey's dismissal with the pressure surrounding Russia.
They did not, by themselves, establish that Trump had committed a crime.
But they became relevant evidence for investigators examining the circumstances surrounding Comey's firing and Trump's intent.
Mueller Would Examine the Conversation
The May 10 conversation eventually became part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible obstruction of justice.
Mueller's final report specifically recounted the remarks reported from Trump's meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak.
The report also noted something significant:
Trump never denied making the statements.
The White House didn't dispute the account either.
Instead, it argued that Comey's handling of the investigation had complicated Trump's ability to conduct foreign policy with Russia.
Investigators therefore had another piece of evidence documenting what Trump himself had said about Comey's removal shortly after it happened.
Ten Extraordinary Days
By May 19, Washington had experienced an extraordinary series of developments.
May 9: Trump fires FBI Director James Comey.
May 10: Trump meets Lavrov and Kislyak and discusses Comey's dismissal.
May 12: Trump raises the possibility that recordings of his conversations with Comey might exist.
May 15: Reports emerge that Trump shared highly sensitive intelligence during the Russian meeting.
May 16: Comey's memo describing Trump's request concerning Michael Flynn becomes public.
May 17: Robert Mueller is appointed special counsel.
May 19: Trump's reported comments to Lavrov and Kislyak about Comey's firing become public.
What had begun as questions surrounding Russian interference in the 2016 election was increasingly expanding into another issue:
Why had the president fired the FBI director overseeing the investigation, and what had Trump intended to accomplish by doing it?
Mueller's investigators would spend considerable time examining that question.
The May 10 Oval Office conversation became one of the events they considered when reconstructing the circumstances surrounding Comey's dismissal.
Trump's remarks did not resolve the question by themselves.
But his reported statement that firing Comey had removed “great pressure” associated with Russia ensured that the conversation would become part of the historical record of the investigation.
Category: Politics / Courts & Justice
Tags: Donald Trump, James Comey, Sergey Lavrov, Sergey Kislyak, Russia Investigation, Robert Mueller, FBI, Oval Office, Department of Justice, 2017