Trump: Firing 'nut job' FBI chief 'eased pressure'
US President Donald Trump told
Russian officials that firing FBI director James Comey eased "great
pressure" on him, US media report.
The New York Times, citing a document summarising last week's meeting, says he called Mr Comey a "real nut job".
Mr Comey had been running an inquiry into possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's election campaign.
The ex-FBI chief has agreed to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee about the investigation.
The
latest report was published just as Mr Trump took off on a flight to
the Middle East for the first leg of his first foreign tour as
president.
"I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job," Mr. Trump said, according to the report.
"I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off."
The
White House has not disputed the language used in the meeting at the
Oval Office between Mr Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and
the Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak.
In another development, the Washington Post reported
that a current White House official is a "significant person of
interest" in the investigation into alleged links between the Trump
campaign and Russia.
It quoted unnamed sources familiar with the
investigation as saying it was someone "close to the president" but they
would not identify them further. The White House has denied there was
collusion between the campaign and any "foreign entity".
Warning that leaks were undermining national security, White House
Press Secretary Sean Spicer said: "By grandstanding and politicising the
investigation into Russia's actions, James Comey created unnecessary
pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with Russia.
"The investigation would have always continued, and obviously, the termination of Comey would not have ended it."
The
BBC's Gary O'Donoghue, in Washington, says the White House has chosen
to interpret the president's words as relating to the national interest
rather than to himself.
The summary was drawn from a formal account of last week's meeting,
which was attended by Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak - a man at the
centre of many of the controversial contacts between the Trump campaign
and senior Russian officials.
Mr Trump had fired Mr Comey the evening before, a move that sent shockwaves through Washington.
Critics
accused the president of trying to thwart the FBI investigation into
Russia's alleged interference in the US election and any Moscow ties to
Trump associates.
Mr Comey has agreed to give details of the
investigation to the US Senate Intelligence Committee at a public
hearing, as well as take questions surrounding his dismissal. The date
has not yet been scheduled, but is expected to take place next month.
BBC
No comments
Your comments and Encouragement are welcome