9/20/2018

FBI/JAMES COMEY/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Former FBI director James Comey said he’s not worried by President Donald Trump’s order to the bureau to release a slew of his text messages, saying he ‘wasn’t a big texter’ when he was at the law enforcement agency. Trump’s sudden Monday [9-17-18] move to release Comey’s communications also included an order to declassify 20 pages of a 2016 surveillance application targeting former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and to release Justice Department official Bruce Ohr’s notes related to the Russia probe…Trump has long railed, often via Twitter, against special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into his dealings with Russia and whether any Trump aides helped Moscow interfere in the 2016 election. Trump often dismisses the probe as a ‘hoax.’ On Tuesday, the president mounted his latest assault on the Mueller inquiry, calling it ‘truly a cancer’ and praising his decision to make the files public as a ‘great service to the country.’ Republicans have claimed the FBI unfairly used a dossier of material on Trump compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele to obtain the surveillance warrant for Page, even though the bureau has said the dossier was not the basis of its investigation. Republicans also have focused on Ohr, who served as a link between the Justice Department and Steele.”

Jesus Rodriguez, “Comey says he’s not worried about Trump releasing his texts,” Politco, September 20, 2018 10:09 am