The day after President Donald Trump allegedly asked then-FBI Director James Comey to drop the bureau’s investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Comey told Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he did not want to be alone with the President again, the New York Times reported late Tuesday.
Citing unnamed current and former law enforcement officials, the Times reported that Comey believed Sessions should protect the FBI from White House pressure. Sessions reportedly told Comey that he could not guarantee Trump wouldn’t continue to attempt to speak to him one-on-one.
Trump’s alleged request of Comey came in a private Oval Office meeting on Feb. 14, the day after he fired Flynn after it was revealed that Flynn lied to Vice President Mike Pence and others in the administration about the nature of his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States. Comey reportedly documented the interaction in a contemporaneous memo.
Comey did not inform Sessions that Trump asked him to quash the Flynn probe, however, according to the Times report. Comey shared that information with his closest advisers, the paper reported, but nobody at the Justice Department (The Washington Post previously reported that Comey shared his notes with some DOJ officials).
Trump abruptly fired Comey on May 9. The former FBI director is scheduled to testify in public for the first time Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The FBI declined to comment to the Times for its story. Ian Prior, a Justice Department spokesperson, told the Times that “the attorney general doesn’t believe it’s appropriate to respond to media inquiries on matters that may be related to ongoing investigations.”
