Politics

Trump boasted to Russians about firing ‘nut job’ Comey

President Trump told Kremlin officials visiting the Oval Office that ousted FBI chief James Comey “was crazy, a real nut job” and that canning him took “great pressure” off him, according to a report Friday.

“I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Trump said, according to a memo that summarized the meeting, The New York Times reported.

“I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off. I’m not under investigation,” the president added in his May 10 meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

The revelations came as the Senate Intelligence Committee announced that Comey would testify in an open session some time after the Memorial Day weekend.

Committe chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) said he hoped the testimony would clear up “recent events that have been broadly reported in the media.”

Also on Friday, The Washington Post reported that a current White House official “close to the president” had been identified as “a person of interest” by investigators.

New York magazine, citing four sources, identified the official as Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser.

The damaging stories broke shortly after Trump and First Lady Melania Trump left Washington for his first trip abroad as commander-in-chief.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer confirmed that Trump discussed Comey with the Russian officials.

“The president has always emphasized the importance of making deals with Russia as it relates to Syria, Ukraine, defeating ISIS and other key issues for the benefit and safety of the American people,” Spicer said. “By grandstanding and politicizing the investigation into Russia’s actions, Comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with Russia.”

The meeting with the Russians took place a day after Trump abruptly fired Comey, a move that led Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate Russia’s meddling in the US presidential election and possible ties to the Trump campaign.

Kislyak is at the center of the investigation. Ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was forced to resign after he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about whether he had contact with the Russian ambassador.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the probe following revelations that he had met with Kislyak after testifying at his Senate confirmation hearing that he had not.

Kushner also had contact with the ambassador, who has close ties to Russia’s intelligence community in the US.

Meanwhile, a top GOP lawmaker on Friday shot down Trump’s claim that the Russia probe was “a witch hunt” — and threw his support behind Mueller.

“I don’t personally believe in witches,” Rep. Darrell Issa of California said after Rosenstein briefed the House on his decision to appoint Mueller.

With Wires