Rep. Adam Schiff
Adam Bennett SchiffHouse Democrat slams Donald Trump Jr. for ‘serious case of amnesia’ after testimony Top intel Dem: Trump Jr. refused to answer questions about Trump Tower discussions with father Erik Prince says meeting with Russian banker unrelated to Trump campaign MORE (D-Calif.) said Friday that reports that President Trump
Donald John TrumpHouse Democrat slams Donald Trump Jr. for ‘serious case of amnesia’ after testimony Skier Lindsey Vonn: I don’t want to represent Trump at Olympics Poll: 4 in 10 Republicans think senior Trump advisers had improper dealings with Russia MORE attempted to order Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsGOP strategist donates to Alabama Democrat House passes concealed carry gun bill Rosenstein to testify before House Judiciary Committee next week MORE not to recuse himself from the Russia investigation is evidence the White House attempted “to obstruct justice."
“The allegations in the Times piece, if accurate, provide further potential evidence that the White House was engaged in an effort to obstruct justice,” Schiff told The Washington Post.
The New York Times reported Thursday that Trump ordered White House counsel Don McGahn to prevent Sessions from recusing himself from the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
When McGahn failed, Trump was reportedly furious and told White House officials he needed Sessions to protect him.
The newspaper also reported that a Sessions aide sought damaging information on former FBI Director James Comey
James Brien ComeyTrump: Dershowitz interview on ‘witch hunt’ a ‘must watch’ Comey after Trump tweet: FBI is honest, strong, independent Former ethics director: Trump's tweet on Flynn would have ended past administrations MORE in the days before his firing as part of a purported effort to undermine Comey. Sessions also reportedly wanted negative stories about Comey published each day.
The Justice Department disputed The New York Times’s reporting in a statement, saying the request for damaging information on Comey “did not happen and would not happen.”
Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence Committee, said if true, the reports show that Sessions may have been “trying to set up some predicate for firing [Comey] without disclosing what the true reason was.”
“If this was part of an effort to conceal the real motive for firing Comey, that’s very pertinent to obstruction of justice,” Schiff told The Washington Post.
Schiff said The New York Times’s reporting makes it clear that Sessions should appear before the House Intelligence Committee for more questioning.
“It’s going to be important for us to get to the bottom of whether the … attorney general’s office was seeking to engage in a smear campaign against the director of the FBI to create a pretext for his firing,” Schiff told The Washington Post.
Sessions’s recusal led to Rosenstein appointing special counsel Robert Mueller
Robert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud choice of Mueller to lead Russia probe MORE to head the Russia investigation.
Mueller’s probe has produced four indictments of former Trump aides and officials, including former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort
Paul John ManafortJudge warns Manafort not to discuss case with media Manafort involved in drafting op-ed defending his Ukrainian work: court papers Trump went off on Manafort for suggesting he should not appear on Sunday shows: report MORE and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.