Donald Trump's lawyer says James Comey could be investigated 'for leaking privileged information'

Ousted FBI director James Comey is sworn in during a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
AFP
David Gardner9 June 2017

A defiant Donald Trump went back on the attack after sacked FBI chief James Comey’s explosive Senate testimony — with the president’s lawyer suggesting the witness lied under oath and could be investigated for leaking “privileged information”.

Mr Trump’s team seized on Mr Comey’s unexpected admission that he leaked details of private Oval Office conversations to the media.

Sources said that despite being called a liar by the man he fired during yesterday’s three-hour Senate intelligence committee grilling, Mr Trump was relieved at the outcome.

Watching the questioning on TV, he told his legal advisers “I was right”, according to the Washington Post.

Moments after the hearing finished, the president told a conference of conservative evangelicals: “As you know, we’re under siege… but we will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever. We know how to fight better than anybody, and we never, ever give up — we are winners — and we are going to fight.”

Mr Trump kept silent during the hearing — keeping away from Twitter even after the former FBI director accused him of telling “lies, plain and simple” — but after it was over offered a clue to his next step in a statement read by his lawyer, Marc Kasowitz.

It highlighted Mr Comey’s admission that after he was sacked he asked a friend to leak details of a memo about a White House meeting he had with the president to the media.

“Comey’s excuse for this unauthorised disclosure of privileged information appears to be entirely retaliatory,” said Mr Kasowitz. “We will leave it to the appropriate authorities to determine whether this leaks [sic] should be investigated along with all those others being investigated.”

On the witness’s claim that Mr Trump asked him over dinner for his loyalty, Mr Kasowitz said: “The President never told Mr Comey ‘I need loyalty, I expect loyalty,’ in form or substance.”

The former FBI chief also said the president asked him to drop the “Russia-Gate” probe into former national security adviser Mike Flynn, but Mr Kasowitz said he “never, in form or substance, directed or suggested Mr Comey stop investigating anyone”.

The next high-profile name to be quizzed by the intelligence committee could be the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

Mr Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, has come under scrutiny over his alleged contact with Russians, although there is no suggestion he behaved improperly.

The intelligence committee is conducting a parallel investigation with the FBI into alleged Russian efforts to influence last year’s presidential election.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in