Memo: Trump asked Comey to end Flynn investigation

President Donald Trump asked James Comey to end the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, a request documented in a memo written by the former FBI director, according to sources familiar with the matter.

"I hope you can let this go," Comey wrote, quoting Trump in the document, which CNN has not viewed but which was described by the sources.

The bombshell revelation Tuesday escalated the already raging political crises engulfing the White House triggered by the bureau's probe into alleged cooperation between Trump aides and Russia and new reports that Trump divulged classified information to top Russian officials.

Taken at face value, the disclosures about the Comey memo appear to provide the clearest sign yet that Trump tried to pressure the FBI and the Justice Department over the Russia investigation.

Comey documented 'everything he could remember' after Trump conversations
The stunning new developments triggered immediate claims from Democrats that Trump was guilty of obstructing justice and extreme concern from Trump's Republican allies on Capitol Hill.

The sources said that Comey was so appalled by the request from Trump, at an Oval Office meeting on February 14, that he wanted to document it in order to share his recollections of the encounter with senior FBI officials.

The White House, fighting back against yet another extraordinary political imbroglio despite its own compromised credibility, rejected the new allegations, first reported by The New York Times.
One official said that a "conversation of that nature" did not happen.

"While the President has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the President has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn," a White House official said in a statement. "The President has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the President and Mr. Comey."

But the reports marked a grave turn in the drama surrounding the Trump presidency and put a new complexion on the President's firing of Comey last week, a move he later confided to NBC News was motivated by his anger over the Russia investigation.

CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin summed up the magnitude of the crisis by saying: "Three words: obstruction of justice."
"Telling the FBI director to close down an investigation of your senior campaign adviser for his activities during your campaign for president, if that's true, that is obstruction of justice."

" 'Close it down' is an instruction to stop investigating President Trump's campaign. Richard Nixon was impeached in 1974 for telling the FBI to stop an investigation of his campaign. That's what Watergate was," Toobin added. "If (Comey's) telling the truth, I don't know how anyone can see this comment as anything but obstruction of justice."

A former Justice Department official said that Comey's step in recording the details of the White House meeting was "not out of character," especially if he was concerned about the legality or moral issues.