Trump vs. the FBI - Bloomberg

Trump vs. the FBI

By Kathleen Hunter

February 2, 2018, 10:11 PM GMT+11

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Donald Trump is upping the ante in the high-stakes partisan warfare over Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of his administration and the 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia.

The U.S. president has approved publication of a Republican memo arguing the Federal Bureau of Investigation abused its surveillance powers in its Russia probe. Republicans say the memo, which could be unveiled today, describes anti-Trump bias at the FBI — a claim the president himself has repeatedly made.

Democrats have condemned the document as a misleading and inaccurate attempt to undermine Mueller’s investigation at the cost of damaging the nation’s intelligence and law-enforcement agencies. And FBI Director Christopher Wray is said to have urged Trump not to release it.

As Washington waits on tenterhooks, former FBI chief James Comey issued a scathing statement on Twitter that appeared to criticize plans to release the memo. Comey, whose firing by Trump last year spurred Mueller's appointment, urged Americans to “take heart.” U.S. history, he said, “shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up.”

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8.Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

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