Congressional Democrats sharply
criticized President Donald Trump Friday
over a CNN report that the FBI rejected a
recent White House request to publicly
knock down media reports about
communications between Trump's associates and Russians known to US
intelligence during the 2016
presidential campaign. CNN reported Thursday that White
House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus
asked the FBI's top two officials, Deputy
Director Andrew McCabe and Director
James Comey, to say the media reports
were wrong after McCabe told Priebus some of the coverage was inaccurate.
Comey and McCabe rejected that
request, multiple US officials briefed on
the matter told CNN. The reports of the contacts were first
published by The New York Times and
CNN on February 14. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
called Priebus' reported behavior "an
outrageous breach of the FBI's
independence." "The Trump White House has been
caught trying to pressure the FBI into
undermining a vital national security
investigation into the explosive ties
between senior Trump officials and
Russian intelligence agents, an action which is in violation of Department of
Justice rules and which may also be
illegal," Pelosi said in a statement. "Political interference in the integrity of
an FBI investigation into the conduct of
White House officials is a grave abuse of
power. The rule of law depends on the
FBI's complete independence, free from
political pressure from the targets of its investigations," she added. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who
serves on the Senate Intelligence
Committee, called on Attorney General
Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the
probe. "The FBI'sy investigation into the Trump
campaign's connection with Russia
should and must be free from politics,"
Harris tweeted. "The FBI's investigation
into the Trump campaign's connection
with Russia should and must be free from politics."
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