A prominent Republican senator refused to rule out the potential for an investigation into whether Donald Trump obstructed justice in firing former FBI Director James Comey.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, the top member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that he planned on meeting with his Democratic counterpart on the committee face-to-face to discuss how they would proceed. When asked specifically about investigating obstruction of justice claims, Mr Grassley simply indicated that a decision hadn’t been made.
Mr Trump has faced allegations of obstructing justice for firing Mr Comey after it was discovered that he had pushed the former intelligence chief to drop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Mr Flynn was forced to step down from his White House post less than a month into the administration over revelations that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations he had with Russian officials during the presidential transition period.
It has been reported since then that Mr Flynn had deeper ties to Russia than previously disclosed, including financial ties.
Mr Comey did not end an FBI investigation into Mr Flynn, and also refused to pledge his loyalty to the President. The former FBI head said that the interactions with Mr Trump made him uncomfortable, and that he had later asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to try and make sure that he wasn’t left alone with Mr Trump.
While Mr Trump hasn’t been named personally as a target of any investigations, the persistent scandal surrounding his campaign’s ties to Russia have cast a long shadow over his young administration. Several top-level officials have been snagged up in the investigations, including Mr Trump’s son-in-law and top White House aide Jared Kushner.
