That's a wrap
Trump has wrapped up his press conference with Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, and we’re wrapping up our liveblog coverage here. Some key moments from today:
- Trump fires off angry tweets about the scandals afflicting his administration this week calling it the “single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!”
- Former Senator and vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman has apparently jumped to the head of the pack in the White House search for a new FBI director. Democrats are lining up to oppose the move.
- Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein says in closed-door meeting with Senators that he knew before drafting a memo on James Comey’s performance, that Trump was going to fire the then FBI director.
- In a press conference, Trump flatly denies urging Comey to drop the FBI’s investigation into Mike Flynn, calls impeachment talk “totally ridiculous”.
That’s it for now. If another bombshell drops this evening, like yesterday, we’ll fire the liveblog back up and get you up to speed.
"That was a poor, poor performance," Trump says of Comey's testimony, cites it as a reason why Comey was fired from FBI post.
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) May 18, 2017
Trump: “Director Comey was very unpopular with most people. I actually thought when I made that decision... That it would be a bipartisan decision.”
Trump: Impeachment would be 'totally ridiculous'
On impeachment: “I think it’s totally ridiculous, everyone thinks so. I think we’ve got to get back to working our country properly.”
Trump adds that “millions and millions of people out there that are looking at what you’ve just said and have said ‘what are they doing’”.
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Trump, asked if he at any point urged former FBI director Comey “in any way shape or form to close or back down the investigation into Michael Flynn”.
Trump interrupts reporter’s followup question and replies “No. No. Next question.”
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President Santos fully ducks a question on whether or not the border wall will help stop the the drug trade between the US and Colombia.
Trump adds, without prompting: “Walls work, just ask Israel.”
Trump on Mueller appointment: "There is no collusion.. I can only speak for myself and the Russians - zero."
— Julian Borger (@julianborger) May 18, 2017
*can only speak for myself*
Senate Dems quickly lining up against Lieberman as FBI pick https://t.co/ywqTMo7yHZ pic.twitter.com/M3IOhwhPu8
— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) May 18, 2017
Trump: 'The entire move has been a witch-hunt'
“I respect the move but the entire move has been a witch-hunt,” Trump says of the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate his administration and campaign’s ties to Russia.
“I think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things.”
Trump then punts to all the things he says are going well with jobs, manufacturing and in the fight against ISIS.
“I’m fine with whatever people want to do but we have to get back to running this country really, really well,” Trump says.
"There's no collusion. Russia is fine," Trump says.
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) May 18, 2017
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Trump now taking questions.
"Does anyone have any questions," President Trump asks. Yes, we do. "I'm shocked."
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) May 18, 2017
Our Ben Jacobs’ take on the Senate’s closed-door briefing from deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein:
Major news line out of the Rosenstein briefing was that he knew before drafting the memo that Trump was going to fire Comey
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 18, 2017
“It is a very very horrible problem”, Trump says of the unfolding crisis in Venezuela. “From a humanitarian standpoint it’s like nothing we’ve seen in a very long time.”
Trump identified the boarder wall as a “major” part of his administration’s work targeting drug trafficking as it pertains to Colombian cocaine entering the US during his initial comments.
The live feed of Trump’s joint press conference is now embedded at the top of this page, refresh your browser to see it. Trump and Santos entering now.
Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee has announced his resignation Thursday, effective June 30. In a letter to constituents Chaffetz said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
My life has undergone some big changes over the last 18 months. Those changes have been good. But as I celebrated my 50th birthday in March, the reality of spending more than 1,500 nights away from my family over eight years hit me harder than it had before.”
The timing is curious. Just Tuesday Chaffetz formally asked the FBI to turn over to the committee all “memoranda, notes, summaries and recordings referring or related to any communications between Comey and the president”.
The Daily Beast is reporting that Donald Trump wants to bring embattled former advisor Mike Flynn back into his administration barring the resolution of an FBI investigation into Flynn’s connections to Russia. According to The Daily Beast this is “a scenario some of Trump’s closest advisers in and outside the West Wing have assured him absolutely should not happen.”
Trump joint press conference imminent
Any moment now, Donald Trump is expected to address reporters and take questions following his meeting with Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia.
Trump: special counsel decision ‘hurts our country terribly’
News: Trump on special pros: "I believe it hurts our country terribly, because it shows we're a divided, mixed-up, not-unified country."
— Savannah Guthrie (@SavannahGuthrie) May 18, 2017
Trump continued: “It also happens to be a pure excuse for the Democrats having lost an election that they should have easily won. That’s all this is. I think it shows division, and it shows that we’re not together as a country. And I think that’s a very, very negative thing.”
Trump made his comments at a lunch with reporters and TV anchors.
I think Trump may not realize that the Deputy Attorney General he appointed chose the special counsel. https://t.co/qbfuACCRVa
— Charles Ornstein (@charlesornstein) May 18, 2017
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Former Senator and vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman has apparently jumped to the head of the pack in the White House search for a new FBI director, Politico is reporting Thursday afternoon.
Lieberman, who retired from the Senate in 2013 now works at the same law firm as Marc Kasowitz, Trump’s longtime lawyer in New York.
Newsweek is reporting that Trump has canceled a speech he was scheduled to give at a historic site in Israel because he won’t be able to land a helicopter on top of it. The president had planned to deliver the speech at the ancient mountain fortress of Masada during his first foreign trip as president, but Israeli Air Force regulations prevent helicopters from landing there. The venue has been changed to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
“Unlike former presidents who have made the trip, such as George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Trump declined to land the helicopter at a base of the historic site and then take the cable car up, preferring to cancel the visit altogether,” Newsweek reported.
Updated
He wasn't perfect, but Roger Ailes was my friend & I loved him. Not sure I would have been President w/o his great talent, loyal help. RIP.
— George Bush (@GeorgeHWBush) May 18, 2017
Apparently Jason Chaffetz isn’t the only legislator having a hard time finding James Comey. Senator Lindsey Graham who has also publicly advocated Comey testify before congress says he hasn’t heard from the former FBI director either.
Officially noticed a hearing for next Wed at 9:30am ET with former FBI Dir Comey. But I still need to speak with him...evidently has a new #
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) May 17, 2017
.@LindseyGrahamSC hasn't heard from Comey on potential testimony before Judiciary: "We're gonna have to put him on a milk carton."
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) May 18, 2017
And thanks to Trump, no one should have any trouble finding Graham.
House Speaker Paul Ryan doesn’t bite when reporters raise the possibility of Trump’s impeachment during his weekly press conference.
"I'm not even going to comment on that," Speaker Ryan says about the prospect of VP Pence moving into the Oval Office.
— Phil Elliott (@Philip_Elliott) May 18, 2017
The AP is reporting this hour that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, whose ties to Russia are the subject of a current FBI investigation, will not honor a congressional subpoena for his testimony.
Flynn may be angling for immunity with this move. He had offered to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee in April in exchange for immunity, an offer the committee promptly rejected.
Reports are also out this morning that Trump continued to have contact with his short-lived national security advisor Flynn even after his resignation. “Stay strong” the president reportedly messaged Flynn in late April.
I believe this is called contempt of Congress and it is a criminal offense https://t.co/1mNkMQ5GdX
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 18, 2017
UPDATE: The AP has corrected this report, now says Flynn representatives have not responded.
BREAKING: Senate panel says it hasn't received response from Michael Flynn's lawyer, correcting earlier comments from chairman
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) May 18, 2017
Updated
Hello and welcome
We’re going live today with Washington still abuzz over news that that the Department of Justice has appointed former FBI chief Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate possible ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian operatives.
Trump responded characteristically on Thursday morning with a blast of victimized outrage on Twitter.
This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017
With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2017
That news was followed this morning by a report from Reuters that the Trump campaign had “at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians” in 2016. According to the report, “the previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators probing Russian interference in the US presidential election and contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russia”.
Later this afternoon, all eyes will be on vice-president Mike Pence, who is scheduled to deliver remarks at the US Chamber of Commerce summit at 12.15pm ET. Yesterday, Pence became the first sitting vice-president to form his own independent political action committee, a Pac representatives said was aimed at helping Republicans win elections in 2018 and 2020. As impeachment rumors continue to swirl around Trump, however, the timing of such a move invites speculation on Pence’s mindset at a time when some DC insiders have begun referring to him as “President Pence”.
A bit later, the Senate will receive a closed-door briefing from the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, at 2.30pm on the latest with respect to the Russia investigation.
Trump himself is meeting with the president of Colombia this afternoon and a joint press conference is expected when the meeting concludes at about 3.45pm.
We’ll have all that and more right here throughout the day ...
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