US Congress(WASHINGTON) — House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who was among top members of Congress briefed last night by FBI Director James Comey, called on Comey this morning to go public with his views if he believes that President Trump was mistaken with his series of tweets last weekend accusing President Obama of ordering him to be wiretapped.
Pelosi did not say whether Comey has shared with lawmakers what has been widely reported, specifically whether he asked the Department of Justice to set the record straight publicly in refuting Trump’s claim. She was careful to say she would not divulge any information learned last night or in other classified settings, instead framing her response as a hypothetical.
“Theoretically, do I think that a director of the FBI, who knows for a fact that something is mythology, but misleading to the American people, that he should set the record straight? Yes, I do think he should say that,” Pelosi said at a breakfast with reporters organized by the Christian Science Monitor.
She continued, “Just going to the president – what is going on there? I mean, really. I think that he crossed the line there.”
Asked by ABC News if that means she believes there’s no truth to the president’s claim, she responded, “Of course not.”
“It couldn’t possibly be true because it is not how the system works,” she later said, referring to the manner in which FISA warrants are issued and safeguards against domestic targets.
Pelosi declined to comment on whether she has been told of any specific communications between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. But she did say the fact that Paul Manafort was removed from his position as Trump campaign chairman last summer suggests that the Trump operation knew of a connection between Manafort and Russian officials.
“Manafort was fired during the campaign, so there must be some evidence that there was a connection there,” Pelosi said.
Manafort was ousted last August amid internal feuding and media scrutiny over his past work for pro-Russian interests. The Trump operation has denied that campaign officials had contacts with the Russians, a claim that has come under fire in recent weeks as evidence of contacts has emerged.
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
