Skip to main content

Comey asked for more money, staffing for Russia investigation days before firing - ABC News

posted onMay 11, 2017
>

Article snippet: FBI Director James Comey requested additional money and staffing from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for the investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election just days before his firing, according to two sources, including Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation. News of the request, first reported by The New York Times, came as Trump administration officials claimed that Comey's termination was unrelated to the investigation. Comey briefed some members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on the request on Monday, according to the U.S. official. Justice Department spokesperson Sarah Flores denied Wednesday morning that such a request to the Justice Department, saying that it is "100 percent false" and "it didn't happen." She added that the denial came directly from Rosenstein, who wrote a letter to Trump on Tuesday recommending Comey's dismissal. "There is no kernel of truth" to the allegations, said Flores. But Durbin shared a different set of events with The New York Times today. “I’m told that as soon as Rosenstein arrived, there was a request for additional resources for the investigation and that a few days afterwards, he was sacked,” he told the paper. “I think the Comey operation was breathing down the neck of the Trump campaign and their operatives and this was an effort to slow down the investigation." ABC News confirmed with Durbin's spokesperson his quotes were ac... Link to the full article to read more

Emotional score for this article