LETTER OF INTENT?

Mueller Has Early Draft of Trump Letter With Rationale for Firing Comey

WH lawyer reportedly warned president against sending document containing Trump’s reasoning for dismissing FBI director.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has allegedly obtained a letter that a top political aide helped President Trump draft just days before the president fired former FBI Director James Comey. The letter, according to a report in The New York Times, shows the president’s reasoning for Comey’s dismissal. White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II reportedly advised Trump against sending the letter, which was written with the aid of adviser Stephen Miller. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, an administration official paraphrased the message Trump wanted to send as: “You’ve told me three times I’m not under investigation but you won’t tell the world, and it’s hampering the country.” Trump told aides at the time that he was angry that Comey refused to publicly say the president was not being investigated as part of the probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Comey eventually received a letter drafted by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, which focused on his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server.