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Report: Trump’s Lawyers Disparaged Comey as ‘Machiavellian’ in Memo to Mueller

In a memo to special counsel Robert Mueller a month after Comey was fired.

President Trump’s lawyers reportedly sent a memo to special counsel Robert Mueller last year denouncing former FBI director James Comey as “Machiavellian.” Apparently aiming to undermine the credibility of Comey—a crucial witness in any obstruction of justice case against the president—the memo described him as “unbounded by law and regulation” and “plainly motivated by personal and political self-interest,” the Associated Press reports. The 13-page document, written by the president’s lead lawyer at the time, Marc Kasowitz, was reportedly sent on June 27, 2017, about a month after Comey was ousted from the FBI. The memo portrayed Comey as an unreliable witness due to what Trump’s lawyers described as his mishandling of the Clinton email investigation and “leaking” of information on his encounters with Trump to the public, according to the report. News of the apparent campaign against Comey came as Trump’s new lead lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, issued new demands for Mueller to be granted an interview with the president. Giuliani told The New York Times on Friday that Mueller must first be able to prove he has evidence that Trump committed a crime before the president will provide any testimony.