Trump Labors To Make Mueller-comey Tie A Key Talking Point

By ERIC TUCKER and JAKE PEARSON, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle: Politics
Fri, 06/23/2017 - 1:04pm

WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert Mueller, the somber-faced and demanding FBI director who led the bureau through the Sept. 11 attacks, and James Comey, his more approachable and outwardly affable successor, may be poles apart stylistically but both command a wealth of respect in the law enforcement and legal community. The emphasis on their ties, besides being aimed at undermining Mueller's credibility and the legitimacy of his investigation, could also be an attempt by Trump to make the case for an eventual Mueller dismissal on conflict of interest grounds. [...] Comey, though a likely witness, would not be a considered a victim of a crime in the classic sense, said Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics scholar at the New York University law school. Trump's efforts to highlight, and exaggerate, their relationship seem by design, as conflict of interest is one of the few grounds for dismissal of a special counsel. Years earlier, Comey was acting attorney general and Mueller the FBI director when both were on the same side of a tense faceoff over the renewal of a sweeping domestic surveillance program. Comey, in dramatic 2007 testimony that helped cement his reputation for political independence, recalled how he rushed to the hospital to prevent White House officials from trying to coax the ailing John Ashcroft, who'd given the powers of his position to Comey, into reauthorizing the program.

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