Trump deems McCabe and Comey notes 'fake memos'
Donald Trump's row with his own Federal Bureau of Investigation intensified on Sunday, demanding that notes of conversations taken by the Bureau's former director James Comey and recently let go deputy Andrew McCabe be referred to as "fake memos".
Trump accused Comey of lying under oath during his testimony in front of a Senate committee in 2017 while harshly criticising Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into accusations of colluding with the Kremlin given how it was overwhelmingly staffed by Democrats.
An early morning Twitter tirade out of White House followed what had been a long weekend that kicked off with the firing of McCabe on Friday, as Trump took aim at both the Bureau and Mueller's probe into the 2016 presidential contest.
Trump wrote: "Spent very little time with Andrew McCabe, but he never took notes when he was with me. I don’t believe he made memos except to help his own agenda, probably at a later date. Same with lying James Comey. Can we call them Fake Memos?"
Trump's remarks refer to the news that both men kept notes of their interactions with the president which have since been handed to Mueller and his team.
For some observers, the so-called "fake memos" might strengthen the case that the president had sought to obstruct justice by asking Comey to drop an investigation into Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, something Trump has vehemently denied doing ever since the accusations began to swirl.
McCabe, who was known to have had a minimum of three meetings with Trump, was fired by attorney general Jeff Sessions on Friday, just two days shy of retiring on a full federal pension after his 21 years of service.
Trump referred to his firing as a "great day for the hardworking men and women of the FBI" before calling Comey, who has a book out next month, "sanctimonious".
Comey replied to the President by saying, "The American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honourable and who is not."
Trump then accused Comey of lying under oath last May, when he denied being an anonymous source for several media stories as he had later admitted to authorising at least one White House leak.
"Wow, watch Comey lie under oath to Senator G when asked 'have you ever been an anonymous source...or known someone else to be an anonymous source...?' He said strongly 'never, no.' He lied as shown clearly on @foxandfriends."
Also at the weekend, Trump again raised questions over Mueller's investigation, leading many on the hill to fear that he may be planning the special counsel's dismissal
"Why does the Mueller team have 13 hardened Democrats, some big Crooked Hillary supporters, and Zero Republicans? Another Dem recently added... does anyone think this is fair? And yet, there is NO COLLUSION!"