Sen. Susan Collins said Friday that President Trump made a “truly outrageous” request in asking former FBI Director James B. Comey to drop the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
“I think Mr. Comey has made some mistakes. I think he’s made some mistakes in the handling of the Hillary Clinton case,” Ms. Collins, Maine Republican, said on MSNBC. “And I think he should’ve told the president when the president made the truly outrageous and unacceptable request that he drop or let go [of] the Michael Flynn investigation.”
She also said that if tapes exist between Mr. Trump and Mr. Comey, then her committee and the special counsel need access to them.
“We need access to those tapes, and the special counsel needs access to those tapes,” Ms. Collins said. “I have doubts about whether the tapes really exist, or whether that was just an attempt by the president to put some pressure on Mr. Comey, or raise some doubts.”
The senator said that the precedent of turning over White House tapes was already established after former President Richard Nixon’s tapings were revealed during the Watergate investigation.
“And remember that issue went all the way to the Supreme Court, and the president was ordered to turn over the tapes, so that precedent has been established,” she said.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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