Former FBI general counsel James Baker said this week that he and other officials were “quite worried” that former FBI Director James Comey appeared to be blackmailing then President-elect Trump during a 2017 meeting regarding salacious allegations found in the Steele dossier.
On the latest episode of the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery” broadcast on Tuesday, Baker said he and others were so concerned about Comey briefing Trump on January 6, 2017 on Russia’s interference in the election as well as the controversial dossier that “analogies” were made to J. Edgar Hoover, the former FBI director who famously abused his power to blackmail individuals.
“We were quite worried about the Hoover analogies, and we were determined not to have such a disaster happen on our watch,” Baker said, hoping to convey to the incoming president that they did not want to continue the “legacy” of Hoover’s blackmailing.
Baker did not recall the moment he first heard about the Steele dossier but remembered the bureau taking it “seriously” and said that they were “obligated to deal with it” and determine whether or not anything about it was true, but insisted they didn’t accept it “as gospel.” He did, however, believe Trump had to be briefed on the dossier because it was “about to be disclosed to the press.”
Pope Leo meets with Chicago’s far-left mayor, George Floyd’s family lawyer at the Vatican
Anti-ICE agitator screams ‘I’ll kill your whole f- family’ day after Dem gov praises ‘peaceful protesting’
‘Divisive’: Martina McBride Pulls Out of America 250 Birthday Concert Over Politics
Not Satire: Newsom Took Money That Could Have Helped Stop Palisades Fires and Spent It Teaching American Indians to Start Fires
Former Russian president warns Europe’s ‘peaceful sleep is over’ after Romania drone hit
Kevin Kiley’s two-front fight: Battling California redistricting while defending his own seat
Dead voter allegation fuels concerns about voting safeguards as blue state official turns herself in
WATCH: America’s first ‘formerly undocumented’ congressman delivers ultimatum at besieged ICE facility
‘Your Time Has Passed’: Democrats Furious After Jill and Hunter Biden Burst Back Into Spotlight
White House Launches Aliens.Gov After Series of Cryptic Messages: ‘They Walk Among Us’
Amtrak fire near Penn Station triggers major NYC commuter disruptions, NJ Transit and LIRR cancellations
‘Ghosts’ on Florida highways: Roadside sting snares 249 illegal immigrants, officers warn many more hiding
Blistering report exposes how national K-12 group’s DEI agenda is trickling down to local schools
Democrats ‘selling their soul’ to embrace Platner are in for rude awakening with Maine voters: GOP lawmaker
Can congressional Democrats co-opt MAHA from the MAGA-verse?
The former top FBI lawyer explained why he clashed with Comey over whether to tell Trump that he wasn’t the subject of the Russia investigation. According to Baker, he argued that the then President-elect’s activities “fell into the category” of being a subject and he didn’t think it was “accurate” to say otherwise. By contrast, Comey repeatedly told Trump that the president was not under investigation before his dismissal in May 2017.
Nonetheless, Baker said he supported any investigation that is looking into the origins of the Russia probe.
“I welcome scrutiny,” Baker said. “I plan to fully cooperate with the department to help them figure out what happened. Because I believe what happened was lawful, at least based on every piece of information that I have.”
Story cited here.
