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.”
Christian university rebranding DEI to evade Trump order, enroll illegals, Tennessee rep says
Mike Huckabee Threatens to Declare Israel ‘No Longer Welcoming’ to Christian Organizations After ‘Shocking’ Policy Change
Former Voice of America Staffer Charged Over Alleged Death Threats Against Marjorie Taylor Greene
NIH still blaming FOIA delays on the pandemic
New York settles Andrew Cuomo sexual harassment case for nearly $500,000
Americans detained in Venezuela freed and returning home after prisoner exchange
Trump sues Wall Street Journal for libel after Epstein birthday letter story
Trump vows to make US ‘crypto capital of the planet,’ signs GENIUS Act into law
Illegal pleads guilty to impregnating his own daughter at blue state migrant shelter
Watch: Rare ‘Firenado’ Captured on Video as it Cuts a Swath of Destruction
FBI captures final illegal immigrant inmate who escaped ICE facility in New Jersey
Illegal Alien Claimed She Was Illegally Kidnapped by ICE – Then the Surveillance Footage Was Located
Germany admits Europeans were ‘free riders’ on defense and national security
Border Patrol Hits Jackpot in Raid on California Home Depot
Missing mom’s convicted killer claims boyfriend tainted his trial
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.
