The Latest: Trump salutes Romania on anti-terror efforts
WASHINGTON – The Latest on President Donald Trump and former FBI Director James Comey (all times local):
3:10 p.m.
President Donald Trump is saluting the United States' relationship with Romania and praised the nation's help in the global fight against terror.
Trump appeared Friday in the White House Rose Garden with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.
Iohannis said this partnership with the United States "shaped Romania as it is today."
He also praised Trump's recent call for NATO members to increase their defense spending. Iohannis touted that Romania recently boosted its own allocation of defense spending.
Iohannis also stressed that necessity of NATO and the European Union to world safety. Trump at times has cast doubt on the need for the two alliances.
___
2:35 p.m.
President Donald Trump has welcomed Romanian President Klaus Iohannis to the White House for talks.
Trump says Romania has been a great ally to the U.S. and he's honored to host Iohannis for what the White House has said is a working visit.
Iohannis says he's honored to be at the White House.
The leaders will face the White House press corps at a news conference in the Rose Garden after their talks. Trump will most likely be questioned about Thursday's testimony by former FBI Director James Comey. Comey told the Senate Intelligence committee that Trump asked him to let go of an investigation into Michael Flynn, the president's former national security adviser.
Trump fired Comey last month.
___
10:25 a.m.
President Donald Trump's personal attorney is planning to file a complaint against former FBI Director James Comey for details he revealed during his congressional testimony.
Trump's legal team will file a complaint early next week with the Justice Department's inspector general. The complaint will take issue with Comey's revelation that he asked a friend to pass along to a reporter notes he took of his private conversations with the president.
That's according to a person close to the legal team who agreed to speak ahead of the filing on condition that the person's name is not used.
The team is also expected to file a submission with the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Trump has a long history of threatening to file complaints and lawsuits and not following through.
—By Jill Colvin
___
8:45 a.m.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says she has concerns about President Donald Trump's "fitness for office" — and thinks he needs more sleep.
Pelosi is citing Trump's habit of early morning tweeting, as well as Thursday's congressional testimony by former FBI Director James Comey. Comey told senators he believed Trump fired him because of the Russia investigation.
Trump has come out with a tweet early Friday: "Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication ... and WOW, Comey is a leaker."
Pelosi is assessing the president this way: "I'm concerned about his fitness for office."
She says she believes part of the problem is a lack of shut-eye.
In her words — "More sleep might be a solution for him."
___
8:40 a.m.
A Republican member of the Senate Intelligence committee says Congress should obtain any tapes that President Donald Trump might have of his conversations with the man he fired as FBI director — James Comey.
Comey testified before that committee on Thursday, and Sen. Susan Collins tells MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that she found him "credible, candid and thorough."
The Maine Republican says Comey was wrong to leak his private conversation with the president. Collins says Comey's motivation "may have been a good one," but says Comey should have given that document to the Senate committee.
___
6:15 a.m.
President Donald Trump is asserting that fired FBI Director James Comey's testimony to Congress represents "total and complete vindication."
Trump, who did not post on his Twitter account as Comey appeared before the Senate intelligence committee Thursday, sent a tweet at daybreak Friday. In the post, the president said: "Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication... and WOW, Comey is a leaker."
Trump was referring to Comey's revelation that he had passed on to a friend a written memo he'd made detailing a meeting with Trump at the White House — and had asked a friend to give it to a reporter for the New York Times.
During much of the increasingly heated debate surrounding the FBI's investigation of Russia's role in the election, Trump has chafed over news leaks, arguing that news organizations had not given them proper attention.
___
5:20 a.m.
A senior Russian lawmaker has dismissed the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey as insignificant.
Comey, who testified before a Senate committee on Thursday, asserted that President Donald Trump had fired him to interfere with an investigation of Russia's ties to the Trump campaign and reaffirmed the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the election.
Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the information policy committee at the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, dismissed Comey's testimony as a "big bubble," adding that it "will not help Trump's adversaries to start impeachment proceedings."
Russian officials have vehemently denied any role in hacking attacks on the Democratic National Convention and voter-registration databases.
___
4:40 a.m.
President Donald Trump will take questions from reporters a day after former FBI Director James Comey accused him of lying in stunning testimony.
Trump has scheduled a joint news conference for Friday afternoon with visiting Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.
He'll also be participating in an infrastructure event at the Department of Transportation and holding meetings with his Romanian counterpart before departing for New Jersey, where he'll spend the weekend at one if his properties.
Comey asserted Thursday that Trump fired him because of the ongoing investigation into possible ties between Trump's campaign and Russia. Comey also bluntly accused the White House of spreading "lies, plain and simple."
Trump has been unusually silent on Twitter and declined to answer shouted questions from reporters Thursday about the testimony.
___
3:35 a.m.
Former FBI Director James Comey has laid bare months of White House distrust in highly anticipated testimony before Congress.
Comey accused the administration of spreading "lies" and bluntly asserted that President Donald Trump had fired him to interfere with an investigation of Russia's ties to the Trump campaign. His gripping account of interactions with Trump underscored the discord that soured their relationship.
Facing a Senate committee Thursday, Comey portrayed Trump as dismissive of the FBI's independence. He also made clear that he interpreted Trump's request to end an investigation into his former national security adviser as an order coming from the president.
Comey also revealed that he'd orchestrated the public release of information about his private conversations with the president. He said it was an effort to further the investigation.
3:10 p.m.
President Donald Trump is saluting the United States' relationship with Romania and praised the nation's help in the global fight against terror.
Trump appeared Friday in the White House Rose Garden with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.
Iohannis said this partnership with the United States "shaped Romania as it is today."
He also praised Trump's recent call for NATO members to increase their defense spending. Iohannis touted that Romania recently boosted its own allocation of defense spending.
Iohannis also stressed that necessity of NATO and the European Union to world safety. Trump at times has cast doubt on the need for the two alliances.
___
2:35 p.m.
President Donald Trump has welcomed Romanian President Klaus Iohannis to the White House for talks.
Trump says Romania has been a great ally to the U.S. and he's honored to host Iohannis for what the White House has said is a working visit.
Iohannis says he's honored to be at the White House.
The leaders will face the White House press corps at a news conference in the Rose Garden after their talks. Trump will most likely be questioned about Thursday's testimony by former FBI Director James Comey. Comey told the Senate Intelligence committee that Trump asked him to let go of an investigation into Michael Flynn, the president's former national security adviser.
Trump fired Comey last month.
___
10:25 a.m.
President Donald Trump's personal attorney is planning to file a complaint against former FBI Director James Comey for details he revealed during his congressional testimony.
Trump's legal team will file a complaint early next week with the Justice Department's inspector general. The complaint will take issue with Comey's revelation that he asked a friend to pass along to a reporter notes he took of his private conversations with the president.
That's according to a person close to the legal team who agreed to speak ahead of the filing on condition that the person's name is not used.
The team is also expected to file a submission with the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Trump has a long history of threatening to file complaints and lawsuits and not following through.
—By Jill Colvin
___
8:45 a.m.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says she has concerns about President Donald Trump's "fitness for office" — and thinks he needs more sleep.
Pelosi is citing Trump's habit of early morning tweeting, as well as Thursday's congressional testimony by former FBI Director James Comey. Comey told senators he believed Trump fired him because of the Russia investigation.
Trump has come out with a tweet early Friday: "Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication ... and WOW, Comey is a leaker."
Pelosi is assessing the president this way: "I'm concerned about his fitness for office."
She says she believes part of the problem is a lack of shut-eye.
In her words — "More sleep might be a solution for him."
___
8:40 a.m.
A Republican member of the Senate Intelligence committee says Congress should obtain any tapes that President Donald Trump might have of his conversations with the man he fired as FBI director — James Comey.
Comey testified before that committee on Thursday, and Sen. Susan Collins tells MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that she found him "credible, candid and thorough."
The Maine Republican says Comey was wrong to leak his private conversation with the president. Collins says Comey's motivation "may have been a good one," but says Comey should have given that document to the Senate committee.
___
6:15 a.m.
President Donald Trump is asserting that fired FBI Director James Comey's testimony to Congress represents "total and complete vindication."
Trump, who did not post on his Twitter account as Comey appeared before the Senate intelligence committee Thursday, sent a tweet at daybreak Friday. In the post, the president said: "Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication... and WOW, Comey is a leaker."
Trump was referring to Comey's revelation that he had passed on to a friend a written memo he'd made detailing a meeting with Trump at the White House — and had asked a friend to give it to a reporter for the New York Times.
During much of the increasingly heated debate surrounding the FBI's investigation of Russia's role in the election, Trump has chafed over news leaks, arguing that news organizations had not given them proper attention.
___
5:20 a.m.
A senior Russian lawmaker has dismissed the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey as insignificant.
Comey, who testified before a Senate committee on Thursday, asserted that President Donald Trump had fired him to interfere with an investigation of Russia's ties to the Trump campaign and reaffirmed the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the election.
Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the information policy committee at the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, dismissed Comey's testimony as a "big bubble," adding that it "will not help Trump's adversaries to start impeachment proceedings."
Russian officials have vehemently denied any role in hacking attacks on the Democratic National Convention and voter-registration databases.
___
4:40 a.m.
President Donald Trump will take questions from reporters a day after former FBI Director James Comey accused him of lying in stunning testimony.
Trump has scheduled a joint news conference for Friday afternoon with visiting Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.
He'll also be participating in an infrastructure event at the Department of Transportation and holding meetings with his Romanian counterpart before departing for New Jersey, where he'll spend the weekend at one if his properties.
Comey asserted Thursday that Trump fired him because of the ongoing investigation into possible ties between Trump's campaign and Russia. Comey also bluntly accused the White House of spreading "lies, plain and simple."
Trump has been unusually silent on Twitter and declined to answer shouted questions from reporters Thursday about the testimony.
___
3:35 a.m.
Former FBI Director James Comey has laid bare months of White House distrust in highly anticipated testimony before Congress.
Comey accused the administration of spreading "lies" and bluntly asserted that President Donald Trump had fired him to interfere with an investigation of Russia's ties to the Trump campaign. His gripping account of interactions with Trump underscored the discord that soured their relationship.
Facing a Senate committee Thursday, Comey portrayed Trump as dismissive of the FBI's independence. He also made clear that he interpreted Trump's request to end an investigation into his former national security adviser as an order coming from the president.
Comey also revealed that he'd orchestrated the public release of information about his private conversations with the president. He said it was an effort to further the investigation.
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