monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as special counsel to oversee the previously confirmed investigation of Russian efforts to influential the 2016 Presidential election and related matters.

Mueller was appointed FBI director in 2001 and served in the position until 2013. FBI directors are appointed to ten-year terms, but President Barack Obama added two years to his tenure.

A career prosecutor and veteran of the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, Mueller is a widely respected figure in Washington.

Comey's interest in keeping a record of his Oval Office meeting should come as no surprise to anyone who has read the FBI's official "Manual of Administrative Operations and Procedures."

The 113-page section relating to Written Communication offers detailed guidance on everything from how to address an envelope to how pages should be numbered.

It also spells out the proper use of Form FD-302, "on which information is recorded that may later become testimony." The manual makes clear that if "it is anticipated the results will become the subject of court testimony the rough handwritten notes are to be retained."

It was unclear Wednesday if or when the Comey notes will be released. Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has sent the FBI a letter asking for all memos, notes and recordings between Comey and Trump by May 24.

But lawmakers are looking for more than Comey's written recollections of his dealings with the president.

"I don't want to read a memo. I want to hear it from him," said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in an MSNBC interview, referring to Comey.

KIEV, Ukraine — A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016 exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy’s assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy.

Before the conversation, McCarthy and Ryan had emerged from separate talks at the U.S. Capitol with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, who had described a Kremlin tactic of financing populist politicians to undercut Eastern European democratic institutions.

News had just broken the day before in The Washington Post that Russian government hackers had penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee, prompting McCarthy to shift the conversation from Russian meddling in Europe to events closer to home.

Some of the lawmakers laughed at McCarthy’s comment. Then McCarthy quickly added: “Swear to God.”

Ryan instructed his Republican lieutenants to keep the conversation private, saying: “No leaks...This is how we know we’re a real family here.”

The remarks remained secret for nearly a year.

Listening to a fascinating interview with John Dean on As It Happens. Hopefully it will be online shortly.

What if Mr. Trump really is the least qualified person ever elected to the office in modern times?

It is difficult to tell from the recording the extent to which the remarks were meant to be taken literally.

That’s when McCarthy brought the conversation about Russian meddling around to the DNC hack, Trump and Rohrabacher.

“I’ll guarantee you that’s what it is...The Russians hacked the DNC and got the opp [opposition] research that they had on Trump,” McCarthy said with a laugh..

Ryan asked who the Russians “delivered” the opposition research to.

“There’s... there’s two people, I think, Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy said, drawing some laughter.

Buck, speaking for the GOP House leadership, said: “This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humor. No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians. What’s more, the speaker and leadership team have repeatedly spoken out against Russia’s interference in our election, and the House continues to investigate that activity.”

“This was a failed attempt at humor,” Sparks said.

He implicitly conceded that it was completely up to Comey to do what he thought was right.

Trump explicitly expressed that he hoped that Comey would act in one specific manner, letting the investigation go.

word is Rosenstein did this without letting Sessions know

Sessions found out when the WH Counsel was advised - after the order had been signed

POTUS shell shocked and angry. Rosenstein a "traitor."