- President Donald Trump’s letter firing former FBI Director James Comey was accidentally sent to the wrong printer back in May 2017, according to an excerpt from a new book, "Kushner Inc."
- The letter was reportedly sent to an aide of Trump’s former chief economic adviser Gary Cohn. Cohn told the aide to take it immediately to then-White House counsel Don McGahn.
- When McGahn received the letter, he allegedly shouted, "Oh, f—"
President Donald Trump’s letter to fire former FBI Director James Comey was reportedly sent to the wrong printer in the White House, prompting then-White House counsel Don McGahn to yell a certain four-letter word.
The letter was accidentally sent to an aide to Gary Cohn, Trump’s ex-chief economic adviser, according to an excerpt of "Kushner Inc.," a new book from investigative reporter Vicky Ward set to be released on March 19.
The excerpt, obtained by Axios, states that Cohn’s aide, who apparently had an office on the second floor of the West Wing, noticed a document on his printer sometime in early May 2017.
"It appeared to be a letter from Trump, firing Comey. It also appeared to have been sent to the wrong printer," the excerpt reads. "Trump was livid about the attention the FBI investigation was attracting, but to fire the head of the FBI while it was investigating him was an extraordinarily risky move."
It goes on to say that Cohn told the aide to immediately take the letter to McGahn, "who also had an office on the second floor of the White House (and whose printer it had clearly been meant for)."
According to this excerpt, when he received the letter and realized "it had been printed in the wrong place, McGahn said, ‘Oh, f—!’"
The excerpt doesn’t say who sent the letter to the wrong printer.
It’s also unclear if this references the final dismissal letter sent to Comey or a draft letter McGahn reportedly expressed concerns about and advised Trump against sending. McGahn was ultimately successful in preventing Trump from sending the more problematic draft of the letter.
According to reports, Trump wrote the draft letter alongside White House adviser Stephen Miller, and it included references to private meetings between the president and Comey in which the FBI’s investigation into Russia was discussed. A copy of the letter was obtained by special counsel Robert Mueller, who’s leading the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian election interference.
The letter that was ultimately sent to Comey was drafted by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. It cited the former FBI director’s mishandling of the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails as justification for Comey’s dismissal.
Trump’s firing of Comey remains one of the most controversial moments of his presidency and has led to accusations of obstruction of justice from members of Congress.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from INSIDER.
See Also:
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (John Haltiwanger)