Pide NYT pesquisa especial sobre Rusia

Pide NYT pesquisa especial sobre Rusia

El diario escribió una carta al Fiscal General adjunto para pedirle que nombre a un consejero especial que indague nexos Trump-Rusia. 

Washington DC, Estados Unidos (11 mayo 2017).-

El diario The New York Times pidió en una carta abierta al Fiscal General adjunto de EU seguir su conciencia y nombrar un consejero especial independiente para investigar los nexos de la campaña de Trump con Rusia.

En la misiva, el diario subraya que Rod Rosenstein tiene la gran responsabilidad de salvaguardar la democracia estadounidense tras el despido del director del FBI James Comey.

Senator Richard M. Burr, center, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, greeted Mr. McCabe at the start of the hearing.

"Tienes una opción: nombrar un consejero independiente que sea independiente tanto del departamento como de la Casa Blanca", sugirió el Times.

La carta resalta la reputación de Rosenstein por su independencia y su larga y respetada trayectoria como fiscal.

Establece que entiende el razonamiento del Fiscal General adjunto en su nota criticando a Comey, pero señala que Trump usó ese memorando como excusa para despedirlo.

El diario advierte a Rosenstein que el nombramiento de dicho consejero especial podría arruinar a Trump y costarle a él su trabajo.

Sin embargo, asegura, lo pondría junto a otros funcionarios que se levantaron en tiempos de crisis, como sucedió durante el escándalo de Watergate.

"Añada su nombre a esta lista corta y heroica. Sí, podría costarle su trabajo, pero salvaría su honor, y mucho más".

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Latest Developments on Comey: Acting F.B.I. Chief Contradicts White House

By THE NEW YORK TIMESUPDATED 2:13 PM

■ Andrew G. McCabe, the acting director of the F.B.I., is testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

■ Mr. McCabe contradicted the White House’s assertion that James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director fired by President Trump this week, had lost the support of rank-and-file F.B.I. agents.

■ Mr. McCabe also said that the firing of Mr. Comey had not affected the Justice Department’s investigation of Russia’s meddling in the presidential election.

■ The committee’s top Democrat asked Mr. McCabe to tell senators about any efforts by the White House to intervene with the investigation.

Andrew G. McCabe, who became acting F.B.I. director upon the firing of James B. Comey, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Mr. Comey had not lost the support of rank-and-file F.B.I. agents. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Photo by Al Drago/The New York The unfolding story over Mr. Trump’s abrupt firing of Mr. Comey hung over the hearing, infusing political theater into annual testimony by the nation’s top security officials about the biggest threats facing the United States.

Mr. McCabe rejected the White House’s assertion that Mr. Comey had lost the backing of rank-and-file F.B.I. agents, a pointed rebuke of what had been one of the president’s main defenses for the move.

“Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the F.B.I. and still does to this day,” Mr. McCabe said at the hearing.

“The vast majority of F.B.I. employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey,” he added.

— Adam Goldman

Rod J. Rosenstein, third from right, a deputy attorney general, left a meeting with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday in Washington.

Credit

Al Drago/The New York Times

The deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, met with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee this afternoon, arriving with a security detail as the public hearing was continuing. He declined to speak with reporters in the halls of the Senate.

The meeting with Mr. Rosenstein had been requested by the committee, according to Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina and the chairman of the committee. “It’s a request we made prior to Director Comey’s departure, and it just so happened that the timing was it could just happen today,” Mr. Burr said.

The discussion surely took on a new tone given the events of the last two days. At least part of the conversation centered on ensuring that the government’s inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election was free from conflicts of interest.

“We felt there was a great need to set up a process for deconfliction,” Mr. Burr said. “We were able to share that with the deputy attorney general, and we feel our investigations will go forward with a fairly good understanding of the rules of the road.”

Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and vice chairman of the committee, called the private meeting “fairly productive,” but he quickly added, “I still have concerns about Mr. Rosenstein in terms of his role in the circumstances of Mr. Comey’s departure.”

The senators noted they had asked Mr. Comey to brief them on Tuesday, but that as of this afternoon they had not heard back from him.

Mr. Rosenstein slipped out quietly as the senators addressed reporters. Mr. Burr and Mr. Warner then left to attend a closed-door meeting with intelligence officials.

— Rebecca R. Ruiz

Russia inquiry ‘highly significant,’ acting F.B.I. chief says.

Mr. McCabe also said that the Justice Department’s investigation into whether any Trump associates colluded with Russia in the presidential election was “highly significant,” another direct contradiction of the White House.

A day earlier, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, trying to parry accusations that Mr. Comey’s firing was related to the Russia inquiry, called it “probably one of the smallest things that they’ve got going on their plate” at the F.B.I.

Mr. McCabe was also adamant that the firing of Mr. Comey had not affected the investigation.

“The work of the men and women of the F.B.I. continues despite any changes in circumstances,” he said in response to a question from Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida. “There has been no effort to impede our investigation to date. Simply put, you cannot stop the men and women of the F.B.I. from doing the right thing.”

Mr. McCabe is likely to sidestep more delicate questions about the Russia inquiry from Democrats pressing him for information to keep the investigation dominant in the news.

That is despite the efforts of the committee’s Republican chairman to keep the subject from dominating the day.

“Let me disappoint you,” Mr. Burr, the chairman, said as he opened the proceeding. “The purpose of today’s hearing is to review and highlight to the extent possible the ranges of threats we face as a nation,” he said, before listing dangers the United States faces, including cyberthreats, Islamist militants and North Korea.

Al Drago/The New York Times

Although he is well known in the intelligence community, Mr. McCabe, a veteran F.B.I. agent, has little name recognition outside of Washington. He has dealt with Congress for years, but usually behind closed doors.

A Duke University graduate with a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Mr. McCabe is considered a skilled briefer. He is something of wunderkind at the F.B.I., rising quickly in the organization to become deputy director in early 2016. But he is not universally loved among agents.

Some inside the F.B.I. believe he did not work in the field long enough and rose too quickly to appreciate the concerns of agents.