Trump deceived by Comey's claims of honesty and integrity

Former FBI Director James Comey was very keen to set President Trump's mind at ease when they had their one-on-one White House dinner on January 28, 2017.

Comey told the recently-installed President Trump:

"I explained that he could count on me to always tell him the truth. I said I don't do sneaky things. I don't leak. I don't do weasel moves"

Comey's propensity to leak – using others to conceal his identity – has been exposed by Inspector General Michael Horowitz's scathing report.

Sneaky things and weasel moves by Comey, subsequently uncovered post-dinner, from just the five months prior to his dinner date with Trump include:

1. Securing a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in October 2016 to spy on an American citizen, Carter Page, without first giving Page a requested interview to clear h name. Page, in a letter to Comey dated September 25, 2016, had denied serious allegations made against him in a newspaper article dated September 23, 2016 and asked to meet Comey to discuss any final questions the FBI might have. The newspaper article alleged that Page had met with two senior Russian officials: Igor Sechin, a long time Putin associate and former Russian Deputy Minister; and Igor Divyekin, another top Putin aide and former Russian security official who was then serving as deputy chief for internal policy.

2. Continuing to refuse to meet Page, after Page had stated in a newspaper article dated September 26, 2016 that the accusations against him were complete 'garbage' and that he did not meet with Sechin or Divyekin.

3. Relying on the accuracy of a report prepared by an FBI source, Christopher Steele, without independently checking its reliability and credibility. Steele had been approached by 'an identified US person' with whom he had a long- standing business relationship, who indicated to Steele that he had been hired by 'a US based law firm' to conduct research regarding Trump's ties to Russia. Yet the identified US person never advised Steele as to the motivation behind this research. The FBI speculated the identified US person was likely looking for information that could be used to discredit Trump's campaign. Suspecting this motive, Comey should have exercised the greatest caution in relying on the Steele report – especially as it contained the same allegations made in the September 23 news article that Page had publicly denounced as false. Instead, Comey weaponized the Steele report in order to spy on Page.

4. Failing to notify the FISA Court that the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton paid for the Steele report.

5. Failing to notify the FISA Court, when applying in January 2017 to extend the warrant to spy on Page, that Trump had told Comey on January 6, 2017 – and reconfirmed at their dinner ­ – that there was no truth to the allegation that the Russians had tapes involving Trump and prostitutes at the Presidential Suite at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Moscow in about 2013. Comey's failure to notify the FISA Court of this exculpatory evidence debunking the Steele report's salacious claims against Trump directly challenges the veracity of the Steele report.

Horowitz, Attorney General Bill Barr and the investigating prosecutor, John Durham, seem set to finger Comey for more sneaky things and weasel moves in what is shaping up to be the greatest political scandal since Watergate.