Surrounded by multiplying questions, President Donald Trump complained Wednesday that "no politician in history" has been treated worse. Democrats demanded an independent commission to dig into his firing of FBI Director James Comey, but Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan cautioned against "rushing to judgment."
Trump spoke about the importance of the Coast Guard, then pivoted to address the criticism he's receiving over revelations that Trump personally appealed to now-fired FBI Director James Comey to abandon the bureau's investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, allegations based on notes Comey wrote after the meeting.
"You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and are not always warranted, but you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. Never, ever give up," he said. "No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly" by the media.
The White House has denied the reporting about Trump's meeting with Comey, amid a furor over the president's discussions with Russian diplomats in which Trump is said to have disclosed classified information. Congressional committees requested Comey's memo and other documentation from the FBI.
John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said late Tuesday that the developments had reached "Watergate size and scale," but House Speaker Paul Ryan argued Wednesday against a rush to judgment on the revelations while Congress exercises its oversight authority over the president.
"Our job is to be responsible, sober and focus only on gathering the facts. That is what Congress does in conducting oversight of the executive branch," he said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice on Wednesday appointed Robert Mueller, a former FBI director, as special counsel to oversee the Rusia investigation.
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In a twist on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to turn over to Congress his diplomats' records of Trump's Oval Office discussions with them.
The White House has played down the importance and secrecy of the information Trump gave to the Russians, which had been supplied by Israel under an intelligence-sharing agreement. Trump himself said he had "an absolute right" as president to share "facts pertaining to terrorism" and airline safety with Russia. Yet U.S. allies and some members of Congress expressed concern bordering on alarm.
Putin told a news conference that he would be willing to turn over notes of Trump's meeting with the Russian diplomats if the White House agreed. He dismissed outrage over Trump's disclosures as U.S. politicians whipping up "anti-Russian sentiment."
As for Comey, whom Trump fired last week, the FBI director wrote in a memo after a February meeting at the White House that the new president had asked him to shut down the FBI's investigation of Flynn and his Russian contacts, said a person who had read the memo. The Flynn investigation was part of a broader probe into Russian interference in last year's presidential election.
Comey's memo, an apparent effort to create a paper trail of his contacts with the White House, would be the clearest evidence to date that the president has tried to influence the investigation.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Republican chairman of the House oversight committee, sent a letter to the FBI on Tuesday requesting that it turn over all documents and recordings that detail communications between Comey and Trump. He said he would give the FBI a week and then "if we need a subpoena, we'll do it." He also tweeted that he scheduled a hearing for Comey on Wednesday, May 24.
Cummings, the panel's top Democrat and a constant Trump critic, called the allegation of Trump pressure on Comey "explosive" and said "it appears like a textbook case of criminal obstruction of justice."
Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate, said simply, "It would be helpful to have less drama emanating from the White House."
The person who described the Comey memo to the AP was not authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. The existence of the memo was first reported Tuesday by The New York Times.
The White House vigorously denied it all. "While the president has repeatedly expressed his view that General Flynn is a decent man who served and protected our country, the president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn," a White House statement said.
Trump fired Flynn on Feb. 13, on grounds that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and other officials about his contacts with Russians.
The intensifying drama comes as Trump is set to embark Friday on his first foreign trip, which had been optimistically viewed by some aides as an opportunity to reset an administration floundering under an inexperienced president.
When Trump fired Comey, he said he did so based on Comey's very public handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe and how it affected his leadership of the FBI. But the White House has provided differing accounts of the firing. And lawmakers have alleged that the sudden ouster was an attempt to stifle the bureau's investigation into Trump associates' ties to Russia's meddling in the campaign.
The leaders of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said Wednesday they had invited Comey to appear in open and closed sessions.
Senator Richard Burr, R-NC, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., also said they sent another letter to Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe "seeking any notes or memorandum prepared by the former director regarding any communications he may have had with senior White House and Department of Justice officials related to investigations into Russia's efforts."
The Senate Judiciary Committee requested the memos from the FBI as well, and asked for "records of interactions with former Director Comey, including any audio recordings," wrote senators Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Lindsey Graham, R-SC, and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI.
According to the Times, Comey wrote in the February memo that Trump told him Flynn had done nothing wrong. Comey said he replied that "I agree he is a good guy" but said nothing to Trump about limiting the investigation.
The newspaper said Comey was in the Oval Office that day with other national security officials for a terrorism threat briefing. When that ended, Trump asked everyone to leave except Comey, and he eventually turned the conversation to Flynn.
The administration spent the first half of Tuesday defending Trump's disclosure of classified information to senior Russian officials. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said the president's comments were "wholly appropriate." He used that phrase nine times in his briefing to reporters.
The highly classified information about an Islamic State plot was collected by Israel, a crucial source of intelligence and close partner in the fight against some of the America's fiercest threats in the Middle East.
Some of the intelligence Trump provided is so secret that American news organizations are still being asked not to report it, two U.S. officials told NBC News, casting doubt on the assertion that sharing it was appropriate.
Trump's disclosure of the information threatened to fray that partnership and piled pressure on the White House to explain the apparently on-the-spot decision to reveal the information to Russian diplomats in the Oval Office.
A U.S. official who confirmed the disclosure to The Associated Press said the revelation potentially put the source at risk.
Associated Press writers Vivian Salama and Jill Colvin contributed.
