Members of Congress call for investigation into Preibus’s contact with the FBI

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" On Thursday night, multiple outlets broke news that White House Chief of Staff Reince Preibus communicated with top FBI officials and asked them to publicly contradict media reports of communications between Trump’s associates and Russians during the presidential campaign.

Citing the ongoing reports into the investigation, the FBI refused.

The White House issued its own denials, as well as a confusing back-and-forth timeline defending Preibus’ request — initially saying that the FBI had contacted Preibus first, before walking that back to confirm the original timeline.

But according to legal experts, Priebus’ contact with the FBI were deeply unethical and possibly illegal.
For one, the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign and administration’s contacts with Russia is ongoing, and as White House Chief of Staff, Preibus’ contact with the FBI appears to be in violation of Department of Justice rules.

Federal law also prohibits any communication that “endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice.” If Preibus requested that the FBI publicly report that an ongoing investigation was closed, that could be a violation of this law.

t could well be attempted obstruction of justice, and it’s certainly so unethical that it would be a firing offense for a chief of staff in any White House that respects the rule of law,” Larry Tribe, professor of constitutional law at Harvard University, told ThinkProgress.

Now, some lawmakers — thus far, only Democrats — are calling for an independent investigation into Preibus’ involvement, and reiterating calls for an independent investigation into the Trump administration’s ties with Russia. "

https://thinkprogress.org/members-of-congress-call-for-investigation-into-preibuss-contact-with-the-fbi-e612343b675#.3vb1208d7
 
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