James Comey's testimony on Thursday shows that President Donald Trump had "corrupt intent up the wazoo" regarding reasons for firing the FBI director, Nick Ackerman, a former Watergate prosecutor, said Thursday.
"Look at the pretext, the reason that they gave to fire Comey in the first place… to investigate all of that and find out what people knew, what they said, who knew what and when — you have corrupt intent up the wazoo here," said Ackerman told MSNBC's Chris Hayes.
Ackerman, a former assistant U.S. attorney, pointed out the president acknowledged Comey's firing was due to his consideration of the FBI's Russia probe. In May, Trump said he considered "this Russia thing" before he fired Comey, according to CNN.
"First of all he asked Comey — Comey understood it to be stopping the investigation. Most obstruction of justice cases, the person doesn't come out and say, 'Oh, I'm going to obstruct the investigation.' It's a wink, it's a nod. It's a hint," Ackerman told Hayes.
"If you're talking about somebody's intent and their state of mind, what better evidence could a prosecutor have than the president actually saying 'That's why I did it,'" he added.
"A corrupt purpose is the bridge between your knowledge and the investigation, the intent, the specific intent, to put the kibosh on the investigation."
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