OnPolitics Today: We talked to James Comey, and things got interesting (of course)

Josh Hafner , Josh Hafner | Paste BN

Former FBI director James Comey called Donald Trump "morally unfit to be president" in an interview with Paste BN published Monday, the most publicly scathing words from a director of the agency, former or current, in American history.

Yet Comey, who was fired by Trump last spring while investigating Russia's role in the election that put Trump in the White House, says it's unlikely Trump has been compromised by Russia. But it is "possible."

"Obviously, most likely is that he's not," Comey said. "But the reason I say 'possible' is that there's a non-zero possibility that the Russians have some sway over him that is rooted in his personal experience."

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What else Comey told us

Catch all the highlights here, but suffice to say Comey "saw evidence of obstruction of justice" regarding Trump, likened him to "leadership to a Cosa Nostra" mob family and called it "interesting" that Trump kept denying allegations of an affair in a Russian hotel room despite Comey not asking about it. Comey expounds in his new book, which a one-time investigator of Bill Clinton said now amounts to "a new 300-page witness statement" that will prove "at least, a pain" for special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump, of course, has not been silent: He last week called Comey a "slimeball," spiking a 60,000% increase in Webster searches for the word.

What a coincidence: Sean Hannity and Donald Trump shared a lawyer

From our friends at Paste BN's The Short List:

Michael Cohen's mystery client was revealed Monday: Fox News host Sean Hannity. Hannity last week called the FBI raid of President Trump's lawyer a declaration of war against Trump but failed to mention that he also shares an attorney-client relationship with Cohen. Cohen represented Trump in offering hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels, and Hannity has called CNN's president a "porn king" for the network's coverage of the Stormy Daniels scandal.

Coming 'in the near future': Syria-tied sanctions for Russia. Maybe.

Moscows support of Syria's suspected chemical attack on people in its own borders may warrant announced sanctions from the U.S. "in the near future," White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday, the day Nations ambassador Nikki Haley had said they would be announced. Sanders did not explain the apparent delay. Meanwhile, Syrian and Russian officials reportedly blocked a chemical weapons watchdog team from reaching the site where the suspected attack occurred.

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