The FBI's former top lawyer told Congress last year that there were "widespread" concerns that President Donald Trump had obstructed justice among officials in the bureau and at the Justice Department.
Politico reported that in his newly-released congressional testimony, former FBI attorney James Baker "described numerous officials who were distressed that the president may have obstructed justice when he fired FBI Director James Comey in May 2017."
Baker added that he had concerns of his own and that they were shared by top FBI brass, members of other divisions and at the DOJ.
The former FBI lawyer said that along with acting the acting FBI director and the bureau's leadership, "the heads of the national security apparatus, the national security folks within the FBI, the people that were aware of the underlying investigation and who had been focused on it" were all worried about potential obstruction of justice.
Baker made the comments during hearings before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees in October 2018, which were at the time controlled by Republicans. They'd called the hearings to investigate the way the FBI handled its Russia probe, the report noted.
The latest batch of Baker's comments were revealed by Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), who "has been incrementally entering testimony from last year's investigation into the congressional record," Politico noted.
Earlier in the day, reports emerged that Baker also revealed during his congressional testimony that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's suggestion that officials wear a wire when meeting with the president was endorsed by two Trump cabinet members.
