Obstruction Of Justice Part Of Senate Judiciary Russia Probe: Sen

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Calfornia Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Sunday that her committee's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election involves potential obstruction of justice by President Trump.

"Well, let me begin by saying this," Feinstein said on Meet The Press. "As you know, I’m ranking on Judiciary, and the Judiciary Committee has an investigation going as well and it involves obstruction of justice. And, I think, what we’re beginning to see is the putting together of a case of obstruction of justice."

Feinstein made the remarks in response to a question from host Chuck Todd about The White House walking back an email sent by K.T. McFarland. The email sent during the transition by McFarland, who briefly served as deputy national security advisor, said that sanctions imposed by the Obama administration could make it hard for Trump to ease tensions with Russia, “which has just thrown the U.S.A. election to him.” The email was obtained by The New York Times. Feinstein was also asked about a tweet sent by President Trump on Saturday that some legal experts said seemed to indicate the president was admitting to obstruction of justice.

Feinstein continued that she believes the firing of FBI Director James Comey was because Comey did not agree to "lift the cloud of the Russia investigation."

"That's obstruction of justice," Feinstein said.

Feinstein also said she doesn't think Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor who the White House says was fired for misleading the Vice President on his communications with Russia, acted alone.

"I think he had to have been directed," Feinstein said. "Now whether the special counsel can find that evidence or not, whether we can, I don't know yet. But I see that that's where this is going."

Flynn pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the FBI about his communications with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition and indicated that advisors to the president-elect knew of the conversations. The criminal information against Flynn charges him with a single count of "willfully knowingly" making false statements to the FBI on Jan. 24 when he said he had not discussed sanctions with Kislyak. Flynn also said he is cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team in the investigation.

Flynn was ousted after The Washington Post reported on the conversations and he misled Mike Pence about the talks.

"I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI," Trump tweeted on Saturday. "He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!"

On Sunday, a lawyer for Trump, John Dowd, said it was him who drafted the tweet and it was "my mistake." He also made the argument that the tweet was not an admission of obstruction of justice.

When Comey testified before Congress in June after his firing, he said Trump had asked him to let the investigation into Flynn go.

Three Congressional committees are investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. As The Daily Beast noted, Sen. Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee,said in June his panel was not looking into obstruction of justice and that was best left to Mueller's team.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images