--- title: Trump Comey Memo: Read Chaffetz Letter to the FBI description: Jason Chaffetz wrote a letter to the FBI requesting any documents or recordings related to President Trump's communications with James Comey canonical: https://time.com/4781780/jason-chaffetz-trump-comey-fbi-letter/ author: Feliz Solomon article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-17T02:31:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:02:46.177Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Jason Chaffetz's Letter to the FBI og:description: Chaffetz says the bureau has one week to hand over documents of communications og:url: https://time.com/4781780/jason-chaffetz-trump-comey-fbi-letter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29be6ce734951122/6988cd96196cf47fb604025d/gettyimages-599724318.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Virginia Beach og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Jason Chaffetz's Letter to the FBI twitter:description: Chaffetz says the bureau has one week to hand over documents of communications twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt29be6ce734951122/6988cd96196cf47fb604025d/gettyimages-599724318.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Jason Chaffetz's Letter to the FBI Requesting Trump-Comey Documents > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=080a17ad-f887-49e5-bb40-9d9d4eaf3a45&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: In His Words: President Trump On James Comey [Watch (HLS stream): In His Words: President Trump On James Comey](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BPe3t011.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2017-05-10. President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired FBI Director James Comey — a controversial move that followed months of Trump's shifting opinions about him._ by [Feliz Solomon](https://time.com/author/feliz-solomon/) ## Feliz Solomon May 17, 2017 2:31 AM UTC by [Feliz Solomon](https://time.com/author/feliz-solomon/) ## Feliz Solomon May 17, 2017 2:31 AM UTC Chairman of the House oversight committee Jason Chaffetz wrote a letter to the FBI Tuesday requesting that the bureau hand over all documents or recordings related to President Donald Trump’s communications with former FBI chief James Comey. The New York _Times_ [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html?action=Click&contentCollection=BreakingNews&contentID=65309996&pgtype=Multimedia) Tuesday that Comey, who was abruptly fired last week, had “memorialized the content of phone calls and meetings with the President in a series of internal memoranda.” In a [reported memo](http://time.com/4781623/michael-flynn-james-comey-donald-trump-fbi-investigation/?xid=homepage) to the FBI, Comey said that Trump had asked him to end the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. “I hope you can let this go,” Trump told Comey per the memo. In a letter to the acting Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe, Chaffetz said that if true, “these memoranda raise serious questions as to whether the President attempted to influence or impede the FBI’s investigation as it relates to Lt. Gen. Flynn.” Chaffetz has requested that the FBI hand over any related documents within one week, by May 24. Read Chaffetz’s full letter to the bureau here: ## Transcript Why did you fire Director Comey? Cuz he wasn't doing a good job, very simple. He was not doing a good job. When you hear what was said by the FBI Director today, he talked about extremely careless. She was extremely Careless that's a tremendous word. Today is the best evidence ever that we've seen that our system is absolutely, totally rigged. The State Department and the FBI Colluded, got together, to make Hillary Clinton look less guilty. I have great respect for the FBI, for righting this wrong. The American people fully understand her corruption, and we hope all, all justice will finally be served. I respect the fact that Director Comey Was able to come back after what he did. And it took guts for director Comey to make the move that he made in light of the kind of opposition he had. And there's [ INAUDIBLE ]. [ LAUGH ] He's become more famous than me. [ LAUGH ] [ APPLAUSE ] Was it a mistake not to ask Jim Comey to step down from the FBI at the onset of your presidency. Is it too late now to ask him to step down. No, it's not too late but I have confidence and we'll see what happens. When Jim Comey came out He saved Hillary Clinton. People don't realize that. He saved her life. Why did you fire James Comey? Cuz he wasn't doing a good job. 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