George Stephanopoulos suspects the Comey memo will be the 'modern equivalent of Nixon's tapes'

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published 17 May 2017

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos has an inkling that former FBI Director James Comey's memo could be President Trump's "smoking gun." In his opening monologue Wednesday on Good Morning America, Stephanopoulos hammered home the potential implications of the memo reported Tuesday evening. The memo apparently details Trump's push for Comey to close the investigation into ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, as well as Trump's attempt to meddle in the ongoing FBI investigation of his ties to Russia.

"What we've learned in the last 24 hours means that the course of Trump's presidency will turn on his coming public showdown with James Comey," Stephanopoulos said. "The big question: Did President Trump try to block the FBI's Russia investigation, commit an impeachable offense?"

Stephanopoulos said he suspects the Comey memo is comparable to former President Richard Nixon's Watergate tapes. "Comey's notes, the modern equivalent of Nixon's tapes, Congress will get them. Comey will testify. Whether Trump holds the White House will depend on how Comey describes those notes, who Congress believes," Stephanopoulos said, noting that we are watching "a Watergate-sized crisis play out in real time."