H official denies report saying Trump asked Comey to end Flynn probe

The White House has denied a media report suggesting that President Donald Trump had asked the sacked FBI chief James Comey to end the investigation against former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn.

"President has never asked Comey or anyone else to end any investigation, including any investigation involving General Flynn. The President has the utmost respect for our law enforcement agencies, and all investigations. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the President and Comey," said a White House official.

On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that according to a memo that Comey wrote shortly after the meeting with Trump, which took place the day after Flynn resigned, the latter asked him to shut down the federal investigation into Flynn's possible Russia links.

Flynn, who played a crucial role in Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, was asked to resign after it became public that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence on conversations he had before moving into the White House, regarding sanctions on Russia with Sergey Kislyak, the Kremlin envoy in Washington.

President Trump fired Comey last week following which the administration officials provided multiple, conflicting accounts of the reasoning behind the dismissal.

The White House said at the time that Comey was fired based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

In a separate letter, Rosenstein argued that it was his transgressions over the Clinton email investigation that were the cause of his dismissal, while laying out the reasons for Comey's firing.