Merkel says EU is 'ready to start Brexit negotiations

Angela Merkel has said she sees no obstacles in the way of beginning Brexit talks as scheduled after Theresa May failed to win a majority in Thursday's UK election.

The German chancellor said she believed Britain would stick to the timetable, adding the European Union was "ready".

Mrs Merkel added she hoped Britain would remain a good partner following the talks, due to begin on 19 June.
It is her first comment since Mrs May's Conservative party lost 13 seats.
The loss left the Conservatives eight MPs short of a majority in parliament, plunging negotiations into uncertainty. Mrs May called the snap election in order to secure a clear mandate for her vision of Brexit.
A spokesman for Mrs Merkel had previously refused to be drawn on the issue out of "politeness and respect" while the process of forming a new UK government was under way.
Mrs May says she will form a government with the Democratic Unionist Party from Northern Ireland, which won 10 seats.

Mrs Merkel, who is meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to discuss trade, told reporters gathered in Mexico City on Friday: "I assume that Britain, from what I heard from the prime minister today, wants to stick to its negotiating plan.
"We want to negotiate quickly, we want to stick to the time plan, and so at this point I don't think there is anything to suggest these negotiations cannot start as was agreed."
Mrs Merkel, the EU's most powerful politician, went on to say she hoped the UK would remain a good partner.
"Britain is part of Europe, even if it will no longer be part of the European Union."
However, she added the EU countries would be "asserting the interests of the 27 member states that will make up the European Union in future" during negotiations

Meanwhile, Michael Fuchs, senior economic adviser to the German chancellor, told the BBC the result meant it was time for Mrs May "to face realities" and soften her approach.
"Her wish and will was not really too much accepted by the British people," he said. "I have the feeling, because otherwise they would have given her a better vote.
"Maybe, this is a chance that we can come up to a more reasonable Brexit negotiations because in the last time (recently) I really had the feeling that everything was just being very tough and it doesn't make sense to be tough.
"We want to have a fair deal with Britain and we want to have a fair final Brexit negotiations."

• European media see bleak future for May

Other EU leaders have expressed concerns the failure to win a majority may make negotiations even more difficult.
Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, who is president of the Alliance of Liberals & Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament, had caustic words for Mrs May

Yet another own goal, after Cameron now May, will make already complex negotiations even more complicated," he tweeted.
Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the European Commission, said he wanted discussions to proceed without delay, while Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator for Brexit, said "negotiations should start when UK is ready".
European Council President Donald Tusk alluded to the March 2019 deadline for Brexit talks.
"We don't know when Brexit talks start. We know when they must end. Do your best to avoid a 'no deal' as result of 'no negotiations'," he wrote.
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Trump: I would speak under oath on Comey

US President Donald Trump says he is "100%" willing to speak under oath about his conversations with ex-FBI chief James Comey.

Speaking at the White House, he denied having asked for Mr Comey's loyalty or for an inquiry into a former White House aide to be dropped.
"James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said, and some of the things he said just weren't true," Mr Trump said.
Meanwhile, a congressional panel asked for any tapes of their conversations.

Mr Comey says Mr Trump fired him because of his Russia inquiry.
The former FBI chief was investigating an alleged Kremlin plot to sway last year's US election in favour of Mr Trump, and whether there was any collusion with the president or his campaign staff.
On Thursday, Mr Comey testified to one of several congressional committees that is also looking into the Russia claims.
He said the president had pressured him to drop a probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, whom Mr Trump fired for misleading the White House over contacts with Moscow's ambassador.

• Who do you believe?
• Five takeaways from Comey's testimony

Under oath, the former FBI director also told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the president had asked him during a one-to-one dinner at the White House to pledge loyalty.
Nearly 20 million US television viewers tuned in to the explosive testimony


At a press conference on Friday afternoon in the Rose Garden with the visiting president of Romania, Mr Trump rejected Mr Comey's claims.
He said the former FBI director's testimony showed there was "no collusion, no obstruction". Mr Comey told senators he had assured the president he himself was not under scrutiny over Russia.
The US president was asked by a journalist if he would be willing to give his version of events under oath.
"One hundred per cent," Mr Trump said.

• Is Trump closer to obstruction of justice?
• How Trump's Russia trouble unfolded
• The Trump-Russia saga in 200 words

"I hardly know the man [Mr Comey]," he said. "I'm not going to say, 'I want you to pledge allegiance.'
"Who would do that? Who would ask a man to pledge allegiance under oath? I mean, think of it

I hardly know the man. It doesn't make sense."
When asked about whether he had recordings of his conversations with Mr Comey, which he has previously hinted, the president said he would address it at a later date.
"I'll tell you something about that maybe sometime in the very near future," he said on Friday. "I'll tell you about it over a short period of time. I'm not hinting at anything."
Shortly after the press conference, leaders of the House Intelligence Committee said they had asked the White House whether there were any such tapes.
The House panel requested that if the recordings exist they be submitted by 23 June.
The Senate Judiciary Committee asked the White House last month about such audio.

Days after he fired Mr Comey on 9 May, Mr Trump tweeted: "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"
Mr Trump tweeted earlier on Friday he felt "complete vindication" after the hearing.
Mr Comey also told senators that he had leaked details of his memos about his conversations with Mr Trump to a friend, who passed them on to a reporter.
After the testimony, Mr Trump's lawyer accused the former FBI chief of having divulged "privileged communications".

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Why Donald Trump’s Attempt to Go After James Comey Could Backfire

hy Donald Trump’s Attempt to Go After James Comey Could Backfire Going after former FBI Director James Comey for leaking could backfire for President Donald Trump, experts warned Friday after Trump's personal attorney is said to be preparing to lodge a formal complaint. As part of their broader effort to discredit Comey, Trump and his defenders have seized on a portion of Comey's Thursday testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in which he said contents of a memo detailing his conversation with Trump in the hope that it would trigger the appointment of a special prosecutor.

Dunald Trump

 A source close to Trump’s outside legal team said the president's personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz, will file a complaint regarding Comey’s leaked memo with the Department of Justice's Inspector General and the Senate Judiciary Committee. Comey recorded details of his meetings with Trump in personal, unclassified memos, and he said he asked a friend to provide the contents to an unnamed reporter with the New York Times. Leaks generally involve classified information, which are protected by law. Kathleen Clark, an expert in government ethics at the University of Washington Law School, said there are a number of rules that protect the president's conversations with aides, but that none of them apply here. "We do have law that applies here and it's called the First Amendment. And unless there's any other law that prevents that speech, it's protected by the First Amendment,” Clark said. "I'm searching for any possible reasons it could be a problem and can’t find one." If the White House believed there were any rules prohibiting Comey from sharing his conversations with the president, they should have asserted that before his testimony, she said. Instead, they publicly waived executive privilege and let Comey’s testimony proceed. And it seems unlikely that Comey, who led the FBI as it pursued investigations into government leaks, and thus presumably knows the law here well, would incriminate himself on live TV while testifying before the U.S. Senate, Clark added. administration and a frequent Trump critic, said Comey could be considered a witness in the ongoing investigation being led by special counsel Robert Mueller into alleged Russian meddling in last year's elections and related matters. "The Department of Justice reports to the President of the United States. And the President of the United States is saying, 'you're going to be a witness against me? I'm going to open an investigation against you' — that's clearly witness intimidation, and that itself is obstruction of justice," Painter said. "So they're going to compound the problem," he said. Painter said he's never heard of a former government employee being investigated for sharing unclassified information, noting entire shelves could be filled with books written by former officials revealing the inner workings of the White House. "It's the worst idea in the world," Painter said.

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Comey doesn't prove Trump did anything wrong

Comey doesn't prove Trump did anything wrong Alice Stewart: In the absence of a blue Gap dress, we are left with one man's word against another In the words of Comey, "Lordy, I hope there are tapes" "Alice Stewart is a CNN political commentator and former communications director for Ted Cruz for President. The views expressed in this commentary are solely her own." (CNN)The battle lines have been drawn in the biggest Washington showdown in decades; one side you have "Comey is a leaker," on the other you have "Trump is a liar." On Thursday, fired FBI Director James Comey testified for nearly three hours, providing details of his conversations with President Trump related to Russian interference in the 2016 election. At the end of this #ComeyDay, I see no smoking gun, but rather a case of "he said, he said." In the absence of a blue Gap dress, we are left with one man's word against another. One man's credibility against another, with no way to trust but verify. As Comey said, "Lordy, I hope there are tapes." Don't we all? Alice Stewart Alice Stewart Through his prepared statement, memos of conversations with the President, and sworn testimony, Comey came across as credible. He did say President Trump was not the subject of an investigation. He also provided his account of conversations in which the President stressed the need for loyalty from the former FBI director, inquired about Comey letting go of the investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and asked Comey to help "lift the cloud" of Russia. The stickiest point of contention in the "he said, he said" remains the question of who's lying. The fired FBI director said Trump terminated him in an attempt to change the course of the larger Russia probe, and then launched a campaign of lies to discredit him. Comey went on to say the President lied about the reason for his firing. A White House spokeswoman then said definitively, "The President is not a liar. " Perhaps the biggest revelation was Comey's self-unmasking as a leaker; he told members of the committee that he orchestrated the leak of his memos with the President through a close friend, in hopes of prompting the appointment of a special counsel. His plan worked. Republicans walk away from the hearing with the satisfaction that Comey acknowledged President Trump was not under investigation. President Trump's team, through personal attorney Marc Kasowitz, are claiming vindication and accusing Comey of making unauthorized disclosures of privileged communications with the President. Follow CNN Opinion Join us on Twitter and Facebook This is all well and good, but my concern is that the bigger issue of Russian interference is getting lost in all of the high stakes drama. Wednesday, Sen. John McCain noted, "What an Orwellian existence we live in." The Russians have done tremendous destruction to our free and open society and that needs to be a major focus. Sen. Mark Warner, vicechair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stressed that we need to be in a better position in 2018 and beyond. In the end, I don't believe Comey made the case against Trump, but rather a strong case for his integrity and that of the FBI. With all the detailed notes, there was no definitive evidence of wrongdoing by the President.

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