U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-10) of Newark this morning issued a statement in response to the memo by former FBI Director James Comey.

According to the New York Times’ story, “President Trump asked the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote shortly after the meeting.”

Payne said, “If these allegations are true, President Trump blatantly tried to influence the FBI’s investigation – a gross breach of conduct and an outright assault on democracy from the president.”