Trump, White House mum on Paris climate decision; Comey question referred to ‘outside counsel’

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The White House said Wednesday that President Trump has yet to make a decision on whether the U.S. will remain in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and effectively referred all questions about Russia meddling investigations to the president’s personal attorney.

“The president has taken input from a lot of individuals. When he has a decision made, we’ll make that clear,” Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at the daily White House press briefing about the Paris agreement.

Trump last weekend at the G-7 summit in Brussels declined to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to the deal, despite the other six nations confirming their commitment.

The president said at the time that he planned to make a decision within a week, amid reports that his inner circle is divided about staying in the pact, which attempts to get industrial nations to reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants associated with climate change.

“I’m hearing from a lot of people both ways. You’re going to find out very soon,” Trump told reporters Wednesday before an Oval Office meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Spicer, in response to questions related to a CNN story earlier in the day stating former FBI Director James Comey could soon testify in public before the Senate intelligence committee, said such questions should be referred to Trump's “outside counsel.”

The president last week hired New York attorney Marc Kasowitz as his outside counsel for federal investigations into whether Trump associates colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump earlier this month fired Comey, saying he wasn’t “doing a good job.”

Comey reportedly said afterward that Trump tried to get him to drop an investigation into ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Trump fired Flynn in February for not fully disclosing conversations with the Russian ambassador.

According to the CNN story on Wednesday, Comey has spoken with Robert Mueller, the recently-appointed Justice Department special counsel for the Russia investigations, about testifying publically on Capitol Hill.