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Input: In particular  Trump's conversation with Sessions and subsequent decision to pardon Arpaio could shed new light on Trump's motives in speaking to James Comey  then the FBI director  one day after former national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned about ending the investigation into Flynn.
Specifically  Trump's decision to pardon Arpaio is key to determining his intent in speaking with  Comey  in February about dropping the Flynn investigation and then firing  Comey  in May after  he  refused to do so  said Renato Mariotti  a former federal prosecutor.
How  Comey  fits in
According to  Comey 's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June  Trump privately told  Comey   who was spearheading the FBI's Russia probe at the time  "I hope you can let this go " referring to the Flynn investigation.
Several Trump allies and Republican lawmakers have since said that those words do not prove Trump tried to obstruct justice by asking  Comey  to drop the investigation and subsequently firing  him .
Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho  for instance  zeroed in on the statement during  Comey 's testimony.
After reading out loud  Comey 's recollection of Trump's statement  Risch said  "He did not direct you to let it go."
"Not in his words  no "  Comey  replied.
" He  did not order you to let it go " Risch said.
 He  later asked  Comey  whether  he  knew "of any case where a person has been charged for obstruction of justice or  for that matter  any other criminal offense  where this â they said  or thought  they hoped for an outcome?"
When  Comey  said  he  took Trump's words as a direction from the president of the United States  Risch said  "You may have taken it as a direction  but that's not what he said."
Moreover  despite statements from Trump's allies and administration officials who painted Trump's comments to  Comey  as musings and not as a direct order  Arpaio's pardon suggests "that he was serious about ending investigations as to his friends" and that it wasn't "just idle talk."
"The obstruction of justice would flow from the entire landscape of Trump's behavior: telling  Comey  to back off on the Flynn investigation  firing  him  when  he  wouldn't  and then admitting on national television that  he  dismissed  Comey  because of the Russia investigation " Ohlin told Business Insider.
 He  said that Trump's telling Russian officials in the Oval Office that  Comey  was "a real nut job" and that firing  him  had taken "great pressure" off of  him  added weight to the inference that Trump used  his  executive authority to fire  Comey  to stymie a federal investigation.

Arpaio's pardon may be obstruction of justice evidence in Russia probe