The lies are piling up. For the third time today, former FBI Director James Comey confirmed Trump lied – this time over the claim that Comey initiated contacts with the President which, in fact, was initiated by the President himself. Earlier in the hearing, Comey also confirmed Trump lied about why he was fired and explained he felt compelled to document each interaction with Trump because he was afraid Trump would later lie about the meetings.
KING: But in that same interview the President said “In one case I called him and in one case he called me.” Is that an accurate statement?
COMEY: No.
KING: Did you ever call the President?
COMEY: No. I might – the only reason I’m hesitating is I think there was at least one conversation where I was asked to call the White House switchboard to be connected to him but I never initiated a communication with the President.
KING: And at his press conference on May 18th, the President was asked whether he had urged you to shut down the investigation into Michael Flynn. The President responded, quote, “No, no, next question.” Is that an accurate statement?
COMEY: I don’t believe it is.
It’s been less than an hour and former FBI Director James Comey has twice called President Trump a liar. First, he said Trump lied about why he was fired. Then, Comey explained he felt compelled to document each interaction with Trump because he was afraid Trump would later lie about the meetings.
WATCH: Trump’s administration spread “lies, plain and simple”
COMEY: And although the law required no reason at all to fire an FBI director, the Administration then chose to defame me and more importantly the FBI by saying the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. Those were lies, plain and simple.
COMEY: A combination of things. I think the circumstances, the subject matter and the person I was interacting with. Circumstances: first I was alone with the President of the United States, or the president-elect, soon to be president. The subject matter: I was talking about matters that touch on the FBI’s core responsibility and that relate to the president, president-elect personally. And then the nature of the person: I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting and so I thought it really important to document. That combination of things I never experienced before but it led me to believe I’ve got to write it down, and I’ve got to write it down in a very detailed way.
Published: Jun 8, 2017