On Friday, President Trump, in a series of tweets, accused former Fbi Director James Comey of lying under oath to Congress. Trump said that he would be 100% willing to testify under oath about his version of events. Trump's comments come on the heels of Comey testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence regarding whether the Trump campaign worked with Russia to sway the election.
Comey's Testimony
Trump called the investigation a politically motivated stunt put on by opponents still bitter about his victory in the presidential election.
Trump said that Comey “is a leaker,” and that his testimony “yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction.” The former FBI director and the president have been a showdown of sorts over what exactly caused Comey to be fired.
On Thursday, Comey said that Trump had lied to him multiple times and was confused when Trump said there was low morale in the agency. “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,” Comey stated.
Comey implied that Trump had fired him for pursuing the Russia investigation. His account of his private exchanges with Trump also suggest he believes there was an attempt to obstruct justice.
Comey also said that the president demanded absolute loyalty from him. Trump denied this, saying, “I hardly know the man; I’m not going to ask him to pledge allegiance.”
Trump Denies
Trump also denied that he had asked Comey to drop the investigation into interactions between Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, and Russia.
Comey testified about memos and notes he had reflecting the meetings he had with Trump, stating that they showed the president is lying. Prior to his testimony, Comey leaked the contents of a memo about a discussion he had with the president. The memo, leaked to The New York Times, seems to clearly indicate that Trump did ask Comey to drop the investigation into Flynn.
Trump, in a tweet he posted last month, suggested that he had recordings of his conversations with Comey. When asked about them recently, he said, “I’ll tell you about that maybe sometime in the very near future… Oh you’re going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer.” Comey seemed to love the idea that there were recordings of his conversations with Trump, saying, “Lordy, I hope there are tapes… Release all the tapes – I’m good with it.”
Representatives Michael Conaway of Texas (R.) and Adam Schiff of California (D.) both announced that they had written to Donald McGahn, the White House counsel, requesting any recordings or memos that Trump had regarding conversations with Comey be given to the intelligence committee within two weeks. They also requested that Comey provide the memos that he mentioned in his testimony on Thursday, as well as any additional notes regarding the meetings.
