Comey Accuses White House Of 'Lies, Plain And Simple' About His Firing - NPR

Former FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he believed he was fired by President Trump over the growing Russia investigation and that other arguments by the White House were "lies, plain and simple."

In bombshell testimony Thursday, Comey, who was abruptly let go a month ago, said he began documenting his numerous, and often uncomfortable, conversations with Trump — in which the president asked for his "loyalty" and for him to scuttle the FBI's investigation into former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn — because he "was honestly concerned (Trump) might lie" about their meetings.

"I knew there might come a day when I might need a record of what happened not just to defend myself" but also the FBI, Comey added.

"My impression is something big is about to happen. I need to remember every word that is spoken," he said of the memos he wrote immediately after his encounters with the president.

White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later pushed back on Comey's assertions, telling reporters that "I can definitely say the president is not a liar and I think it's frankly insulting" that the question was asked.

The former FBI director also zeroed in on Trump's evolving explanations for why he had been let go, saying he was "confused" and "increasingly concerned" about the "shifting explanations" Trump gave. The president initially pointed to Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation as the impetus but later conceded the firing was because of his handling of the Russia investigation and claimed Comey was overseeing a demoralized FBI in disarray.

"So it confused me when I saw on television the president saying he actually fired me because of the Russia investigation and learned again from the media that he was telling, privately, other parties that my firing had relieved 'great pressure' on the Russia investigation," Comey said, referring to reporting on Trump's conversation with Russian officials in the Oval Office the day after the dismissal.

"The administration then chose to defame me and, more importantly, the FBI," Comey said, by claiming the agency was "poorly led."

"Those were lies, plain and simple," Comey bluntly told the committee. - Read More

Comey Accuses White House Of 'Lies, Plain And Simple' About His Firing

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