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Comey Testimony: Trump Administration Lied About Him and Defamed F.B.I. Comey Testimony: ‘Lordy, I Hope There Are Tapes’
(35 minutes later)
• James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, testified that President Trump and others in his administration had lied when they said agents had lost confidence in Mr. Comey.• James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, testified that President Trump and others in his administration had lied when they said agents had lost confidence in Mr. Comey.
• “Lordy, I hope there are tapes,” Mr. Comey said, referring to Mr. Trump’s suggestion that he may have recorded their conversations.
• Mr. Trump planned to monitor the hearing at the White House with his legal team and close advisers.• Mr. Trump planned to monitor the hearing at the White House with his legal team and close advisers.
• “Today is your opportunity to set the record straight,” the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Richard Burr of North Carolina, said to Mr. Comey.• “Today is your opportunity to set the record straight,” the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Richard Burr of North Carolina, said to Mr. Comey.
Mr. Comey said Mr. Trump lied to the American public when he said that the F.B.I. was in disarray and that agents had lost confidence in Mr. Comey.Mr. Comey said Mr. Trump lied to the American public when he said that the F.B.I. was in disarray and that agents had lost confidence in Mr. Comey.
“Those were lies, plain and simple,” Mr. Comey said in brief opening remarks.“Those were lies, plain and simple,” Mr. Comey said in brief opening remarks.
Mr. Trump made that claim when he fired Mr. Comey last month. Mr. Comey said he was confused and concerned by Mr. Trump’s changing explanation for why he fired him.Mr. Trump made that claim when he fired Mr. Comey last month. Mr. Comey said he was confused and concerned by Mr. Trump’s changing explanation for why he fired him.
Mr. Comey learned of his firing from the news media. He offered a heartfelt farewell to his former employees.Mr. Comey learned of his firing from the news media. He offered a heartfelt farewell to his former employees.
“I am so sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye to you publicly,” Mr. Comey said.“I am so sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye to you publicly,” Mr. Comey said.
Mr. Comey acknowledged for the first time that the F.B.I. was scrutinizing Mr. Trump’s actions. He said Mr. Trump’s conduct fell within “the scope of” the F.B.I.’s investigation but that he was not specifically under investigation.
The F.B.I. is investigating whether anyone in Mr. Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian agents to try to influence the outcome of the presidential election.
Mr. Comey said he began taking notes on his meetings with the president because, from his first interaction with him, during the transition period, he thought Mr. Trump might lie about what was said.Mr. Comey said he began taking notes on his meetings with the president because, from his first interaction with him, during the transition period, he thought Mr. Trump might lie about what was said.
He testified that he documented all of his meetings with Mr. Trump because it was so unusual for him to be discussing ongoing investigations, alone, with a sitting president. Mr. Comey had served in senior law enforcement positions under three presidents.He testified that he documented all of his meetings with Mr. Trump because it was so unusual for him to be discussing ongoing investigations, alone, with a sitting president. Mr. Comey had served in senior law enforcement positions under three presidents.
“The combination of factors just wasn’t present with either President Bush or President Obama,” he said.“The combination of factors just wasn’t present with either President Bush or President Obama,” he said.
Mr. Burr and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the commitee’s top Democrat, both set a solemn tone for the nearing. Mr. Burr and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the committee’s top Democrat, both set a solemn tone for the hearing.
Mr. Burr pointed out that there are two sides to the stories Mr. Comey was set to tell about his one-on-one interactions with President Trump. During one of them, Mr. Trump asked Mr. Comey to drop the F.B.I.’s investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. Mr. Burr pointed out that there were two sides to the stories Mr. Comey was set to tell about his one-on-one interactions with President Trump. During one of them, Mr. Trump asked Mr. Comey to drop the F.B.I.’s investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn.
“The American people need to hear your side of the story, just as they need to hear the president’s description of events,” Mr. Burr said.“The American people need to hear your side of the story, just as they need to hear the president’s description of events,” Mr. Burr said.
Mr. Warner highlighted the more serious allegations from Mr. Comey’s prepared testimony, emphasizing the importance of his appearance to the panel’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.Mr. Warner highlighted the more serious allegations from Mr. Comey’s prepared testimony, emphasizing the importance of his appearance to the panel’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“Let me be clear,” he said. “This is not a witch hunt. This is not fake news. It is an effort to protect our country from a new threat that will not go away anytime soon.”“Let me be clear,” he said. “This is not a witch hunt. This is not fake news. It is an effort to protect our country from a new threat that will not go away anytime soon.”
It has been one of the biggest holes in the Comey-Trump story: If Mr. Trump asked Mr. Comey to drop the F.B.I. investigation into Michael T. Flynn, his former national security adviser — a request that some say could amount to obstruction of justice — why didn’t Mr. Comey report it to Jeff Sessions, the attorney general? In response to a question from Mr. Burr, Mr. Comey confirmed that Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, was facing a criminal investigation at the time he was fired. That means he was under criminal investigation while serving as the national security adviser, a job that gave him ready access to the president and almost all the secret intelligence possessed by the country’s spy agencies.
In his prepared remarks, Mr. Comey said he had shared details of their conversations with “the senior leadership team of the F.B.I.” The Times reported a few weeks ago that Mr. Flynn warned the Trump transition he was under investigation in early January, more than two week before the inauguration. Nonetheless, he was allowed to take up the national security post.
But after Mr. Trump told Mr. Comey he hoped he would ease off the inquiry into Mr. Flynn, Mr. Comey said the team agreed not to inform Mr. Sessions — who was on the cusp of recusing himself from the investigation — or those working on the investigation. White House officials pushed back on the Times story, insisting that the Trump transition — and later, the White House — knew nothing of any criminal investigation, and questioning whether there even was an investigation into Mr. Flynn at the time.
It is likely that Republicans will not be satisfied with that explanation and push him to elaborate on why he did not tell Mr. Sessions or others at the Justice Department. Mr. Comey has now provided public confirmation that there was indeed an investigation underway while Mr. Flynn was serving at the White House.
In the end, what occurred between Mr. Comey and Mr. Trump boils down to a case of “he said, he said,” a vulnerability Mr. Comey acknowledges in his opening statement. Senator Jim Risch, Republican of Idaho and generally a loyal supporter of Mr. Trump, seemed inclined to provide the president a measure of cover in his questioning.
Republicans did not wait for Mr. Comey’s testimony to start the counterattack, releasing a statement on Thursday assailing his credibility and, in effect, foreshadowing the tough questioning he can expect to face. He immediately turned to what has become a major White House talking point: that Mr. Comey had told Mr. Trump he was not personally under investigation.
The statement issued by the Republican National Committee argued that Mr. Comey had given conflicting versions of events, pointing to testimony he gave to Congress last month shortly before being fired in which he said that the F.B.I. had not been “told to stop something for a political reason.” “I gather from all this that you’re willing to say now that while you were director, the president of the United States was not under investigation?” Mr. Risch said.
No doubt, Mr. Comey will be asked to reconcile that testimony with his opening statement that describes Mr. Trump asking him to “let this go,” referring to an investigation into Mr. Flynn. “Yes, sir,” Mr. Comey said.
The Republicans also highlighted questions previously asked publicly by lawmakers about why Mr. Comey did not act when he said the president asked him to halt the investigation into Mr. Flynn if he felt it was inappropriate. And the statement quoted many Democrats who have criticized Mr. Comey previously for his handling of the F.B.I. investigation last year into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state. Then Mr. Risch seized on the wording of Mr. Comey’s recollection of Mr. Trump’s request that the former director back off an investigation of Michael Flynn. The senator read Mr. Comey’s account of Mr. Trump’s words aloud: “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.”
The revelations that Mr. Trump may have tried to meddle in an F.B.I. investigation have been enough to push some Democrats in recent weeks to utter a charged term: impeachment. But Democratic leaders have rebuffed the more fervid among the rank and file; they do not want to squander their credibility by looking too politically motivated. “He did not direct you to let it go,” Mr. Risch said.
There is also a related concern: Expectations for Russia-tinged investigations have escalated so quickly that the Democratic base might be disappointed with anything less than a decisive blow on Thursday. “Not in his words, no,” Mr. Comey said.
Nevertheless, Democrats are horrified by the allegations against Mr. Trump and eager to give Mr. Comey a public forum. “He said, ‘I hope,’” Mr. Risch pressed.
Presidents are busy, in theory at least, with little bandwidth for daytime television in the West Wing — at least historically. Mr. Comey did not bite. “I took it as a direction,” Mr. Comey said. “It’s the president of the United States, with me alone.”
But Mr. Trump will be watching. He is expected to monitor the hearing with his legal team and close advisers, a senior administration official said. “You may have taken it as a direction but that’s not what he said,” Mr. Risch said.
And if past episodes are instructive, it is a matter of when, not if, Mr. Trump chooses to offer his review of the show. Whether Mr. Trump is on Twitter or in front of the cameras, his reaction might well become as much of a story as the hearing itself, informing the administration’s bid to contain damage that could result from Mr. Comey’s remarks. He asked, rhetorically, if Mr. Comey knew of anyone “who’s ever been charged for hoping something.”
On at least one point near to his heart, Mr. Trump will perhaps be compelled to acknowledge his grudging respect: For a deposed federal employee, Mr. Comey will probably get good ratings. Mr. Trump has stayed off Twitter during Mr. Comey’s testimony but another member of the family has not. Donald Trump Jr. has been live tweeting the hearing, ridiculing the former F.B.I. director’s account.
At the Partisan bar, a 10-minute walk from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, patrons ordered breakfast sandwiches and snapped pictures of the CNN coverage blaring from the televisions as they waited for Mr. Comey’s testimony to begin. “Flynn stuff is BS in context 2 guys talking about a guy they both know well,” the younger Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “I hear ‘I hope nothing happens but you have to do your job’”
“This is history in the making,” said Andria Eguia, 43, one of 20 people who made a reservation to watch the hearing. Ms. Eguia, a San Francisco-based attorney, took a break with a co-worker from a four-day conference to see the hearing. “We’ve been scoping out places.” He added: “very far from any kind of coercion or influence and certainly not obstruction!” And then he continued: “Knowing my father for 39 years when he ‘orders or tells’ you to do something there is no ambiguity, you will know exactly what he means”
While the bar is offering $6 specials on two cocktails, called Drop the Bomb and Last Word, she and a fellow attorney, Adrienne Mendle, opted for water and a blood-orange-flavored San Pellegrino sparkling water. With all the tables reserved for the bar’s early opening, walk-ins began filling in at the bar, speculating about what Mr. Comey was likely to say. Focusing on Mr. Comey’s testimony that the president expressed hope that he would drop the investigation into Mr. Flynn, the younger Mr. Trump wrote: “Hoping and telling are two very different things, you would think that a guy like Comey would know that. #givemeabreak”
Some began to shush the crowd as Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, made opening statements. Washingtonians were working from home, taking the day off or otherwise mentally playing hooky to bear witness to the big hearing.
Well before Shaw’s Tavern along busy Florida Avenue opened at 9:30 a.m. for its “Comey Hearing Covfefe” event, a line stretched the length of the block. Spectators hoped to snag a table and perhaps a Comey-themed menu item, like an F.B.I. breakfast or a covfefe coffee. Dozens of journalists, cameras and notepads in hand, swarmed the attendees.
“I wonder how many people are going to say ‘I don’t want to be on TV, I’m supposed to be at work,’” Brian Palladio, a computer programmer, said as he took his place in line. “The seriousness of the issues aside, I think it’s kind of an interesting example of D.C. culture.”
The tavern was full within 15 minutes of opening, the atmosphere more Super Bowl than Senate hearing. On the patio outside, four college students perused the menu.
“I think I’m going to get the F.B.I. breakfast,” Colter Moos, 21, said as he read the menu. “And then at 11, I’m getting some vodka.”
As Mr. Comey began his remarks, forks stopped clinking and chatter ceased. People began casting their eyes toward one of several TVs set up to broadcast the hearing. It was clear how the crowd felt as Mr. Comey began to speak: People started cheering and clapping.
Breitbart News is live-blogging the testimony from Union Pub, a Washington bar, to capture “the reaction of the crowd of Washington elites.” Matthew Boyle, the right-wing site’s Washington political editor, reported “audible gasps of disappointment” when Mr. Comey declined to read aloud his prepared opening statement.
Mr. Boyle was skeptical of the significance of today’s hearing, calling it a “charade” and dismissing Mr. Comey’s statement as a “giant nothing-burger.” Breitbart’s updates can be read here, under the cheeky headline, “Covfefe Livewire: Comey Crazy Sweeps Washington.”