Trump defamed me with his lies
President could face impeachment following shock testimony by sacked FBI chief
SACKED FBI boss James Comey has lashed Donald Trump and his aides, accusing them of defaming him and lying to America.
In his eagerly awaited televised testimony to a Senate committee, the ex-intelligence chief said he lost his job because of his investigation into alleged Russian manipulation of the US election.
And he said he believed Trump had directed him to drop the probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Although Comey did not directly accuse the president of wrongdoing, his dramatic two-hour testimony is certain to increase pressure for Trump to be impeached.
Ladbrokes were yesterday offering 4-7 on the president being impeached or resigning before the end of his first term.
Testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington, Comey said: “Although the law requires no reason at all to fire an FBI director, the administration then chose to defame me and, more importantly, the FBI by saying that the organisation was in disarray, poorly led and that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader.
“Those were lies, plain and simple. And I am so sorry that the FBI workforce had to hear them and I am so sorry that the American people were told them.”
The White House immediately released a statement saying: “The president is not a liar.”
Trump watched in the White House dining room with legal teams and close advisers as Comey gave his evidence.
The ex-FBI boss confirmed Trump was not being investigated personally while he was in charge but he was careful to say that may no longer be the case.
Asked whether he believed Trump colluded with the Russians, he replied: “It is a question I don’t think I should answer in an open setting.”
Comey told the committee he recorded all the meetings in writing immediately after his dealings with the president because he had a “gut feeling” Trump might lie about what was said.
In a written statement before the hearing, Comey said that a week
after the president’s inauguration in January, he was summoned to the White House for a one-on-one dinner.
Trump asked whether Comey would promise his allegiance to him.
The FBI director refused, saying instead he would always be honest with the president.
Trump asked if it would be “honest loyalty”, to which the FBI director said: “You will have that.”
On February 14, Comey was again summoned to the White House where, after ensuring no one else was in the room, Trump asked him to stop the investigation into Flynn’s secret meetings with Russian officials.
Comey told senators he was taken aback when the president told Attorney General Jeff Sessions, White House adviser Jared Kushner and others to leave before he brought up Flynn.
“Why did he kick everyone out of the Oval Office?” Comey asked. “That, to me, as an investigator, is a very significant fact.”
The ex-FBI chief also said that when Trump told him he “hoped” the Flynn matter could be settled, a phrase out of ancient English history came to mind.
“It rings in my ears of, ‘Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?’,” Comey said, referring to the words purportedly said by King Henry II about Thomas Becket in the 12th century.
Asked why he didn’t tell Trump this was wrong, Comey responded, “Maybe if I was stronger I would have.”
In his written testimony, Comey said: “I don’t think it’s for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct. I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning. But that’s a conclusion I’m sure the special counsel will work towards, to try and understand what the intention was there and whether that’s an offence.”
Comey said he passed on details of his meetings with Trump to spark a special investigation.
After he was sacked, the president had goaded him on Twitter, calling him a “showboat” and a “grandstander” before adding: “Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press.”
Yesterday, Comey described how details of his private memos about his one-on-one conversations came to light.
He said: “There might be a tape. And my judgment was, I needed to get that out into the public square. And so I asked a friend of mine to share the content of that memo with a reporter.”
Questioned about Trump’s public statement, the former director replied: “Lordy, I hope there are tapes”, indicating it would back up his testimony.
Last night, Trump’s personal lawyer disputed Comey’s testimony and said the hearing established the president was not being investigated for collusion or obstruction.