Trump, on the offensive, calls Comey an FBI ‘leaker’

President implies EX-FBI director perjured himself before Senate over sacking and probe into Russia links

‘Despite so many false statements and lies, total vindication ...and WOW, Comey is a leaker’

DONALD TRUMP has accused former FBI director James Comey of lying under oath when he told a Senate committee that the president had asked him to drop an investigation into a key aide.

But the president also claimed that parts of Mr Comey’s evidence to the Senate intelligence committee will serve to clear him of allegations that he obstructed justice and colluded with Russian officials.

“We were very, very happy,” Mr Trump said. “James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said and some of the things that he said just weren’t true.”

He denied asking Mr Comey to back off from the FBI probe into his national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was later fired over lying about his contacts with Russian officials. “I didn’t say that,” Mr Trump insisted.

The president’s intervention means the American public is being offered two different accounts of the same meetings, further obscuring the core issue: did any Trump campaign staff collude with Russian officials in their attempts to swing the election last year.

Mr Trump again refused to say if key conversations with Mr Comey were recorded but insisted he is “100 per cent” willing to testify, under oath, to the special counsel. And he insisted the never asked Mr Comey to swear personal loyalty, again contradicting the EXFBI chief ’s sworn testimony.

Mr Comey’s appearance in the Senate on Thursday was startling viewing. He described a President frustrated at the way allegations of collusion with Russian hackers to swing the election were hanging over his White House.

He detailed how the president asked him to drop his inquiry into Mr Flynn and said he believed he was fired last month because of the inquiry.

Mr Trump kept an uncharacteristic silence on social media for almost 24 hours but that Twitter silence was broken yesterday morning. “Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication... and WOW, Comey is a leaker,” he wrote.

Mr Trump’s team seized on Mr Comey admitting he passed information to The New York Times about the Flynn conversation.

The committee last night asked White House lawyers if there were any tape recordings or memos of Mr Comey’s conversations with Mr Trump.

Meanwhile Marc Kasowitz, Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, is expected to file a complaint with the Justice Department over Mr Comey’s conduct and whether he broke the rules by passing on his notes from private conversations with the president.

The issue has been a difficult distraction ever since intelligence agencies said they believed the Kremlin ordered cyber attacks to help sway the election.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, said Mr Comey’s evidence showed Mr Trump’s had acted “beyond the pale”.

“There’s no question he abused power,” said Ms Pelosi. “Whether he obstructed justice, remains for the facts to come forward.”