TRUMP VS. COMEY ON THEIR PRIVATE MEETINGS
In the weeks leading up to his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, President Trump met with Comey on at least two occasions and discussed the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign. But Trump’s version of what was said at those private meetings is at odds with the accounts offered by Comey and those close to him:
The two met for dinner at the White House on Jan. 27. Trump said he thinks Comey “asked for the dinner” because “he wanted to stay on” as FBI director. But the former director of national intelligence said he was told by Comey that Trump requested the meeting, and Comey seemed “uneasy with it.”
At the dinner, the president allegedly asked Comey to pledge loyalty to him, according to a New York Times story that quoted “several people close to” Comey. Trump denied that account: “No. No, I didn’t. But I don’t think it would be a bad question to ask.”
Trump said Comey told him at that dinner and on two other occasions that he was not under investigation. Comey’s associates denied that. “That is literally farcical,” one of Comey’s associates told The Wall Street Journal.
Trump said he knows he is not under investigation because a person under investigation is “giving all sorts of documents.” But a person could be under federal investigation without even knowing about it, a former federal prosecutor said.
uOn Feb. 14, Trump allegedly asked Comey to drop the FBI investigation of Michael Flynn, who had resigned a day earlier as Trump’s national security adviser. That account is based on a memo Comey wrote of the meeting, according to the Times. But the White House said the memo “is not a truthful or accurate portrayal” of their conversation.
Comey is expected to testify before Congress at some point in the near fu- ture. His testimony and the continuing work of the House and Senate intelligence committees might help clear up these conflicting accounts.
In a May 11 interview with NBC, Trump said Comey told him on three occasions that he was not under investigation.
“I actually asked him, yes. I said, ‘ If it’s possible, would you let me know am I under investigation?’ He said, ‘ You are not under investigation,’ ” Trump said.
Comey’s associates — speaking anonymously — dispute that. They told The Wall Street Journal that doing so would violate department policies.
The notion of a loyalty pledge also offers differing accounts of a private conversation between Trump and Comey.
The Comey version comes via “several people close to” Comey who relayed — anonymously — to The New York Times that during a private dinner a week after Trump was sworn into office, the president asked Comey to pledge loyalty to him.
Trump and the White House communications staff have denied that.
“We don’t believe this to be an accurate account,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the deputy press secretary. “The integrity of our law enforcement agencies and their leadership is of the utmost im- portance to President Trump.”
In a Fox News interview, Trump also denied that he asked for Comey’s loyalty, “but I don’t think it would be a bad question to ask.”
After the Times story was published, Trump suggested, via Twitter, that there might be a recording of their conversation.
However, White House press secretary Sean Spicer has refused to answer whether Trump has such recordings. In his Fox News interview, Trump said: “Well, that I can’t talk about. I won’t talk about that.”
On May 16, The New York Times reported that Trump asked Comey at a private meeting Feb. 14 to drop the agency’s investigation of Flynn, who had submitted his resignation the day before.
The story was based on a memo that Comey wrote immediately after the meeting.
According to the Times, the memo says Trump told Comey: “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
The White House released a statement on background stating that the reported memo “is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the President and Mr. Comey.”
The existence and content of the memo has since been confirmed by several other news outlets. We should note, though, that reporters haven’t seen the memo.
The New York Times story said that “one of Mr. Comey’s associates read parts of it to a Times reporter.”
But we may soon see that memo and others kept by Comey documenting his communications with Trump.
On May 16, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, wrote a letter to Andrew McCabe, the acting director of the FBI, referencing the story and saying: “If true, these memoranda raise questions as to whether the President attempted to influence or impede the FBI’s investigation as it relates to Lt. Gen. Flynn.”