Now that Washington watchers have had time to digest the memos written by former FBI director James Comey, what do the written notes say about the relationship between the former director and President Donald Trump?
Comey gave the memos to Congress Thursday. They describe conversations between the president and himself from Jan. 7, 2017 through April 11, 2017, CNN reported.
The memos are what led to Robert Mueller's appointment to special counsel investigating Russia's ties to influence the 2016 presidential election, CNN reported.
The New York Times reported that the memorandums show Comey saying Trump was distracted by focusing on political rivals and that he was afraid that bureaucrats and government officials were trying to undermine him.
Click here to read the memos, via the Washington Post.
Some of the highlights from the memos according to CNN:
- Jan. 7: Trump was adamant that "There were no prostitutes; there were never prostitutes" during a 2013 trip to Moscow.
- Jan. 27: Trump tells Comey that "The hookers thing is nonsense," but later "Putin had told him, 'We have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world.'" Trump also told Comey during the same day that he had "serious reservations" about Flynn's judgement.
- Feb. 8: Comey wrote about a meeting with Reince Priebus, White House chief of staff at the time, who asked Comey if the discussion was a "private conversation" then asked Comey, "Do you have a FISA order on Mike Flynn?"
- March 30: Trump said he would have won Obamacare repeal if there wasn't a cloud of the Russian investigation.
- April 11: Trump tells Comey that he has been loyal to the former FBI director, "I have been very loyal to you, very loyal, we had that thing, you know." CNN reported that the conversation about loyalty was in reference to his request for loyalty from those under him that he requested before the inauguration. Comey told the then president-elect that he would give "honesty." Trump responded "honest loyalty."
In another memo, one from Jan. 28, Comey said that Trump reprimanded Flynn for not scheduling a return call from a head of state who was offering congratulations for his election win. "In telling the story, the President pointed his fingers at his head and said, 'the guy has serious judgment issues,'" Comey wrote in the memo, but Comey admitted he did not say anything at the time of Trump's statement, the Washington Post reported.
Trump disagrees with Comey’s recount of what was discussed, and outlined, in the memos. He took to his usual platform of Twitter to state his displeasure with the memos, continuing to call the Mueller investigation a “witch hunt.”
He also attacked Comey over the director’s recently published book.
Credit: Susan Walsh
Credit: Susan Walsh
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