Director of the FBI Statement on President Trump
FBI Director James Comey appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee today and delivered a statement that reads like a finely written novel. Below are the important takeaways from Comey's written statement, as it appears on the Senate Intelligence Committee website (https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/os-jcomey-060817.pdf).
Trump does not seem to get it
The President made the request that Comey "get out" that Trump was not personally under investigation repeatedly, seemingly missing the gravity of the surrounding situation.
On the morning of April 11, the President called me and asked what I had done about his request that I “get out” that he is not personally under investigation.
The President is all over the map
You could've figured this one out from watching any number of Trump television appearances or debate performances. One of the central themes running through Comey's statement is the lack of cohesiveness of the President's thoughts.
The President began by asking me whether I wanted to stay on as FBI Director, which I found strange because he had already told me twice in earlier conversations that he hoped I would stay, and I had assured him that I intended to...A few moments later, the President said, “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.”
The President still thinks he can push people around like he did in his business days
Several of his statements read like an Atlantic City Casino owner rather than a President (oh wait...)
He then said, “I need loyalty.” I replied, “You will always get honesty from me.” He paused and then said, “That’s what I want, honest loyalty.” I paused, and then said, “You will get that from me.
President Trump did all but ask for the Flynn investigation to be dropped
While he didn't directly ask, Trump seemed to be asking Comey to drop the Flynn investigation.
The President then returned to the topic of Mike Flynn, saying, “He is a good guy and has been through a lot.” He repeated that Flynn hadn’t done anything wrong on his calls with the Russians, but had misled the Vice President.
He then said, “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.”
James Comey (or his team) has a future career as a novelist
I'll leave you with this last paragraph, that could be on the last page of a New York bestseller (The Boy on the Trump Train?)
*He said he would do that and added, “Because I have been very loyal to you, very loyal; we had that thing you know.” I did not reply or ask him what he meant by “that thing.” I said only that the way to handle it was to have the White House Counsel call the Acting Deputy Attorney General. He said that was what he would do and the call ended.
That was the last time I spoke with President Trump. *
In conclusion, this statement is more of what we've seen from Trump. Incompetence and unintelligible, but not incriminating.
Nothing Comey has said in his statement will lead to impeachment or anything of the sort (maybe just some big headlines on the front page of papers tomorrow). This is not to say the Q&A period will lead to more details emerging. For now, the statement is just a great read.