President Trump late Thursday tweeted that the newly released memos
written by former FBI Director James Comey “show clearly” no collusion
with Russia in 2016 and no obstruction into the investigation.
The memos, which were written by Comey about his
interaction with Trump, prove that the fired FBI director never felt
obstructed, GOP lawmakers said. Many Democrats claim that Trump tried to
hold up the FBI’s investigation into alleged collusion leading up to
the 2016 election.
“James Comey Memos just out show clearly that there was
NO COLLUSION and NO OBSTRUCTION. Also, he leaked classified
information. WOW! Will the Witch Hunt continue?” Trump tweeted.
The memos also showed that eight days after he was
sworn in as president, Trump told Comey during a one-on-one dinner at
the White House that he "needed loyalty and expected loyalty."
Comey wrote that he "did not reply, or even nod or
change my facial expression, which [Trump] noted because we came back to
it later." At a later point, Comey wrote that Trump told him directly,
"I need loyalty."
"I replied that he would always get honesty from me,"
said Comey. "[Trump] paused and said that's what he wants, 'honest
loyalty.' I replied, 'you will get that from me.'"
"It is possible we understood that phrase differently,"
Comey added as a parenthetical, "but I chose to understand it as
consistent with what I had said throughout the conversation: I will
serve the President with loyalty to the office, the country, and the
truth. I decided it would not be productive to push the subject
further."
More than two months later, on March 30, Comey wrote
that Trump had called him and pressed the FBI director to make public
that the president was not under investigation over contacts between
Russian officials and members of his campaign.
"I reminded [Trump] that I had told him we weren't
investigating him and that I had told the Congressional leadership the
same thing," Comey wrote. "[Trump] said it would be great if that could
get out and several times asked me to find a way to get that out."
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte,
R-Va.; House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.; and House
Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said in a joint
statement that Comey's memos "show the President made clear he wanted
allegations of collusion, coordination, and conspiracy between his
campaign and Russia fully investigated.
"The memos also made clear the 'cloud' President Trump
wanted lifted was not the Russian interference in the 2016 election
cloud, rather it was the salacious, unsubstantiated allegations related
to personal conduct leveled in the dossier" compiled by ex-British spy
Christopher Steele, they added.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.,
disagreed, tweeting that the memos "are further proof of [Trump's]
contempt for the rule of law.
"His attempts to intimidate, circumvent the law &
undermine integrity of law enforcement investigations demand immediate
action to protect the Mueller investigation," she said.
The assurance from Comey that Trump was not being
investigated seemed to have weighed on the president's mind as Michael
Flynn was fired as national security adviser after misleading Vice
President Mike Pence about contacts with the Russian envoy to the U.S.
Trump told Comey during their March 30 conversation
that "if there was 'some satellite' (NOTE: I took this to mean some
associate of his or his campaign) that did something, it would be good
to find that out, but that he hadn't done anything," Comey recalled.
Comey said Trump restated at the end of their
conversation that the president "hoped I could find a way to get out
that he wasn't being investigated.
"I told him I would see what we could do and that we
would do the work well and as quickly as we could," Comey said he
responded.
Goodlatte, Gowdy and Nunes noted that Comey "never
wrote that he felt obstructed or threatened," adding that while Comey
"went to great lengths to set dining room scenes, discuss height
requirements, describe the multiple times he felt complimented, and
myriad other extraneous facts, he never once mentioned the most relevant
fact of all, which was whether he felt obstructed in his
investigation."
Trump called Comey again on April 11 to ask "if I did
what he had asked last time -- getting out that he personally is not
under investigation." Comey says he advised Trump to have White House
Counsel Don McGahn call then-Acting Attorney General Dana Boente to
request that such a statement be made.
After Trump said he would do so, Comey said the
president told him, "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,'" wrote Comey, who added that as Trump ended the call, the
president told him he was "doing a great job and wished me well."
During their Jan. 27 dinner in the Green Room, Comey
wrote that Trump "thought maybe he should ask me to investigate"
salacious allegations "to prove [the dossier] was a lie."
Comey wrote that "it was up to [Trump], but I wouldn't
want to create a narrative that we were investigating him, because we
are not and I worried such a thing would be misconstrued."
"My sense is that [the president] was focused on the
personal piece [of the dossier]," Comey told MSNBC Thursday night. "He
would bring it up to me repeatedly."