Trump says Comey told him, including over dinner, he wasn't under investigation
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said FBI Director James Comey told him three times he was not under investigation - once at a White House dinner when Comey was seeking to remain in his post and in two phone calls, including one initiated by the president, according to an interview with NBC News.
In the interview, Trump made clear it was his idea to fire the FBI director earlier this week. Trump fired Comey on Tuesday, after receiving a memorandum from the deputy attorney general criticizing Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
"Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey,'' said Trump.
The president said Comey told him on three occasions that the FBI was not investigating him, offering more details of an assertion he made in his letter dismissing the FBI director.
"I said, 'If it's possible would you let me know am I under investigation?' He said, 'You are not under investigation,' '' Trump said.
Trump said Comey came to eat dinner with him at the White House. "I think he asked for the dinner ... And he wanted to stay on as the FBI, and I said I'll, you know, consider and see what happens ... But we had a very nice dinner, and at that time he told me, 'You are not under investigation.' ''
The exchange as described by the president is remarkable in that he said the FBI director was discussing an ongoing investigation with the president - something Justice Department policy generally prohibits - at the same time Comey was seeking assurances he would remain in his job. FBI directors are appointed for 10-year terms, and Comey had been on the job less than four years. A president may fire an FBI director at any time for any reason, but it is very rare to do so because of the potential political blowback if the White House is perceived to be interfering with federal law enforcement work.
Comey's temporary replacement, Andrew McCabe, was asked at a Senate hearing Thursday morning about talks between the FBI director and the president, and McCabe would not discuss it. Later in his testimony, McCabe denied that he had ever discussed the Russia investigation with anyone at the White House.
The memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said Comey's public comments about the Hillary Clinton email investigation - a case in which no charges were filed - hurt the reputation of the FBI and affected the Justice Department. The Rosenstein memo did not mention the ongoing Russia investigation involving Trump associates.
Officials have said the president's dissatisfaction with Comey had been building for months. Trump administration officials have pressed the FBI to more vigorously pursue leaks and to help them rebut accusations related to the ongoing Russia probe, these officials said.
In the interview, Trump said he fired Comey because he had mismanaged the FBI and was an attention-seeker.
"Look, he's a showboat, he's a grandstander," the president said. "The FBI has been in turmoil. You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil, less than a year ago. It hasn't recovered from that."
Trump's comments seemed to refer to a period shortly before the election when law enforcement officials described growing internal dissent within the FBI, principally over Comey's handling of Clinton-related investigations, and his public comments about the case.
McCabe, the current acting director, conceded in Thursday's testimony that some in the agency were unhappy at the time, but he said Comey now enjoys wide support from the rank and file within the FBI.
"The vast majority of FBI employees enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey,'' McCabe said.