Comey Written Testimony Released

The former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, has written seven pages of testimony detailing how President Trump asked him to end the investigation into the administration’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his connections to Russia. Comey is set to give his testimony in front of Congress this Thursday.

The testimony has been the first detailed account given by Comey about his interactions with the President, interactions which he could be so detailed about because he created memos after each time he interacted with Mr. Trump. Comey states, “to ensure accuracy, I began to type it on a laptop in an F.B.I. vehicle outside Trump Tower the moment I walked out of the meeting. Creating written records immediately after one-on-one conversations with Mr. Trump was my practice from that point forward.” Comey also notes that he met with President Barack Obama twice during his presidency but did not write memos for these interactions.

Comey first met then president-elect Trump on January 6 where the F.B.I. assured Mr. Trump that he was not currently under investigation and also informed him that a British spy had informed the F.B.I. of allegations that the Russian government had collected against Mr. Trump.

Comey and Mr. Trump discussed these allegations over dinner once Mr. Trump was in office. These unsubstantiated allegations included the existence of videotapes of Mr. Trump’s encounters with prostitutes in Moscow. President Trump “expressed his disgust for the allegations and strongly denied them,” according to Mr. Comey. Trump then told the F.B.I. director that he was considering asking him to investigate the allegations and prove that they did not happen. Comey responded by advising the President to rethink the decision as it “might create a narrative that we were investigating him personally, which we weren’t, and because it was very difficult to prove a negative.”

Comey recounts a phone call between himself and Mr. Trump on March 30 where the president voiced concern about the Flynn investigation’s “cloud” over his presidency which was interfering with his ability to govern. Trump inquired on what could be done to lift such a cloud.  Mr. Comey told President Trump that although he was not currently being investigated, he did not want to make a formal announcement that Mr. Trump had nothing to do with the Russia investigation as the investigation was not complete and the status of his involvement could change. Comey also recounts that President Trump questioned whether Mr. Comey, four years into a 10-year term as F.B.I. director, wanted to keep his job and seemed to try to intimidate the director by making comments on how many people would like to have his job.

The last time Mr. Comey recounts talking to President Trump was on the phone on April 11. President Trump called Mr. Comey to ask when Comey planned to issue a statement clearing the President of involvement in the Russian investigation. Comey told Mr. Trump that he had sent the request to the Justice Department and was waiting for a response.

On May 9, James B. Comey was fired from his position as F.B.I. director by President Trump who cited the mishandling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation as his reasoning.

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