As can be the case with fired employees, Comey came across as bitter and defensive about his dismissal. He claimed the president told him repeatedly he was doing a “great job,” and clearly had no indication the firing was imminent.
The shifting explanations confused me and increasingly concerned me,” he said. “They confused me because the president and I had multiple conversations about my job, both before and after he took office, and he had repeatedly told me I was doing a great job, and he hoped I would stay.”
In his testimony, Comey revealed he was relying on media reports that President Trump said Comey’s removal was relieving pressure from the Russia investigation. Apparently, the former FBI director believes everything he reads in the papers.
Comey further accused President Trump and his administration of “defaming” him and the FBI, calling the administration statements “lies.”
The administration then chose to defame me and more importantly the FBI, by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, and that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader,” Comey said. “Those were lies, plain and simple.”
The former director then lamented the fact that the abrupt nature of his firing while he was out of Washington D.C. deprived him of the opportunity to say goodbye to his colleagues. He did acknowledge the FBI will move forward without him and remain independent.
Wrapping up his pity party, Comey then had to admit he couldn’t confirm any attempt by President Trump to obstruct the investigation into Michael Flynn’s contacts with Russian government officials.
Gen. Flynn at that point in time was in legal jeopardy,” Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. “There was an open FBI investigation into his statements to Russian contacts and the contacts themselves, and so that was my assessment at that time.
I don’t think it’s for me to say if the conversation with the president was an effort to obstruct. I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning.”
His timidity on the subject no doubt dashed the hopes of Democrats that they could squeeze a charge of obstruction of justice out of Comey.
The problem is if, in fact, President Trump directly tried to obstruct the investigation during a conversation with Comey, the then FBI director would’ve had a duty to immediately report the effort and take action.
In earlier congressional testimony, Comey indicated no such effort was made. So alleging something to the contrary today would’ve put Comey in jeopardy of criminal prosecution for perjury.
All Comey could hope to do today was to raise an issue over the president’s leadership style and attack his credibility. It remains to be seen how the public will react to a hearing that thus far has proved to be a raw steak with no sizzle.
The hearing comes on the heels of Comey’s release of a written statement yesterday that served to dash Democrat hopes of a bombshell revelation today. It asserted that the president asked him to ease up on the Flynn investigation, but did not ask for it to be ended.
Although Comey said he believes the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election, he remains confident that no votes were altered as a result of the interference.
By the time I left as director, I had seen no indication of that whatsoever,” he said.”
What remains today is for senators to posture and carry out the usual Kabuki dance that marks these types of hearings.
Source: Washington Examiner, Washington Examiner
i dont think so seems to me uyou are the lier
You defamed yourself long before President Trump was in office.