Trump to respond publicly to Comey’s testimony
Posted June 9, 2017 7:03 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WASHINGTON, DC. (NEWS 1130) – In explosive testimony yesterday before the US Senate Intelligence Committee, former FBI Director James Comey laid bare months of White House distrust in a highly anticipated hearing.
READ JAMES COMEY’S OPENING REMARKS
He accused the administration of spreading “lies” and bluntly asserted that President Donald Trump had fired him to interfere with an investigation of Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign. His gripping account of interactions with Trump underscored the discord that soured their relationship.
Comey portrayed Trump as dismissive of the FBI’s independence. He also made clear that he interpreted Trump’s request to end an investigation into his former national security adviser as an order coming from the president.
Comey also revealed that he’d orchestrated the public release of information about his private conversations with the president. He said it was an effort to further the investigation.
Now, 24-hours later, Trump will have his say.
He will take questions from reporters during a scheduled joint news conference this afternoon with visiting Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. He has already stated that Comey’s testimony represents “total and complete vindication.”
A Republican member of the Senate Intelligence committee says Congress should obtain any tapes Trump might have of his conversations with Comey.
Meantime, a senior Russian lawmaker has dismissed Comey’s testimony as insignificant. Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the information policy committee at the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, described it as a “big bubble,” adding that it “will not help Trump’s adversaries to start impeachment proceedings.”
Russian officials have vehemently denied any role in hacking attacks on the Democratic National Convention and voter-registration databases.
