US President Donald Trump punched back Friday against James Comey, accusing the ousted FBI director of lying about their private conversations — and saying he is “100 percent” willing to testify under oath.
Comey delivered scathing testimony a day earlier in a highly anticipated Senate hearing, saying Trump sought to derail a probe into onetime national security advisor Michael Flynn — at best, a political miscalculation, and at worst a criminal obstruction of justice.
Trump was addressing reporters at the White House for the first time since Comey's explosive appearance, in which he branded the president a liar and said he believed he was fired over his handling of the FBI probe into Russian election meddling.
“Yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction,” Trump said in reference to the twin controversies dogging his administration — accusations his aides colluded with the Russian effort to tilt the vote, and that he sought to block the related Flynn probe.
Trump lashed out at Comey, dubbing him a “leaker” for indirectly providing reporters with the contents of his memos summarizing their private conversations in the weeks before he was sacked. A person close to Trump's legal team has said a complaint would be filed with the Justice Department.
“I would be glad to tell him exactly what I just told you,” Trump said.
The White House has seized on Comey's confirmation that Trump personally was not under investigation over his ties to Russia to declare a victory of sorts.
The Republican president took to twitter earlier in the day, claiming “total and complete vindication.”
The Trump administration has also highlighted the fact Comey stopped short of accusing the president of obstructing justice — a potentially impeachable offense. The former FBI chief has said the decision was now in the hands of special counsel Mueller.
Questioned about Comey's central claim that Trump told him to lay off Flynn, the president responded: “I didn't say that.”
“And there would be nothing wrong if I did say it, according to everybody that I read today.”
