The Comey Testimony: Trump Demands Loyalty

James Comey, prepared statementThe President called me at lunchtime that day and invited me to dinner that evening. He said he was going to invite my whole family, but decided to have just me this time. I replied that it was very kind of him, and that I looked forward to it.

ComeyThe dinner was in the Green Room at the White House. The President was seated at the table. I sat down across from him. The first thing he said was that he wanted to know whether I wanted to stay on as FBI Director.

Donald TrumpI need loyalty. I expect loyalty.

Comey, in his statementI didn't move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence.

ComeyI replied that I would always be honest with him. He paused and then said, "Honest loyalty." I said, "You will get that from me."

Senator Richard BurrDirector Comey, you described the January 27 dinner. The President said, "I need loyalty. I expect loyalty." How did you interpret that?

ComeyI interpreted it as an effort to establish a patronage relationship. The FBI Director is not a political appointee in the traditional sense. The position has a 10-year term for a reason: to insulate the Director from political pressure. I believed the President was asking me to be loyal to him personally, rather than to the Constitution and the rule of law.

BurrAnd your response was, "Honest loyalty"?

ComeyYes. I was trying to find a way to say that I would be honest with him, which is what I believe the American people expect from the FBI Director, without agreeing to something that I thought was inappropriate.

BurrDid you ever tell the President that you were not going to be loyal to him?

ComeyNo, Senator. I didn't. I should have been stronger. I should have said, "Mr. President, the FBI Director does not pledge loyalty to the President. The FBI Director is loyal to the Constitution." I didn't. I was weak. I was trying to navigate a very difficult situation.

Comey, prepared statementThe President met with me alone in the Oval Office. He began by telling me he wanted to talk about Mike Flynn. He said that Flynn had done nothing wrong, but that he had to let him go because he had misled the Vice President.

TrumpI hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.

Comey, in his statementI replied only that, "I agree he is a good guy." I did not say I would let it go. I understood the President to be asking me to drop the investigation into Flynn. I considered it a direction. It was a very disturbing thing to hear.

Senator Angus KingDirector Comey, when the President said, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," did you take that as a directive?

ComeyYes. I took it as a direction. It was the President of the United States, alone in the Oval Office, telling me to drop an investigation into his former National Security Advisor. I took it as a direction.

KingAnd if the President of the United States directs the FBI Director to drop an investigation, is that obstruction of justice?

ComeySenator, I'm not going to characterize it in legal terms. I'm not the prosecutor. I'm a witness. But I will say that I took it as a direction, and I found it very disturbing. I immediately documented it in a memo.

KingWhy did you write a memo?

ComeyI wrote a memo because I was concerned that the President of the United States was attempting to influence an ongoing FBI investigation. I wanted to create a contemporaneous record. I wrote the memo immediately after the meeting, in my FBI vehicle outside the White House.

Comey, prepared statementThe President called me on March 30. He described the Russia investigation as "a cloud" that was impairing his ability to act on behalf of the country. He asked what we could do to "lift the cloud."

TrumpI have not been involved with hookers in Russia. Can you say that? Can you say that I am not under investigation?

ComeyI replied that I had told the congressional leadership that the FBI was not investigating him personally, and that I had told him that before. He repeatedly asked me to get that information out. I told him that I would have the Deputy Attorney General contact him about the best way to do that.

Comey, at the hearingI did not tell the President that he was not under investigation, because that is not something I can say. The FBI does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations. What I told the congressional leadership was a narrow statement about the specific investigation into Russian interference in the election. That could change. That could change at any time. And I was not going to make a public statement that could be proven false later.

Senator Ron WydenDirector Comey, after you were fired, you arranged for a friend to share the contents of your memos with the press. Why did you do that?

ComeyI asked a friend of mine, a professor at Columbia Law School, to share the content of the memos with a reporter. I did that because I believed that the American people needed to know what had happened. The President had fired me. He had told a variety of stories about why. I wanted the truth to come out. I thought that if the memos became public, it would prompt the appointment of a special counsel.

WydenAnd did it?

ComeyThe next day, the Deputy Attorney General appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel. I don't know if my action was the cause. But that was the sequence.

WydenYou were the FBI Director. You leaked a memo to the press. Do you have any regrets about that?

ComeySenator, I don't consider it a leak. I considered it sharing my personal recollection with a friend, who then shared it with a reporter. I was a private citizen at that point. I had been fired. I thought it was the right thing to do. I don't regret it.