President Trump said through his lawyer Wednesday that he “felt vindicated” by former FBI Director James Comey’s prepared testimony released ahead of his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday.
“The President is pleased that Mr. Comey has finally publicly confirmed his private reports that the President was not under investigation in any Russian probe,” Trump’s outside lawyer Marc Kasowitz said in a statement. “The President feels completely and totally vindicated. He is eager to continue to move forward with his agenda.”
Statement from Trump’s lawyer on Comey's prepared testimony: “The president feels completely and totally vindicated” pic.twitter.com/67leHQY46D
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 7, 2017
"I discussed with the FBI’s leadership team whether I should be prepared to assure President-Elect Trump that we were not investigating him personally," Comey recounts in his prepared statements. "That was true; we did not have an open counter-intelligence case on him. We agreed I should do so if circumstances warranted. During our one-on-one meeting at Trump Tower, based on President-Elect Trump’s reaction to the briefing and without him directly asking the question, I offered that assurance."
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While Trump may be pleased that Comey has confirmed he is not under investigation in the Russia probe, Comey’s statement also says that Trump told him he hoped he could “let go” of the FBI’s investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. The statement also featured an exchange in which Trump seemed to ask for Comey’s loyalty.
These and other details of Comey's testimony will be under intense scrutiny by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle Thursday.
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