Trump seeks to backtrack on 2017 comments on Comey firing

[webfact]

Trump seeks to backtrack on 2017 comments on Comey firing

By Susan Heavey

 

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event at which he announced a "drug-free communities support program grant in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., August 29, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump sought to backtrack on comments last year in which he tied his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey to a probe into Russian election meddling, accusing NBC News on Thursday of "fudging" their interview, but offering no supporting evidence.

 

Trump made his accusation as the man who took over the federal Russia investigation from Comey, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, digs deeper into a probe that has already led to a series of indictments of former Trump aides.

 

Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017, a move that Comey said later was aimed at undercutting the probe.

 

The Trump administration said at the time of Comey's dismissal that the president had acted on the recommendation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and No. 2 Justice Department official Rod Rosenstein.

 

In an interview with NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt that aired two days after the firing, Trump accused Comey of being incompetent and noted the recommendation, but also raised the issue of the Russia investigation, saying he was thinking of "this Russia thing" when he fired him.

 

In a Twitter post on Thursday, Trump accused the news outlet and Holt, of "fudging my tape on Russia," but gave no evidence to back up his claim.

 

In addition to looking into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, which Moscow denies, Mueller is investigating any collusion with Russia by Trump's campaign and any attempt by the president to impede the probe.

 

The Comey firing could be central to a potential obstruction of justice case. Legal experts have said Mueller's team must weigh whether the president acted with an improper, or "corrupt," intent when he took actions such as firing Comey.

 

Trump has denied any collusion with Russia, or any obstruction of justice. He has said since the interview with Holt that he did not fire Comey over the federal probe.

 

Trump said in the Holt interview, "regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey knowing there was no good time to do it And in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself — I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won.”

 

Representatives for NBC News, part of Comcast Corp, declined to comment on Trump's tweets on Thursday.

 

Representatives for the White House did not respond to a question about Trump's accusation.

 

ATTACKS ON NEWS MEDIA

In the most dramatic day yet in the Russia investigation, federal prosecutors last week secured the conviction of Trump's former campaign manager for financial crimes and a plea agreement from the president's longtime attorney that included pleading guilty to campaign finance violations.

 

Trump, in a string of tweets last week, said he had nothing to hide from Mueller's probe.

 

Trump's tweets on Thursday were his latest attack on the news media. He has repeatedly called critical reports about him "fake news" and on Thursday he also called for the firing of CNN's president, Jeff Zucker.

 

Representatives for CNN, owned by AT&T, declined to comment.

 

U.S. news organizations have pushed back against the stream of criticism from Trump.

 

Federal authorities on Thursday charged a California man with threatening to kill Boston Globe employees for the newspaper's role leading a defense this month of press freedoms by hundreds of news organizations.

 

Shares of AT&T and Comcast did not move on the president's tweets.

 

(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and Ken Li in New York; Editing by Susan Thomas and Frances Kerry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-31

[Samui Bodoh]

"...U.S. President Donald Trump sought to backtrack on comments last year in which he tied his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey to a probe into Russian election meddling, accusing NBC News on Thursday of "fudging" their interview, but offering no supporting evidence..."

 

He just lies, all the time.

 

'The President of the United States is a serial liar'. I never, never thought that I would ever write those words. It is truly a sad thing to see what is happening to the US; I have always had disagreements and/or disputes over its words or actions, but never before have I felt such disrespect or contempt.

 

My sincere apologies to my American friends; I know that many (a majority!) did not vote for him, but he is the President of the US, not simply the President of those who voted for him.

 

I have said it before and (sadly) need to say it again;

 

Donald Trump is an ever-expanding cloud of toxic waste that defiles everything it touches.

 

God help us all.

 

[mtls2005]

Man, that was an impressive tweet storm Thursday morning. His Twitter Derangement Syndrome seems to manifest itself with increased regularity. I expect he'll start confessing to all sorts of crimes soon, and reveal where Jimmy Hoffa is buried.

 

He seems to be telling his clueless base that the Lester Holt confession was somehow "fudged"? What the heck does that mean? tRUmp supporters here please feel free to help us understand what's going on in his brain?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lungstib]

He is so disconnected from the truth that he has made the unbelievable a normal matter of everyday life. That he is still supported gives those of us on the outside a frightening view of American politics.

[mtls2005]

 

26 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

He is so disconnected from the truth

 

We're told he's playing 4-D chess, when in reality he's simply eating the checkers.

 

But I think that after he meets with Rudy Ghouliani they come up with some talking points, most of which seem bent on tearing down any potential Obstruction of Justice charges, and eliminating any witnesses (Bruce Ohr, who prosecuted the Russian Mob/Putin's comrades is the current target - see said tweet storm). 

 

 

[Nickymaster]

 

[Berkshire]

Trump will absolutely lie about anything and everything.  Many times he'll have plausible deniability, i.e., no tapes or videos of what he said.  But this is an incredible example of EVEN WHEN there is a video of him saying something, he denies it.  The most troubling aspect of this is that some/many of his supporters will believe him.  What the heck is wrong with these people????   

[MrLuckyThailand]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

but offering no supporting evidence

Does this man ever support any evidence of what he says? Makes one start thinking that he actually has none, ever.

[mtls2005]

Maybe he's trying to get ahead of some bombshell that will explode today?

 

He is acting like a caged-animal throwing his feces at everyone?

[Tug]

He is mentally ill he is trying to incite the deplorables to violence (anyone who truley believes his bs is deplorable) I do not take joy in saying that just lie after lie a very dangerous time for us all

[Berkshire]

3 hours ago, Lungstib said:

He is so disconnected from the truth that he has made the unbelievable a normal matter of everyday life. That he is still supported gives those of us on the outside a frightening view of American politics.

This "frightening view" of American politics is not hyperbole.  These Trump supporters are not only nutty, they're freakin dangerous.  Like this guy....

 

[(LOS ANGELES) — A Los Angeles man upset about The Boston Globe‘s coordinated editorial response to President Donald Trump’s attacks on the news media was arrested Thursday on charges he threatened to kill the newspaper’s journalists, who he called an “enemy of the people,” federal prosecutors said.]

 

http://time.com/5383632/donald-trump-editorial-death-threat/

[GalaxyMan]

2 hours ago, Berkshire said:

Trump will absolutely lie about anything and everything.  Many times he'll have plausible deniability, i.e., no tapes or videos of what he said.  But this is an incredible example of EVEN WHEN there is a video of him saying something, he denies it.  The most troubling aspect of this is that some/many of his supporters will believe him.  What the heck is wrong with these people????   

Actually, most of his supporters say they don't care, that the things he's done aren't important to them. And people wonder why we leave...

[GalaxyMan]

I highly recommend the book by Craig Unger, House of Trump, House of Putin, if you're interested in the Trump family's connections to the Russian mob/government (there is no real difference) going back 40 years. Let me know if you need to borrow a copy. I have it in any of the digital formats.

[spidermike007]

I think for most of us, who possess rational minds, and are relatively objective one thing is increasingly clear. This man is certifiably insane. He just does not possess a rational mind. He is incapable of behaving like an adult. His ego guides everything, from the most minor detail, to the major decisions and policies of this administration. He is a very dangerous man. The pressure of office, and the investigations, are making him increasingly unhinged. He is the very definition of an unstable non genius. Just the fact that he gave himself a grade of A+ tells us everything we need to know. Who does that? 

 

His backtracking is due to the fact that he has been advised that some of his statements may be incriminating. And they are. He is guilty as sin. Guilty of collusion, no doubt. But also guilty of countless felonies, throughout the course of his career, which the special investigator has the purview to investigate. Had this moron just stayed in his position as a property developer, he might have been able to continue fleecing families of their life fortunes, by not honoring his commitment, thereby resulting in 3,600 lawsuits, which is no doubt the most lawsuits any man has ever been involved in, in human history. He stole like a pathological madman, and most of his fortune was made by crippling others, financially. I think he got pleasure and glee from watching honest, hard working, earnest people go down in flames. That is who this man is. 

[johnnybangkok]

'Trump said in the Holt interview, "regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey knowing there was no good time to do it And in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself — I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won.”

Don't you love it when he still tries to blame the Democrats when he, a Republican President fired a Republican FBI Director and get's all righteous fury over his Republican Attorney General allowing his Republican deputy to assign a Republican former FBI Director to investigate him?

You just couldn't make this up.

 

Edited August 31, 2018 by johnnybangkok

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

U.S. President Donald Trump sought to backtrack on comments last year in which he tied his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey to a probe into Russian election meddling, accusing NBC News on Thursday of "fudging" their interview, but offering no supporting evidence.

Then he also needs to backtrack what he told Russian officials in the Oval Office on May 10, 2017:

“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Mr. Trump said, according to the document, which was read to The New York Times by an American official. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/trump-russia-comey.html

Maybe next he'll deny he even knew who the FBI Director was until just recently!

[newnative]

More fake truth from a pathological liar.

[DM07]

Tic...toc....tic...toc...tic...toc...tic....

[Redline]

He should backtrack to day 1

[dunroaming]

6 hours ago, Berkshire said:

Trump will absolutely lie about anything and everything.  Many times he'll have plausible deniability, i.e., no tapes or videos of what he said.  But this is an incredible example of EVEN WHEN there is a video of him saying something, he denies it.  The most troubling aspect of this is that some/many of his supporters will believe him.  What the heck is wrong with these people????   

Yes it is hard to understand how his supporters can keep track with the constant U-turns and contradictory lies.  They can't all be stupid enough to believe the constant rantings of an imbecile like Trump, can they?  

[Horace]

10 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

My sincere apologies to my American friends; I know that many (a majority!) did not vote for him, but he is the President of the US, not simply the President of those who voted for him.

 

And we're doing everything possible to get this criminal out of the Whitehouse.  I have a theory, and maybe it will be quickly shot down on this forum, but most of the people who voted for Trump, are not the kind of people that travel to Thailand or anywhere else for that matter.

 

I have not been back to the US in years and the last time I was back I was in New York and California.  I did not meet a single person who voted for Trump.  Not one.  I will be back shortly for a quick visit to America's "heartland".  Maybe I will actually meet a Trump supporter. 

[Silurian]

15 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump seeks to backtrack

...

 

He never backtracks. He just comes out with a newer "Truth" and his followers just pivot right along with him without even blinking.  Rudy is also good at releasing new "truths" without any coherent pattern. Just like those "choose your own adventure" books. This current WH administration has decided on a "choose your own reality" strategy.  When one truth doesn't work, just pick another one. Facts are malleable.