Trump declares ‘total vindication’ in tweet on Comey

Mr Trump refrained from tweeting all day Thursday — even as Mr Comey accused his administration of spreading “lies” and suggested the president had attempted to influence the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election - but struck back early the next morning.

Former FBI director James Comey being sworn in before testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill on June 8, 2017 in Washington, DC. But President Donald Trump, dismShow more

WASHINGTON // Claiming “total and complete vindication”, US president Donald Trump broke his Twitter silence on Friday morning to weigh in on fired FBI director James Comey’s closely watched testimony.

Mr Trump refrained from tweeting all day Thursday — even as Mr Comey accused his administration of spreading “lies” and suggested the president had attempted to influence the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. But early on Friday morning, the president struck back.

“Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication,” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter, suggesting that Mr Comey, who was under oath at the hearing, had committed perjury.

Mr Trump also seized on Mr Comey’s revelation that he had directed a friend to release memos documenting his conversations with the president to a reporter.

“ ... and WOW, Comey is a leaker!” Mr Trump wrote.

He also retweeted a comment from attorney Alan Dershowitz, who had written: “We should stop talking about obstruction of justice. No plausible case. We must distinguish crimes from “political” sins.”

Mr Trump had stayed unusually quiet on Thursday, refraining from weighing in on the testimony gripping the country both on Twitter and at several public appearances. Instead, Mr Trump let his lawyer do the talking for him.

Mr Comey’s testimony is certain to dominate the question-and-answer session when Mr Trump faces the press at the White House later on Friday in a joint news conference with Romania’s president.

In his first congressional appearance since being abruptly fired by Mr Trump last month, Mr Comey detailed months of distrust of the president and bluntly asserted that the president had fired him to interfere with the probe of Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign.

He said that he had carefully documented his interactions with Mr Trump because he worried the president would misrepresent them, and accused the administration of spreading “lies, plain and simple” about the reasons for his firing.

Mr Comey’s testimony underscored the discord that had soured their relationship. He painted Mr Trump as a chief executive dismissive of the FBI’s independence and made clear that he interpreted Mr Trump’s request to end an investigation into the former national security adviser as an order coming from the president.

Mr Comey also revealed that he had orchestrated the release of information about his private conversations with the president in an effort to further the investigation.

Mr Trump’s private lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, seized on the admission, casting the former FBI director as one of the “leakers” set on undermining the Trump administration.

The lawyer is expected to file a complaint with the justice department inspector general about the revelation next week, according to a person close to the legal team.

Mr Kasowitz also maintained that the testimony made clear that Mr Trump “never, in form or substance, directed or suggested that Mr Comey stop investigating anyone”.

While Mr Trump’s staunchest supporters have tried to paint Mr Comey’s testimony as vindication for the president, few Republicans who do not work for Trump have stepped in to defend the president’s version of his contacts with the former FBI chief.

Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican, said Congress needed to obtain any tapes the president might have of his dealings with the former FBI director. She called Mr Comey an “honourable individual”.

“I found him to be credible, candid and thorough,” Mrs Collins said.

Mrs Collins, a member of the senate intelligence committee, which is investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, said Mr Comey’s motivation “may have been a good one”. But, she said, he was wrong to leak his notes to the public and should have given that document to her panel.

* Associated Press