Politics

Trump's lawyer says Comey lied about Trump's demand for loyalty

Key Points
  • President Donald Trump's personal attorney says former FBI Director James Comey lied during his testimony Thursday about at least two statements that the president made
  • He also refutes allegations that were not reported by major news outlets
Trump lawyer highlights Comey's leak of 'privileged communications'
VIDEO0:0000:00
Trump lawyer highlights Comey's leak of 'privileged communications'

President Donald Trump's outside counsel said Thursday that James Comey is lying.

Marc Kasowitz claimed the president never demanded loyalty from Comey as the former FBI director alleged in Senate testimony.

In a statement to reporters Thursday afternoon, Kasowitz pushed back on various points of Comey's dramatic, under oath testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Though he undermined Comey's credibility on some assertions, he touted other points of Comey's testimony that backed up what Trump has said.

Comey testified that, at a dinner in January, Trump said, "I need loyalty. I expect loyalty." Kasowitz says Trump "never told" Comey that in "form" or "substance."

He also denied that Trump said he hoped Comey could "let go" a probe into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Trump never "directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone," Kasowitz said.

Comey testified that he took Trump's statement "as a direction" to drop the investigation but did not do so. "I hope you can let this go," Comey recalled Trump saying.

Disputing things that were never said

Kasowitz also declared that Comey "admitted that there is no evidence" of something he has never claimed in the first place — that Russia successfully changed votes in the U.S. election.

Trump and his surrogates repeatedly have disputed the notion that Russia altered the election tally in his favor, despite that no major news organizations have reported such a claim.

At the top of his statement, he also stressed that Comey "publicly confirmed" that he told Trump the president was not personally under investigation.

Kasowitz alleged that "numerous false press accounts" said that Trump was under investigation personally. That was never widely reported.

Comey memos

Comey's detailed testimony was based on notes he took after his one-on-one conversations with Trump. Comey said he made written records because he was concerned Trump would "lie" about their meetings.

Comey admitted Thursday that he shared his record of an explosive conversation with Trump, thinking it may "prompt the appointment of a special counsel" to the FBI's Russia investigation. Comey said he shared the contents of a memo about the Flynn conversation with a friend, who told a reporter about it, after Trump tweeted suggesting there were "tapes" of their conversations.

Kasowitz claimed that it was an "unauthorized disclosure of privileged information" that "appears to be entirely retaliatory."

"We will leave it the appropriate authorities to determine whether this (sic) leaks should be investigated along with all those others being investigated," his prepared statement said.

Watch: Full Comey testimony

Watch former FBI director James Comey's full testimony before Congress
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Watch former FBI director James Comey's full testimony before Congress