James B. Comey Statement
James B. Comey Statement
James B. Comey Statement
James B. Comey
June 8, 2017
January 6 Briefing
Because the nature of the hostile foreign nation is well known, counter-
intelligence investigations tend to be centered on individuals the FBI suspects to
be witting or unwitting agents of that foreign power. When the FBI develops
reason to believe an American has been targeted for recruitment by a foreign
power or is covertly acting as an agent of the foreign power, the FBI will open an
investigation on that American and use legal authorities to try to learn more about
the nature of any relationship with the foreign power so it can be disrupted.
In that context, prior to the January 6 meeting, I discussed with the FBIs
leadership team whether I should be prepared to assure President-Elect Trump that
we were not investigating him personally. 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 Trumps reaction to the briefing and without him directly asking the
question, I offered that assurance.
January 27 Dinner
2
invited me to dinner that night, saying he was going to invite my whole family, but
decided to have just me this time, with the whole family coming the next time. It
was unclear from the conversation who else would be at the dinner, although I
assumed there would be others.
It turned out to be just the two of us, seated at a small oval table in the
center of the Green Room. Two Navy stewards waited on us, only entering the
room to serve food and drinks.
My instincts told me that the one-on-one setting, and the pretense that this
was our first discussion about my position, meant the dinner was, at least in part,
an effort to have me ask for my job and create some sort of patronage relationship.
That concerned me greatly, given the FBIs traditionally independent status in the
executive branch.
I replied that I loved my work and intended to stay and serve out my ten-
year term as Director. And then, because the set-up made me uneasy, I added that
I was not reliable in the way politicians use that word, but he could always count
on me to tell him the truth. I added that I was not on anybodys side politically
and could not be counted on in the traditional political sense, a stance I said was in
his best interest as the President.
A few moments later, the President said, I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.
I didnt move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the
awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence. The
conversation then moved on, but he returned to the subject near the end of our
dinner.
At one point, I explained why it was so important that the FBI and the
Department of Justice be independent of the White House. I said it was a paradox:
Throughout history, some Presidents have decided that because problems come
from Justice, they should try to hold the Department close. But blurring those
boundaries ultimately makes the problems worse by undermining public trust in
the institutions and their work.
Near the end of our dinner, the President returned to the subject of my job,
saying he was very glad I wanted to stay, adding that he had heard great things
3
about me from Jim Mattis, Jeff Sessions, and many others. He then said, I need
loyalty. I replied, You will always get honesty from me. He paused and then
said, Thats what I want, honest loyalty. I paused, and then said, You will get
that from me. As I wrote in the memo I created immediately after the dinner, it is
possible we understood the phrase honest loyalty differently, but I decided it
wouldnt be productive to push it further. The term honest loyalty had helped
end a very awkward conversation and my explanations had made clear what he
should expect.
During the dinner, the President returned to the salacious material I had
briefed him about on January 6, and, as he had done previously, expressed his
disgust for the allegations and strongly denied them. He said he was considering
ordering me to investigate the alleged incident to prove it didnt happen. I replied
that he should give that careful thought because it might create a narrative that we
were investigating him personally, which we werent, and because it was very
difficult to prove a negative. He said he would think about it and asked me to
think about it.
The President signaled the end of the briefing by thanking the group and
telling them all that he wanted to speak to me alone. I stayed in my chair. As the
participants started to leave the Oval Office, the Attorney General lingered by my
chair, but the President thanked him and said he wanted to speak only with me.
The last person to leave was Jared Kushner, who also stood by my chair and
exchanged pleasantries with me. The President then excused him, saying he
wanted to speak with me.
When the door by the grandfather clock closed, and we were alone, the
President began by saying, I want to talk about Mike Flynn. Flynn had resigned
4
the previous day. The President began by saying Flynn hadnt done anything
wrong in speaking with the Russians, but he had to let him go because he had
misled the Vice President. He added that he had other concerns about Flynn,
which he did not then specify.
The President then made a long series of comments about the problem with
leaks of classified information a concern I shared and still share. After he had
spoken for a few minutes about leaks, Reince Priebus leaned in through the door
by the grandfather clock and I could see a group of people waiting behind him.
The President waved at him to close the door, saying he would be done shortly.
The door closed.
The President returned briefly to the problem of leaks. I then got up and
left out the door by the grandfather clock, making my way through the large group
of people waiting there, including Mr. Priebus and the Vice President.
The FBI leadership team agreed with me that it was important not to infect
the investigative team with the Presidents request, which we did not intend to
abide. We also concluded that, given that it was a one-on-one conversation, there
was nothing available to corroborate my account. We concluded it made little
sense to report it to Attorney General Sessions, who we expected would likely
recuse himself from involvement in Russia-related investigations. (He did so two
weeks later.) The Deputy Attorney Generals role was then filled in an acting
capacity by a United States Attorney, who would also not be long in the role.
5
After discussing the matter, we decided to keep it very closely held, resolving to
figure out what to do with it down the road as our investigation progressed. The
investigation moved ahead at full speed, with none of the investigative team
members or the Department of Justice lawyers supporting them aware of the
Presidents request.
Then the President asked why there had been a congressional hearing about
Russia the previous week at which I had, as the Department of Justice directed,
confirmed the investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the
Trump campaign. I explained the demands from the leadership of both parties in
Congress for more information, and that Senator Grassley had even held up the
confirmation of the Deputy Attorney General until we briefed him in detail on the
investigation. I explained that we had briefed the leadership of Congress on
exactly which individuals we were investigating and that we had told those
Congressional leaders that we were not personally investigating President Trump.
I reminded him I had previously told him that. He repeatedly told me, We need
to get that fact out. (I did not tell the President that the FBI and the Department
of Justice had been reluctant to make public statements that we did not have an
open case on President Trump for a number of reasons, most importantly because
it would create a duty to correct, should that change.)
The President went on to say that if there were some satellite associates
of his who did something wrong, it would be good to find that out, but that he
6
hadnt done anything wrong and hoped I would find a way to get it out that we
werent investigating him.
He finished by stressing the cloud that was interfering with his ability to
make deals for the country and said he hoped I could find a way to get out that he
wasnt being investigated. I told him I would see what we could do, and that we
would do our investigative work well and as quickly as we could.
On the morning of April 11, the President called me and asked what I had
done about his request that I get out that he is not personally under investigation.
I replied that I had passed his request to the Acting Deputy Attorney General, but I
had not heard back. He replied that the cloud was getting in the way of his
ability to do his job. He said that perhaps he would have his people reach out to
the Acting Deputy Attorney General. I said that was the way his request should be
handled. I said the White House Counsel should contact the leadership of DOJ to
make the request, which was the traditional channel.
He said he would do that and added, Because I have been very loyal to
you, very loyal; we had that thing you know. I did not reply or ask him what he
meant by that thing. I said only that the way to handle it was to have the White
House Counsel call the Acting Deputy Attorney General. He said that was what
he would do and the call ended.
# # #