Comey reportedly refused to give Trump a preview of his Senate testimony. Trump was furious.

(Image credit: Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

published 11 May 2017

President Trump has long been irritated with fired FBI Director James Comey, unnamed White House officials told Reuters in a story published Thursday, and he was particularly peeved when Comey would not give the administration a preview of his then-forthcoming Senate testimony. Comey was grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee about his agency's investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state, as well as alleged Russian manipulation of the 2016 election.

The president, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein asked Comey to tell them what he would say at his May 3 hearing, Reuters reports. Comey refused, which "infuriated" Trump, who labeled the denial "insubordination." Offering a preview of congressional testimony to higher-ups is "generally considered courteous" in Washington, Reuters notes.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.