Report: Trump asked Comey for his loyalty, was rebuffed

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 12 May 2017

A week after his inauguration, President Trump invited former FBI Director James Comey to a private dinner at the White House, where he demanded his loyalty, several Comey associates told The New York Times.

Comey said the pair made small talk about the election and the size of Trump's inaugural crowd before the president asked Comey if he would "pledge his loyalty to him," the Times reports. Comey said no, he would not be "reliable" in the political sense, but he would always be honest. Later in the meal, Trump again stated he needed Comey's loyalty, and Comey repeated that he would give him "honesty."

FBI directors are meant to be independent of the president, and Comey, who was fired Tuesday by Trump, told associates he now believes this was the beginning of the end for him. He also said he was concerned about how it would look for him to have a solo dinner with the president while the FBI was investigating possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. The White House told the Times this account of the dinner is not accurate.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.