Several weeks after his inauguration, President Trump contacted James Comey, then the FBI director, and asked him when federal authorities planned on spreading the word that he was not personally under investigation, two people with knowledge of the call told The New York Times.
This was one of several interactions that Comey believed jeopardized the FBI's independence, the Times reports, and he instructed the president on the proper way to receive details about investigations: Have the White House counsel send inquiries to the Department of Justice. At the time, Comey was overseeing the investigation into ties between Trump associates and Russia, and two incidents concerned him, friends said: During a dinner, Trump asked Comey to pledge his loyalty, and in a meeting at the Oval Office, Trump said he hoped the Russia-linked investigation into Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, would be canceled; Trump denies this happened. The Times also reports that the day after Trump talked to Comey about Flynn, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked Comey to assist with pushing back against reports that during the campaign, Trump associates had been in contact with Russian intelligence officials.
Benjamin Wittes, a friend of Comey's and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, spoke with the Times, and said during a lunch in March, Comey told him he had spent the previous two months trying to teach the White House how to properly interact with the bureau. Comey was afraid people would think he was becoming friendly with the new president, Wittes said, and even went so far as trying to blend into the curtains in the White House's Blue Room during an event so Trump wouldn't spot him and call him out (he did). Comey also told Wittes that on March 1, the White House called him and said Trump needed to speak with him "urgently." It turned out Trump "just wanted to chitchat," Wittes said, and Comey took the call to mean Trump was still "trying to get him on the team and he saw it in light of his refusal to give him his loyalty."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Trump sends FBI to patrol DC, despite falling crimeSpeed Read Washington, D.C., 'has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,' Trump said
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monumentsSpeed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seatspeed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring pushSpeed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additionsSpeed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein filesSpeed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
-
India rejects Trump threat over Russian oilSpeed Read The president said he would raise tariffs on India for buying and selling Russian oil
-
NY's Hochul vows response to Texas gerrymanderSpeed Read Gov. Kathy Hochul has promised to play ball with redistricting that favors the Democrats
