President Trump's aides were "less than impressed" with Trump personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz's response Thursday to former FBI Director James Comey's congressional testimony, The New York Times reported Friday. In the statement, Kasowitz ardently denied some of the claims Comey leveled against Trump in the explosive Senate hearing and emphasized that Comey's statement proved Trump was not personally being investigated for collusion with Russia.
Though Kasowitz, one of Trump's most trusted confidants, may have Trump's "respect and, for the moment, his situational obedience," the president's aides thought Kasowitz's statement left something to be desired:
A hastily drafted initial statement to the news media contained typos — "president" was misspelled — and he delivered it in a harried monotone, staring down at his text, to reporters gathered at the National Press Club.[...] Several current and former Trump aides said they were especially concerned about Mr. Kasowitz's unqualified assertion that the president had "never told Mr. Comey, 'I need loyalty, I expect loyalty,'" as Mr. Comey said on Thursday. [The New York Times]
Spelling "president" as "predisent" aside, Kasowitz did enjoy one win Thursday: He achieved his goal of avoiding a blow-up from Trump on Twitter about the hearing. But by early Friday morning, Trump was back to tweeting.
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Read more on Kasowitz and the Trump administration's mounting concerns about the ongoing Russia investigation at The New York Times.