James Comey says he regrets telling President Trump during his tenure as FBI director that the bureau was not investigating him personally.
“It might have been a mistake,” Comey told USA Today in an interview published Monday. “It led the president to want to get that fact out (publicly), which I was resisting.”
Comey told the then-president elect in their first meeting after the election that he was not a target in the Russia investigation.
In the same meeting, Comey had briefed Trump on a dossier that contained salacious details about his alleged ties to Russia that was prepared by a former British intelligence officer. Comey said he assured Trump he wasn’t personally under investigation to bring Trump’s “temperature down.”
“It caused all kinds of issues,” Comey added.
Trump has previously stated that Comey told him three times he was not under investigation in the probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 elections.
Trump cited Comey’s assurance in his letter firing Comey.
“While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau,” the letter said.
Comey testified to Congress last summer that the issue of whether Trump was under investigation came up an additional three times after their first encounter.
