Rudy Giuliani, a new addition to President Trump’s personal legal team, on Wednesday said Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey because the top law enforcement official would not say publicly whether the president was a target of the FBI investigation’s into Russia interference in the 2016 election.
“He fired Comey because Comey would not — among other things — say that he wasn’t a target of the investigation,” Giuliani told Fox News.
“He is entitled to that. Hillary Clinton got that, and he couldn’t get that. So he fired him, then he said, ‘I’m free of this guy,’” the former New York City mayor added.
Giuliani on Fox says Trump “fired Comey because Comey would not—among other things—say that he wasn’t a target of the investigation.
“He is entitled that. Hillary Clinton got that, and he couldn’t get that.
“So he fired him, and he said I’m free of this guy.” pic.twitter.com/GzClqXaIKA
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) May 3, 2018
Left-leaning political pundits were quick to conclude that in Giuliani regaling his version of events he may have admitted that Trump obstructed justice.
The scope of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation includes whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the lead-up to the 2016 election and whether Trump obstructed justice by dismissing Comey, who was leading the FBI’s probe into Russian interference at the time.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Rudy Giuliani said President Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey because he wouldn’t say publicly whether the president was a target of the FBI investigation. A previous version said Comey wouldn’t tell Trump whether he was a target of the probe.
