Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied that President Trump discussed firing FBI Director James Comey with him when the met the day after the ouster.
“We did not touch this subject,” Lavrov told reporters on Saturday.
Trump’s abrupt firing of Comey was portrayed initially as a decision made in response to the top cop’s violation of Justice Department procedures during the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Trump acknowledged in a televised interview that he was thinking of the Russia investigation when he fired the director. “I said to myself, I said ‘you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story,” he told NBC.
Ensuing leaks suggested he was similarly candid while talking Lavrov during their meeting the day after Comey was fired. “I just fired the head of the FBI,” Trump said, according to a New York Times report. “He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
Trump’s spokesman did not join Lavrov in denying the report. “By grandstanding and politicizing the investigation into Russia’s actions, James Comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage and negotiate with Russia,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. “The investigation would have always continued, and obviously, the termination of Comey would not have ended it. Once again, the real story is that our national security has been undermined by the leaking of private and highly classified conversations.”
