House Speaker Paul Ryan offered a defense of President Trump’s private meeting with then-FBI Director James Comey as a rookie move that was the result of frustration with accusations he was colluding with Russians during the 2016 election.
“The president is new at this,” Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters Thursday as Comey testified in the Senate about his private meetings with Trump.
Ryan agreed that “of course there needs to be a degree of independence” between the president and the Department of Justice. But he made it clear he sees Trump’s error as one that was made by a newcomer to government.
“He is new to government and so he probably wasn’t steeped in the long-running protocols that the establishes the relationship between the DOJ, FBI and White House,” Ryan said. “He’s just new to this.”
Ryan said the president was understandably frustrated that he was told “nothing wrong here” privately by Comey, but that information was never made public.
“I think people now understand why he was so frustrated, that the speculation was allowed to swirl around him when he was being told by the FBI director he was not under investigation,” Ryan said.
Ryan stressed to reporters that he was not excusing Trump’s decision to meet privately with Comey.
“I’m not saying it’s an acceptable excuse, it’s just my observation,” Ryan said. “He’s new at government so therefore I think he’s learning as he goes.”
