Donald Trump’s lawyer flatly denied two of the key claims made by James Comey on Thursday and attacked the fired FBI chief over his admission he had leaked a story to the press.
In an aggressive attempt to push back against Comey’s testimony before the Senate intelligence committee, Marc Kasowitz accused Comey of “unilaterally and surreptitiously” making “unauthorized disclosures to the press of privileged communications” with the president.
Kasowitz told reporters: “We will leave it to the appropriate authorities to determine whether these leaks should be investigated along with all the others that are being investigated.”
Kasowitz said Trump felt “completely vindicated” by Comey’s testimony and repeatedly noted that Comey had said the president was not personally the target of the Russia investigation.
But he denied Comey’s assertions – made under oath – that Trump pressured Comey to shut down an investigation into his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and that the president asked his FBI director to pledge his loyalty.
“The president never, in form or substance, directed or suggested that Mr Comey stop investigating anyone, including suggesting that Mr Comey ‘let Flynn go’.” Kasowitz said.
He continued: “The president also never told Mr Comey ‘I need loyalty, I expect loyalty’ in form or substance.”
The two assertions were significant parts of Comey’s testimony on Thursday and his written statement to the committee released on Wednesday.
During the daily White House press briefing, which unusually took place off-camera, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders batted away most questions about the hearing, referring reporters to outside counsel, Marc Kasowitz.
But the spokeswoman insisted: “I can definitively say the president is not a liar,” adding: “It’s frankly insulting that that question would be asked.”
In his opening remarks, Comey accused the White House of spreading “lies, plain and simple” and attempting to “defame” him and the FBI after his dismissal on 9 May.
In a TV interview after he fired Comey, Trump called the former FBI director a “showboat” and a “grandstander” and said the agency was “in turmoil”.
At a later point during the hearing, Comey said he created memos after each of his meeting with Trump out of the urgent concern that the president “might lie” about their interactions. Comey said that he did not feel the need to draft memos after his meetings with presidents George W Bush or Barack Obama.
“I was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting and I thought it important to document,” Comey said.
Sanders said she had “no idea” whether Trump taped his Oval Office conversations, but attempted to make light of the question, suggesting she could “try to look under the couch” for evidence of a recording device.
Days after firing Comey, Trump said on Twitter that the former FBI chief “better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press”.
In a memorable line from Thursday’s hearing, Comey said: “Lordy, I hope there are tapes.”
As Comey finished testifying in public on Capitol Hill, Trump – who was uncharacteristically silent on Twitter during the hearing – defended his administration’s progress on a range of domestic issues in a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington.
“The entrenched interests and failed bitter voices in Washington will do everything in their power to try and stop us from this righteous cause, to try to stop all of you,” Trump told a Christian conservatives at at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington.
“They will lie, they will obstruct, they will spread their hatred and their prejudice, but we will not back down from doing what is right.”
He continued: “As the Bible tells us, we know the truth will prevail … we know how to fight better than anybody, and we never give up. We are winners, and we are going to fight.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan, the most senior Republican in Congress, reflected the views expressed by several in the GOP after the hearing: that Trump should have left more space between the White House and the FBI but that there was so for no indication that the president had attempted to obstruct justice.
“Of course there needs to be a degree of independence between DOJ, FBI and a White House and a line of communication is established,” Ryan told reporters at a weekly press conference. “The president’s new at this. He’s new to government and so he probably wasn’t steeped in the long running protocols that establish the relationships between DOJ FBI and White Houses. He’s just new to this.”
Ryan clarified later that the president’s inexperience was not an excuse but pointing it out was “just my observation”.
