:00:08. > :00:13.James Comey says Donald Trump lied about his firing and he feared he'd
:00:14. > :00:18.But the former director of the FBI does not accuse the President
:00:19. > :00:21.of obstructing justice - he says he'll leave that
:00:22. > :00:27.At a Senate hearing, Mr Comey says he believes
:00:28. > :00:30.he was fired in order to alter the course of the Russia
:00:31. > :00:38.It is my judgement that is was fired because of the russia investigation.
:00:39. > :00:42.I was fired in some way to change or the endeavour was to change
:00:43. > :00:44.the way the russia investigation was being conducted.
:00:45. > :00:49.At a rally for evangelicals President Trump chose
:00:50. > :00:52.to ignore the hearings - it's not what he wants his
:00:53. > :01:07.I have one goal as President, to fight for the American people and to
:01:08. > :01:12.fight for America and America first. Is all this diverting from the
:01:13. > :01:15.Russian investigation? James Comey testifies there was no doubt they
:01:16. > :01:19.were meddling in the investigation. He says it's about as unfake as you
:01:20. > :01:25.can get. This was appointment viewing and such a crowd-puller this
:01:26. > :01:38.morning in Washington. The bars even opened early.
:01:39. > :01:40.Welcome to 100 Days Plus, I'm Katty Kay in Washington.
:01:41. > :01:45.The fired director of the FBI doesn't think the current President
:01:46. > :01:47.of the United States tells the truth.
:01:48. > :01:50.James Comey told Senators at a block buster hearing today that
:01:51. > :01:53.Donald Trump lied about his firing - Mr Comey also said he was
:01:54. > :01:55.worried Mr Trump would lie about other things too.
:01:56. > :01:57.Mr Comey confirmed much of what we already knew
:01:58. > :02:00.from his testimony - the President asked for his loyalty,
:02:01. > :02:03.he asked him to drop the investigation into former
:02:04. > :02:09.National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and he did it repeatedly.
:02:10. > :02:11.But Mr Comey would not say whether he thought the President
:02:12. > :02:15.was guilty of obstructing justice in the Russia investigation.
:02:16. > :02:22.Although the law required no reason at all to fire an FBI director, the
:02:23. > :02:26.administration chose to defame me and, more importantly, the FBI, by
:02:27. > :02:30.saying the organisation was in disarray, that it was poorly led,
:02:31. > :02:34.that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. Those were
:02:35. > :02:38.lies, plain and simple. A lot of testimony focused
:02:39. > :02:41.on a February 14th discussion about Mike Flynn when James Comey
:02:42. > :02:45.was left alone in the Oval Office Here's Diane Feinstein asking
:02:46. > :02:56.about how he handled Why didn't you stop and say Mr
:02:57. > :03:01.President, this is wrong, I cannot discuss this with you? It's a great
:03:02. > :03:10.question. Maybe if I were stronger I would have. I was so stunned by the
:03:11. > :03:14.conversation that I just took it in and the only thing I could think to
:03:15. > :03:17.say because I was playing it over in my mind because I remember
:03:18. > :03:20.everything he said, I was playing in my mind, what should my response be.
:03:21. > :03:24.That's why I very carefully chose the words. Look, I've seen the tweet
:03:25. > :03:27.about the tapes, Lordy I hope there are tapes.
:03:28. > :03:29.This was an important day politically but a sideshow
:03:30. > :03:35.And in the view of James Comey - the Russian interference
:03:36. > :03:37.was driven with purpose, sophistication and right
:03:38. > :03:45.The Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They
:03:46. > :03:50.did it with purpose and sophistication. They did it with
:03:51. > :03:53.overwhelming technical efforts and it was an active measures campaign
:03:54. > :03:58.driven from the top of that Government. There is no fuzz on
:03:59. > :04:02.that. It is a high confidence judgment of the entire intelligence
:04:03. > :04:07.community and the members of this committee have seen the
:04:08. > :04:12.intelligence. It's not a close call. Did the President in any of those
:04:13. > :04:17.interactions you have shared with us today ask you what you should be
:04:18. > :04:21.doing or what our government should be doing or the intelligence
:04:22. > :04:25.community to protect America against Russian interference in our election
:04:26. > :04:29.system? I don't recall a conversation like that. Never? No.
:04:30. > :04:33.It's interesting; while James Comey says the president didn't ask him
:04:34. > :04:37.about the Russia investigation, he does say it's the reason
:04:38. > :04:44.It's my judgment I was fired because of the Russian investigation.
:04:45. > :04:48.I was fired in some way to change or the endeavour was to change
:04:49. > :04:51.the way the investigation was being conducted.
:04:52. > :04:54.That is a very big deal, not just because it involves me,
:04:55. > :04:58.the nature of the FBI and the nature of its work requires
:04:59. > :05:04.that it not be the subject of political consideration.
:05:05. > :05:08.Perhaps most remarkably we haven't seen a tweet
:05:09. > :05:15.He has just spoken to a group of evangelicals telling them
:05:16. > :05:17.they were under siege and he would continue
:05:18. > :05:31.You fought hard for me and now I'm fighting hard for you. I have one
:05:32. > :05:34.goal as President, to fight for the American Prime Minister people and
:05:35. > :05:42.to fight for America and America first. .
:05:43. > :05:45.And joining us now from Capitol Hill is Democratic Senator Chris Coons
:05:46. > :05:47.who sits on both the Foreign Relations and the
:05:48. > :05:54.Are we any closer to understanding whether there was anything criminal
:05:55. > :05:58.in what the President did during the course of the last three months,
:05:59. > :06:01.whether it was to do with the Russian investigation or to do with
:06:02. > :06:07.obstructing justice in that investigation? Katty, we heard a
:06:08. > :06:11.couple of important things today. Former FBI director Jim Comey, a
:06:12. > :06:15.senior federal law enforcement official testified under oath that
:06:16. > :06:18.he's convinced he was fired in order to interfere with the ongoing
:06:19. > :06:23.investigation into Russian interference in our election and
:06:24. > :06:29.that when he met with the President, he felt directed to drop at that
:06:30. > :06:38.point an ongoing investigation into the former National Security Advisor
:06:39. > :06:42.general Mike Flint. -- Flynn. There were other things. I do think some
:06:43. > :06:46.significant new developments happened today with regard to the
:06:47. > :06:51.ongoing investigation. But was there anything actually criminal do you
:06:52. > :06:55.think in what the President did? Katty, that is not a conclusion for
:06:56. > :06:59.me to make. I'm going to be careful about reaching a conclusion like
:07:00. > :07:02.that. That's why we have special counsel. One thing that was
:07:03. > :07:08.important to hear from the former FBI director who has I think fairly
:07:09. > :07:11.good knowledge into what that ongoing investigation into potential
:07:12. > :07:15.criminal activity by folks in the administration looks like is that
:07:16. > :07:18.Jim Comey said he thought it was appropriate and possible for the
:07:19. > :07:22.senate to continue its investigations and for the special
:07:23. > :07:26.counsel to conduct his investigation that they could move forward at the
:07:27. > :07:32.same time without interfering with each other. Just coming back to the
:07:33. > :07:35.Attorney General. Mr Comey said in his written testimony which he
:07:36. > :07:39.supplied to the senate that he hadn't informed him after The Oval
:07:40. > :07:43.office meeting because, in his view, he was likely to have to accuse
:07:44. > :07:47.himself and it would be problematic for him to carry on with the Russian
:07:48. > :07:51.investigation. When asked about that today, he said he couldn't speak
:07:52. > :07:54.about it in a public open hearing. Does that create another mushroom
:07:55. > :08:01.cloud for the house? Yes, I think that was one of the most intriguing
:08:02. > :08:04.potentially explosive things that was raised today is the suggestion
:08:05. > :08:11.that there is some reason that the FBI director at the time knew that
:08:12. > :08:15.the Attorney General would almost certainly recruise himself and that
:08:16. > :08:18.whatever evidence or information there was that led him to believe
:08:19. > :08:23.that was of a type that he couldn't share in an open hearing. That was a
:08:24. > :08:28.significant disclosure today by the former FBI director. Senator, you
:08:29. > :08:33.have just concern returned from a trip to Asia. You were at a meeting
:08:34. > :08:39.with NATO members, easternian countries recently too. What impact
:08:40. > :08:43.is this Russian investigation having on the White House's reputation
:08:44. > :08:48.abroad and on America's pasty to lead abroad? Well, I think it
:08:49. > :08:53.continues to raise a significant concern amongst our European allies,
:08:54. > :08:56.our Asia-Pacific allies. First that we are distracted, that the
:08:57. > :09:01.administration isn't going to be able to focus on pushing back on
:09:02. > :09:04.Russian aggression or on engaging effectively with North Korea and
:09:05. > :09:08.with China in a way that would help keep them safe. There is a question
:09:09. > :09:12.about our continued leadership role in the world. Some is based on
:09:13. > :09:16.things that President Trump said as a candidate, some of this is based
:09:17. > :09:19.on things he's said as President and some is based on the general
:09:20. > :09:23.observation that this ongoing investigation is taking up more and
:09:24. > :09:29.more of the time and energy and space here in Washington. I will say
:09:30. > :09:33.that in both places in Singapore at the regional security conference
:09:34. > :09:36.there and at Halifax at a North Atlantic security conference, all of
:09:37. > :09:42.our allies with whom I spoke were eager for the States to continue its
:09:43. > :09:46.strong role and to continue to invest in alliances and
:09:47. > :09:49.partnerships. I was part of a bipartisan delegation to reinforce
:09:50. > :09:52.our thanks for the long and special relationship we have with the United
:09:53. > :09:57.Kingdom and with many other important allies around the world.
:09:58. > :09:59.Senator, it's really good to have you on the show again, thank you for
:10:00. > :10:04.being with us on such a busy day. Joining us with his analysis is our
:10:05. > :10:20.North America Editor Jon Sopel. Oh, he is not here. If I said I hope
:10:21. > :10:24.you are going to join us for 100 Days next week, you would know what
:10:25. > :10:31.I meant? I will try and channel Jon Sopal for you. My take from this was
:10:32. > :10:34.partly that, as you are suggesting, he said against he said and this
:10:35. > :10:39.issue of how strength the coercion was or the pressure was, was this an
:10:40. > :10:42.order from the President to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn.
:10:43. > :10:46.But this is not a bad day for President Trump. It could have been
:10:47. > :10:50.a lot worse. James Comey didn't say that he thought there was
:10:51. > :10:56.obstruction of justice, he said he'd leave that to others. He was silent
:10:57. > :10:59.on the whether there was the issue of collusion. He said that in closed
:11:00. > :11:03.session and he could have done a lot more damage to the President. On the
:11:04. > :11:06.character issue, it was pretty damning. He said he thinks this
:11:07. > :11:11.President is prone to lying. That's a problem for President Trump. But
:11:12. > :11:15.it's not criminal. I think that was what the White House was mostly
:11:16. > :11:18.concerned about, that James Comey would stand up there, take this
:11:19. > :11:20.investigation further and we'd be getting further to the idea that
:11:21. > :11:23.there was some kind of obstruction of justice. That did not happen
:11:24. > :11:27.today in that respect and this is not such a bad day for the White
:11:28. > :11:35.House or at least not as bad as it might have been. Jon Sopal really is
:11:36. > :11:39.here now. I've been here all along. I know, but we had to chat amongst
:11:40. > :11:43.ourselves. Yes. I think the White House might have hoped that Comey
:11:44. > :11:48.would have come unstuck a bit more, that he will have looked a bit
:11:49. > :11:54.flakey, not sure of the detail and I thought that Comey came across as
:11:55. > :11:59.extremely poised, humane, grasping all the details very clear and I
:12:00. > :12:04.think his credibility is intact, except for one or maybe two specific
:12:05. > :12:07.areas. There was the Feinstein question. Why if you thought
:12:08. > :12:11.something terrible was going on didn't you do something about it.
:12:12. > :12:16.The other thing I'm sure which will be part of the narrative from the
:12:17. > :12:19.White House. He showed himself to be a politician as well in trying toe
:12:20. > :12:23.leak that information that would build up pressure for a special
:12:24. > :12:27.counsel to be appointed. The White House is going to say, you're one of
:12:28. > :12:31.the leakers, Comey, how can we trust you. I think that that would be
:12:32. > :12:36.something that the White House will seize upon and will choose not to
:12:37. > :12:39.make too much of the other stuff because in some ways he'll see it as
:12:40. > :12:46.confirming what the President had said. I wasn't under investigation -
:12:47. > :12:50.confirmed. I didn't order the Russian investigation to be stopped
:12:51. > :12:55.- confirmed. I asked about Flynn but I didn't order him to stop it, it
:12:56. > :12:59.wasn't a direction even though that's what Comey might have
:13:00. > :13:03.thought. John for me, the most extraordinary thing about today was
:13:04. > :13:07.really the main event, that's the Russian investigation and he set out
:13:08. > :13:09.very clearly that the Russians had attacked lots of organisations, it
:13:10. > :13:14.came right from the top of the Kremlin, it's going to happen again
:13:15. > :13:17.he said and when people, even within Mr Trump's base find it
:13:18. > :13:21.extraordinary that the Commander in Chief, and that's what he is, and
:13:22. > :13:25.he'd not at any point it seemed said to James Comey, what are you doing
:13:26. > :13:29.to protect America and future American elections? I think this is
:13:30. > :13:36.one of the areas where there is a huge disjunction. A lot of the Trump
:13:37. > :13:41.base get ever that he -- everything that he said about administration
:13:42. > :13:46.and health care. He's cosying up to Moscow and that was problematic and
:13:47. > :13:50.remains so. That said, now that Donald Trump is elected President
:13:51. > :13:54.and there hasn't been evidence produced that the Russian
:13:55. > :13:59.interference led to ballot boxes being interfered with, I think
:14:00. > :14:04.people think, oh, I'm sick of the Russian stuff, let's get on with
:14:05. > :14:09.making America great again, to use the Trump language. There are big
:14:10. > :14:12.problems still. If you use the Trump language, he wanted the cloud lifted
:14:13. > :14:17.on Russia. Has the cloud been lifted today? No, we have got to the end of
:14:18. > :14:20.act one and we are going to see the start of act two now with the
:14:21. > :14:27.special counsel taking this over this investigation. And Katty is
:14:28. > :14:31.right, James Comey did not say that he had obstructed justice but he
:14:32. > :14:36.didn't say that he hadn't either. He left it ambiguous. Act one, act two,
:14:37. > :14:40.this is going to go on for ever. Thank you very much.
:14:41. > :14:42.This hearing has legal implications but it will also have political
:14:43. > :14:45.implications for a President already suffering from low approval ratings.
:14:46. > :14:47.So how will Republicans react to these hearings?
:14:48. > :14:51.Let's bring in Bradley Blakeman, he's a Republican political
:14:52. > :14:58.consultant who was a senior staff member for President George W Bush.
:14:59. > :15:05.Mr Blakeman, Paul Ryan today said that the reason that the President
:15:06. > :15:09.had put pressure on Donald Trump to drop the investigation into Mike
:15:10. > :15:13.Flynn was because "he's new at this". Frankly, if that is the best
:15:14. > :15:17.defence that Republicans can come up with, it suggests the bar is pretty
:15:18. > :15:22.low, doesn't it? No, it does not. The President did
:15:23. > :15:25.not order the FBI director or anybody else to stop an
:15:26. > :15:32.investigation. What he said to the... He asked him... He said at
:15:33. > :15:35.the time, it was an expression of frustration, if anything, that it's
:15:36. > :15:40.respect that he had for Flynn, a decorated general, he thought he'd
:15:41. > :15:44.been through enough and it would hope -- he'd hope there would not be
:15:45. > :15:47.a criminal liability. That's in the a direction to do anything and Comey
:15:48. > :15:50.didn't do anything based on that conversation.
:15:51. > :15:56.It was not a direction, you are quite right, but it was an ask or a
:15:57. > :16:01.request and they got into that. I want to get into the question of how
:16:02. > :16:07.Republicans respond to this President whose approval ratings are
:16:08. > :16:12.down 36-37, 38%. At what point do Republicans decide that this
:16:13. > :16:16.President is no longer doing the Republican Party and their cause any
:16:17. > :16:21.favours and that this Russian investigation is too much of a
:16:22. > :16:24.liability. This Russian investigation's not a liability. The
:16:25. > :16:27.President didn't do anything wrong. If anything, the Russians did
:16:28. > :16:30.something wrong. If anything that the President is guilty of is maybe
:16:31. > :16:36.hurting Comey's feelings which I'm not sure is a crime in America. As
:16:37. > :16:46.far as the Republicans are concerned, we all rise and fall
:16:47. > :16:51.together, promises remain. It's incumbent upon us, the President and
:16:52. > :16:56.the Republicans to make good on the promises by passing legislation. We
:16:57. > :17:00.have to start winning in legislation.
:17:01. > :17:03.Mr Blakeman, the best thing you can say about the President if you were
:17:04. > :17:07.listening to this testimony and you were in his camp is that he's
:17:08. > :17:10.inexperienced and naive and he doesn't understand that it's
:17:11. > :17:14.inappropriate to be talking to an independent FBI director in this
:17:15. > :17:21.way. But the problem is he does it repeatedly. We have got the written
:17:22. > :17:24.testimony here. On nine -cations he's having one-on-one conversations
:17:25. > :17:30.with the FBI director. Will people draw conclusions from that? If
:17:31. > :17:34.anything, Donald Trump is unorthodox and new to government. There is a
:17:35. > :17:39.fiction. And I'm talking as a lawyer now, as somebody that served in the
:17:40. > :17:43.White House, an FBI director cannot have personal conduct with the
:17:44. > :17:46.President on a professional level one-on-one. Comey testified that he
:17:47. > :17:51.had a personal professional conversation with the President
:17:52. > :17:54.alone when he talked about the Russian dossier on Trump? He's the
:17:55. > :17:59.one who requested a personal meeting with the then President-elect. Why
:18:00. > :18:04.is it OK when he requests a one-on-one meeting but not the
:18:05. > :18:09.President? You are talking about tradition, there's nothing illegal,
:18:10. > :18:13.immoral, in the FBI director meeting with the President one-on-one, it's
:18:14. > :18:16.a subject matter that matters and nothing criminal occurred. I can
:18:17. > :18:20.tell you this, democrats were chomping at the bit from the time
:18:21. > :18:25.the President was I elected for impeachment and I'm sorry to burst
:18:26. > :18:30.their bubble but there's nothing impeachable about what the President
:18:31. > :18:39.did with the FBI director. Thank you very much for joining us.
:18:40. > :18:43.This is interesting because it gets to the democratic process, so what
:18:44. > :18:47.extent are democracies built on laws and norms and customs. Blakeman is
:18:48. > :18:50.right, there is nothing in the law that says the conversations that the
:18:51. > :18:54.President had with the FBI director shouldn't have taken place but it
:18:55. > :18:59.has in modern American history become the norm, the custom that FBI
:19:00. > :19:02.directors should be independent from the President and therefore this was
:19:03. > :19:05.the kind of inappropriate conversation that the President was
:19:06. > :19:08.trying to have and the kind of pressure he was putting on Comey was
:19:09. > :19:14.seen therefore as inappropriate? Yes. I think the problem he's going
:19:15. > :19:17.to have certainly from the Republican perspective is the
:19:18. > :19:20.acquiesce sense that he'd been approached by the President
:19:21. > :19:27.countless times and he didn't flag it up to the DoJ, the Department of
:19:28. > :19:30.Justice. There was an interesting bit, he was invited to the White
:19:31. > :19:32.House dinner in February and he'd never been invited to dinner with
:19:33. > :19:36.the President before. This was the first time. He fully expected to be
:19:37. > :19:40.going there, among others, sitting down for dinner with the President.
:19:41. > :19:45.In fact it turns out he's there one-on-one with the President with
:19:46. > :19:48.two Navy stewards. Yes. I think this slightly gets to the argument about
:19:49. > :19:53.whether the President didn't know what he was doing and didn't know
:19:54. > :19:57.that he shouldn't put pressure on Jim Comey because, on two occasions,
:19:58. > :20:01.that dinner and then on February 14th in The Oval office, Mr Trump
:20:02. > :20:05.clearly makes a concerted effort to be alone with the Director of The
:20:06. > :20:08.FBI. He doesn't want other people around listening in on those
:20:09. > :20:11.conversations. It suggests to me that the President did know exactly
:20:12. > :20:18.what he was doing. OK let's look at that critical legal question. Is Mr
:20:19. > :20:22.Trump guilty of any sort of crime? US Constitutional scholars are
:20:23. > :20:26.divided. Some think Mr Comey's testimony points to a possible
:20:27. > :20:30.obstruction of justice. Others are equally convinced the case falls
:20:31. > :20:34.short. Mr Comey himself refused to pass judgment today. But we got news
:20:35. > :20:38.from his special counsel and we'll look at this issue. I don't think
:20:39. > :20:41.it's for me to say whether the conversation I had with the
:20:42. > :20:45.President was an effort to obstruct. I took it as a disturbing,
:20:46. > :20:48.concerning thing, but that's a conclusion I'm sure the special
:20:49. > :20:52.counsel will work towards to try to understand what the intention was
:20:53. > :21:12.and to decide whether that was an offence.
:21:13. > :21:16.Let's get a little more on this - Barak Cohen is a former
:21:17. > :21:25.Whether a President can be investigated and prosecuted for a
:21:26. > :21:28.federal crime, other questions aside it rises to the level of something
:21:29. > :21:34.that warrants a criminal investigation. But I don't think
:21:35. > :21:42.right now it brings us to the level of an offence. Mr Comey made it
:21:43. > :21:48.clear as the President that on three occasions he reassured him that he
:21:49. > :21:51.wasn't directly under investigation. When asked today where the President
:21:52. > :21:55.might be under investigation now, he said he couldn't answer that in a
:21:56. > :21:58.public open hearing. Does that suggest that Robert Muller might be
:21:59. > :22:03.looking at the President on the back of what was said about Flynn? It
:22:04. > :22:07.certainly does. Again without being party to whatever Mr Comey says or
:22:08. > :22:13.said during the closed session, it's hard to say for sure what he was
:22:14. > :22:18.alluding to. I should bring in that we are waiting for the Donald
:22:19. > :22:20.Trump's personal lawyer. As soon as he starts speaking, we'll go to that
:22:21. > :22:25.because that will be the first reaction. That is the press waiting
:22:26. > :22:32.for him to start speaking. We'll go to that. On one point, on the issue
:22:33. > :22:36.of who we should believe Mr Cohen, Mr Comey said on the issue he was
:22:37. > :22:40.asked about, should we believe you or should we believe the President,
:22:41. > :22:43.who's said that he never tried to put pressure on you to stop the
:22:44. > :22:50.investigation into Michael Flynn, Mr Comey said, when it comes to
:22:51. > :22:52.witnesses, you leek at a host of things, consistency, demeanour and
:22:53. > :22:56.temperament. I guess what he was trying to say was that he had the
:22:57. > :22:59.better case for being a reliable witness than the President on those
:23:00. > :23:04.fronts? I definitely agree with that. Mr Comey is a former
:23:05. > :23:09.prosecutor himself and he was touching on the precise things that
:23:10. > :23:13.prosecutors look at when trying to assess the credibility of a witness.
:23:14. > :23:17.When you said there should be some kind of criminal investigation into
:23:18. > :23:20.whether this mounts to some sort of obstruction of justice and you
:23:21. > :23:24.couldn't tell that from this hearing, are you suggesting that
:23:25. > :23:28.that would then put the President under investigation himself? That's
:23:29. > :23:34.not precisely what I said. What I said was that all other questions
:23:35. > :23:36.aside, in particular whether a sitting President can be prosecuted,
:23:37. > :23:41.this would particularly warrant opening an investigation. So if this
:23:42. > :23:44.investigation into a sitting conditioning grossman or Governor or
:23:45. > :23:48.other person, the evidence that we have now would probably be enough
:23:49. > :23:55.for the government to open a grand jury and start serving subpoenas and
:23:56. > :24:03.talking to witnesses. Thank you very much for being with us. Katty, we
:24:04. > :24:07.are going to hear from the outside counsel for the President shortly.
:24:08. > :24:11.But by all accounts he was in a hotel last night at the Trump
:24:12. > :24:14.international hotel in Washington handing out cigars telling people
:24:15. > :24:16.they'd won and they'd been vindicated by the written testimony.
:24:17. > :24:20.Do you think he'll be so confident today? I do think they are going to
:24:21. > :24:24.carry on saying they were vindicated and I've spoken to people who're
:24:25. > :24:29.surrogates of the White House who've had their talking points and that's
:24:30. > :24:32.going to be the official line, that they were vindicated because they
:24:33. > :24:34.are going to be able to say the President was never under
:24:35. > :24:37.investigation and that is what the President's said, they are not
:24:38. > :24:42.really addressing the question of whether James Comey was put under
:24:43. > :24:46.some kind of pressure to drop the investigation under Michael Flynn.
:24:47. > :24:49.Interestingly, nobody in the White House since Comey testified has come
:24:50. > :24:52.out and disputed Comey's facts. I think that is an important point on
:24:53. > :24:58.this question of credibility. They are not trying to say Comey is
:24:59. > :25:02.lying, this is fake news, none of this happened, but my snap judgment
:25:03. > :25:07.is that this won't be felt to be such a bad day for the Trump
:25:08. > :25:15.administration it could have been a lot worse. I was looking at
:25:16. > :25:19.Watergate inquiry and people have talked about that and whether there
:25:20. > :25:22.are comparisons. It ran for some 900 days, if you take it from the
:25:23. > :25:25.initial reports to the end of the court cases. We are very early in
:25:26. > :25:29.the process and as you have said, the real main event is the Russian
:25:30. > :25:33.investigation. There will be a bit of a part of that investigation?
:25:34. > :25:37.This is going to two and two, we are going to have a lot more of this
:25:38. > :25:42.investigation. Bob Muller has an awful lot to go to, if he expands it
:25:43. > :25:47.into justice, it's going to go on and on. One thing James Comey said
:25:48. > :25:53.he cancelled din we are his wife to have din we are the President. The
:25:54. > :26:01.main take-away from this hearing, don't cancel dinner with your wife,
:26:02. > :26:06.do not dare. I never would. You've not met my wife, especially not to
:26:07. > :26:14.meet Donald Trump in a one-on-one. You are watching 100 Days Plus.
:26:15. > :26:19.Hello. We have seen more sunshine this afternoon and have continued to
:26:20. > :26:23.see rain. One area of the country that's been plagued is this area
:26:24. > :26:27.near Wigan. Those are the showers coming in. The
:26:28. > :26:32.wettest weather has been across Northern Ireland. That weather
:26:33. > :26:34.warning should be fading away as the wetter weather works its way
:26:35. > :26:38.northwards into the north-west corner of Scotland. Some showers
:26:39. > :26:43.running across other parts of the UK, some clearer skies around as
:26:44. > :26:48.well. Not too cold despite the temperatures being disappointing for
:26:49. > :26:52.many of us today. Let us move things on to 8 o'clock in the morning
:26:53. > :26:57.heading off to work perhaps into the rush hour. A few showers in South
:26:58. > :27:02.Wales up to the Bristol channel towards Bristol and Gloucester. The
:27:03. > :27:06.odd shower further east and in n the Midlands.
:27:07. > :27:09.Moving north, much drier weather by the morning across Northern Ireland.
:27:10. > :27:12.Bright sunny starts after the downpours of earlier on. Some rain
:27:13. > :27:17.for Scotland north of the central belt. That rain not as heavy and it
:27:18. > :27:21.will continue to peter out a bit through the day. A mixture of
:27:22. > :27:24.sunshine and showers across the UK. We'll see the main shower risk
:27:25. > :27:28.transferring from the west into the east by the afternoon with more
:27:29. > :27:32.sunshine following on. For a good part of the day it should be dry
:27:33. > :27:38.with sunny spells and temperatures a little bit higher for most than they
:27:39. > :27:41.were today. A brief respite though because we have a big low pressure
:27:42. > :27:44.coming in from the Atlantic. These weather fronts will be spilling our
:27:45. > :27:48.way. Not everywhere will catch rain on Saturday. It's mainly going to be
:27:49. > :27:53.running north away from Northern Ireland up into Scotland and then
:27:54. > :27:56.the rain getting stuck across northern England, Midlands, Wales
:27:57. > :28:00.and the south-west. For the south-east, it may stay dry. It will
:28:01. > :28:11.be humid again. Pleasant enough when the sun is out.
:28:12. > :28:14.That band of rain runs east and fades. Should be clear by Sunday
:28:15. > :28:19.morning then we are left with sunshine and showers. By for the
:28:20. > :28:23.more frequent showers towards the north-west of the UK where the winds
:28:24. > :28:25.are stronger. A mixed bag then with rain and a breeze on Saturday, on
:28:26. > :29:38.Sunday, sunshine and showers. We are going to go to the Washington
:29:39. > :29:45.press club where Donald Trump's lawyer is speaking. Ladies and
:29:46. > :29:51.Edelmann, I am president Trump's personal lawyer. -- ladies and
:29:52. > :29:57.gentlemen. Contrary to numerous press accounts leading up to the
:29:58. > :30:02.hearing, Mr Comey has confirmed publicly what he repeatedly told
:30:03. > :30:07.president Trump privately, that is that the president was not under
:30:08. > :30:14.investigation as part of any probe into Russian interference. The
:30:15. > :30:19.president... Mr Comey admitted that there is no evidence that a single
:30:20. > :30:26.vote changed as a result of any Russian interference. Mr Comey's
:30:27. > :30:31.testimony makes clear that the president never sought to impede the
:30:32. > :30:38.investigation into attempted Russian interference in the 2016 election.
:30:39. > :30:44.In fact, according to Mr Comey, the president told Mr Comey" it would be
:30:45. > :30:51.good to find out" in that investigation if there was "Some
:30:52. > :30:59.satellite associates of his who did something wrong". And he, president
:31:00. > :31:08.Trump, did not exclude anyone from that statement. Consistent with that
:31:09. > :31:17.statement, the president did not direct or suggest that Mr Comey stop
:31:18. > :31:24.investigating anyone, including the president never suggested that Mr
:31:25. > :31:32.Comey" let Flynn go". As the president stated the next day, he
:31:33. > :31:39.did say to Mr Comey" general Flynn is a good guy, he has been through a
:31:40. > :31:48.lot." And also" asked how general Flynn is doing". Testimony today
:31:49. > :31:56.said that the president never directed him to do anything illegal,
:31:57. > :32:06.immoral, unethical or inappropriate, and never, never" pressured him to
:32:07. > :32:13.do so." Director Coates said the same thing. The president, likewise,
:32:14. > :32:20.never pressured Mr Comey. The president also never told Mr Comey"
:32:21. > :32:29.I need loyalty, I expect loyalty." He never said it is in substance. Of
:32:30. > :32:33.course the office of the president is entitled to expect loyalty from
:32:34. > :32:41.those who are serving the administration and from before this
:32:42. > :32:47.president took office, to this day, it is overwhelmingly clear that
:32:48. > :32:54.there had been and continue to be those in government who are actively
:32:55. > :32:58.attempting to undermine this administration with selective and
:32:59. > :33:04.illegal leaks of classified information and privileged
:33:05. > :33:10.communications. Mr Comey has now admitted that he is one of these
:33:11. > :33:17.leakers. Forced today, Comey admitted that he unilaterally and
:33:18. > :33:23.surreptitiously made disclosures to the press of privileged medication
:33:24. > :33:29.is with the president. The leaks of this privileged information began no
:33:30. > :33:34.later than March, 2017, when friends of Mr Comey have stated that he
:33:35. > :33:41.disclosed to them the conversations that he had with the president
:33:42. > :33:50.during their January 27, 2017 dinner, and February 14, 2017 White
:33:51. > :33:56.House meeting. Today, Mr Comey admitted that helix to friends of
:33:57. > :34:08.his purported Mermoz of those privileged communications -- he
:34:09. > :34:21.leaked to friends of his purported Memos. They were leaked to the press
:34:22. > :34:30.in order to "Prompt the appointment of a special counsel." Although Mr
:34:31. > :34:34.Comey testified that he only leaked these memos in response to a tweet,
:34:35. > :34:40.the New York Times was quoting from them the day before the referenced
:34:41. > :34:45.tweet, which belies Mr Comey's excuse for this unauthorised
:34:46. > :34:50.disclosure of privileged information, and appears to be
:34:51. > :34:56.entirely retaliatory. We will leave it to the appropriate authorities to
:34:57. > :34:58.determine whether these leaks should be investigated, along with all of
:34:59. > :35:04.the others that are being investigated. In sum, it is now
:35:05. > :35:12.established that the president was not being investigated for colluding
:35:13. > :35:15.with or attempting to obstruct any investigation, as the committee
:35:16. > :35:21.pointed out today. These are facts for the country to know, virtually
:35:22. > :35:26.the only facts that have not been leaked during the course of these
:35:27. > :35:30.events. As he said yesterday, the president feels completely
:35:31. > :35:37.vindicated and is eager to continue moving forward with his agenda, the
:35:38. > :35:38.business of this country, and with this public cloud removed. Thank
:35:39. > :35:51.you. That was Marc Kasowitz, outside
:35:52. > :35:54.counsel for president Trump. A couple of interesting things there,
:35:55. > :36:02.most particularly this idea that James Comey, and we heard this in
:36:03. > :36:06.the testimony in the Senate today, handed on information from his memos
:36:07. > :36:11.to a friend who worked at Columbia University, and authorised him to
:36:12. > :36:14.lick the details to the press and the outside counsel Marc Kasowitz
:36:15. > :36:22.say that they want an investigation into that for four potentially
:36:23. > :36:25.leaking classified information. The other takeaway I had from that, they
:36:26. > :36:31.are clearly going to hammer him on the idea that he was leaking. They
:36:32. > :36:35.are disputing James Comey. I said before the break that the White
:36:36. > :36:40.House had not disputed that what James Comey said was true but he
:36:41. > :36:44.just did it, they are saying that Comey is effectively not telling the
:36:45. > :36:45.truth, that this is a case of he said, he said and the president does
:36:46. > :36:54.not agree with Comey's recollection. Well sitting right behind
:36:55. > :36:56.James Comey throughout today's testimony was
:36:57. > :36:58.Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman from California and he was tweeting
:36:59. > :37:05.during the precedings. It looks like the White House is
:37:06. > :37:10.going to say that James Comey was not telling the truth on two issues,
:37:11. > :37:16.one, letting Flynn go and secondly, being asked for loyalty by the
:37:17. > :37:20.president. They'll welcome to dispute that, he has raised the
:37:21. > :37:25.possibility that there may be tapes. Interesting to hear them if they
:37:26. > :37:33.exist. The fact is that Comey's testimony was very convincing. If
:37:34. > :37:41.his testimony is true, the president said, let Flynn go and fight and
:37:42. > :37:48.Comey with losing his job if he failed to do so. That is obstruction
:37:49. > :37:52.of Justice, a high crime and misdemeanour under the Constitution.
:37:53. > :37:55.On the question of whether there was criminal activity on behalf of the
:37:56. > :38:01.president, James Comey effectively didn't pass any judgment on that at
:38:02. > :38:04.all, did he? He didn't talk about collusion and he said it wasn't up
:38:05. > :38:09.to him to talk about obstruction of justice. What we learned in
:38:10. > :38:18.Watergate is that it isn't the crime, it's the cover-up. Now, Comey
:38:19. > :38:23.has declined to act as a lawyer and say how the facts apply to the law
:38:24. > :38:31.and whether they constitute a violation of the US criminal law.
:38:32. > :38:34.The even bigger question is, do they constitute high crimes and
:38:35. > :38:38.misdemeanours? Comey is a lawyer but he wasn't there as a lawyer, he was
:38:39. > :38:47.explaining the facts. The facts are that if you threaten someone with
:38:48. > :38:55.losing their job, with halting an investigation... That is obstruction
:38:56. > :39:02.of justice. In this case, it may have nothing to do with collusion
:39:03. > :39:05.with the Kremlin before the election or affecting the election and may
:39:06. > :39:13.have everything to do with Flynn's decision not to reveal accurately
:39:14. > :39:17.his discussions after the election with the Russian ambassador or the
:39:18. > :39:28.money he got from Russia and Turkey. But whether it's obstructing justice
:39:29. > :39:33.regarding collusion or Comey violating the law after the
:39:34. > :39:38.election, the answer is still the same. Obstruction of justice is a
:39:39. > :39:42.high crime. This has been a two-day hearing, we have had some of the top
:39:43. > :39:47.intelligence officials before the Senate Intelligence Committee
:39:48. > :39:51.yesterday. The Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, was asked
:39:52. > :39:55.whether the president had asked him to get Mr Comey to back off and he
:39:56. > :40:00.refused to answer the questions in an open hearing. So is it possible
:40:01. > :40:04.that the Democrats will start to go after these top security officials
:40:05. > :40:11.to find out if that happened, as was reported in the Washington Post? It
:40:12. > :40:17.would be somewhat difficult for us to call the shots, with a minority
:40:18. > :40:21.in the house and then at, but yes, indeed, we should get first,
:40:22. > :40:26.classified and then, unclassified information from Dan Coats and
:40:27. > :40:31.others about what Donald Trump tried to do or didn't try to do to stop
:40:32. > :40:36.the investigation. We have the key element already, the threat to
:40:37. > :40:41.Comey's job if he doesn't stop the investigation of Michael Flynn. We
:40:42. > :40:45.don't have to show that there were innumerable acts of obstruction of
:40:46. > :40:53.justice. One is enough. Thank you for joining us.
:40:54. > :40:56.James Comey today accused the Trump administration of telling lies
:40:57. > :40:59.about him and the FBI to the American people.
:41:00. > :41:01.In the hearing, he said the administration
:41:02. > :41:05.Much of the testimony focused on the discussions the former FBI
:41:06. > :41:08.director had with the president, with claims that Trump demanded
:41:09. > :41:11.loyalty from James Comey and that the president asked him
:41:12. > :41:13.to drop an investigation into his former national security
:41:14. > :41:24.Let's take a listen to what he had to say about those conversations.
:41:25. > :41:28.I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of the
:41:29. > :41:35.meeting so I thought it important to document them. That, nation of
:41:36. > :41:39.things I've never experienced below but -- experience before but I felt
:41:40. > :41:43.I had to write it down in a detailed way. Dinner was an attempt to build
:41:44. > :41:50.a relationship, specifically of loyalty, in the context of asking me
:41:51. > :41:55.to stay. What was odd about it, we had spoken twice about it by then
:41:56. > :41:58.and he said, I very much hope you'll stay. My impression was that
:41:59. > :42:04.something big was going to happen and that I have to remember every
:42:05. > :42:08.word that is spoken. I could be wrong, I'm 56 years old and I've
:42:09. > :42:10.seen a few things. My sense is that the Attorney General knew that he
:42:11. > :42:15.shouldn't be leaving, which is why he lingered and I think Jared
:42:16. > :42:21.Kushner picked up on the same thing. I think what he meant by the cloud,
:42:22. > :42:24.I could be wrong, but the entire investigation is taking up oxygen
:42:25. > :42:30.and making it hard for me to focus on the things I want to focus on.
:42:31. > :42:36.The asked was to get it out that I come at the president, and not under
:42:37. > :42:39.investigation. You get the impression that there were several
:42:40. > :42:46.attempts by Donald Trump to get in the ear of Donald Trump. He had
:42:47. > :42:49.21-on-1 conversations with President Obama and only had one with
:42:50. > :42:54.President Bush and found it unusual that he found himself invited to
:42:55. > :42:59.dinner for this one on one conversation. We just heard from
:43:00. > :43:02.outside counsel for Donald Trump that these documents had been leaked
:43:03. > :43:07.to his friend at Columbia University. Do you think he
:43:08. > :43:10.orchestrated the special counsel because James Comey didn't have any
:43:11. > :43:15.faith in the Department of Justice? That's what it sounded like. You
:43:16. > :43:22.were asking a senator earlier about Jeff Sessions and whether he felt
:43:23. > :43:25.there was something about Jeff Sessions' links to Russia that
:43:26. > :43:30.compromised him. PCs to have anticipated that Jeff Sessions would
:43:31. > :43:36.have two recuse himself from the Russian investigation -- he seemed
:43:37. > :43:40.to anticipate. He didn't feel he could go to the White House and the
:43:41. > :43:46.Department of Justice because he didn't quite trust them. He told
:43:47. > :43:50.people in the FBI, each time he had encounters with the presidency told
:43:51. > :43:54.close associates in the FBI that he was concerned about what the
:43:55. > :43:59.president said but he said he wanted to protect the investigation and
:44:00. > :44:02.investigators, so he didn't want the content and uncomfortable nature of
:44:03. > :44:09.the conversations to get out too far in the FBI, that is Comey's view.
:44:10. > :44:13.We are used to the attack ad's that appear during the elections here.
:44:14. > :44:15.But rarely do we see them targeted at a private citizen.
:44:16. > :44:18.But this week a pro-Trump ad targeting James Comey has been
:44:19. > :44:23.It has been paid for by the Great America Alliance pac.
:44:24. > :44:25.Newt Gingrich who is close to the President is their chair.
:44:26. > :44:28.And it picks up on a theme the President had used himself.
:44:29. > :44:31.That in his view his former FBI director - is a "showboat".
:44:32. > :44:40.As head of the FBI, James Comey put politics over protecting America.
:44:41. > :44:44.After the FBI banned terms like radical Islam for political
:44:45. > :44:49.correctness, Comey allowed the dangerous practice to continue. When
:44:50. > :44:52.terror attacks were on the rise last year, Comey was consumed with
:44:53. > :44:56.election meddling and after he testified before the Senate, Comey's
:44:57. > :45:01.staff admitted that some of his answers were wrong. James Comey,
:45:02. > :45:09.just another Washington insider only in it for himself. Paid for by Great
:45:10. > :45:11.American Alliance. Such a cosy world!
:45:12. > :45:14.We can bring in Matt Schlapp - the Chair of the American
:45:15. > :45:23.Thanks for joining us. You heard that at that the White House has put
:45:24. > :45:29.out, how sensible is this from the White House, to try and take a shot
:45:30. > :45:37.at James Comey's credibility like this? I am all for Mr Comey having
:45:38. > :45:42.to answer for his record and a lot of us worked with Jim Comey in the
:45:43. > :45:47.Bush administration and a lot of people who supported Hillary Clinton
:45:48. > :45:50.for President who are really disappointed with that record, a lot
:45:51. > :45:55.of Hillary Clinton people think that he acted in a strange way in the
:45:56. > :45:59.election and may have helped Donald Trump to win the race and for a lot
:46:00. > :46:04.of us who worked with Comey in the Bush administration, he has a
:46:05. > :46:10.reputation for being a grandstand, all about him, someone who was
:46:11. > :46:13.focused on his own reputation, polishing his halo, so a lot of us
:46:14. > :46:22.think that both sides need to be told. But he doesn't have a
:46:23. > :46:26.reputation, as far as I know, for being a liar, and yet, effectively,
:46:27. > :46:34.Donald Trump's outside counsel Marc Kasowitz has just said that Jim
:46:35. > :46:39.Comey is not telling the truth. Yes, and I think that is a perfectly fair
:46:40. > :46:43.response. Like I said, the scores of people I've spoken to who worked
:46:44. > :46:49.closely with Jim Comey tell me that if it comes between the truth and
:46:50. > :46:54.burnishing his own reputation, his own reputation always comes first.
:46:55. > :46:57.Does that mean he lies about everything? Of course not, but I
:46:58. > :47:03.take everything he says with a grain of salt, I want to find current
:47:04. > :47:06.rating information. This voice in Washington, DC believes that there
:47:07. > :47:12.is another side to him. People keep saying he is the nation's top cop,
:47:13. > :47:17.and even many cops around the country have been disgruntled with
:47:18. > :47:20.how James Comey acted as FBI director so I'm cynical of people
:47:21. > :47:26.who say that he is a saint. But doesn't he speaks of the nervousness
:47:27. > :47:32.that are the -- that the RNC are about James Comey that you are
:47:33. > :47:36.running this advert about him? They say in the advert that terrorist
:47:37. > :47:42.attacks surged 600% but that was worldwide, that isn't James Comey's
:47:43. > :47:47.responsibility, it is a false fact. An alternative fact! There is a
:47:48. > :47:50.question of his character and I can speak to that, and my friends from
:47:51. > :47:53.the Bush administration and my Democratic friends who are
:47:54. > :47:56.disappointed with how he treated Hillary Kenton can speak to the Jim
:47:57. > :48:04.Comey that they know. I have nothing to do with the advert -- how he
:48:05. > :48:07.treated Hillary Clinton. There is an investigation, the American people
:48:08. > :48:13.and the world are going to learn a lot of things but it is fair for
:48:14. > :48:18.people to learn that people who worked with Jim Comey find him less
:48:19. > :48:19.than always truthful. I think we might see Mr Comey in the Senate
:48:20. > :48:25.again! Thank you for joining us. Our correspondent Rajini
:48:26. > :48:36.Vaidyanathan was in the hearing You've got one of the rare seats? It
:48:37. > :48:40.is no surprise that it was a hot ticket today. Just to get into the
:48:41. > :48:43.building there was a long queue and security but when I got inside I saw
:48:44. > :48:48.hundreds of people queueing through the corridors to try and get one of
:48:49. > :48:51.the public seats. Most of them were interns. A group of them managed to
:48:52. > :48:56.get in and I asked them how long they had been queueing for and they
:48:57. > :49:00.said that they started at 4am, so they could witness history. Another
:49:01. > :49:03.young man who wasn't as Lucky said that the last time he had queued up
:49:04. > :49:09.like this was to get an iPhone and he was successful on that count. In
:49:10. > :49:13.the room I was struck by how composed James Comey was when he was
:49:14. > :49:18.taking questions. I was about three rows behind him. He didn't seem to
:49:19. > :49:22.hesitate when he was asked questions, he seemed relaxed, there
:49:23. > :49:27.were no notes on the table in front of him. Even though he had to talk
:49:28. > :49:31.for a couple of hours, answering questions, but he barely drank any
:49:32. > :49:35.of the glasses of water in front of him. That is impressive, I think I
:49:36. > :49:40.would have drunk the whole lot and perhaps the jug of water as well!
:49:41. > :49:44.Thank you for joining us. We've been watching Donald Trump's Twitter
:49:45. > :49:49.feed, there has been nothing from him, I think his phone has been
:49:50. > :49:53.confiscated today. But knowing people around him, we've been
:49:54. > :49:59.checking on his son, and Donald Trump Junior has been on Twitter and
:50:00. > :50:03.this is what he has had to say. "Knowing My father for 39 years,
:50:04. > :50:08.when he orders or tells you to do something, there is no ambiguity,
:50:09. > :50:13.you know exactly what he means." I'm guessing James Comey which say that
:50:14. > :50:16.there is no ambiguity, seeing your way through to dropping it against
:50:17. > :50:23.Mike Flynn, and that was pretty clear for me at least. We heard a
:50:24. > :50:25.little bit there and from Republicans in the programme that
:50:26. > :50:33.they are going to push back against the idea that this was some kind of
:50:34. > :50:37.order that James Comey was given, it was gently asking. That doesn't seem
:50:38. > :50:43.to be how James Comey took it. We are in this rather and such --
:50:44. > :50:50.unsatisfying position where we will have days of litigation over who is
:50:51. > :50:57.telling the truth. Our previous gassed said that he thought James
:50:58. > :51:01.Comey was not always truthful -- our previous gassed. I suspect you will
:51:02. > :51:07.have a couple of days of James Comey supporters saying that it happened
:51:08. > :51:14.-- previous guest. If there are those tapes that come out... Lordy,
:51:15. > :51:19.I hope that there are tapes come I think he said. Jeff Sessions, it has
:51:20. > :51:25.taken the White House 48 to say that the president has faith in Jeff
:51:26. > :51:28.Sessions, the Attorney General. He is clearly frustrated about the
:51:29. > :51:32.Russian investigation which is hanging over him and he sees a
:51:33. > :51:35.direct line between Jeff Sessions rig using himself from the Russian
:51:36. > :51:39.investigation and the special counsel, Robert Mueller. What he's
:51:40. > :51:45.really annoyed about is the fact that Jeff Sessions tenth WWE himself
:51:46. > :51:51.in the first place, this is a president who does not think you
:51:52. > :51:57.should back down -- that Jeff Sessions recused himself in the
:51:58. > :52:00.first place. That is where his irritation with the Attorney General
:52:01. > :52:06.comes in so we will see how long Jeff Sessions is in the White House.
:52:07. > :52:12.We will have it all here on 100 Days. We will see you next week.
:52:13. > :52:18.For those of us staying on the BBC News Channel, we have a big event
:52:19. > :52:21.coming up, the results of the general election. Pollit stations
:52:22. > :52:22.opened at Devon AM and you have