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DC Daily: Trump responds to Comey testimony as fallout continues

Posted at 7:44 AM, Jun 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-09 10:44:19-04

What's happening in the political world:

Trump responds to Comey testimony via Twitter
-- One day after former FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump offered a response to the testimony on Twitter.

Trump said: "Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication ... and WOW, Comey is a leaker!"

At Thursday's hearing, Comey detailed some key interactions with Trump, including a meeting in which he said he believed the president asked him to end an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Comey said he felt he was fired from his role due to his handling of the investigation into Russia's interference in the presidential election as well as possible ties between Russian officials and members of the Trump administration.

The fired director also confirmed that he provided memos that detailed his meetings with Trump to a close friend, who in turn forwarded the notes to The New York Times. Comey said he hoped leaking the memos would prompt a special counsel to be appointed for the Russia probe.

Following the testimony, Trump's personal attorney fired back by focusing on Comey's revelation that he informed the president several times that he was not under investigation.

Attorney Marc Kasowitz also said Comey's memo leak was a violation because it contained information from a private meeting with President Trump.

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Trump's attorney to file complaint against Comey
-- -- President Trump's personal attorney said he plans to file a federal complaint against ex-FBI Director James Comey over information Comey provided to a friend that detailed interactions with Trump.

Sources told CNN said Marc Kasowitz plans to file the complaint with the Justice Department Inspector General and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The complaint will focus on Comey's testimony that he gave a friend the content of memos about his conversations with Trump and asked the friend to then give that information to a reporter. Comey said he gave the friend -- later identified as Daniel Richman, a longtime Comey confidante and Columbia University professor -- the information after Trump tweeted that he may have tapes of his conversations with the fired FBI director.

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New York Times stands by story Comey called into question
-- Former FBI Director James Comey's testimony on Thursday backed up some of the anonymous-sourced news reports about the FBI, but Comey took exception to one specific New York Times story from February.

"In the main, it was not true," Comey told the Senate Intelligence Commitee, disputing a February 14 story titled "Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence."

Comey never specified what portions of the story were supposedly wrong.

In a statement, The Times said, "Neither the F.B.I., nor Mr. Comey would comment or elaborate on what Mr. Comey believes to be incorrect. Should they provide more information, we would review that as well."

The Times published a detailed followup around 5 p.m. on Thursday.

It noted that "multiple news outlets have since published accounts that support the main elements of The Times's article, including information about phone calls and in-person meetings between Mr. Trump's advisers and Russians, some believed to be connected to Russian intelligence."

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CNN contributed to this report