Why James Comey likens Trump to a 'forest fire': Part 1

our president must adhere to the values there at the core of this country the most important being truth this president is not able to do that he's morally unfit to be President last night stunning statement still reckoning today on the news this war of words between the president and the FBI director who he fired after James commis explosive interview I think he struggled to answer basic questions and he looked a little shaky President Trump watched portions of ABC News's exclusive James Comey interview but as he left the White House this morning he didn't answer ABC News's John Carl did you get a chance to watch the Comey interview mr. president the president called me says you are morally unfit to serve any reactions are but the President did take to Twitter yesterday warning too few calling the fired FBI director Slippery worst director in history tonight Nightline brings you more in this story of truth and lies you must tell the truth it matters enormously at an extraordinary moment in American history where the former director of the FBI calls the president who fired him destructive I liken President Trump in the book to a forest fire gonna do tremendous damage gonna damage those important norms but a forest fire gives healthy things a chance to grow that had no chance before that fire promoting his new book a higher loyalty Comey explains why he's stepping forward now why the title a higher loyalty well in part the title comes from a bizarre conversation I had with the president and dinner at the White House in January of last year where he asked for my loyalty personally as the FBI director my loyalty is supposed to be to the American people and to the institution but more than that it grows out of a lifetime of my trying to be a better leader but his moral compass called into question but what some say are petty attacks on the president you say the president didn't laugh yeah not at all and I was struck by it it's so struck by it it stayed with me so I went and tried to find examples of videos where he's laughing and I could only find one that really wasn't in genuine laugh he's also under fire for the public role he's played over the past two years incidents he says reflected his own difficult choices between concealing or revealing information to the American public his first audacious public moment that July 5th 2016 press conference regarding Hillary Clinton's emails komak including there was no criminal intent and no reason to prosecute Clinton but he was also harshly critical there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive highly classified information he did not disclose his findings in advance to his boss Attorney General Loretta Lynch I decided that I would read it say it out loud so that people could hear the tone of my voice but that I wouldn't take any questions Comey says he was concerned the public might question Lynch's impartiality particularly after her impromptu meeting on an airport tarmac with Bill Clinton he decided to take matters into his own hands your critics say this is where your ego got the best of you this was your original sin yeah I hear that and look there's always a risk that I'm blind to how I'm acting I don't think so so if it was about ego why would I step out in front of the organization and get shot a thousand times in a statement to ABC News yesterday Loretta Lynch denied discussing the investigation with anyone from the Clinton campaign or the DNC and said in part that a James Comey had any concerns regarding the email investigation classified or not he had ample opportunities to raise them with me both privately and in meetings he never did his second struggle to come clean or hold back October 28th 2016 11 days before Election Day the FBI bombshell for Hillary Clinton revealing they will now investigate newly discovered emails Hillary Clinton's convinced that that letter defeated her what do you say to her I hope not I I don't know I honestly don't know I sure hope not but the honest answer is it wouldn't change the way I think about it I know now I didn't find anything but you have to come with me to the 28th of October sit there with me what would you do I see two doors I can't find a door that says no action I see two actions speak or conceal speaking would be terrible concealing be catastrophic most the Clinton camp was fiercely critical of Kobe's decision but commis wife Patrice of bourbon Clinton supporter disagrees as a supporter of Hillary Clinton I wanted her to say that's what I want the FBI to do of course they have to do that but instead I felt like she attacked the institution and my husband and I was disappointed I still want her to win but her husband would stay silent during the election about information that Donald Trump's campaign was the subject of an FBI counterintelligence investigation for possible coordination with Russia and this was very different we did not want these Americans to know that we had reason to believe they might be working with the Russians because we got to run this down and investigate it in January 2017 Comey does tell the incoming president about sensitive but unverified information the FBI received from what they believed to be a credible source which included a salacious allegation of trumps encounter with prostitutes in Moscow why tell him we have been told by the press they were about to run with it one of the ways we defeat the adversary is tell the person who might be blackmailed we the government we already know about this so you're not gonna be able to hide it so they don't have leverage on you and then second he's gonna be President of the United States how could we the leaders of the intelligence community know something whether it's true or not about him personally that's going to become public that the Russians may have and not share with him did you tell him that the steel dossier had been financed by his political opponents no I didn't I don't even think I used the term steel dossier I just talked about additional material but did he have a right to know that that had been financed by his political opponents that I don't know the answer to that it wasn't necessary for my goal which is to alert him that we had this information I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States days after the inauguration and a private one-on-one dinner at the White House Comey says the president makes a request he said I expect loyalty I need loyalty and I just stared at him and had this little narrative with myself inside saying don't you move don't you dare move don't even blink why not say no I think because I was caught totally by surprise he says the president asked a second time Comey hedges and all he agrees to give the president quote honest loyalty given that I worried he might not tell the truth about our encounter and I thought you know I need to have a written record of this and so I went home on my personal computer and created a memo and kept a copy of it in my personal safe at home and left another copy of it at the FBI because it was about both protecting the FBI and protecting me he document another meeting with the president February 2017 the day after NSA director Michael Flynn was fired Comey says Trump made a request said he hopes I can let it go and when he said that you thought he's asking me to drop the criminal investigation of his now former national security adviser I took the expression of hope as this is what I want you to do the president says he didn't say that yeah what am I gonna do he did call me story about the conversation to stay the same you solemnly swear to tell the truth from his Senate testimony under oath I took it as a direction I mean as the president United States with me alone saying I hope this I took it as this is what he wants me to do no I didn't I didn't obey that but that's the way I took it kill me what leak his memos a decision he hoped would and in fact did lead to the appointment of special counsel Robert Muller to oversee the FBI's investigation into coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia that investigation now includes the potential obstruction of justice case involving Colby's firing and if Robert Muller decides to bring a case would you be a witness for the prosecution sure if he asked me to be yeah I'm a fact witness that relates to I'm sure to an obstruction investigation where that's gonna go I don't know mr. mole are you investigating the president and his Muller's investigation continues to heat up call me still questions why Trump seems often hesitant to criticize vitomir Putin why is President Trump so reluctant to call out Vladimir Putin I don't know I am struck by it and I'm struck by it both in public and in private you would think that in private talking to the FBI director whose job it is to work Russian attacks you might acknowledge that this enemy of ours is an enemy of our but I never saw it do you think the Russians have something on Donald Trump I think it's possible I don't know these are more words I never thought I'd uh tur about uh president United States but it's possible that's stunning you can't say for certain that the president United States is not compromised by the Russians yeah it is stunning and I wish I wasn't saying it but it's just it's the truth it always struck me and still strikes me as unlikely and I would have been able to say with high confidence about any other president I dealt with but I can't it's possible when we come back former director Comey's remarkable claim about president Trump's current chief of staff John Kelly he intended to resign because he wouldn't work for people who would treat someone like me in such a dishonorable way and that he was going to quit hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel if you'd like to get more video show highlights and watch live event coverage click 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Channel: ABC News

Views: 86,359

Keywords: James, Comey, President, Donald, Trump, George, Stephanopoulos, Interview, former, FBI, director, Russia, 2016, election, Hillary, Clinton, email, investigation, new, book, Higher, Loyalty, us, politics, abc, abcnews

Id: HEbJ0p6eIFs

Length: 10min 1sec (601 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 17 2018