In an exclusive interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, President Donald Trump said that when he decided to fire former FBI director James Comey, he said to himself: “You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.” Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, setting off a wave of backlash that has included Democratic calls for a special prosecutor in the investigation.
Despite what President Donald Trump told Lester Holt Thursday, a current and a former FBI official close to James Comey told NBC News that the former director did not seek a dinner with the president to retain his job.
The two sources said the White House had requested the meeting, which happened at the White House a few days after Trump took office.
The former official added that Comey would have never told Trump he was not under investigation, which also contradicts what the president said in the interview.
"The president is not correct," said the former official, who, along with the current officials, were not named in the NBC News report.
