The President Discusses Flynn with FBI Director Comey

¶On February 14, 2017, the day after Flynn's resignation, the President had lunch at the White House with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.²¹⁵²¹⁵ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 2-3; SCR012b_000022 (President's Daily Diary, 2/14/17). According to Christie, at one point during the lunch the President said, "Now that we fired Flynn, the Russia thing is over."²¹⁶²¹⁶ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3. Christie laughed and responded, "No way."²¹⁷²¹⁷ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3. He said, "this Russia thing is far from over" and "[w]e'll be here on Valentine's Day 2018 talking about this."²¹⁸²¹⁸ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3. Christie said he thought when the President said "the Russia thing" he was referring to not just the investigations but also press coverage about Russia. Christie thought the more important thing was that there was an investigation. Christie 2/13/19 302, at 4. The President said, "[w]hat do you mean? Flynn met with the Russians. That was the problem. I fired Flynn. It's over."²¹⁹²¹⁹ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3. Christie recalled responding that based on his experience both as a prosecutor and as someone who had been investigated, firing Flynn would not end the investigation.²²⁰²²⁰ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3. Christie said there was no way to make an investigation shorter, but a lot of ways to make it longer.²²¹²²¹ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3. The President asked Christie what he meant, and Christie told the President not to talk about the investigation even if he was frustrated at times.²²²²²² Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3-4. Christie also told the President that he would never be able to get rid of Flynn, "like gum on the bottom of your shoe."²²³²²³ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3. Christie also recalled that during the lunch, Flynn called Kushner, who was at the lunch, and complained about what Spicer had said about Flynn in his press briefing that day. Kushner told Flynn words to the effect of, "You know the President respects you. The President cares about you. I'll get the President to send out a positive tweet about you later." Kushner looked at the President when he mentioned the tweet, and the President nodded his assent. Christie 2/13/19 302, at 3. Flynn recalled getting upset at Spicer's comments in the press conference and calling Kushner to say he did not appreciate the comments. Flynn 1/19/18 302, at 9.Show full note

¶Towards the end of the lunch, the President brought up Comey and asked if Christie was still friendly with him.²²⁴²²⁴ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 4. Christie said he was.²²⁵²²⁵ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 4. The President told Christie to call Comey and tell him that the President "really like[s] him. Tell him he's part of the team."²²⁶²²⁶ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 4-5. At the end of the lunch, the President repeated his request that Christie reach out to Comey.²²⁷²²⁷ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 5. Christie had no intention of complying with the President's request that he contact Comey.²²⁸²²⁸ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 5. He thought the President's request was "nonsensical" and Christie did not want to put Comey in the position of having to receive such a phone call.²²⁹²²⁹ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 5. Christie thought it would have been uncomfortable to pass on that message.²³⁰²³⁰ Christie 2/13/19 302, at 5.

¶At 4 p.m. that afternoon, the President met with Comey, Sessions, and other officials for a homeland security briefing.²³¹²³¹ SCR012b_000022 (President's Daily Diary, 2/14/17); Comey 11/15/17 302, at 9. At the end of the briefing, the President dismissed the other attendees and stated that he wanted to speak to Comey alone.²³²²³² Comey 11/15/17 302, at 10; 2/14/17 Comey Memorandum, at 1; Hearing on Russian Election Interference Before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 115th Cong. (June 8, 2017) (Statement for the Record of James B. Comey, former Director of the FBI, at 4); Priebus 10/13/17 302, at 18 (confirming that everyone was shooed out "like Comey said" in his June testimony). Sessions and senior advisor to the President Jared Kushner remained in the Oval Office as other participants left, but the President excused them, repeating that he wanted to speak only with Comey.²³³²³³ Comey 11/15/17 302, at 10; Comey 2/14/17 Memorandum, at 1; Hearing on Russian Election Interference Before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 115th Cong. (June 8, 2017) (Statement for the Record of James B. Comey, former Director of the FBI, at 4). Sessions recalled that the President asked to speak to Comey alone and that Sessions was one of the last to leave the room; he described Comey's testimony about the events leading up to the private meeting with the President as "pretty accurate." Sessions 1/17/18 302, at 6. Kushner had no recollection of whether the President asked Comey to stay behind. Kushner 4/11/18 302, at 24.Show full note At some point after others had left the Oval Office, Priebus opened the door, but the President sent him away.²³⁴²³⁴ Comey 2/14/17 Memorandum, at 2; Priebus 10/13/17 302, at 18.

¶According to Comey's account of the meeting, once they were alone, the President began the conversation by saying, "I want to talk about Mike Flynn."²³⁵²³⁵ Comey 11/15/17 302, at 10; Comey 2/14/17 Memorandum, at 1; Hearing on Russian Election Interference Before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 115th Cong. (June 8, 2017) (Statement for the Record of James B. Comey, former Director of the FBI, at 4). The President stated that Flynn had not done anything wrong in speaking with the Russians, but had to be terminated because he had misled the Vice President.²³⁶²³⁶ Comey 2/14/17 Memorandum, at 1; Hearing on Russian Election Interference Before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 115th Cong. (June 8, 2017) (Statement for the Record of James B. Comey, former Director of the FBI, at 5). The conversation turned to the topic of leaks of classified information, but the President returned to Flynn, saying "he is a good guy and has been through a lot."²³⁷²³⁷ Comey 11/15/17 302, at 10; Comey 2/14/17 Memorandum, at 2; Hearing on Russian Election Interference Before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 115th Cong. (June 8, 2017) (Statement for the Record of James B. Comey, former Director of the FBI, at 5). The President stated, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go."²³⁸²³⁸ Hearing on Russian Election Interference Before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 115th Cong. (June 8, 2017) (Statement for the Record of James B. Comey, former Director of the FBI, at 5); Comey 2/14/17 Memorandum, at 2. Comey said he was highly confident that the words in quotations in his Memorandum documenting this meeting were the exact words used by the President. He said he knew from the outset of the meeting that he was about to have a conversation of consequence, and he remembered the words used by the President and wrote them down soon after the meeting. Comey 11/15/17 302, at 10-11.Show full note Comey agreed that Flynn "is a good guy," but did not commit to ending the investigation of Flynn.²³⁹²³⁹ Comey 11/15/17 302, at 10; Comey 2/14/17 Memorandum, at 2. Comey testified under oath that he took the President's statement "as a direction" because of the President's position and the circumstances of the one-on-one meeting.²⁴⁰²⁴⁰ Hearing on Russian Election Interference Before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 115th Cong. (June 8, 2017) (CQ Cong. Transcripts, at 31) (testimony of James B. Comey, former Director of the FBI). Comey further stated, "I mean, this is the president of the United States, with me alone, saying, 'I hope' this. I took it as, this is what he wants me to do." Id.; see also Comey 11/15/17 302, at 10 (Comey took the statement as an order to shut down the Flynn investigation).Show full note

¶Shortly after meeting with the President, Comey began drafting a memorandum documenting their conversation.²⁴¹²⁴¹ Comey 11/15/17 302, at 11; Hearing on Russian Election Interference Before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 115th Cong. (June 8, 2017) (Statement for the record of James B. Comey, former Director of the FBI, at 5). Comey also met with his senior leadership team to discuss the President's request, and they agreed not to inform FBI officials working on the Flynn case of the President's statements so the officials would not be influenced by the request.²⁴²²⁴² Comey 11/15/17 302, at 11; Rybicki 6/9/17 302, at 4; Rybicki 6/22/17 302, at 1; Hearing on Russian Election Interference Before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 115th Cong. (June 8, 2017) (Statement for the record of James B. Comey, former Director of the FBI, at 5-6). Comey also asked for a meeting with Sessions and requested that Sessions not leave Comey alone with the President again.²⁴³²⁴³ Comey 11/15/17 302, at 11; Rybicki 6/9/17 302, at 4-5; Rybicki 6/22/17 302, at 1-2; Sessions 1/17/18 302, at 6 (confirming that later in the week following Comey's one-on-one meeting with the President in the Oval Office, Comey told the Attorney General that he did not want to be alone with the President); Hunt 2/1/18 302, at 6 (within days of the February 14 Oval Office meeting, Comey told Sessions he did not think it was appropriate for the FBI Director to meet alone with the President); Rybicki 11/21/18 302, at 4 (Rybicki helped to schedule the meeting with Sessions because Comey wanted to talk about his concerns about meeting with the President alone); Hearing on Russian Election Interference Before the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, 115th Cong. (June 8, 2017) (Statement for the record of James B. Comey, former Director of the FBI, at 6).Show full note