Trump accuses Comey of lying under oath, says the FBI's 'reputation is in Tatters' in Sunday morning tweetstorm after Flynn pleads guilty

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Trump accuses Comey of lying under oath, says the FBI's 'reputation is in Tatters' in Sunday morning tweetstorm after Flynn pleads guilty

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donald trump

Mario Tama/Getty Images

President Donald Trump.

  • On Twitter Sunday morning, President Donald Trump accused former FBI Director James Comey, whom he fired in May, of lying under oath.
  • Comey testified in June that Trump asked him to drop the FBI's investigation into Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn in February.
  • On Friday, Flynn pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to investigators.


President Donald Trump went on a Twitter spree early Sunday morning, firing off 10 tweets or retweets before 9 a.m.

The tweets were mostly slamming the FBI, and its former director James Comey, whom Trump fired in May. Trump accused Comey of lying about a conversation the two had in February about Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign as national security adviser in February after news broke that he didn't disclose contacts with Russia.

On Friday, Flynn pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to investigators during an interview in January about his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak during the transition period.

"I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," Trump told Comey on February 14, according to Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in June. "He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go."

Comey gave no indication that he would consider Trump's request. Three months later, Trump abruptly fired Comey, who was leading the FBI's Russia investigation at the time.

On Sunday, Trump accused Comey of lying about that conversation.

Sunday's tweets followed up on Trump's comments on Saturday, in which the president told reporters on the White House lawn that "What has been shown is no collusion."

"I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI,"  Trump tweeted on Saturday. "He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!"

Experts told Business Insider that Trump's tweet from Saturday indicates he's "utterly clueless about his own jeopardy" in a possible obstruction of justice case that Mueller could bring in his Russia probe.

'Tainted (no, very dishonest?)'

Trump then turned attention to an FBI agent who special counsel Robert Mueller removed from his investigation this summer for harboring anti-Trump sentiment.

A source told the AP that the agent also worked on the investigation into former secretary of state Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. After publicly reopening the investigation in November, Comey said just before the 2016 election that the FBI found no wrongdoing.

Comey indirectly weighed in on the Flynn guilty plea news on Friday. At noon, he tweeted his "favorite" biblical verse, and linked to a photo he posted on Instagram of the Great Falls of the Potomac River.

"'But justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream' Amos 5:24," Comey wrote, quickly accumulating tens of thousands of likes and retweets.