Comey Calls Trump Conversations "Very Disturbing"

James Comey on Thursday said he was blindsided when President Donald Trump fired him as FBI director, adding he was confused by the administration's explanations, which he characterized as "lies -- plain and simple."

Comey testified Thursday before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, where he faced questioning about his termination, the investigation into Russia's meddling in the U.S. election and encounters he had with Trump.

Comey did not read his lengthy prepared remarks, which were released on Wednesday, and instead gave a brief and direct statement in which he discussed the circumstances prior to and after his termination.

"When I was appointed FBI director in 2013, I understood that I served at the pleasure of the president. Even though I was appointed to a 10-year term, which Congress created in order to underscore the importance of the FBI being outside of politics and independent, I understood that I could be fired by a president for any reason or for no reason at all," Comey told the committee. "And on May the 9th when I learned that I had been fired, for that reason I immediately came home as a private citizen. But then the explanations, the shifting explanations, confused me and increasingly concerned me."

Trump initially said he fired Comey following "clear" advice from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, who, among other reasons, cited Comey's handling of the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails as the reason he should be dismissed.

Comey said that Trump assured him he was serving well as the FBI director, suggesting the termination blindsided him and the following explanations confused him.

"They confused me because the president and I had had multiple conversations about my job, both before and after he took office, and he had repeatedly told me I was doing a great job and he hoped I would stay," Comey told the committee. "He told me repeatedly that he had talked to lots of people about me, including our current Attorney General, and had learned that I was doing a great job, and that I was extremely well-liked by the FBI workforce. So it confused me when I saw on television the president saying that he actually fired me because of the Russia investigation, and learned again from the media, that he was telling privately other parties that my firing had relieved great pressure on the Russia investigation."

Comey agreed to testify before the Senate panel, which is conducting one of three U.S. investigations related to Russia, last week after receiving clearance from special investigator Robert Mueller.

Responding to a question from panel chairman Richard Burr, Comey said there was no doubt Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential election.

"No doubt," Comey said.

Although a memo written by Comey indicated that Trump had expressed hope that former national security adviser Michael Flynn would be cleared as part of the probe, Comey said Thursday the president hadn't explicitly asked him to stop investigating.

"Did the president at any time ask you to stop the FBI investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. Elections?" Burr continued.

"Not to my understanding, no," Comey answered.

Regarding potential ramifications for Trump's "hope" that Flynn would be cleared, though, Comey said it was not for him to decide.

"When the president requested that you, 'let Flynn go,' ... In your estimation, was Gen. Flynn at that time in serious legal jeopardy, and in addition to that, do you sense that the president was trying to obstruct justice or just seek for a way for Mike Flynn to save face?" Burr asked.

"Gen. Flynn at that point in time was in legal jeopardy. There was an open FBI criminal investigation of his statements in connection with the Russian contacts ... so that was my assessment at the time," Comey replied. "I don't think it's for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct. I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning, but that's a conclusion I'm sure the special counsel will work towards to try and understand what the intention was there, and whether that's an offense."

Sen. Mark Warner, the panel's vice chairman, asked Comey whether it was true that he'd assured Trump at one time that he wasn't personally under investigation. Comey said, technically, that had been true.

"There was not a counter-intelligence investigation of Mr. Trump, and I decided in the moment to say it, given the nature of our conversation," Comey answered.

He added, however, that some in FBI leadership worried that such a statement might be misleading given the possibility that an investigation of Trump was still possible.

"The nature of the investigation was such that it might touch, obviously it would touch, the campaign, -- and the person that headed the campaign would be the candidate," Comey said.

Following Comey's testimony, Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz said the former FBI chief had validated what the president has previously said.

"Mr. Comey has now finally confirmed publicly what he repeatedly told the president privately -- the president was not under investigation as part of any probe into Russian interference," he said. "He also admitted that there is no evidence that a single vote changed as a result of any Russian interference.

"It is overwhelmingly clear that there have been and continue to be those in government who are actively attempting to undermine this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information and privileged communications."

Kasowitz also said Trump never demanded loyalty from Comey, a claim the former FBI director reemphasized in his remarks Thursday.

"The dinner [in January] was an effort to build a relationship. In fact, he asked specifically, of loyalty in the context of asking me to stay," Comey told the committee. "My common sense told me what's going on here is he's looking to get something in exchange for granting my request to stay in the job."

Comey said he was uneasy about the loyalty remarks because the FBI director serves at 10-year terms specifically to avoid politicizing the position with parallel terms for U.S. presidents.

"The statue of justice has a blindfolds on. You're not supposed to peek out to see there if your patron was pleased with what you're doing," he said.

Comey said the president made his remarks about Flynn during a February 14 meeting after he'd asked everyone else in the room -- including Sessions -- to leave.

"My impression was something big is about to happen," Comey said, noting that he was already preparing mentally to write a memo on the discussion. "I need to remember every single word that is spoken. ... I knew something was about to happen that I needed to pay very close attention to."