Ron Sachs/ZUMA
President Donald Trump on Thursday accused NBC’s Lester Holt of “fudging the tape” of the May 2017 interview during which the president admitted he planned to fire former FBI director James Comey regardless of the Justice Department’s recommendation, directly contradicting the White House’s initial statements.
That extraordinary admission, along with the president’s disclosure to Holt that the “Russia thing” had been on his mind before firing Comey, has reportedly been at the center of the special counsel’s investigation into whether Trump has attempted to obstruct justice.
The president did not offer any evidence to back any allegation of the tape being manipulated. He instead sought to remind the public that he was “not under investigation.”
What’s going on at @CNN is happening, to different degrees, at other networks – with @NBCNews being the worst. The good news is that Andy Lack(y) is about to be fired(?) for incompetence, and much worse. When Lester Holt got caught fudging my tape on Russia, they were hurt badly!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2018
The only thing James Comey ever got right was when he said that President Trump was not under investigation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2018
In something of a follow-up to his Wednesday tweet announcing the forthcoming departure of White House counsel Don McGahn, Trump denied reports that McGahn had persuaded him not to fire special counsel Robert Mueller and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. But the president’s tweet, which misspelled the word “counsel,” appeared to confirm that he has contemplated those firings, either one of which would be certain to kick off a political crisis.
I am very excited about the person who will be taking the place of Don McGahn as White House Councel! I liked Don, but he was NOT responsible for me not firing Bob Mueller or Jeff Sessions. So much Fake Reporting and Fake News!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2018