White House hits back at Comey: ‘The president is not a liar’

The White House angrily denounced suggestions that the president and his administration had lied and defamed in a bid to quash an investigation into ties with Russia, following bombshell testimony by fired FBI chief James Comey on Thursday

“I can definitely say the president is not a liar and frankly am insulted by that question,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said during a briefing at the White House.

Comey during his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier in the day accused the Trump administration of spreading “lies, plain and simple” about him and the FBI in the aftermath of his abrupt firing in early May. Comey added that the administration had “defamed him and more importantly the FBI” by claiming the bureau was in disorder under his leadership.

In testimony that exposed deep distrust between the president and the veteran lawman, Comey also described intense discomfort about their one-on-one conversations, saying he decided he immediately needed to document the discussions in memos.

Comey admitted to leaking a memo to the press, through a confidant, that detailed a conversation with Trump in which the president had urged him to drop an investigation into the former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s ties with Russia.

Trump had denied doing so and tweeted last month that Comey had better hope there were no “tapes” of their conversations. Comey, testifying on Capitol Hill, said he indeed hoped tapes existed and called on the president to release them if they do.

“Lordy, I hope there are tapes,” he said.

Sanders joked about the alleged tapes when speaking to reporters, saying she doesn’t know if Trump is taping his Oval Office conversations, but will “try to look under the couch.”

The White House has refused to answer what the president was referring to in his tweet. Sanders said that she had “no idea” about Oval Office taping.

In a speech Thursday at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual conference at the same time as Comey’s testimony, Trump said he and his supporters “are under siege” but “will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever.”

The president did not make specific reference to Comey.