Trump Accuses Comey Of Giving Untrue Testimony

President Trump on Friday accused fired FBI Director James Comey of making untrue statements in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday, but also said he felt vindicated by other parts of Comey's testimony.

Mr. Trump, in a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden with Romanian president Klaus Iohannis, said some of Comey's testimony -- such as Comey's recollection of conversations with the president in which Mr. Trump urged him to drop an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn -- were untrue. The president, in his first press conference since Comey's testimony, called Comey a "leaker," but stopped short of calling him a liar. But, at the same time, the president said other parts of Mr. Comey's testimony confirmed what Mr. Trump had already said, such as that he wasn't under criminal investigation.

CBS News

Mr. Trump said he would "100 percent" be willing to testify under oath and speak with Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor in the FBI's investigation into Russian election meddling and any ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Mr. Trump dodged multiple questions about whether there are tapes of his conversations with Comey. Mr. Trump first brought up the possibility of tapes in a tweet shortly after firing Comey, saying the ousted FBI director, "better hope that there are no 'tapes'" of their conversations.

The president said he would let the media know whether there are tapes in the "very near future," adding that people will be "very disappointed" when they hear the answer to that question.  

Comey on Thursday said he hopes such tapes do exist.

"Lordy, I hope there are tapes," he told the committee. 

For weeks, the White House has hedged on questions from the press about whether such tapes exist, and whether Mr. Trump regularly records conversations in the White House. 

The president again reiterated that he never told Comey to drop the investigation into Flynn. But Mr. Trump also said that, if he had, there would be nothing wrong with that, according to what he had been reading. 

Mr. Trump's personal lawyer is planning to file a complaint against Comey with the Senate Judiciary Committee and Department of Justice Office of Inspector General.

Mr. Trump drew attention for some of his comments on foreign policy issues as well. 

Mr. Trump said he is "committing" the U.S. to Article 5 in NATO, which provides that all NATO allies consider an armed attack on one of its members to be an act of violence worthy of aid. But, asked by a foreign reporter whether he views Russia to be a threat like many neighboring NATO allies do, Mr. Trump failed to answer. 

The president also lashed out against Qatar -- moments after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on Saudi Arabia and Egypt to ease a blockage on Qatar -- creating a seemingly inconsistent message within the administration. Mr. Trump criticized Qatar for being a "funder of terrorism at a very high level."