According to CNN , President Trump’s attorney and former Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, is now claiming that Trump never instructed former FBI director James Comey to ease up on the former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Appearing on CNN ‘s State of the Union Sunday morning, Giuliani told host Jake Tapper that the President never had a conversation about Michael Flynn with James Comey. “There was no conversation about Michael Flynn,” Giuliani insisted. “The President didn’t find out that Comey believed there was until about, I think, it was February when it supposedly took place. The memo came out in May. And in between, Comey testified under oath, in no way had he been obstructed at any time.”
“Then all of the sudden,” he continued, “in May he says he felt obstructed. He felt pressured by that comment, ‘you should go easy on Flynn.’ So we maintain the President didn’t say that.”
In June 2017, Comey testified that the President had previously requested that the former FBI director “go easy” on Flynn, suggesting that he go ahead and just drop the probe altogether. During this testimony, Comey maintained that Trump specifically said, “See your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
On Sunday, however, Giuliani vehemently denied that President Trump had ever made such a comment or request, adding that the President will also deny ever instructing Comey to drop the probe if asked to testify. “They already know that,” Giuliani said. “Why are they asking us to repeat what they already know under oath?”
While Giuliani had previously told ABC News that President Trump did, in fact, ask Comey to drop the probe into Michael Flynn, he refuted having ever said that on Sunday morning, telling Tapper, “That’s crazy. I have never said that.”
“What I said was,” he added, “that is what Comey is saying Trump said. I have always said the President denies it.”
Guiliani also went on to claim that special counsel Robert Mueller only wants to interview Trump in order to try to entrap him in a perjury charge for potentially lying under oath. “They can say it’s perjury if they elect to believe Comey instead of Trump,” he said, noting that both Trump’s and Mueller’s teams have still yet to agree on a proposal for a potential interview.
