Released Comey Memos Backfire On Trump & GOP

Donald Trump

Former FBI Director James Comey's personal memos detailing his meetings with Donald Trump were released last night to Congress and, of course, are now out for public consumption.

Trump immediately took to Twitter to declare the memos cleared him of any "collusion" or "obstruction," which is false.

James Comey Memos just out and show clearly that there was NO COLLUSION and NO OBSTRUCTION. Also, he leaked classified information. WOW! Will the Witch Hunt continue?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2018

Here on Earth One, nowhere in Comey’s memos does he say that Trump did not collude or obstruct justice. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact site dubbed Trump's claim "Pants On Fire" lying.

Here's just a few items from the newly-released memos:

• "The president spoke an overwhelming majority of the time. He never asked me an open-ended question or left it to me to choose a topic of conversation."

• The pee-pee thing in the Steele dossier really, really bothers Trump.

"I said, the Russians allegedly had tapes involving him and prostitutes at the Presidential Suite at the Ritz Carlton in Moscow from about 2013. He interjected: 'there were no prostitutes; there were never prostitutes.' He then said something about him being the kind of guy who didn't need to 'go there' and laughed (which I understood to be communicating that he didn't need to pay for sex.)"

"He said '2013' to himself as if trying to remember that period of time ... He said he always assumed that hotels he stayed in when he travels are wired in some way. I replied that I do as well."

"He then started talking about all the women who had falsely accused him of grabbing or touching them (with particular mention of a 'stripper" who said he grabbed her) ... "

"The President said 'the hookers thing' is nonsense but that Putin had told him 'we have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world.'"

"He said he thought maybe he should ask me to investigate the whole thing to prove it was a lie."

• Comey did, in fact, notate that Trump specifically asked for "loyalty."

"He [said] that he needed loyalty and expected loyalty. I did not reply, or even nod or change my facial expression, which he noted because we came back to it later."

• Trump wondered about having journalists arrested:

“The president ... [returned] to the issue of finding leakers ... I said something about the value of putting a head on a pike as a message. He replied by saying it may involve putting reporters in jail. 'They spend a couple days in jail, make a new friend, and they are ready to talk.' I laughed."