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Trump's Lawyer Denies President Asked Comey For Loyalty Pledge

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The day isn't over, but as of now, President Trump has not tweeted, not even once. White House officials stress that they and the president went about the day as they would any other. They're pressing forward on their agenda and leaving the president's personal lawyer to respond to former FBI Director Comey's testimony.

NPR's Mara Liasson, national political correspondent, joins us now from the White House. And Mara, after the release of James Comey's written testimony yesterday, Trump's attorney said that the president felt totally vindicated. Now after the live testimony, is it the same story?

MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Yes, it is. Marc Kasowitz read a lengthy statement today saying that Comey confirmed what the president has been saying all along - that he was not personally under investigation and didn't impede the overall Russia investigation. But Kasowitz did really push back against Comey's testimony that President Trump asked him to drop the Flynn investigation. Here he is.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARC KASOWITZ: The president never in form or substance directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone, including, the president never suggested that Mr. Comey, quote, "let Flynn go," close quote. As the president publicly stated the next day, he did say to Mr. Comey, quote, "General Flynn is a good guy; he has been through a lot," close quote, and also, quote, "asked how General Flynn is doing," close quote.

LIASSON: So Kasowitz's categorical denial here is consistent with the way Trump himself has answered this question. When asked whether he pressured Comey to end the Flynn investigation, Trump said no, no, next question.

CORNISH: And what about this other conversation between Comey and Trump, the one where Comey says Trump asked for his loyalty?

LIASSON: Kasowitz categorically denied that also. He said the president never asked for loyalty in form or in substance, and then he pivoted to what the president's preferred response to anyone who comes after him usually is. He counterpunched.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KASOWITZ: It is overwhelmingly clear that there have been and continue to be those in government who are actively attempting to undermine this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information and privileged communications. Mr. Comey has now admitted that he is one of these leakers.

LIASSON: Whether or not Comey's memos were actually privileged is debated by legal experts, but this has been the president's strategy all along - to say that the Russia story is a hoax, fake news, and the real story is the leaks.

CORNISH: So what's next in terms of all of these investigations into Trump's associates' contacts with the Russians?

LIASSON: Well, the investigation by the special counsel goes onward. The White House feels very comfortable that now this is a political problem more than a legal problem and that so far, what Comey says the president did, which Kasowitz denies, still doesn't rise to obstruction of justice.

But there is a difference in the way that Kasowitz is going after Comey frontally, setting up a real he-said, he-said situation while Republicans on the committee today did not do that. They did not try to undercut Comey's credibility. They accepted his description of what the president said to him in those meetings. But they were focused on trying to show that the president saying I hope you will make the case go away is not the same as obstruction.

In other words, the idea is you can be a bully. You can bust through norms of what's been considered appropriate behavior for a president, but that doesn't mean that you are a criminal.

CORNISH: That's NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Mara, thanks so much.

LIASSON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Mara Liasson is a national political correspondent for NPR. Her reports can be heard regularly on NPR's award-winning newsmagazine programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Liasson provides extensive coverage of politics and policy from Washington, DC — focusing on the White House and Congress — and also reports on political trends beyond the Beltway.
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