Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel blasted former FBI Director James Comey for arrogance in his Senate testimony on Thursday.
“Nobody thinks more of James Comey than James Comey, and his testimony was simply a last ditch attempt to save face with the American people,” she said in a statement.
Romney McDaniel added that Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee earlier in the day cleared President Trump of any wrongdoing in probes of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
{mosads}
“Today’s testimony proved what we have known all along: President Trump is not under investigation, there’s still no evidence of collusion, and he did not hinder the investigations in any way,” she said. Trump’s personal attorney Marc Kasowitz made similar statements on Thursday, claiming the testimony vindicated the president while also blasting Comey over parts of his testimony.
Comey earlier Thursday accused Trump’s administration of defaming him and “telling lies.” He spoke to the Senate committee during one of the most hotly anticipated testimonies in recent political history.
“The administration chose to defame me and, more importantly, the FBI by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly run,” Comey said. “Those were lies, plain and simple.”
Comey added that he was “confused” by Trump’s abrupt firing of him last month as the president had frequently praised his performance.
“He told me repeatedly that he had talked to lots of people about me, including the attorney general, and had learned that I was doing a great job and was extremely well-liked by FBI workforce,” Comey said.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that Trump “is not a liar” following Comey’s testimony.
Trump fired Comey last month amid the FBI’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 race, which included investigation into possible collusion between Moscow and the president’s election campaign.
The Justice Department last month appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel of the federal probe into the matter.