confidence from members of both sides, republicans and democrats in the house and senate. most important, he lost the confidence of the american people. the president s attitude toward comey has been a roller coaster. last july, he was incensed at comey s decision not press charges against hillary clinton. today is the best evidence after that we ve seen that our system is absolutely totally rigged. it s rigged. after comey reopened the investigation in late october, president trump did an about-face. it took guts for director comey to make the move he made. when the two men met after the inauguration, got a warm handshake and a pat on the shoulder, and whispered words from the president. three hours before the firing, press secretary sean spicer was asked about comey. does the president still have full confidence in fbi director james comey?
investigation. i am not totally shocked. i knew there had been voices within the fbi, friends and associates of mine outside the fbi who have been critical of how far the doctor went last year in july. some of his comments. and they agreed with rosenstein s assessment that the director went too far. but i will tell you, having worked with jim comey, he has the heart of a boy scout. he has a moral compass. i think jim comey has slept well with the decisions he s made. i think we heard some of his justification for those decisions in his testimony last week. i don t think the director has missed a lot of sleep because he things he did wrong. my experience with him, i was the director of criminal. i tens of thousands of cases under me, and this director is not one that s ever going to come to you and say here s the
russian occlusion story, not a single crime yet established. in the investigation has really got no place that the public can see. so it seems to me to do a disservice to president trump to liken this firing to president nixon s. i would say this president, donald trump, especially for a new president, is discharging presidential power in a very assertive way, and a way that theoretically should cheer conservatives who bemoaned the erosion of presidential power. bret: 109 days paired he has fired his national security advisor, moved out his deputy national security advisor, fired the acting attorney general. he has fired the fbi director. he, as most presidents do, fired the 46 u.s. attorneys. he did it in a different way, kind of sudden. a lot has happened. he s the most unorthodox
sides, republicans and democrats in the house and senate. most important, he lost the confidence of the american people. the president s attitude toward comey has been a roller coaster. last july, he was incensed at comey s decision not press charges against hillary clinton. today is the best evidence after that we ve seen that our system is absolutely totally rigged. it s rigged. after comey reopened the investigation in late october, president trump did an about-face. it took guts for director comey to make the move he made. when the two men met after the inauguration, got a warm handshake and a pat on the shoulder, and whispered words from the president. three hours before the firing, press secretary sean spicer was asked about comey. does the president still have full confidence in fbi director james comey?
i have not asked the president. the president showed no reluctance or regret in firing company. in his letter writing while i greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that i am not under investigation, i nevertheless concur with the judgment of the department of justice that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau. some democrats, pennsylvania senator bob casey called the firing nixonian. others claim that president was trying to derail the russia investigation. insisted rosenstein appoint a special prosecutor. the ink was barely dry on the termination letter, and white house officials were saying it s time to get past the notion that the trump campaign colluded with russia. we have heard that time and time again. we heard it in the testimonies earlier this week. we ve heard it for the last 11 months. there is no there there. it s time to move on. white house feels that has plenty of political cover and