Let’s break down this confusing exchange at a White House press conference.
At, President Donald Trump continued to about his conversations with Trump in sworn congressional testimony, and he seemed to suggest that he’ d be willing to give his own version of events under oath. But the exchange, with ABC News’s Jonathan Karl, was a bit of a muddle, and it’s unclear whether the president intended his answer to come across that way. Over Twitter and now in the Rose Garden, Trump has accused Comey broadly of telling lies and making false statements during his sworn testimony. Trump’s personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz, however, just two specific factual matters in which he says Comey is inaccurate. One of these is Comey’s assertion that the president said, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting [Michael] Flynn go, ” in the Oval Office on February 14. The other is Comey’s assertion that Trump twice told him, “I need loyalty” during a January 27 dinner. Karl followed up on both of these discrepancies, starting with the one involving Flynn: However, Karl then mixed up his question about the loyalty oath a bit, accidentally asking Trump if Comey asked for a pledge of loyalty from him, rather than the other way around. Then Karl asked the big question — whether Trump would be willing to give his version of events under oath. Trump seemed to say that he “100 percent” would, but then rambled a bit in a confusing way and apparently suggesting he interpreted “under oath” as referring to the alleged exchange between him and Comey about loyalty. After this, Trump said he’ d be happy to repeat what he just said to Special Counsel Robert Mueller: Finally, he continued to tease the potential existence of tapes about his conversations with Comey, suggesting he’ d soon reveal whether there were, before saying the press would “be very disappointed” in the answer. So overall, this cleared up nothing. And even if President Trump did intend to say he’ d testify under oath, you probably shouldn’ t hold your breath waiting for it to happen.
