The New York Times just published this story: In a Private Dinner, Trump Demanded Loyalty. Comey Demurred. The story says that two of Comey’s (anonymous) associates contradict Trump’s version of his January dinner with the-FBI Director James Comey.
According to the new article, Trump invited Comey to an informal dinner. Trump insists Comey asked his people. Trump asked a (to me) frightening question:
As they ate, the president and Mr. Comey made small talk about the election and the crowd sizes at Mr. Trump’s rallies. The president then turned the conversation to whether Mr. Comey would pledge his loyalty to him.
Mr. Comey declined to make that pledge. Instead, Mr. Comey has recounted to others, he told Mr. Trump that he would always be honest with him, but that he was not “reliable” in the conventional political sense.
Does “pledging your loyalty” have a Mafioso ring to you? It does for me. The Times suggested that Trump, as a businessman, may have been unaware that the FBI director wasn’t supposed to be a political position. Maybe Trump simply didn’t know that asking the FBI Director about an active investigation — of him! — wasn’t hugely unethical.
The White House denies any of this, but their alternative-fact version was that during the dinner, Comey reassured Trump that he wasn’t personally under any investigation. That version makes zero sense. It’s not even close to likely.
The story goes on:
By Mr. Comey’s account, his answer to Mr. Trump’s initial question apparently did not satisfy the president, the associates said. Later in the dinner, Mr. Trump again said to Mr. Comey that he needed his loyalty.
Mr. Comey again replied that he would give him “honesty” and did not pledge his loyalty, according to the account of the conversation.
But Mr. Trump pressed him on whether it would be “honest loyalty.”
“You will have that,” Mr. Comey told his associates that he responded.
I have no clue what that’s supposed to mean, either. If Comey did make that disclosure — which is contrary to his sworn testimony to Congress — then Comey has committed a felony.
If Comey’s version is true — which seems much more likely — then Trump has been working to subvert critical checks and balances. That would constitute a clear obstruction of justice.
That’s an impeachable offense, since it was the primary accusation against Nixon, all those years ago.
UPDATE: I just wanted to add that if Trump’s version of the evening is true (talking to Lester Holt on NBC), then Trump asked Comey, during the dinner, to please let him know if he ever came under investigation. That, too, would be obstruction of justice.
It’s unlikely Trump was telling the truth, but even his own testimony leaves him having committed a felony.
