Sarah Huckabee Sanders was in the hot seat Thursday as an eager press corps grilled her on several discrepancies regarding the firing of FBI Director James Comey.
On Wednesday, Huckabee told reporters that President Trump dismissed Comey on the recommendations of both Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his new deputy, Rod Rosenstein. But on Thursday, the president contradicted her account, telling NBC’s Lester Holt that he would have fired Comey even without the recommendations.
“Our story is consistent,” Sanders said responding to questions from reporters about the shifting accounts coming out of the White House.
Asked whether the White House Press Office was mislead in any way or “kept in the dark” about the chain of events that lead to Comey’s firing, Sanders took a defensive tone.
“Nobody was in the dark, Jonathan,” Sanders told ABC’s Jonathan Karl. “You want to create this false narrative.”
Sanders explained that the president had already decided to fire Comey but that the recommendations “solidified” his decision.
Sanders was also asked about Thursday’s public testimony of the acting FBI director, Andrew McCabe, who said the White House’s statement that Comey had lost the confidence of the rank and file of the FBI was “not accurate.”
“I can speak to my own personal experience,” Sanders said. “I’ve heard from countless members of the FBI that are grateful and thankful for the president’s decision. And I think that we may have to agree to disagree.”
Sanders declined to say how many people she spoke to, insisting she didn’t want to “get into a numbers game.”
“I’ve heard from a large number of individuals that work at the FBI that said that they were very happy with the president’s decision,” she said. “Our story is consistent.”
Sanders also said that the president did not know that Comey had asked for more resources from McCabe just before he was fired, as was reported by the The New York Times on Wednesday.
“Based on what I’ve seen, the Department of Justice has also pushed back and said that that’s not accurate,” Sanders added.
Meanwhile, a separate outlet picked up on another apparent contradiction involving Huckabee. Rupert Myers of British GQ highlighted a Huckabee tweet from last November, in which she said (referencing Hillary Clinton), “When you’re attacking FBI agents because you’re under criminal investigation, you’re losing.”
James Comey Timeline: Events That Led to FBI Director's Firing (Photos)
For the first time since 1993, a U.S. president has fired a director of the FBI. Comey's final year as head of the Bureau before his dismissal Tuesday was wrought with controversy, as Democrats and Republicans alike criticized him for his handling of the FBI's investigations into Hillary Clinton's emails and possible connections between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia. Here's how we got to this point:
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July 2013: Disgraced former NY Congressman Anthony Weiner sees his campaign for New York mayor derailed when screenshots of explicit conversations between him and several women are leaked. His wife, Huma Abedin, who was deputy chief of staff to Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State, stands by him.
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September 2013: President Barack Obama appoints James Comey as FBI Director. Comey served as U.S. Deputy Attorney General from 2003-2005 and had worked in the intervening years at Lockheed Martin and HSBC, among other private sector jobs.
April 2015: Hillary Clinton announces her campaign for the president just weeks after The New York Times reported that she used a personal email server as Secretary of State. Abedin is named vice-chairwoman of her campaign.
July 2016: After investigating Clinton's emails, Comey announces that the FBI does not recommend charging Clinton in connection to the personal server. Two days later, Comey is questioned by a Republican-led House Committee about his recommendation.
August 2016: Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin announce their separation after reports surface that Weiner had sent explicit text messages to another woman.
September 2016: Reports surface that Weiner had sent illicit text messages to a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina, prompting a federal investigation. During the investigation, authorities seize a laptop belonging to Weiner and Abedin.
Oct. 28, 2016: Comey sends a letter to Congress informing members that Abedin's laptop may contain emails linked to the Clinton investigation. Clinton calls on the FBI to release all the information they have.
Nov. 6, 2016: Comey writes another letter saying that nothing new was found on Abedin's laptop, with Newsweek reporting that most of the emails found were ones forwarded by Abedin so she could print them. Two days after Comey sends the second letter, Hillary Clinton loses the presidential election to Donald Trump.
March 2017: Comey reveals during a House Intelligence Committee hearing that the FBI is performing an investigation into possible connections between the Kremlin and members of Trump's campaign.
May 3, 2017: Comey testifies in Congress again, this time before a Senate Committee about the details of the FBI's investigation into Clinton's email server. He says that Abedin had forwarded "forwarded hundreds and thousands of emails, some of which contain classified information" to Weiner to print out of convenience.
May 9, 2017: ProPublica and the Associated Press report that Comey had exaggerated the number of emails found in the laptop and that none of the emails were classified when sent. Later that day, Comey is fired from his position by Donald Trump.
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Comey’s four-year tenure as FBI director ends 10 months after recommending Hillary Clinton not be charged for his email investigation
For the first time since 1993, a U.S. president has fired a director of the FBI. Comey's final year as head of the Bureau before his dismissal Tuesday was wrought with controversy, as Democrats and Republicans alike criticized him for his handling of the FBI's investigations into Hillary Clinton's emails and possible connections between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia. Here's how we got to this point:
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