Trump Admits to Lester Holt He Fired Comey Because of This Russia Thing - Obstruction Confession on National TV

In a stunning May 11, 2017 NBC News interview with Lester Holt—just two days after firing FBI Director James Comey—President Trump explicitly admitted he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation, directly contradicting the White House’s initial explanation that the firing was based on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s recommendation about the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Trump told Holt: And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won. Trump added: He made a recommendation, but regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey, knowing there was no good time to do it. This was the first time Trump explicitly tied the Russia probe to his rationale for firing Comey. Trump also revealed he had asked Comey three times whether he was under investigation—once at a dinner and twice on the phone—saying I actually asked him, and Comey told him he was not under investigation. Legal experts immediately noted it would be highly inappropriate for someone potentially under FBI investigation to directly ask the FBI director about their status. Trump called Comey a showboat, a grandstander and claimed the FBI had been in turmoil. The interview provided prosecutors with direct evidence of obstruction of justice: Trump admitted on camera that he fired the FBI director who was investigating him specifically because of that investigation. The Mueller Report would later cite this admission as key evidence in documenting obstruction. Trump would later claim NBC edited the tape to make him look bad, though NBC released the full unedited interview proving the quote was accurate and in full context.