The Apprentice by Greg Miller

Author:Greg Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-09-05T16:00:00+00:00

Part Four

Chapter 11

You’re Fired

On February 8, five days before Michael Flynn was fired, Comey was at the White House for a conversation with chief of staff Reince Priebus. They talked briefly about the Steele dossier and the proper channels for White House communications with the bureau before Priebus asked to discuss something “private.”

“Do you have a FISA order on Mike Flynn?” he asked.

Comey explained that was the kind of question that should go through the Justice Department, but answered anyway, saying no (the warrant was for surveillance of Kislyak). Priebus then proposed they walk to the Oval Office.

There, Trump again brought up the “golden showers thing” and again denied hiring prostitutes but also said to Comey that Putin had told him that Russia had “some of the most beautiful hookers in the world.”

Trump then mentioned a television interview he’d done with Bill O’Reilly that aired on Fox News before the Super Bowl. O’Reilly pressed Trump on how he could have such admiration for a ruthless killer like Putin. “There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers,” Trump replied. “What do you think? Our country’s so innocent?” Replaying the exchange in his head, Trump looked to Comey for affirmation, saying, “You think my answer was good, right?”

“The first part of your answer was fine, Mr. President,” Comey said. “But not the second part. We aren’t the kind of killers that Putin is.” Trump seemed stunned by the criticism and looked at the FBI director without speaking for a moment. Comey went back to the bureau and told aides that he “had probably ended any personal relationship with the president.”

Days later, on February 14, a dozen senior officials assembled in the Oval Office for a counterterrorism briefing with Trump. Unlike other presidents, who tended to take a seat near the fireplace and gather advisers around, Trump stayed parked behind his imposing desk. The lead briefer, Nick Rasmussen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, sat with his knees pressed against the wood. Next to him was Comey, back in the Oval Office for the second time in less than a week. Absent was Flynn, who that day was surrendering his badges and phones, a final severing of his government service.

Trump seemed disengaged during the session, then ended the meeting with a loud “Thanks, everybody.” As he stood up to walk people out, he motioned for the FBI chief to stay behind, saying, “I just want to talk to Jim.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions seemed to hesitate, hanging on as others filed out, but Trump moved him toward the exit. Kushner lingered as well, approaching Comey and making comments about the Clinton email investigation. It was as if both Sessions and Kushner sensed that Trump was about to do something regrettable but didn’t know how to prevent it. “Okay, Jared, thank you,” Trump said, ushering his son-in-law out.

As the door by the grandfather clock in the Oval Office closed, Trump turned to Comey. “I want to talk about Mike Flynn,” he said.

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