President Donald Trump’s son appeared to confirm on Wednesday that his father had asked then-FBI Director James Comey to cut ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn “some slack” before quickly backing away from that interpretation.
Donald Trump Jr., who runs the President’s business empire along with his brother, Eric, replied “truth” to a tweet from Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera asserting that it would not be obstruction for Donald Trump to ask the FBI director to go easy on a “good man” like Flynn:
News Flash, @realDonaldTrump hoping @JamesComeyFBI cuts @MikeFlynn some slack because he is a 'good man' is not close to #Obstruction
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) May 17, 2017
Truth. https://t.co/g63Our339Z
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 17, 2017
When NPR’s Domenico Montanaro asked Trump Jr. if his affirmation meant that he was confirming Rivera’s description of Trump’s actions, Trump Jr. protested the premise of the question:
@DonaldJTrumpJr So… are you confirming that @realDonaldTrump did, in fact, ask to cut Flynn some slack?
— Domenico Montanaro (@DomenicoNPR) May 17, 2017
Give me a break. Me agreeing with someone's interpretation of a theory does nothing of the sort. You're trying way to hard. https://t.co/znVhc5FhWd
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 17, 2017
The New York Times reported late Tuesday that Trump had asked Comey to quash the FBI’s investigation into Flynn during an Oval Office meeting in February, one day after Flynn was fired for lying to Vice President Mike Pence and others about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
“I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go,” Comey said Trump told him, according to a memo described to the Times and other news outlets. “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
Trump Jr. later reposted a criticism of the Times and other outlets’ reporting:
Just a friendly reminder: this hysteria is based on a story from an anonymous source about a memo no reporter has ever seen
— Chris Barron (@ChrisRBarron) May 17, 2017
