President Trump said Robert Mueller and James Comey are "best friends". Photo / AP
President Trump said Robert Mueller and James Comey are "best friends". Photo / AP
President Donald Trump took his unverified claim that Robert Mueller and James Comey are "best friends" to a new level in an interview – saying the men are so chummy he has photos of them "hugging and kissing."
Trump fired his shot at the special counsel leading the Russia probe in an interview with the Daily Caller, where he resumed claims that conflicts of interest prevent Mueller – who has already won a conviction of Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort – of having conflicts of interest.
Trump said Mueller and the fired FBI Director were "best friends," although Comey's team has described it as an ordinary office friendship, the Daily Mail reports.
"I could give you 100 pictures of him and Comey hugging and kissing each other. You know, he's Comey's best friend," Trump said.
"I could give you 100 pictures of him and Comey hugging and kissing each other. You know, he's Comey's best friend," Trump said.
Trump didn't provide any other information about the apparent figure of speech.
He also made a likely reference to a reported dispute with Mueller over membership dues at his Virginia golf course – which the president visited on Saturday and Sunday.
"But I had a business dispute with Mueller before that. I had a real business dispute. And he's Comey's best friend," Trump said.
Comey is a key witness in a possible obstruction of justice case against the president. In the latest back-and-forth between prosecutors and Trump's lawyers, the special counsel's office is reportedly willing to allow Trump to testify in writing about Russia – but wants a live interview about his firing of Comey.
Trump tweeted about the alleged conflict in July. He wrote then: "Is Robert Mueller ever going to release his conflicts of interest with respect to President Trump, including the fact that we had a very nasty & contentious business relationship, I turned him down to head the FBI (one day before appointment as S.C.) & Comey is his close friend."
Trump called Mueller and Comey "best friends," though Comey's lawyer said they have never been to each other's homes. Photo / Getty Images
Trump was brief when asked about his interview of Mueller to replace Comey as FBI director before deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein named Mueller special counsel.
"I liked him, but I didn't give him the job," Trump said.
"How can you possibly have a man who is that, and then somebody from his law firm came out and said, 'I can't believe they picked Mueller. He hates the president. He hates the president,'" Trump vented.
"So that's four things, that's four, then you have the conflicts of the people — you know I call them the 17 angry Democrats, I guess they're being lowered down now," Trump said, referencing staff that transferred out of Mueller's office.
"It's incredible when you look at Weissmann and all these people," Trump said, bringing up the chief of the criminal fraud section who is working for Mueller.
"Some of the people work for the Hillary Clinton foundation. It's an incredible thing. Honestly, people are very angry about it. People that love our country are very angry about it. So, I consider it to be an illegal investigation. It should've never been allowed to have happened."
Then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey and then-FBI Director Robert Mueller in 2004. Trump claims their friendship poses a conflict and taints the Mueller probe. Photo / Getty Images
Comey lawyer David Kelley addressed the "best friends" claim to fact check cite Snopes.com.
"Jim and Bob are friends in the sense that co-workers are friends," he said.
"They don't really have a personal relationship. Jim has never been to Bob's house and Bob has never been to Jim's house … They've had lunch together once, dinner together twice, once with their spouses and once after Jim became FBI director so Bob could give him a run-down on what to look out for. [Bob] is not a mentor. He's friendly, as colleagues are," he said.
