President Donald Trump on Friday addressed former FBI Director James Comey's congressional testimony from the prior day by insisting there had been "no collusion, no obstruction" and that Comey is a "leaker."
Trump had responded hours earlier to Comey's appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Twitter, writing that "despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication."
"And WOW, Comey is a leaker!" Trump added.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/873120139222306817
Washington Times reporter Dave Boyer asked Trump about the tweet and the outcome of Comey's testimony more generally during a press conference with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Friday. Trump said he would likely address whether tapes existed of his past conversations with Comey at a later date but commented briefly on his testimony.
"No collusion, no obstruction. He's a leaker," Trump said.
The president's "leaker" accusation referred to Comey's statement that he leaked a memo of a conversation with Trump to the press through a friend in order to "prompt the appointment of a special counsel" for the Russia investigation.
"But we want to get back to running our great country ... but yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction," Trump added.
Trump did say that he and others were happy with the results of the testimony. He also reiterated claims that he and his personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, made that Comey both confirmed elements of Trump's account and said things that were not true.
"We were very, very happy," Trump said. "And, frankly, James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said and some of the things that he said just weren't true."
Trump also characterized the Comey hearing as an "excuse" by Democrats "who lost an election that some people say they shouldn't have lost."