Former FBI Director James Comey said President Donald Trump "possibly" obstructed justice last year when Trump told him he hoped he could let the investigation into Michael Flynn go.
In an interview on ABC News airing Sunday, Comey recounted the Feb. 14, 2017, Oval Office meeting where he said Trump asked him to stay behind following a terrorism briefing. According to Comey, Trump asked Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to leave the room along with everyone else.
"He knows he's going to say something that others shouldn't hear," host George Stephanopoulos said of Trump.
"That was my read," Comey said.
Flynn had just been fired after revelations he lied to Pence about conversations he had during the presidential transition period with Russian diplomat Sergey Kislyak. He later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about those conversations.
That's when Comey said Trump told him Flynn was a "good guy" and he hoped he could let the investigation into him go, which the then-FBI Director said he took as a "direction" to end the probe. As he's previously stated, Comey said he merely agreed Flynn was a "good guy" and the meeting ended.
"But it's possible that in the moment, I should have—another person would have said, 'Sir, you can't ask me that. That's a criminal investigation. That could be obstruction of justice,'" Comey said.
"Was President Trump obstructing justice?" Stephanopoulos asked.
"Possibly," Comey said. "It's certainly some evidence of obstruction of justice."
Comey's interview with Stephanopoulos is the first of a flurry of interviews he's doing to promote his new book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, which will be released Tuesday.