Why Was James Comey Fired? President Trump Contradicts His Team

President Donald Trump contradicted his own White House team on the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

"What I did is I was going to fire Comey — my decision," Trump told NBC's Lester Holt.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told CNN, "He took the recommendation of his deputy attorney general."

But Trump told Holt, "Oh, I was going fire regardless."

During a press briefing, ABC's Jonathan Karl asked, "Isn't it true that the president had already decided to fire James Comey, and he asked the Justice Department to put together the rationale for that firing?" 

"No," replied principal deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Vice President Mike Pence told reporters, "President Trump made the right decision at the right time to accept the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general."

"He made a recommendation, but regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey, knowing there was no good time to do it," Trump said in his interview with Holt.

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"I, I was going to fire Comey," he said.

But Trump says there's a reason for all the confusion.

He tweeted, "As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!"