U.S. Department of Justice
Attorney Work Product // May Contain Material Protected Under Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e)
edits on the draft letter.[1] Miller said the President was adamant that he not tell anyone at the White House what they were preparing because the President was worried about leaks.[2]
In his discussions with Miller, the President made clear that he wanted the letter to open with a reference to him not being under investigation.[3] Miller said he believed that fact was important to the President to show that Comey was not being terminated based on any such investigation.[4] According to Miller, the President wanted to establish as a factual matter that Comey had been under a "review period" and did not have assurance from the President that he would be permitted to keep his job.[5]
The final version of the termination letter prepared by Miller and the President began in a way that closely tracked what the President had dictated to Miller at the May 5 dinner: "Dear Director Comey, While I greatly appreciate your informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation concerning the fabricated and politically-motivated allegations of a Trump-Russia relationship with respect to the 2016 Presidential Election, please be informed that I, along with members of both political parties and, most importantly, the American Public, have lost faith in you as the Director of the FBI and you are hereby terminated.[6] The four-page letter went on to critique Comey's judgment and conduct, including his May 3 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, his handling of the Clinton email investigation, and his failure to hold leakers accountable.[7] The letter stated that Comey had "asked [the President] at dinner shortly after inauguration to let [Comey] stay on in the Director's role, and [the President] said that [he] would consider it," but the President had "concluded that [he] ha[d] no alternative but to find new leadership for the Bureau—a leader that restores confidence and trust.[8]
In the morning of Monday, May 8, 2017, the President met in the Oval Office with senior advisors, including McGahn, Priebus, and Miller, and informed them he had decided to terminate Comey.[9] The President read aloud the first paragraphs of the termination letter he wrote with
- ↑ S. Miller 10/31/17 302, at 6-8.
- ↑ S Miller 10/31/17 302, at 7. Miller said he did not want Priebus to be blindsided, so on Sunday night he called Priebus to tell him that the President had been thinking about the "Comey situation" and there would be an important discussion on Monday. S. Miller 10/31/17 302, at 7.
- ↑ Miller 10/31/17 302, at 8.
- ↑ Miller 10/31/17 302, at 8.
- ↑ Miller 10/31/17 302, at 10.
- ↑ SCRO13c_000003-06 (Draft Termination Letter to FBI Director Comey).
- ↑ SCRO13c_000003-06 (Draft Termination Letter to FBI Director Comey). Kushner said that the termination letter reflected the reasons the President wanted to fire Comey and was the truest representation of what the President had said during the May 5 dinner. Kushner 4/11/18 302, at 25.
- ↑ SCRO13c_000003 (Draft Termination Letter to FBI Director Comey).
- ↑ McGahn 12/12/17 302, at 11; Priebus 10/13/17 302, at 24; S. Miller 10/31/17 302, at 11; Dhillon 11/21/17 302, at 6; Eisenberg 11/29/17 302, at 13.
65
