White House defends decision to fire Comey after Bannon interview

The White House(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Monday was again defending the decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey.

Former chief strategist Steve Bannon suggested in an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday night that the decision was maybe one of the worst mistakes in “modern political history.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders spent a large part of Monday’s briefing taking questions about Bannon’s interview, and said President Donald Trump stood by the decision to oust Comey.

“We’ve been clear on what our position is and certainly, that has been shown in the days that followed that the president was right in firing Director Comey,” Sanders said. “Since the director’s firing, we’ve learned new information about his conduct that only provided further justification for that firing, including giving false testimony, leaking privileged information to journalists, he went outside of the chain of command, and politicized an investigation into a presidential candidate.”

When asked whether Trump was still talking with Bannon, Sanders said, “I know they’ve had one conversation but I don’t think anything beyond that since he left.”

But before ending the briefing, Sanders was asked if Bannon tried to warn President Trump that firing Comey “would be the biggest political mistake in modern history.” She said she was “not aware that conversation ever took place.”

Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on email
Email
Share on print
Print