PLUS: Comey: “I Don’t Believe” AG Lynch Was Compromised, Can’t “Talk About What Contact Was Made with the Leadership of Justice on That”
EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) Refuses to Call for Gov. Eric Greitens to Resign Despite Report He Initiated Unwanted Sex Acts: “Voters Voted for Him”
APRIL 29, 2018 – In an exclusive live Sunday interview this morning, former FBI Director James Comey tells “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd the House Intelligence Committee report released Friday on its controversial investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which led Republicans to conclude there was no evidence of collusion with the Trump campaign, is “a political document” and “not my understanding of what the facts were before I left the FBI,” adding the investigation is “just a wreck.”
Comey, author of “A Higher Loyalty,” said he does not believe Attorney General Loretta Lynch was compromised and cannot discuss “what contact with made with the leadership of Justice” about speculation she had reassured the Clintons on the email scandal.
He also disputed a Washington Examiner report that he told lawmakers that “F.B.I. agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe that Flynn had lied to them or that any inaccuracies in his answers were intentional” during his tenure as director. “An example of how you can’t believe everything you read in the media,” he added. “Not true.” Watch the full interview, including Comey on the Flynn plea deal, the Mueller probe and more.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) also joined the broadcast in an exclusive interview, refusing to call on his state’s governor Eric Greitens (R) to resign amidst reporting he initiated unwanted sex acts: “We have to let the situation play out. … Voters voted for him. There are two ways to deal with these issues. One is the legal process going on. The other is the legislative process. There’s no reason not to have confidence in both of those.”
Blunt also addressed the Iran nuclear deal, which President Trump has threatened to pull out of on May 12, the next deadline for the U.S. to recertify Iran’s compliance: “If we stay in, I would be very much where President Macron, Prime Minister [of France] Macron was, where he said, “We ought to stay in the deal, but here are the three things that absolutely have to change.”” On the Mueller protection bill that just passed the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, Blunt says “under no circumstances” is he inclined to support the bill. Watch the full interview.
The show broke down a new report from the Pew Research Center on a big disconnect in America between who we want to be as a country and who we think we actually are. Watch Data Download.
The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd, Princeton University’s Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., NBC News’ Kasie Hunt and The Washington Times’ Stephen Moore joined the program’s roundtable for insight and analysis, including a discussion on House Speaker Paul Ryan’s dismissal of the House chaplain. Dowd quipped, “Paul Ryan decided that he didn’t really need a chaplain anymore because the House Republicans have already sold their souls to President Trump.”
Read the full transcript of this morning’s “Meet the Press” on MeetThePress.com.
For more from moderator Chuck Todd throughout the week, sign up for the “First Read” newsletter, and subscribe to “1947: The Meet the Press Podcast” for on-demand interviews.
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NBC NEWS’ “MEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD”
“Meet the Press with Chuck Todd” is where newsmakers come to make news — setting the political agenda and spotlighting the impact Washington decision-making has on Americans across the country. It is the #1 most-watched Sunday public affairs show across the board for the 2016-2017 season, reaching more than three million viewers every Sunday and millions more through social, digital and on-demand platforms. “Meet the Press” brings its authority and influencer interviews to MSNBC with “MTP Daily” weekdays at 5 p.m. ET and to the “1947: The Meet the Press Podcast”. It’s the longest-running show in television history, having celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2017 with the launch of its first-ever film festival in collaboration with the American Film Institute this November. Chuck Todd is the political director of NBC News and the moderator of “Meet the Press“; John Reiss is the executive producer.
