Comey: It Confused Me When I Saw on TV the President Saying He Fired Me Because of the Russia Investigation

EXCERPT:

COMEY: "On May 9th at night, when I learned that I had been fired, for that reason I immediately came home as a private citizen. But then the explanations, the shifting explanations, confused me and increasingly concerned me. They confused me because the president and I have had multiple conversations about my job both before and after he took office. And he had repeatedly told me I was doing a great job and he hoped I would stay. And I had repeatedly assured him I did intend to stay and serve out the remaining six years of my term. He told me repeatedly that he had talked to lots of people about me, including our current attorney general, and had learned I was doing a great job and that I was extremely well liked by the FBI workforce. So it confused me when I saw on television the president saying that he actually fired me because of the Russia investigation. And learned again from the media that he was telling privately other parties that my firing had relieved great pressure on the Russia investigation.”