Fox's Hume checks Trump on Comey: 'POTUS told NBC the firing was about the Russia probe'

By Joe Concha - 05/31/18 01:44 PM EDT

Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume fact-checked President Trump on Thursday regarding the president's assertion that he didn't fire former FBI Director James Comey because of the bureau's Russia investigation.

Hume reminded the president on Twitter that he cited the probe as the reason for Comey's dismissal during a May 2017 interview with NBC's Lester Holt.

"Not that it matters but I never fired James Comey because of Russia! The Corrupt Mainstream Media loves to keep pushing that narrative, but they know it is not true!" Trump wrote on Thursday.

"Oh for Pete’s sake. POTUS told NBC the firing was about the Russia probe," Hume commented in retweeting Trump's original remark.

Trump told "NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt on May 11, 2017 that he wanted the FBI’s investigation to “be so strong and so good."

“And I want it [the investigation] to happen,” Trump said. "If Russia did anything, I want to know that.”

“I was going to fire Comey knowing, there was no good time to do it. And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won,” Trump said at the time.

"As far as I'm concerned, I want that thing to be absolutely done properly," he added. “I said to myself, I might even lengthen out the investigation, but I have to do the right thing for the American people."

Democrats and some Republican lawmakers publicly questioned the timing of Comey's abrupt firing.

Trump told Holt he wanted someone "competent" to handle the investigation while maintaining there was "no collusion between me and my campaign and the Russians."

"I just want somebody that's competent," Trump said. "I am a big fan of the FBI, I love the FBI."

The interview with Holt was his last major broadcast interview outside of Fox News, where he most recently appeared on May 24 for an interview with co-host Brian Kilmeade on "Fox & Friends."

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/39...out-the-russia