First Term Record — May 9, 2017 Comey obstruction Russia investigation fact-checked

Trump Fired the FBI Director Investigating His Campaign. Then Told NBC It Was "The Russia Thing."

James Comey was the Director of the FBI. He was actively overseeing the investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. On May 9, 2017 — 110 days into the Trump presidency — Trump fired him. The official stated reason was Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation. Two days later, Trump told NBC's Lester Holt on camera that he had the Russia investigation in mind when he made the decision. He said: "This Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story." This is the clearest admission of obstruction of justice by a sitting US president ever recorded — and it was said voluntarily, on television, to a news anchor.

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The sequence matters. On February 14, 2017, Trump met privately with Comey in the Oval Office and asked everyone else to leave. According to Comey's contemporaneous memo, Trump said: "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." Comey did not let it go. Three months later, he was fired. The White House's stated reason — a letter from Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein criticizing Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation — was transparently pretextual: Trump had repeatedly praised Comey's Clinton investigation handling during the campaign. The real reason was the Russia investigation. Trump said so himself.

"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."

— Donald Trump, interview with Lester Holt, NBC News, May 11, 2017. Two days after firing Comey.

The legal significance is direct. Obstruction of justice requires: a pending legal proceeding, an act that impedes or attempts to impede that proceeding, and corrupt intent — meaning intent to obstruct for an improper purpose. Firing the director of the FBI who is investigating you for an improper purpose (stopping the investigation) checks every box. Mueller documented this as the first of his 10 obstruction instances, ultimately declining to make a prosecutorial judgment citing DOJ policy against indicting sitting presidents — but explicitly refusing to clear Trump. Trump's own words were Mueller's primary evidence.

Verification note

This post distinguishes between documented facts, allegations, and analysis. Where motive, intent, corruption, or illegality remains disputed in the public record, the text attributes that judgment to court findings, official records, direct quotes, or the reporting linked below.

The Sources
  • Lester Holt interview — NBC News, May 11, 2017; "this Russia thing" quote; video archived and available.
  • Comey "Flynn memo" — submitted to Senate Intelligence Committee; "I hope you can let this go."
  • Mueller Report Volume II — Comey firing as Obstruction Instance #1; evidence and analysis pages 24-75.
  • Rosenstein letter — May 9, 2017; official stated pretext for firing; widely understood to be post-hoc justification.
related post← Mueller Report: 10 Obstruction Instances. related postFired 5 Watchdogs in 2 Months. →