Donald Trump Jr. gestures to the crowd after delivering a speech on the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. (Getty)
President Donald Trump has not yet responded to James Comey’s Capitol Hill testimony today, but the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., has been tweeting up a storm mocking the former FBI director.
First, Trump Jr. retweeted a post quoting James Comey’s statement that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch asked him to refer to the Hillary Clinton email probe as a “matter” and not an “investigation,” with this tweet suggesting that this was obstruction of justice.
Trump Jr. then responded to a tweet from the @GOP account which made note of the fact that James Comey said that Russia did not change any votes on Election Day.
So according to Comey, @POTUS never asked to stop the investigation and Russia didn’t change a single vote. Good to know. #BigLeagueTruth
Trump Jr. also retweeted a tweet responding to Comey saying that it’s “not for me to say” whether President Trump obstructed justice; the tweet that the president’s son retweeted said, “In other words, he didn’t.”
Next, the president’s son offered a few thoughts of his own, saying that the “Flynn stuff is BS” and that Trump saying that he wants Comey to let the Flynn investigation go is “very far from any kind of coercion or influence.” In addition, Trump Jr. suggests that if his father truly was ordering Comey to do something, Comey would know it.
1/3 Flynn stuff is BS in context 2 guys talking about a guy they both know well. I hear “I hope nothing happens but you have to do your job”
Trump Jr. went on to say that there is a distinction between hoping and telling, referring to the fact that Comey says Trump said he hoped Comey could let the Michael Flynn investigation go; those on the right have argued that this is different from Trump ordering Comey to drop the investigation. The president’s son also quoted Comey as saying that he could be wrong.
Comey “I could be wrong”
Trump Jr. then mocked Comey for saying that he might have told the president that what he was doing was wrong if he were a stronger person.
So if he was a “Stronger guy” he might have actually followed procedure & the law? You were the director of the FBI, who are you kidding?😂
At one point in the testimony, Marco Rubio made note of the fact that there were never any leaks of the fact that Donald Trump is not personally under investigation. Trump Jr. said that nobody “in the swamp” would leak anything favorable to his father.
Responding to a tweet that D.C. reporters aren’t tweeting reactions to Comey’s comments that many stories he has been reading in the media are inaccurate, Trump Jr. said, “I wonder why that is??”
I wonder why that is???
I don’t often ask for RTs but this one is likely worth it. t.co/KSZYlPg6L3
Soon, Donald Trump Jr. retweeted multiple tweets from Alan Dershowitz questioning why James Comey did not speak up about what Trump did as soon as the conversations took place.
Comey says he understood word “hope” to be a direction. If so why didn’t he tell Pres that such a direction w/d be violation of DOJ rules?
…But not a crime for Pres to exercise his constitutional authority @NormEisen
@MarkWarner Powerful oral statement by Comey criticizing President Trump. Doesn’t claim he committed any crime. Again important distinction.
Trump Jr. had a particularly strong reaction to James Comey saying that he instructed a friend of his, Daniel Richman, to leak a memo to a reporter in order to prompt a special prosecutor appointment. He said that this is Washington, D.C. at its finest.
Did I miss something or did Comey just say he asked a friend to leak information to the press? Is this a joke?
SO TRUE: He was more than willing to leak something against @realDonaldTrump but not something that exonerates him? Classy guy t.co/UqTtp3b6Nm
Getting back to the idea that James Comey confirmed that Donald Trump is not under investigation personally, Donald Trump Jr. said that it’s weird that more people aren’t talking about this. He also highlighted Comey’s statement that votes were not changed on Election Day.
Trump Jr. subsequently questioned why James Comey continued to talk with Donald Trump if he was so concerned about Trump’s behavior.
Sen Blunt: If you told Sessions you didn’t want to be alone with Trump again, why did you continue to take his calls?
Circling back to the idea that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch allegedly told James Comey to refer to the Hillary Clinton investigation as a “matter” and not an “investigation,” Trump Jr. said that this is a big problem.
Trump Jr. soon tweeted a link to a news article saying that Comey had debunked reporting from The New York Times.
Thanks James: Comey Debunks NYT report about Trump Campaign having repeated Russian contacts. t.co/YGKSFxaas3
President Donald Trump himself still has not offered any sort of response to the Comey hiring.