Page:Comey-interview-12-17-18-redacted.pdf/40

40 Mr. Yes.

Mr. I mean, Director, it just strikes me as that's, it seems to me, twice in a 3-day period where you did not inform the White House of something that seemed to be pretty important information.

I want to move on to memo No. 6, which is the 3/30/17 memo, if I could.

Mr. Okay. I have it.

Mr. Now, Director, actually, one of the things I wanted to ask you, too, is -- so when I went through the memos, I think on seven different occasions you referenced the fact that you are not investigating the President. And the President is pretty clear he would love for you to have made that information public, told the American people that the President, their President, the guy they elected, wasn't under investigation.

Why didn't you do that? Why wouldn't you just tell the American people he is not under investigation?

Mr. Two reasons. First, I wouldn't do it without the approval and direction of the leadership of the Department of Justice, one. Two, saying that publicly had significant consequences, both in terms of creating a duty to correct and potentially being misleading.

Mr. At the end of this memo, you say, "I called Acting Attorney General and relayed the substance of the above and said I was telling him so he could decide what guidance to give