Trump: I was going to fire Comey anyway

Turns out, it was all bogus. “I was going to fire Comey,” Trump told NBC News’ Lester Holt in an interview today. “Regardless of the recommendation I was going to fire Comey.”

So why did Trump really fire Comey? This surprising admission, from deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders at today’s press briefing, on the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, seems more on target. “We want this to come to its conclusion, we want it to come to its conclusion with integrity,” she said. “And we think that we’ve actually, by removing Director Comey, taken steps to make that happen.”

FBI vs. the White House: Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe appeared at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing today — and he rejected the White House’s repeated claims that morale at the FBI had dropped under Comey’s leadership. “No, that is not accurate,” McCabe said. CNN’s Tom LoBianco rounds up the hearing’s highlights.

STRAIGHT UP

BUZZING

How presidential tweets are made? BuzzFeed editor Brandon Wall pointed out that the old O’Donnell tweet was dug up and posted on a Trump-focused subreddit just 20 minutes before Trump’s tweet.

Chris Cillizza’s take: “Now, it’s easy to laugh at Trump’s decision to re-engage his long-simmering feud with O’Donnell. (It’s a good tweet and an expert troll, after all.) But, it should also give everyone pause. This is the president of the United States we are talking about. (I know I have said that three times. But it bears repeating!) He — and his administration — are in the midst of a self-inflicted crisis over the reasons for his decision to fire Comey. That he made time to troll Rosie O’Donnell says something about where his priorities and focus lie. And what it says is nothing good.

O’Donnell’s response:

BAR TALK

Russians were laughing — but Trump’s wrong about why

What this is really about: Yesterday’s Oval Office meeting between Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak. No American journalists were allowed in the room — but a photographer from Russian state media was there, and that photographer’s photos set off a firestorm on social media.

One important thing: In its official readout of the meeting, the White House never mentioned that Kislyak — the man who Michael Flynn was fired for meeting — was there. We only know because of photos from Russian government-run media. 

Russia took a victory lap on social media, playing up photos with Trump in the White House. Lavrov’s official Twitter account even played up his joke about FBI Director James Comey‘s firing.

TIPSY

LAST CALL

3 things you might have missed today

Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein says he’s “not quitting”: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein denies he threatened to quit his post amid the firing of FBI Director James Comey and does not plan to resign. More from CNN’s Laura Jarrett, Tom LoBianco and Jeremy Herb.

Trump and Putin to meet in July, Russian state media says: President Donald Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July as part of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Russian state media said Thursday. It would be the two men’s first meeting since Trump took power in January. The White House has yet to confirm. More from CNN’s Ben Westcott and Tomas Etzler.

CLOSING TIME