RYBICKI, JAMES E. (DO) (r31) From: COMEY, JAMES B. (DOHFBI) Saturday. January 07. 2017 1:42 PM Sent To: MCCABE. ANDREW G. BAKER. A. (06C) RYBICKI. JAMES ?100] (FBI) Cc: COMEY. JAMES B. (DO) (FBI) Subject: My notes from private session with PE on 1/6/1? -- {Til-1555.; cat ion: t?lassi fled By: Director in?: load :?v?rom: dated 20130303. On: 202712.31 .4 .. What follows are notes I typed in the vehicle immediately upon exiting Trump Tower on 1/6/17. Although wrote this less than five minutes after the meeting and have tried to use actual words spoken, including quoting directly in some places, i have not used quotation marks throughout because my purpose was to capture the substance of what was said. i am not sure of the proper classification here so have chosen SECRET. Please let; me know of it should be higher or lower than that. Notes begin here: '1 4N0) uring my briefing on the material in the main body ofthe meeting, i mentioned the derog files 0 i said we were doing that. At the: conclusion of our session, the C05 asked whether there is anything we haven'l mentioned that they should know or ihal might come out. I said there was something that Clapperlwanted me to sneak to the PE about alone or in a very small group. asked whether the group of C05, VPL, and PE was okay or whether i wanted tobe alonethe PL. who quickly said that he and i would meet alone. him others left the room, we sat at the table. He began by telling me that i had had one heck of a year but mm Ihiid llil?fiLH19d myself honorably and had a great reputation. He said iwas repeatedly out in impossible positions. H9 won saved her and then they hated you for what you did later, but what choice did you have? He said he thought uorv lingril?; ol and looked forward to working with me, saying he hoped planned to stay on I assured him I Illil??Hiit??fi In ?1in Ho h?lill good. 511mm nicer-mod si?ssion oxartl as I had planned. I told him that i wanted to meet with him .ilmm '1 is in tht- reports written by although i didn't use that name) Isaid that the written who: is 14 (C) emmv? wer nd the content known at IC senior level and that I didn't want him caught cold by some of the detail. lthen explained that the 57/ 140 f. DEM midi- {3mm 1 {Sign NBC Declassification Review 13526} ILA-rad:- J?o/ to DECLASSIFIED IN PART Dr4/19/2013 . i said, too Russians allegedly had tapes involving him and prostitutes at the Presidential Suite at the Ritz Carlton in Moscow from about 2013. He interjected, "there were no prostitutes; ,there were never prostitutes." He then said something about him being the kind of guy who didn't need to "go there? and laughed {which I understood to be communicating that he didn?t need to pay for sex). He said "2013? to himself, as if trying to remember that period of time, but didn't add anything. He said he always assumed that hotel rooms he stayed in when he travels are wired in some way. I replied that I do as well. i said i wasn?t saying this was true, only that i wanted him to know both that it had been reported and that the reports were in many hands. I said media like CNN had them and were looking for a news hook. i said it was important that we mint give them the excuse to write that the FBI has the material or and that we were keeping it - I very close- hold He said he cooldn believe they hadn tgone with it i said it was inflammatory stuff that they would get killed for reporting straight up from the source reports. He then started talking about all the women who had falsely accused him of grabbing or touching them (with particular mention of a "stripper" who said he grabbed her) and gave me the sense that he was defending himseifto me. i responded that we were not investigating him and the stuff might be totally made up but it was being said out of Russia and our job was to protect the President from efforts to coerce him. i said we try to understand what the Russians are doing and what they might do. i added that i also wanted him to know this in case it came out in the media, He said he was grateful for the conversation, said more nice things about me and how he looks forward to working with rttra and we departed the room. JBC ."mknii teatitm. C) llM?rl 1?1 1 had dinner with President Trump in the Green Room at the White House last night at 6:30 pm. We sat Efacing each other at a small oval table set for two and placed in the center ofthe Iroim There were two servers [who 1 had the chance to chat with a bit because i arrive about 10 minutes early; they were both retired Navy submariners and wh had a fun discussion about height clearance in submarines). rl?he servers were 0th 1n the room when they delivered food or retrieved plates. The conversation, which was pleasant at all times, was? chaotic, with topics touched, left, then returned to later, making it very dif?cult to recount in a linear fashion. Normally i can recs I the pieces ofa conversation and the order ofdiscussion with high confidence. Here, given the nature of it, there Is a distinct possibility that while 1 have the substance right, the order was different it really was In a way, with pieces picked up, then discarded then returned to. The President spoke an overwhelming majority of the time. He never asked me an open ended questidn or leftit to me to choose a topic ofconversation There were almost no periods of silence during the 1 hour and 20 minutes, except once or twice when the Presidentl paused as the servers entered. I felt comfortable throughout although never relaited, given the focus conversation required. At various times, he talked about the inauguration and crowd size, the campaign and his effective use of?ree media earned media??) the extraordinary luxury of the White House (which he favorably compared to Mar?a- ~lago), his many activities during the day and Week, his young son '5 height, the viciousness ofthe campaign [where interjected about Adams and Jefferson; he said he had been given a book about it, which was upstairs) how he had not been mocking a handicapped reporter, had not adsaulted any of the women who claimed he did (reviewing In detail several of thel allegations). and many other things. I will attempt to recount in some detail only those parts that related in some way to my work. He touched on my future at various points. The first time he asked so what do you want to do,? explairiing that lots ofpeople wanted my job (?about 20 people?), that he thought very highly ofme and had heard great things, that the people ofthe FBI really like me, but he would understand ifl wanted to walk away given all I had been through, although he thought that would be bad for me personally because it would look like i had done something wrong, that he of course can make a change at FBI if he wants, butihe wants to know what I think There was no acknowledgement by him [or me) that; we had already talked about this twice. 1 responded by sayihg that he could fire me any time he wished, but that I wanted to stay and do a job I love and think i am doing well. i explained that i never expected to be back in goverriment but had found thisjob hugely rewarding and wanted to serve out my term. ll added that was ?reliablethe way political peeple sortietimes use the to: m. explained that he could count on me to always tell him the truth. lsaid i don do sneaky things, i don leak, i don do Q/assz?w ?ay A4) C0 Dem (?cat 740ml 1?43)! NSC Declassification Review 13526] IN PART MEAL 3?0?5 03 0/ -. 11/19/201 5 sec/air?ow: ?are/AW weasel moves. But?l was not on anybody?s side politically and could not be counted on in that tradition 1 political sense, which I said i thought was in the president?s best interest. He a ked whether the FBI leaks and I answered that ofcourse in an organization of36, (30 we were going to have some ofthat, but i said i think the FBI leaks far less than eople often say. i predicted he, like all Presidents, would discover the entireigovernment leaks like crazy and explained that it often comes from the first or as end hop out from those actually working on the sensitive thing. He replied that he needed loyalty and expected loyalty. i did not reply, or even nod or change my facial; expression, which he noted because we came back to it later. The conversation then swerved into a long discussion of the email investigation [which we returned to at least once more). This was where 1 Spoke the most and laid out for him [with frequent interruption] in a manner similar to my discussions with Seinators Feinstein and Grassley during our one?on?ones. The one - detail 1 added was about theAG directing me not to use the word ?investigation." He knew the sequehce ofevents extremely well, breaking them down in his lexicon into Comey One, Coimey Two, and Comey Three developments and he walked thiough how he saw each played out during the campaign in great detail. He asked whether it was true "there was a revolt? after Corney One. 1 said that was nonsense and i had worked hard to see if folks had concerns. added thatl surely didn? tneed to tell him that the media sometimes gets stuff wrong. i explained that the investigators all agreed there was no case; he said he disagreed and thought there Was a case He asked me at several points how i had held up under all the abuse explained the freedbm that comes from doing the right thing' in the right way, surrounded by people who are helping make the decisions? In the same way. At this point he asked me [and asked again later) whether ?your guy McCabe? has a problem with me, eaplaining that "l was pretty rough on him and his wife during the campaign.? lexplaihed that Andy was a true professional and had no problem at all. i then explained what FBI people were like, that whatever there personal views, they strip them when they step into their bureau roles and actually hold ?political people" in slight contempt, without regard to party. At about this point, he asked me to compare AG Holder and AG isaid I thought AG Holder Jwas smarter and more sophisticated and smoother than AG who I added Sis a good person. He said Holder and President Obama were quite close. lreplie? that they were and it illustrated, in my view, a mistake Presidents make ov and over again: Because they reason that problems for a President often comic from Justice, they try to bring justice close, which paradoxically makes things worse because an independent and FBI are better for a President and the country. i listed offlohn Mitchell, Ed Meese, an Al Gonzales as examples ofthis mistake and he added Bobby Kennedy. At about this point, he turned to what he called the ?golden showers thing" and recounted much ofiwhat he had said previously on that topic. He repeated that it was a complete fabrication and r?fake news.? I explained again why i had thought it important that he know about it. i also explained that one ofthe reasons we told him was that the media, CNN in particular, was telling us they were about to run I with it He said it bothered him if his wife thought there was even a one percent chance it was true in any reSpect He said he had spoken to people who had been on the Miss Universe drip with him and they had reminded him that he didn?t stay over night in Russia for that He said he arrived in the morning, did events, than showered and dresi'ed for the pageant at the hotel [he didn?t say the hotel name) and left for the pag ant. Afterwards, he returned only to get his things because they departed for New ,orlt by plane that same night. He said he thought maybe he should ask me to i :vestiga to the whole thing to prove it was a lie. 1 did not ask any questions. i replied; that it was up to him. but i wouldn?t want to create a narrative that we were investigating him, because we are not and worried such a thing would be misconstrued. I also said that it is very difficult to disprove a lie. He said "maybe you?re right,? but several times asked me to think aboutit and said he would also think about it. We returned to the topic of myjob and in response to his question I explained how i had ended up with the position and that I had been pleasantly surprised that President Obama thought of the role the way i did: He wanted competence and independence and [didn't want the FBI involved in policy. He wanted to be able to sleep at night knowing the FBI was well run. The President thengspoke again aboutbeing glad i wanted to stay. He said Mattie said great things adout me, as did Sessions. He explained he had asked a lot of people about me add heard great things. He then returned to loyalty, saying ?1 need loyalty.? replied that he would always get honesty from me. He paused and said that's what he wants, ?honest loyalty.? replied ?you will get that from me.? [it is possible we understood that phrase differently, but! chose to understand it as consistent with what I had said throughout the conversation: i will serve the President with to the office, the country, and the truth. I decided it would not be productive to push the subject further.) At about this pointghe asked again about ?your guy McCabe" and whether he was ?going to be okay.? gl again af?rmed Andy?s and professionalism and said the President would come to see and bene?t from both. He then asked whoii though i should ?deal with? and he suggested Reince Priebus. i explained that in the prior administration my WH contacts were with the C08, or the people in Mike job and Tom Bossert's'job. He said ?Reince doesn't know we are having dinner,"ibut he will tell him and thati should deal with Reince. He then - went on to explain that he has serious reservations about Mike iudgrnent and illustrated with a story from that day in which the Presidentapparently discovered during his toast to Teresa May that? had called four days 6?3 ago. Apparently, at the President was toasting PM May, he was explaining that she had been the first lio call him after his inauguration and interrupted to ea that _had called (ii .rst apparently) it was then that the President learned ofh call and he cont] 0 ted about it (not clear wl1ethe1 that was in the moment 01 after the lunch witI PM May). said the retux 11 call was scheduled for Saturday, which prompted aziheated reply from the President that six days was not an to riate perio of time to return a call from the- ofa country like ["This 1511 We are talking about He said that ifhe called nd didn get: a return call for six days he would be very upset. In telling the story, the President pointed his ?ngers at his head and said' the guy has serious judgment issues. j] did not comment atany point during this tOpic and there was no mention or acknowledgment ofany FBI interest in or contact with General As we got up, he said we should have my family back for dinner. When I didn 1: reply. he added,? or a tour, whatever you think' 15 appropz iate." As we stepped from the Green Room, he said "Reince knows were are having dinner? (the opposite of what he said earlier) ?deal with him; I will tell him? He then walked me into the East Room. 1 said i: had been there before when PresidentOhama held a big dinner for senior staff and? appointees around. Christmas. We then shook hands and pa rted. JBC 55% im I went to the White House today for a 4 pm "meetand greet" with C08 Reince I Priebus. As i walked in from West Exec. i saw and brie?y chatted with Bill Priestap and Jen Boone. who were there to do a defensive brie?ng As I waited in the West Wing lobby. Mike stopped by and sat down. We chatted for about five minutes about his new iob, the challenges in buildinga stall} and working with folks who had never been in government before how he maintains ?tness. etc. There was no mention either ofus of? C03 Priebus?s assistant came and got me and took me to his of?ce. He greeted me and we sat with his desk between us. He explained that this was a chance to get acquainted. and he guided the conversation in a variety ofdirectiona. Early in our conversation he brought of the immigration order and asked ifl was a lawyer. He asked ifl agreed that the order appear faciaily valid. i said i did. as i believed OLC had; the President has broad authority in the area. i added that because immigration was not an FBI issue, i had not followed the court discussion carefully and did not ltnow what considerations there might be beyond the face of the order. We touched on a variety oisubjects. including "how th ended up in the report." i explained that the from all three agencies agreed it was relevant and that portions ofthe material were corroborated bv 0 intelligence. They discussed whet and decided it made most sense lsaid I agreed with that decision and thought it very important that it be included and briefe to a select audience. He pressed a ain and said that the material we [explained that the primary sourc much of it was consistent with and corroborative of other intelligence, and that the incoming president needed to know the rest of it was out there. i explained to him that at our dinner the President had expressed interest in having me investigate the Golden Showers thing. i repeated what i had told the President about not wanting to create a narrative that we were investigating him. :14) He then asked about. leaks of the fact (?Fond that it was briefed to the incoming president. isaid ldidn't know ere it came from but it came from folks who have left government. He asked whether it could have come from the i said it was poesihle but extremely unlikely in view. We talked about leaks in general and i explained my view that they almost always come from one or . two hops out and that every president is plagued by them. He asked ii?we had ever f? l? caught on il?ltil lealtcr. i said we had, but it was a rare thing because it almost always turned on our willingness to go alter reporter records. He then recalled the Ohama administration conflict with James Rosen of Fox. He also mentioned the leak ofthc readaouts ol?the Presidents calls with foreign leaders. Classi?ed ao Co Dem our. 740m ac? {fairer . . Deb! Merrily no.3 aorar?rer NSC Review 13526] I IN PART 41?19/2018 Tillie) .. II: He then asked me ifthis was a ?private conversation.? replied that it was. He then said he wanted to ask me a question and i could decide whether it was appropriate to answer. He then asked. "Du you have a FESA Ui'derun Mike i a paused for a few seconds and then said that i would answer here. but that this illustrated the kind ofquestion that had to be ask and answered through established channels. I said the answedl then explained that the normal channel was from D0 leadership to the WH counsel about such things.? 1 would normally make sure the AG and DAG were aware and they would likely inform the WH Counsel and he could decide whether to inform" the C05. i explained that it was important that communications about any particular case go through that channel to protect us and to protect the WH from any accusations of improper in?uence. He said he understood and then asked me what i would talk to Denis McDonough about. i said two kinds ofthings: policy. like Going Dark. and particular operational issues ifwe were facing a terror threat or there was an intelligence operation that was sensitive. He would call me to cut through the clutter and ?nd out-directly what he needed to know. Reince responded that that was helpful and he hoped i would call him to offer thoughts whenever I thought they would bene?t from them. whether not it related to the FBI. He said they would welcome the feedback. lsaid I would. He said he understood my dinner with the President had gone very well and that he was interested in my staying on. i repeated what] had told the President. including that we had agreed notto announce anything. Reince asked me how it worked and explained'thatl had a ten?year term and. although the President could fire me anytime he liked. 1 would lust continue my term. There was nothing to During the conversation. Reince also touched the email investigation. offering his view that the Clinton team had misplayed my final announcementand should have pushed it harder as good news. He also said. re?ectively. that it wasn't the Russians fault that she failed to campaign in Michigan. and it wasn?t my fault that she setup horomail the way she did. He then pressed me on why it wasn't chargeahle "gross negligence." and i took him through the facts and the law. At some point i added that it also wasn't my fault that Huma Ahedin forwarded emails to Anthony Weiner. Roince then took me to the Oval Office to greet the President on my way out. The President was seated behind his desk. speaking to Sean Spicer. He introduced me to Mr. Spicer. who shook my hand and departed. Reince stayed. seated to my right as sat in a chair facing the President. The President. then spoke about a variety oi'topics. touching on the email investigation (wondering aloud what it would have been like to run against Bernie Lo" Sanders if] had recommended charging Hillary Clinton]. He asked (as he had at our dinner) whether my deputy had a problem with him, and recounting how hard he had been on the campaign trail, saying "the number 2 guy at the FBI took a million dollars il?Uiil tilt: Clinimis." lagaiu explained that Andy McCabe was a pm. He asked whether he had ever mentioned to me the campaign attacks. I said "never,? and again explained he was a true pro and you would come to value him. i said ifhe had it to do?over again i'rn sure he would urge his wife not to run, but that the guy put everything aside and did his job well. The President talked about the leak of the ?read-outs" from his calls with Australia and Mexico. explaining that the lea ks could n't have come from the "other side." and he understood we were helping look into that. Reince interjected that ?Kellogg? was looking at it and we were helping. i said i would follow up to find out what was going on. The President brought up the ?Golden Showers thing" and said it really bothered hing ifhis wife had any doubt about it. He then explained. as he did at our dinner, that he hadn?t stayed overnight in Russia during the Miss Universe trip. Twice clur'nc' 1: .is art ofth conversation. Reince tried to interject a comment about the?nd "inhyr it was even in there." but the President ignored him. The President said ?the hookers thing? is nonsense but that Putin had told him "we have some ofthe most beautiful hookers in the world." He did not say when Putin had told him this and i don?t recall He then pivoted to the Russians wanting an apology from Bill O'Reilly. i said i had seen that and O?Roilly?s reply, which was to "call him in 2023." The President then said that O'Rsilly?s _uestion about whether he respected Putin had been a hard one. He said he does respect the leader of a major country and thought that was the best answer. He then said. "You think my answer was good, right?? i said the answer was ?ne, except the part about killers. because we aren?t the kind of killers that Putin is. When i said this, the President paused noticeably. i don't know what to make ofit, but he clearly noticed i had directly criticized him: The conversation then moved to other pleasantrios and we wrapped up with handshake. . 5/ 2 scam/201? .l ll lattended an Oval office homeland threat brie?ng for the President today. The meeting was scheduled for 4 pm but was delayed by a prior meeting. which was apparently related to the ongoing litigation over the immigration executive order. The AC and Set: DHS were in the earlier meeting and remained in the Oval when my meeting began, at about 4:15. There were ahout a dozen people in the Oval for the homeland session. sat facing the President over the Resolute Desk in a semi?circle of 6 chairs. sat to my left and to my right. Staff members occupied the couches and chairs behind me. Tom Bossert perched on the arm ofa couch to steer the session. I noticed lared Kushner and Stephen-Banner! by face. Mike Dempsey and the NSA Were also there, and two or three others (i think including Reince Priebus]. At the completion of the session. the President thanked everyone and said he wanted to speak with me alone. The AC lingered momentarily by my chair, but the President thanked him and said he wanted to meet with Jim. He repeated this at least one more time. to usher people out. Everyone left except Jared Kushner. who stopped by my chair to shake hands and exchange pleasantries. including a Few brief words about the challenges of the email investigation. The President ioined in this hriefexchange but then told Mr. Kushner that he wanted to meet with me. That left the two ofus alone. He began by saying he wanted to "talk about Mike He then said that. although "hadn?t done anything wrong? in his call with the Russians (a point he made at least two more times in the conversationbecause he misled the Vice President, whom he described as ?a good guy." He explained that he just couldn't haw: misleading the Vice President and. in any event, he had other concerns about and had a great guy coming in. so he had to let go. He. asked me it! had seen Sean Spicer?s press briefing today and I replied that hadn't. He said he had done a great iob ofexplaining why they did what they did. lie then asked if "you saw my Tweet this rooming." and quickly added that?it is really about the leaks." He then revieWed in some detail the leaks of'his calls with the leaders of Mexico and Australia, including how the calls had gone, how he assumed that calls he made on ?this beautiful phone [touching the gray phone on the deskl" were confidential. how it couldn't have come from the Mexicans or Australia ns, how the transcripts actually include things he doesn?t remember saying;r ("and they say i have one of the world?s greatest memories"). and that it makes us look terrible to have these things leaking. He then referred at length to the leaks relating to Mike. call with the Russians, which he stressed was not wrong in any way (?he made lots but that the leaks were terrible. I tried to in tcrject several times to agree with him about the leaks being terrible. hut was unsuccessful. When he finished, I said. I agreed very much that it was terrible that his calls with foreign leaders leaked. 1 said they were classified and he needed in he able to speak to foreign leaders in confidence. INOTE: because this is an unclassi?ed document. i will be. limited in how i describe whati said next]. i then explained why leaks purporting to be about FBI intelligence operations were also terrible and a serious violation oi'the law. lexpiained that the F81 gathers in purl to equip the Prusident to main-.- decisions. and ii'pcoplu run around telling the press what we: do. that ability will be compromised. said I was eager to find lea kors and would like to nail one to the door as a message. i said something-about it being difficult and he replied that we need to go after the reporters. and referred to the fact that 10 or 15 years ago we put them in jail to find out what they know. and it worked. lie mentioned Judy Miller by name. lexplainod that i was a fan of pursuing leaks aggressively but that going after reporters was tricky, for legal reasons and because tends to approach it conservatively. He replied by telling me to talk to "Sessions" and see what we can do about being more aggressive. i told him I would speak to the Attorney General. At about this point, Reinca Priebus opened the wall door by the clock and the President sent him away. saying he would be another minute or two and he knew people were waiting. He then returned to the topic: ofMikt- saying that is a good guy, and has heon through a lot. He misled the Vice President but he didn't do anything wrong in the call. He said, ?i hope you can see your way clear to letting this go. to letting!> go. He is a good guy. i hope you can let this go.? i replied by saying, agree he is a good guy." but said no more. The President then wrapped up our conversation hyretu rning to the issue ol'?nding loakc rs. i said something about the value of putting a head on a pike as a message. He replied by saying it may involve putting reporters in jail. ?They spend a couple days in jail. make a new friend. and they are ready to talk." i laughed as walked to the door Roince Priohus had opened. As i walked out the Vice: President was standing just outside the doom-waiting. Wt: shook hands. There was a large group with him. including Priebus and the newly sworn~in Secretary oil-iris. Tom Price. I walked through the group and away from the Oval of?ce. went downstairs. and exited onto the West Executive. Drive. On the way out downstairs. i saw lohn Kelly gathered with staff. i stopped to greet him and he told me he has previously accepted an invitation to speak to HRT at Quantico about leadership and wondered lfit was still okay to do it. isald by all means: that would he great. inc: 2/14/17 alt-(l l?l? Rxbicki. James E. From: James B. Comoy Sent: - Wednesday, March 01, 2017 12:06 PM To: Rybicki, James E. (DO) (FBI) Subject: Call from POTUS Cougar-log: Followup Just called to check in. and See how I'm doing. I said I'm doing great, have a lot going on. I added that .1ch Sessions has hit the ground running with a great speech on violent crime. He talked about Sessions a bit, then last night's speech. Said he heard I'm doing great. Hopes {take good care of myself and come by to say hello when I'm at WH. That's it.? . .All): The President called me on my CMS phone at 8:13 am today (March 30. 2017). The call lasted 1 1 minutes (about 10 minutes when he was connected). We were Connected by Royal Crown switchboard. He began b) joking. that [was getting more publicity than he. I itcplied that i hate. it He then said he was trying to run the country and the cloud of this Russia business was making that dif?cult. He said he thinks he would have won the health care vote but for the cloud. He then went on at great length. explaining that he has nothing to do with Russia (has a letter from the largest law ?rm in DC saying he has gotten no income from Russia]. was not involved with hookers in Russia (can you imagine me. hookers? [have a beautiful wil?e. and it has been very painfull. is bringing a personal lawsuit against Christopher Steele. always advised peeple to assume they were being. recorded in Russia. has accounts now. from those who travelled with him to Miss Universe pageant that he didn?t do anything. etc. He asked what he could do to lift the cloud. I explained that we were running it: down as quickly as possible and. that there would be great bene?t, if we didn't ?nd anything, to our Good Housekeeping seal of approval, but we had to do our work. He agreed. but then returned to the problems this was causing him, went on at great length about. how bad he. was for Russia because ot?his commitment to mere oil and more nukes tours are 40 years old?). He said something about the hearing last week. It reaponded by telling him wasn?t there as a volunteer and be asked who was driving that, was it Nance who we mod it? i said all the leadership wanted to know what was going on and mentioned that had even held up the DAG nominee to demand information. I said we. had briefed the leadership on exacrly what we were doing. and who we were investigating. reminded that I had told him we weren't investigating him and. that i had told the Congressional leadership the same thing. He said it would be great it?that could get out and several times asked me to ?nd a way to get that. out. He talked about the guy he read about in the Washington Post today (NOTE: i think he meant Sergei Millianl and said he didn?t know him at all. He said that. iftherc was ?some I took. this to mean some associate of his or his campaign} that did something. it would be good to ?nd that out, but that he hadn?t done anything.- and hoped I would ?nd a way to get out that we weren't investigating him. As the conversation ended, he said that he hadn?t brought up the McCabe thing. because I. had said he was an honorable guy (NOTE: i think he meant that he "hadn?t brought it up" in this conversation, but he could have meant smoothing else). i repeated that he was. He then said he hadn?t brought it up but that McAulit?t'c is close to the Clintons and had given him money but I had said he was an honorable guy. I repeated that he (Andy) was an honorable person. He ?nished by stressing that he was trying to make deals for the country, the cloud was hurting him (and mentioned going to 6-7 with it hanging over him), and he hoped I could ?nd a way to get out that he wasn?t being investigated. I told him I would see what we could do and that we would do the work well and as quickly as we could. 10:05: I called the Acting Attorney General and relayed the substance of the above and said I was telling him so he could decide what guidance to give me, iFany. IBC 1-4lld) ellNF I returned the president's call this morning at 8:26 am EDT. We spoke for about l?our minutes; He said he was tbllowing up to see ifl did what he had asked last time -- getting gout that he personally is not under investigation. I replied that I had passed the request to the Acting AG and had not heard back trom him He spoke for a bit abo'ut why it was so important: He IS trying to do work tor the country, visit with foreign leaders, and any cloud, even a little cloud gets in the way of that. They keep bringing up the Russia thing as an excuse for losing the election. 1 explained that Dana Boente was now the acting AG on this after Jeff Sessions recused himself. He said maybe he would have his people reach out to Dana I said that that was the way to handle it -- he should have the White House Counsel call the Aizting Attorney General and make the request. He said that was what he would doi He then added, "Becausel have been very loyal to you, very loyal, we had that hing, you know." 21 did not reply, or ask him what he meant by "that thing."3 Inst ad I said again that the way to handle it was to have the White House Counsel calI Dana Boente. He said that's what he would do. He then swiitehed topics and be an to talk about tand its leader, saying Obama did 't like the guy He mentioned the Co tie church bombings and how horrible they were. He said that three Americans had been killed by an Egyptian soldier and the Egyptian leader had raised it with him. I interrupted to say that I thou ht he meant -and an incident in Jordan. He agreed and said had told him he wanted to bring the soldier to ?ustice 'uickl but that the FBI was in some wa askingthemoeiay? Heath I replied that 1 would dig into it but thatl did not believe it to be true that the FBI was delaying a Jordanian prosecution. In fact, we were working very; closely with the American families and had told them that we wanted the Jordanians to bring justice and if they did not we would try to bring the killer to the United States. He asked me to follow up and make sure that we were working well with gthe Jordanians and helping them quickly bring the killer to justice. I told him 31 would. He then said that was deing a great job and wished me well. The call einded. i I don? tknow the Pt sident well enough to give a high- -con?denee read here from a phone call, but i perceived him to Ehe annoyed by my reply 7- l~lis use of these words did not fit with the ?ow of the call, which at that point had moved away from any request of mgb, but I have recorded it here as it happened. 3 I assumed when he jaid this that he was reaching back in his mommy to our conversation about loyalty at 0111 piivate inner, which was suf?ciently awkward to make it diff~ cult foz him to sayl had piomised to be loyal, which is where thought he was headed to the comment {55. Ali ge?qv?cfte?wrj all/5?05: I NSC Declassification Review [50 1:352:51 DECLASSIFIED IN PART poems/7 an. :1