James Comey probably didn't change anybody's mind about U.S. President Donald Trump, but he didn't do Trump any favors, either, raising fresh doubts about the president's integrity and motives in the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
The former director of the FBI told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday that he was convinced that Trump fired him on May 9 because he refused to tamp down the Russia investigation. He said he took notes of his conversations with the chief executive because he feared that Trump would lie about them, and accused the White House of spreading lies about why he was ousted. By contrast, he said he didn't take notes of personal dealings with two other presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, suggesting that he never doubted their integrity.
Republicans on the committee spent most of their time trying to paint a benign picture of Trump's actions, even questioning Comey's motives. Sens. Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton were especially vehement in disputing Comey's malign interpretation of Trump's requests for personal loyalty and to drop the FBI investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, but even typically less partisan lawmakers like Susan Collins and John McCain took the same approach.