President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., took to Twitter Thursday morning during fired FBI Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee to defend his father’s administration.
Trump insisted there was no coercion during his father’s meeting with Comey in which he reportedly asked Comey to drop his investigation of Michael Flynn.
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“Flynn stuff is BS in context,” Trump Jr. tweeted. “I hear ‘I hope nothing happens but you have to do your job’.”
Trump Jr. was referring to his father allegedly telling Comey “I hope you can let this go,” referring to the FBI’s investigation of Flynn. Democrats have seized on this line as evidence that Trump was seeking to shut down the FBI investigation, while Trump’s defenders have said that he wasn’t ordering Comey to do anything, merely stating his “hope.”
Trump Jr. called the line “very far from any kind of coercion or influence and certainly not obstruction!” on Twitter.
In later tweets, Trump Jr. mocked Comey, quoting him during the hearing saying “I could be wrong” and comments about how he would have conducted himself differently during the meeting with Trump if he was a “stronger guy.” Comey expressed regret that he did not make it clearer to the president that some of their conversations were inappropriate.
Referencing his earlier comments about Trump “hoping” the Flynn investigation would go away, Trump Jr. tweeted, “Hoping and telling are two very different things.”
Trump Jr. also retweeted several messages from former diplomat Richard Grennell.
Reporters were expecting President Trump to tweet during the former FBI director’s testimony, but the elder Trump’s account remained silent during the hearing.