June 8, 2017

Corey Lewandowski: Trump Was Simply Asking Comey for “Loyalty to the Country”

Nice try.

Corey Lewandowski

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski at Trump Tower in 2016Evan Vucci/AP

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The Wednesday release of former FBI Director James Comey’s prepared testimony before the Senate intelligence committee led to an immediate outburst of implausible conclusions from backers of President Donald Trump. In the words of my boss, “Their reactions are revealing a profound dishonesty that far exceeds the norms of usual political spin, and are demonstrating that the Trumpified quarters of the GOP and the conservative movement are intellectually bankrupt and devoid of principle.”

But no response to Comey’s opening statement was more dishonest or intellectually bankrupt than that of former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

Among other things, Comey’s prepared remarks confirmed reports that during a January 27 dinner, the president repeatedly demanded Comey’s loyalty:

A few moments later, the President said, “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.” I didn’t move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence…Near the end of our dinner, the President returned to the subject of my job, saying he was very glad I wanted to stay, adding that he had heard great things about me from Jim Mattis, Jeff Sessions, and many others. He then said, “I need loyalty.” I replied, “You will always get honesty from me.” He paused and then said, “That’s what I want, honest loyalty.” I paused, and then said, “You will get that from me.” As I wrote in the memo I created immediately after the dinner, it is possible we understood the phrase “honest loyalty” differently, but I decided it wouldn’t be productive to push it further.

Much of Washington spent Wednesday afternoon arguing about the meaning of loyalty. Appearing on Fox News, Lewandowski decided to argue that “what the president asked for was loyalty to the country and loyalty to make sure that the American people have the justice system that they want.”

“That’s not unheard of,” Lewandowski added. “That’s not uncalled for.”

You can watch Lewandowski’s comments below, via Media Matters (my former employer):

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

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