The press secretary hadn't been at the lectern for the past two days. According to the White House, that's because he was serving on Navy Reserve duty. But that sudden break came after he made a number of statements about the timeline and details of Trump's firing of Comey that didn't match Trump's own version of events. That includes his Tuesday night declaration that the firing was "a DOJ decision" rather than Trump's. That matches comments from Vice President Mike Pence — but not what Trump himself had to say when he declared in a Wednesday interview that he would have fired Comey with or without a recommendation from the Department of Justice.