President Donald Trump has made at least 270 separate arguments about the Russia investigation.

Since the first questions were raised about the Russian influence operation in 2016, Trump has put forward defenses, raised doubts and thrown out attacks and counter-claims at a rate that dwarfs the typical presidential response to an investigation.

Trump made his latest defense — that neither Special Counsel Robert Mueller nor ex-FBI Director James Comey, who appointed him — were elected officials in an interview that aired on Fox Business Network on Friday, the day Mueller submitted his report to the Justice Department.

To arrive at that number, TIME combed over statements from the Trump campaign, transition team and administration and key figures such as Donald Trump Jr. and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to isolate the major arguments. (We did not include Trump allies in Congress or the media.)

Trump typically starts making his case by praising his friends and bashing his enemies.

When his associates have fallen under investigation, he’s noted that they are “good men” — Donald Trump Jr., former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, former campaign head Paul Manafort and personal attorney Michael Cohen have all earned the label. (He later changed his tune when Cohen began cooperating with prosecutors.)

Even so, he’s kept his distance, noting that Flynn got his security clearance under Obama, Manafort was only with the campaign for a short time and Cohen did only a fraction of his legal work.

He’s also attacked his opponents: Comey is an “incompetent,” “shady,” “slippery,” “corrupt,” “sanctimonious,” “showboating” and “grandstanding” “slimeball,” who is “either very sick or very dumb.” And he’s branded Comey and others as “liars.”

The president has also used a favorite rhetorical technique, whataboutism, to change the subject to what he argues are the real scandals: what the hacked emails revealed about the Clinton campaign, that Democrats had contact with Ukraine, that Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI (not true), that Comey leaked classified information (not true), and on and on.

Some of the arguments contradict each other. Trump has argued that Russians didn’t meddle in the election, that it may have meddled but so did other countries and that the real scandal is that Barack Obama didn’t stop Russian meddling.

He’s also changed his story at times. His team claimed it had no foreign contacts; then that only low-level volunteers had contacts with Russia; then that Trump Jr., campaign head Paul Manafort and son-in-law Jared Kushner just had a meeting about adoptions; then that even though they were promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton ahead of the meeting they didn’t get any; and, finally, that there would be nothing wrong with meeting with Russians to get dirt on an opponent.

Some of the arguments amount to little more than catchphrases: Witch hunt! No collusion! Fake news! Others are complicated conspiracy theories involving obscure figures like a couple of FBI agents.

Trump has been unafraid of making arguments that are inaccurate, at times making claims that are 180 degrees from the truth.

He’s falsely claimed that the Steele dossier shows that Russia opposed Trump in the 2016 election; U.S. intelligence agencies have found unequivocally that Russia’s actions were designed to aid Trump’s campaign. He’s falsely claimed that Comey’s memos vindicated him; the memos detailed suggestive conversations may have tried to influence an investigation. He’s falsely claimed that CNN’s ratings are “way down” because of its reporting on Russia; the cable news network is actually hit a recent high during his Administration. And he’s kept using arguments even after reporters, fact-checkers and lawmakers have debunked them.

Wherever the investigation heads next, Trump will be sure to make some of these arguments again, as well as some new ones.

Here’s a look at all the lines of attack and defense Trump has made about the Russia investigation.

The Democratic email hacking

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz attends a campaign rally at Florida International University Panther Arena on July 23, 2016 in Miami, Florida. Alexander Tamargo—WireImage

1. Democrats released their own emails as a distraction.

Trump claimed during the campaign that Democrats arranged for their own emails and documents to be released online, but he soon dropped the argument. “We believe it was the DNC that did the ‘hacking’ as a way to distract from the many issues facing their deeply flawed candidate and failed party leader.” (Trump, campaign statement, June 15, 2016) “I notice any time anything wrong happens they like to say, the Russians, the Russians — she doesn’t know it’s the Russians doing the hacking, maybe there is no hacking.” (Trump, second presidential debate, Oct. 9, 2016) “Today’s charges include no allegations of knowing involvement by anyone on the campaign and no allegations that the alleged hacking affected the election result.” (Lindsay Walters, White House statement, July 13, 2018) “The Mueller Witch Hunt is a total disgrace. They are looking at supposedly stolen Crooked Hillary Clinton Emails (even though they don’t want to look at the DNC Server), but have no interest in the Emails that Hillary DELETED & acid washed AFTER getting a Congressional Subpoena!” (Trump, tweet, Nov. 27, 2018)

2. Nobody really knows who hacked the emails.

When he has conceded that Democrats were hacked, Trump has maintained that nobody really knows who was responsible, even after the intelligence community concluded in October of 2016 that it was Russia. “I don’t think anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC. She’s saying Russia, Russia, Russia, but I don’t — maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK?” (Trump, first presidential debate, Sept. 26, 2016) “She has no idea whether it’s Russia, China, or anybody else. … And our country has no idea.” (Trump, third presidential debate, Oct. 19, 2016) “Unless you catch ‘hackers’ in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking.” (Trump, tweet, Dec. 12, 2016) “The whole age of the computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what’s going on.” (Trump, press remarks, Dec. 29, 2016) “And I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else.” (Trump, press remarks, Dec. 31, 2016) “If you don’t catch a hacker, okay, in the act, it’s very hard to say who did the hacking.” (Trump, interview on “Face the Nation,” April 29, 2017) “I think it was Russia, but I think it was probably other people and/or countries, and I see nothing wrong with that statement. Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure.” (Trump, interview with NBC News, July 6, 2017)

3. Julian Assange said he didn’t get the emails from Russia.

Trump has noted that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denies that Russia was involved. WikiLeaks founder “Julian Assange said ‘a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta’ – why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 4, 2017)

4. Democrats are to blame for writing ‘dumb’ emails…

Trump has argued that Democrats are ultimately to blame for having written the emails. “How much BAD JUDGEMENT was on display by the people in DNC in writing those really dumb e-mails, using even religion, against Bernie!” (Trump, tweet, July 25, 2016) “The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes me” (Trump, tweet, July 25, 2016)

5. …and for having poor internet security.

Trump has also argued that Democrats are to blame for having poor online security. WikiLeaks founder “Julian Assange said ‘a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta’ – why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 4, 2017) “Somebody hacked the DNC but why did they not have ‘hacking defense’ like the RNC has and why have they not responded to the terrible……” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 4, 2017) “And I have to say this also, the Democratic National Committee was totally open to be hacked. They did a very poor job. They could’ve had hacking defense, which we had.” (Trump, press conference, Jan. 11, 2017) “And I think I get some credit because I told Reince, and Reince did a phenomenal job, but I said I want strong hacking defense. The Democratic National Committee didn’t do that.” (Trump, press conference, Jan. 11, 2017) “I think the DNC should be ashamed of themselves for allowing themselves to be hacked. They had bad defenses. And they were able to be hacked.” (Trump, interview, July 15, 2018)

Fact Check: Trump says Russians were unable to hack the Republican National Committee: Mostly True

6. Anyway, the real scandal is what the hacked emails revealed about Democrats.

During the election, Trump cited the emails published on WikiLeaks as evidence of Democratic malfeasance, something he continued to do even when he conceded that hacking is wrong. “Leaked e-mails of DNC show plans to destroy Bernie Sanders. Mock his heritage and much more. On-line from Wikileakes, really vicious. RIGGED” (Trump, tweet, July 23, 2016) “WikiLeaks proves even the Clinton campaign knew Crooked mishandled classified info, but no one gets charged? RIGGED!” (Trump, tweet, Oct. 17, 2016) “Why has nobody asked Kaine about the horrible views emanated on WikiLeaks about Catholics? Media in the tank for Clinton but Trump will win!” (Trump, tweet, Oct. 24, 2016) “Are we talking about the same cyberattack where it was revealed that head of the DNC illegally gave Hillary the questions to the debate?” (Trump, tweet, Dec. 16, 2016) “We talk about the hacking and hacking’s bad and it shouldn’t be done. But look at the things that were hacked, look at what was learned from that hacking. That Hillary Clinton got the questions to the debate and didn’t report it? That’s a horrible thing. That’s a horrible thing.” (Trump, press conference, Jan. 11, 2017)

Russian meddling in the election

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks in Krasnodar, Russia on March 12, 2018. Mikhail Svetlov—Getty Images

7. Voting machines weren’t affected.

Trump has also attempted to narrowly define Russian meddling as hacking voting machines. “Intelligence stated very strongly there was absolutely no evidence that hacking affected the election results. Voting machines not touched!” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 7, 2017)

8. Vladimir Putin says Russia didn’t meddle in the election.

Trump has also noted that Russian leader Vladimir Putin denies attempts to meddle in the election. “I said, ‘Did you do it?’ And he said, ‘No, I did not. Absolutely not.’ I then asked him a second time in a totally different way. He said absolutely not. … Somebody did say if he did do it, you wouldn’t have found out about it.” (Trump, interview with Reuters, July 12, 2017) “He said he didn’t meddle, he said he didn’t meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. … Every time he sees me, he says, ‘I didn’t do that.’ And I believe — I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it.” (Trump, press remarks, Nov. 11, 2017) “Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!” (Trump, tweet, June 28, 2018) “I have President Putin; he just said it’s not Russia. … So I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.” (Trump, press conference, July 16, 2018)

9. The CIA was wrong about Iraq, so they are wrong about Russia.

After the CIA concluded in a secret assessment that Russia meddled in the 2016 election in order to help Trump win, his transition team fired back. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.'” (Unsigned, transition team statement, Dec. 9, 2016)

10. Trump doesn’t believe Russia meddled in the election.

At other times, Trump has straightforwardly argued that Russia did not, in fact, meddle in the election. “I don’t believe they interfered. That became a laughing point, not a talking point, a laughing point. Any time I do something, they say ‘oh, Russia interfered.'” (Trump, interview with TIME, Nov. 28, 2016) “The ‘Intelligence briefing on so-called ‘Russian hacking’ was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 3, 2017)

Fact Check: 2017 Lie of the Year: Russian election interference is a ‘made-up story’

11. If Russia did meddle, we would never know it.

Trump once argued that Putin was too smart to get caught meddling, even if he did do it. “Somebody did say if he did do it, you wouldn’t have found out about it. Which is a very interesting point.” (Trump, interview with Reuters, July 12, 2017) “And, you know, there are those that say, if he did do it, he wouldn’t have gotten caught, all right? Which is a very interesting statement.” (Trump, press remarks, Nov. 11, 2017)

12. OK, Russia meddled, but so did other countries.

Trump has also argued that even if Russia meddled, it might not be the only country. “As far as hacking, I think it was Russia. But I think we also get hacked by other countries and other people.” (Trump, press conference, Jan. 11, 2017) “While Russia’s actions had no impact at all on the outcome of the election, let me be totally clear in saying — and I’ve said this many times — I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place. Could be other people also. A lot of people out there.” (Trump, press remarks, July 17, 2018)

Fact Check: Trump’s claim that other countries could have been behind the hacking: No Evidence

13. Russian meddling didn’t affect the election.

When conceding Russian meddling, Trump has also argued that it had no effect on the outcome of the election. “Intelligence stated very strongly there was absolutely no evidence that hacking affected the election results. Voting machines not touched!” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 7, 2017) “Now, everybody agrees that there was no impact on the votes in this election, which is very important to say, but we have to make sure that nothing could ever happen to our election process.” (Trump, interview with Reuters, July 12, 2017) “Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong – no collusion!” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 16, 2018) “President Donald J. Trump has been fully briefed on this matter and is glad to see the Special Counsel’s investigation further indicates—that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump campaign and Russia and that the outcome of the election was not changed or affected.” (Unsigned, White House statement, Feb. 16, 2018) “General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians.” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 17, 2018) “‘Charges Deal Don A Big Win,’ written by Michael Goodwin of the @nypost, succinctly states that ‘the Russians had no impact on the election results.’ There was no Collusion with the Trump Campaign. ‘She lost the old-fashioned way, by being a terrible candidate. Case closed.'” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 17, 2018) “Deputy A.G. Rod Rosenstein stated at the News Conference: “There is no allegation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election.” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 17, 2018) “Well, the Russians had no impact on our votes whatsoever. But, certainly, there was meddling and probably there was meddling from other countries and maybe other individuals.” (Trump, press conference, March 6, 2018)

14. It started long before Trump ran for office.

Trump has also noted that the Russian influence operations reportedly began long before he officially launched his campaign. “Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong – no collusion!” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 16, 2018) “Funny how the Fake News Media doesn’t want to say that the Russian group was formed in 2014, long before my run for President. Maybe they knew I was going to run even though I didn’t know!” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 17, 2018)

15. Democrats made up Trump ties to Russia as an excuse for the hacking.

During the election, Trump also argued that Democrats were making up links to Russia in order to deflect from their own problems. “In order to try and deflect the horror and stupidity of the Wikileakes disaster, the Dems said maybe it is Russia dealing with Trump. Crazy!” (Trump, tweet, July 26, 2016)

16. Obama never warned the Trump campaign about Russian meddling.

Trump floated a new line of argument in 2018 that Obama never warned his campaign about the threat of Russian meddling during the election. However, CNN and NBC have both reported that senior intelligence officials briefed the Trump campaign in August of 2016 that foreign adversaries including Russia would likely try to infiltrate his campaign team. “With Spies, or ‘Informants’ as the Democrats like to call them because it sounds less sinister (but it’s not), all over my campaign, even from a very early date, why didn’t the crooked highest levels of the FBI or ‘Justice’ contact me to tell me of the phony Russia problem?” (Trump, tweet, May 26, 2018) “RUSH LIMBAUGH “If the FBI was so concerned, and if they weren’t targeting Trump, they should have told Trump. If they were really concerned about the Russians infiltrating a campaign (hoax), then why not try to stop it? Why not tell Trump? Because they were pushing this scam.”” (Trump, tweet, May 31, 2018) “So President Obama knew about Russia before the Election. Why didn’t he do something about it? Why didn’t he tell our campaign? Because it is all a big hoax, that’s why, and he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win!!!” (Trump, tweet, July 22, 2018)

17. Anyway, the real scandal is that Obama didn’t stop Russian meddling.

When he has conceded that Russia meddled in the election, Trump has argued that President Barack Obama bears responsibility for not stopping it. “If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?” (Trump, tweet, Dec. 15, 2016) “By the way, if Russia was working so hard on the 2016 Election, it all took place during the Obama Admin. Why didn’t they stop them?” (Trump, tweet, June 22, 2017) “The real story is that President Obama did NOTHING after being informed in August about Russian meddling.” (Trump, tweet, June 26, 2017) “Obama was President, knew of the threat, and did nothing.” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 18, 2018) “Obama was President up to, and beyond, the 2016 Election. So why didn’t he do something about Russian meddling?” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 19, 2018) “Everybody wants to blame this on the Trump administration. Let’s not forget that this happened under the Obama administration.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, Feb. 20, 2018) “Question: If all of the Russian meddling took place during the Obama Administration, right up to January 20th, why aren’t they the subject of the investigation? Why didn’t Obama do something about the meddling? Why aren’t Dem crimes under investigation? Ask Jeff Sessions!” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 21, 2018) “Let’s not forget that this happened under Obama. It didn’t happen under President Trump.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, Feb. 27, 2018) “These Russian individuals did their work during the Obama years. Why didn’t Obama do something about it? Because he thought Crooked Hillary Clinton would win, that’s why.” (Trump, tweet, July 14, 2018) “But, again, this was during the Obama administration. They were doing whatever it was during the Obama administration.” (Trump, interview, July 15, 2018) “As you know, President Obama was given information just prior to the election — last election, 2016 — and they decided not to do anything about it. The reason they decided that was pretty obvious to all: They thought Hillary Clinton was going to win the election, and they didn’t think it was a big deal.” (Trump, press remarks, July 17, 2018)

Fact Check: The Obama Administration took some action against Russian meddling

The Steele dossier

Christopher Steele, the former MI6 agent who compiled a dossier on Donald Trump, in London in March, 2017 Victoria Jones—PA Wire

18. The Steele dossier is a phony…

Trump has frequently tried to discredit the contents of the Steele Dossier, a report of Trump’s alleged ties to Russia that was compiled for the FBI by former British spy Christopher Steele and publicized in January of 2017. “Often, we have a lot of media with Russia first, but today there was public testimony that further discredited the phony dossier that’s been the source of so much of the fake news and conspiracy theories.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, July 27, 2017) “The Democrat-linked firm, Fusion GPS, actually took money from the Russian government while it created the phony dossier that’s been the basis for all of the Russia scandal fake news.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, Aug. 1, 2017) “They ought to look at all of the things that they’ve done with the phony dossier.” (Trump, press remarks, Nov. 11, 2017) “This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 11, 2018) “We now know that Brennan had detailed knowledge of the (phony) Dossier.” (Trump, tweet, May 21, 2018)

19. …fake…

He’s called it fake. “Workers of firm involved with the discredited and Fake Dossier take the 5th. Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)?” (Trump, tweet, Oct. 19, 2017) “I think it’s very sad what they’ve done with this fake dossier.” (Trump, press remarks, Oct. 25, 2017) “Never seen such Republican ANGER & UNITY as I have concerning the lack of investigation on Clinton made Fake Dossier” (Trump, tweet, Oct. 29, 2017) “It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign.” (Trump, tweet, March 17, 2018)

20. …fraudulent…

“Wow! -Senator Mark Warner got caught having extensive contact with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch. Warner did not want a ‘paper trail’ on a ‘private’ meeting (in London) he requested with Steele of fraudulent Dossier fame. All tied into Crooked Hillary.” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 8, 2018) “‘Clapper lied about (fraudulent) Dossier leaks to CNN’ @foxandfriends FoxNews He is a lying machine who now works for Fake News CNN.” (Trump, tweet, April 28, 2018) “Now that the Witch Hunt has given up on Russia and is looking at the rest of the World, they should easily be able to take it into the Mid-Term Elections where they can put some hurt on the Republican Party. Don’t worry about Dems FISA Abuse, missing Emails or Fraudulent Dossier!” (Trump, tweet, May 20, 2018)

21. …and discredited…

The dossier makes some big claims about Trump and Russia which so far are unproven, but intelligence analysts largely say that Steele is a credible analyst. Still, that hasn’t stopped Trump from asserting that it’s discredited. “The other big news was the foreign intelligence dossier that the President’s political opponents funded and disseminated widely, and was based on discredited opposition research from foreign intelligence sources. The only collusion I’ve seen, and that’s certainly been proven, would be between those people.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, July 12, 2017) “Workers of firm involved with the discredited and Fake Dossier take the 5th. Who paid for it, Russia, the FBI or the Dems (or all)?” (Trump, tweet, Oct. 19, 2017) “Officials behind the now discredited ‘Dossier’ plead the Fifth. Justice Department and/or FBI should immediately release who paid for it.” (Trump, tweet, Oct. 21, 2017) “This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 11, 2018)

22. …hoax.

Trump has also leaned on a favorite rhetorical device and simply called the document a hoax. “Trump Russia story is a hoax.” (Trump, tweet, March 27, 2017) “The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?” (Trump, tweet, May 8, 2017) “There was zero coordination. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. There’s no coordination, this was a hoax, this was made up by the Democrats.” (Trump, interview with Reuters, July 12, 2017)

23. It was opposition research…

Trump has also repeatedly capitalized on the fact that Steele also conducted the research for Fusion GPS, a firm retained by Marc Elias, an attorney for Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee. This connection became a key part of the memo written by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes alleging bias by the FBI. “The other big news was the foreign intelligence dossier that the President’s political opponents funded and disseminated widely, and was based on discredited opposition research from foreign intelligence sources. The only collusion I’ve seen, and that’s certainly been proven, would be between those people.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, July 12, 2017) “Now you have, in this memo that was released, the use of a partisan political opposition research document — a shoddy document with lots of holes in it — being used, represented by the FBI and DOJ as evidence for a spying warrant under the FISA law.” (Raj Shah, press remarks, Feb. 5, 2018) “The dossier is false opposition research that was funded by the Clinton campaign to attack the President. It was used illegally to justify spying on Americans. And I think that’s quite the problem.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, April 13, 2018) “Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. ‘No evidence’ that the Trump Campaign ‘colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.’ Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!” (Trump, tweet, April 27, 2018)

24. …started by Trump’s Republican opponents…

And he’s noted that it had its origins in research conducted for the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative news outlet largely funded by major Republican donor Paul Singer. “Totally made up facts by sleazebag political operatives, both Democrats and Republicans – FAKE NEWS! Russia says nothing exists. Probably…” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 13, 2017) “Well, they say it began with the Republicans. I think I would know, but I won’t say. It will be determined. It will be determined. … Yes, it might have started with the Republicans early on in the primaries. I think I would know, but let’s find out who it is.” (Trump, press remarks, Oct. 25, 2017)

25. …and paid for by the Clinton campaign…

Trump also made hay out of news reports that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid for part of the research in the dossier. “The real Russia scandal? Clinton campaign paid for the fake Russia dossier, then lied about it & covered it up.” (Huckabee Sanders, tweet, Oct. 24, 2017) “It was made up, and I understand they paid a tremendous amount of money, and Hillary Clinton always denied it. The Democrats always denied it. And now, only because it’s going to come out in a court case, they said, yes, they did it. They admitted it, and they’re embarrassed by it.” (Trump, press remarks, Oct. 25, 2017) “The dossier is false opposition research that was funded by the Clinton campaign to attack the President. It was used illegally to justify spying on Americans. And I think that’s quite the problem.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, April 13, 2018) “Just Out: House Intelligence Committee Report released. ‘No evidence’ that the Trump Campaign ‘colluded, coordinated or conspired with Russia.’ Clinton Campaign paid for Opposition Research obtained from Russia- Wow! A total Witch Hunt! MUST END NOW!” (Trump, tweet, April 27, 2018)

26. …which the FBI used to spy on the Trump campaign…

Trump has argued that the Steele dossier was used as the basis for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant on Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page. But the FBI has said the investigation began because of a separate tip about Trump adviser George Papadopoulos. “‘House votes on controversial FISA ACT today.’ This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 11, 2018) “McCabe knew that the FISA warrant was obtained using shady dossier and that all extensions were based on the original application. The Obama administration then used information that Hillary paid for to justify spying on @realDonaldTrump. If I got that right should be game over.” (Trump Jr., tweet, Feb. 2, 2018) “Now you have, in this memo that was released, the use of a partisan political opposition research document — a shoddy document with lots of holes in it — being used, represented by the FBI and DOJ as evidence for a spying warrant under the FISA law.” (Shah, press remarks, Feb. 5, 2018) “They know this is one of the great scandals in the history of our country because basically what they did is, they used Carter Page, who nobody even knew, who I feel very badly for, I think he’s been treated very badly. They used Carter Page as a foil in order to surveil a candidate for the presidency of the United States.” (Trump, interview with The Hill, Sept. 18, 2018)

Fact Check: Trump claims Russia investigation started because of Steele dossier: False

27. …improperly…

Trump has argued that the FBI should have told the FISA court that the dossier was politically motivated research. “‘The four page memo released Friday reports the disturbing fact about how the FBI and FISA appear to have been used to influence the 2016 election and its aftermath….The FBI failed to inform the FISA court that the Clinton campaign had funded the dossier….the FBI became….” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 3, 2018) “The Mueller probe should never have been started in that there was no collusion and there was no crime. It was based on fraudulent activities and a Fake Dossier paid for by Crooked Hillary and the DNC, and improperly used in FISA COURT for surveillance of my campaign. WITCH HUNT!” (Trump, tweet, March 17, 2018)

28. …and illegally.

And the White House has even argued that this was illegal. “The dossier is false opposition research that was funded by the Clinton campaign to attack the President. It was used illegally to justify spying on Americans. And I think that’s quite the problem.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, April 13, 2018) “Q: Wouldn’t it be mandatory to identify that the dossier was created by an opposition party candidate and not as a political asterisk? GIULIANI: Absolutely. Q: Is that a crime? GIULIANI: Yes. Yes, obstruction of justice. Invasion of people’s privacy on no basis at all. It’s a civil rights violation.” (Giuliani, interview with Fox News, May 2, 2018)

29. The dossier shows Russia actually opposed Trump in the 2016 election.

Trump has gone even further, arguing that since Fusion GPS reportedly did work for Russian clients around the same time, that means Russia funded the dossier, and therefore, that proves that Russia actually opposed him in the 2016 election. (The CIA concluded in a secret assessment that Russia favored Trump.) “In other words, Russia was against Trump in the 2016 Election – and why not, I want strong military & low oil prices. Witch Hunt!” (Trump, tweet, July 29, 2017) “The Democrat-linked firm Fusion GPS actually took money from the Russian government while it created the phony dossier that’s been the basis for all of the Russia scandal fake news.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, Aug. 1, 2017) “There was no collusion between us and Russia. In fact, the opposite. Russia spent a lot of money on fighting me. And if you think about it, I want a strong military. You see our budget is up by – it will be hundreds of billions of dollars soon, our military budget. Russia doesn’t like that. … Additionally, it seems that Russia spent a lot of money on that false report. And that was Russian money and I think it was Democrat money too. You could say that was collusion.” (Trump, press remarks, Aug. 10, 2017)

Fact Check: Trump, Russia and the opposition research firm run by ex-journalists: Three Pinocchios

30. Its existence should never have been leaked.

After the Steele dossier leaked, Trump took a shot at outgoing CIA director John Brennan and the intelligence community generally. “The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by ‘intelligence’ like candy. Very un-American!” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 15, 2017) “Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to ‘leak’ into the public. One last shot at me.Are we living in Nazi Germany?” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 11, 2017) “It’s all fake news. It’s all fake news. The nice thing is, I see it starting to turn, where people are now looking at the illegal — I think it’s very important — the illegal, giving out classified information. It was — and let me just tell you, it was given out like so much.” (Trump, press conference, Feb. 16, 2017)

31. Trump is ‘extremely careful’ when traveling overseas…

Trump also addressed particularly salacious allegations in the dossier by arguing that he would never engage in that kind of activity overseas. “When I leave our country, I’m a very high-profile person, would you say? I am extremely careful. I’m surrounded by bodyguards. I’m surrounded by people. And I always tell them — anywhere, but I always tell them if I’m leaving this country, ‘Be very careful, because in your hotel rooms and no matter where you go, you’re gonna probably have cameras.'” (Press conference, Jan. 11, 2017)

32. … and a germaphobe…

“I’m also very much of a germaphobe, by the way, believe me.” (Trump, press conference, Jan. 11, 2017)

33. …and Putin said the claims in the dossier are not true.

Trump has also repeatedly noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin said that information in the Steele dossier was untrue. “Russia just said the unverified report paid for by political opponents is ‘A COMPLETE AND TOTAL FABRICATION, UTTER NONSENSE.’ Very unfair!” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 11, 2017) “Well, you know, [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin and Russia put out a statement today that this fake news was indeed fake news. They said it totally never happened. … I respected the fact that he said that.” (Trump, press conference, Jan. 11, 2017) “Totally made up facts by sleazebag political operatives, both Democrats and Republicans – FAKE NEWS! Russia says nothing exists. Probably…” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 13, 2017)

34. John McCain gave the dossier to the FBI to influence the election.

“So it was indeed (just proven in court papers) ‘last in his class’ (Annapolis) John McCain that sent the Fake Dossier to the FBI and Media hoping to have it printed BEFORE the Election. He & the Dems, working together, failed (as usual). Even the Fake News refused this garbage!” (Trump, tweet, March 17, 2019) “John McCain received a fake and phony dossier. Did you hear about the dossier? It was paid for by Crooked Hillary Clinton. Right? And John McCain got it. He got it. And what did he do? He didn’t call me. He turned it over to the FBI, hoping to put me in jeopardy.” (Trump, speech, March 20, 2019) “About three days ago it came out that his main person gave to the FBI the fake news dossier. It was a fake. It was a fraud, it was paid for by Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. They gave it to John McCain who gave it to the FBI for very evil purposes, that’s not good. (Trump, interview with Fox Business, March 21, 2019)

Fact Check: McCain did not give the dossier to the FBI until December of 2016

35. If Russia had dirt on Trump, they would have used it.

And Trump has claimed that since Russia has not released any dirt on him, that proves they didn’t have any. “Russia has never tried to use leverage over me.” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 11, 2017) “And I — I’ll be honest, I think if he did have something, they would’ve released it; they would’ve been glad to release it.” (Trump, press conference, Jan. 11, 2017) “It would have been out long ago.” (Trump, press conference, July 16, 2018) “And one thing you know, if they had it, it would have been out.” (Trump, interview, July 16, 2018)

36. Trump is tougher on Russia than Obama was.

As president, Trump has regularly claimed that he’s tougher on Russia than President Obama was, as a way of indirectly arguing that the country did not interfere in the 2016 election on his behalf. “I have been much tougher on Russia than Obama, just look at the facts. Total Fake News!” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 20, 2018) “There are a number of places that Obama was too weak and refused to take and put pressure on Russia, where this President has.” (Sanders, press briefing, Feb. 20, 2018)

Fact Check: Has Donald Trump ‘Been Much Tougher on Russia’ Than Barack Obama? Mostly False

37. In fact, Trump is tougher on Russia than any president.

At other times, Trump has gone further to argue that he’s been tougher on Russia than any of his predecessors. “And probably nobody has been tougher to Russia than Donald Trump.” (Trump, press remarks, April 3, 2018) “Today’s sanctions and the totality of the administration’s actions, which are in keeping with Congress’s wishes, prove the President is absolutely correct when he says no one has been tougher on Russia.” (Sanders, press briefing, April 6, 2018) “There has been nobody tougher on Russia than President Donald Trump. … There has been nobody tougher than me. … But Russia will tell you, there has been nobody tougher than Donald Trump.” (Trump, press remarks, April 18, 2018) “There’s been no President ever as tough as I have been on Russia. … And I think President Putin knows that better than anybody. Certainly, a lot better than the media. He understands it and he’s not happy about it. And he shouldn’t be happy about it because there’s never been a President as tough on Russia as I have been.” (Trump, press remarks, July 18, 2018) “Look, I think the President, as he has said many times before, has been tougher on Russia than anybody.” (Sanders, press briefing, July 18, 2018) “I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump!” (Trump, tweet, July 24, 2018)

38. Russia may interfere in the 2018 elections to help the Democrats.

Facing what looked to be tough midterm elections for Republicans, Trump floated a theory — without evidence — in July of 2018 that Russia would likely interfere on behalf of the Democrats. “I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump!” (Trump, tweet, July 24, 2018)

Read More: President Trump Is Back to Complaining, Without Evidence, About Rigged Elections

39. Anyway, the real scandal is that Clinton colluded with Russia on the dossier.

Finally, Trump has argued that the real scandal is Clinton’s funding of the dossier. “The real Russia scandal? Clinton campaign paid for the fake Russia dossier, then lied about it & covered it up.” (Huckabee Sanders, tweet, Oct. 24, 2017) “Clinton spokesman just said he’s ‘damn glad’ Clinton campaign colluded w/ Russia to spread disinformation about @POTUS & influence election” (Huckabee Sanders, tweet, Oct. 28, 2017) “The evidence Clinton campaign, DNC & Russia colluded to influence the election is indisputable.” (Huckabee Sanders, tweet, Oct. 28, 2017) “The real collusion scandal, as we’ve said several times before, has everything to do with the Clinton campaign, Fusion GPS, and Russia. There’s clear evidence of the Clinton campaign colluding with Russian intelligence to spread disinformation and smear the President to influence the election.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, Oct. 30, 2017) “What we have found, and what they have found after looking at this, really, scam, is they found tremendous — whatever you want to call it; you’re going to have to make up your own determination — but they found tremendous things on the other side.” (Trump, press remarks, Dec. 15, 2017) “The only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems. Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 17, 2018) “Arrived back in Washington last night from a very emotional reopening of a major U.S. Steel plant in Granite City, Illinois, only to be greeted with the ridiculous news that the highly conflicted Robert Mueller and his gang of 13 Angry Democrats obviously cannot find Collusion…the only Collusion with Russia was with the Democrats.” (Trump, tweet, July 27, 2018) “When Mueller does his final report, will he be covering all of his conflicts of interest in a preamble, will he be recommending action on all of the crimes of many kinds from those ‘on the other side’(whatever happened to Podesta?)…” (Trump, tweet, Nov. 26, 2018)

The Trump Tower Moscow project

Michael Cohen walks out of federal court, in New York, after pleading guilty to lying to Congress about work he did on an aborted project to build a Trump Tower in Russia, on Nov. 29, 2018. Julie Jacobson—AP/REX/Shutterstock

40. Trump has no investments, loans or business deals with Russia.

Trump has long maintained that he has no loans, business deals, real estate investments or contacts with Russia. “For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia.” (Trump, tweet, July 26, 2016) “I mean I have nothing to do with Russia. I don’t have any jobs in Russia. I’m all over the world but we’re not involved in Russia.” (Trump, interview with CBS Miami, July 27, 2016) “I know nothing about Russia. I know — I know about Russia, but I know nothing about the inner workings of Russia. I don’t deal there. I have no businesses there. I have no loans from Russia.” (Trump, second presidential debate, Oct. 9, 2016) “Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA – NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 11, 2017) “So I tweeted out that I have no dealings with Russia. I have no deals that could happen in Russia, because we’ve stayed away. And I have no loans with Russia. … But I have no loans with Russia at all. … I certified that. So I have no deals, I have no loans and I have no dealings. We could make deals in Russia very easily if we wanted to, I just don’t want to because I think that would be a conflict. So I have no loans, no dealings, and no current pending deals.” (Trump, press conference, Jan. 11, 2017) “And I can tell you, speaking for myself, I own nothing in Russia. I have no loans in Russia. I don’t have any deals in Russia.” (Trump, press conference, Feb. 16, 2017) “With a few exceptions — as detailed below — your tax returns do not reflect (1) any income of any type from Russian sources, (2) any debt owed by you or TTO [The Trump Organization] to Russian lenders or any interest paid by you or TTO to Russian lenders, (3) any equity investments by Russian persons or entities in entities controlled by you or TTO, or (4) any equity or debt investments by you or TTO in Russian entities.” (Morgan Lewis law firm, letter to Trump, March 8, 2017) “I just sent a letter to Lindsay Graham from one of the most prestigious law firms in the country — a tremendous, highly rated law firm — that I have nothing to do with Russia.” (Trump, interview with NBC News, May 11, 2017) “By the way, I would say, I don’t — I don’t — I mean, it’s possible there’s a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows? I don’t make money from Russia. In fact, I put out a letter saying that I don’t make — from one of the most highly respected law firms, accounting firms. I don’t have buildings in Russia. They said I own buildings in Russia. I don’t. They said I made money from Russia. I don’t. It’s not my thing. I don’t, I don’t do that. Over the years, I’ve looked at maybe doing a deal in Russia, but I never did one. Other than I held the Miss Universe pageant there…” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, July 19, 2017)

41. He hasn’t even called Russia in years.

Trump has even argued that he’s not made a phone call to Russia for years. “I have nothing to do with Russia. Haven’t made a phone call to Russia in years. Don’t speak to people from Russia. Not that I wouldn’t. I just have nobody to speak to.” (Trump, press conference, Feb. 16, 2017) “I haven’t called Russia in 10 years.” (Trump, press remarks, Feb. 27, 2017) “There’s been no talk of Russia. There’s been no phone call. There’s been nothing.” (Trump, interview, July 18, 2018)

42. OK, there was the Trump Tower Moscow proposal, but everybody knew about it…

After Cohen testified that Trump was in talks about a development in Moscow through June of 2016, Trump changed his argument. “Everybody knew about it. It was written about in newspapers. It was a well-known project. … So he’s lying about a project that everybody knew about. I mean, we were very open with it. We were thinking about building a building. … This deal was a very public deal. Everybody knows about this deal. I wasn’t trying to hide anything. Okay.” (Trump, press remarks, Nov. 29, 2018) “Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail … lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn’t do the project. Witch Hunt!” (Trump, tweet, Nov. 30, 2018)

43. …it was unimportant…

“So let me tell you about about Trump Tower Moscow. This was a very unimportant deal. This was a very unimportant deal. … That deal was not important.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

44. …he didn’t pursue it very seriously…

“Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail … lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn’t do the project. Witch Hunt!” (Trump, tweet, Nov. 30, 2018) “That deal was not important. It was essentially a letter of intent or an option. I’m not even sure that they had a site.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

45. …it didn’t last very long…

“It was during the early part of ’16 and, I guess, even before that. It lasted a short period of time.” (Trump, press remarks, Nov. 29, 2018)

46. …Trump was never very enthusiastic about it…

“I don’t know when I decided, but somewhere during the period of time. I was never very enthused. Somewhere during the period — because I was running for President. My focus was running for President.” (Trump, press remarks, Nov. 29, 2018) “I didn’t care. … The last thing I cared about was building a building. … But the way I view it is early in the year to middle of the year, no interest. I had very little interest in the first place, and again, I viewed it as a free option. It may have been a letter of intent. I don’t know exactly what it was called. But it was unimportant.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

47. …because he was focused on his campaign.

“Q: Was the President concerned with the emails that were revealed yesterday where Michael Cohen, a longtime Trump executive, was emailing Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, about a project in Russia? And is he afraid that’s going to spark any sort of investigation by Bob Mueller into his company? SANDERS: Not at all. I mean, I think it’s pretty clear that there’s really nothing there to this story, nothing to move forward.The President at that time was very focused on his campaign, and that was the priority he had at the time, and so certainly not something I believe he’s at all concerned about.” (Sanders, press remarks, Aug. 29, 2017) “I don’t know when I decided, but somewhere during the period of time. I was never very enthused. Somewhere during the period — because I was running for President. My focus was running for President.” (Trump, press remarks, Nov. 29, 2018) “I was running for president, I was doing really well. The last thing I cared about was building a building.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

48. Trump put up zero money for it…

“Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail … lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn’t do the project. Witch Hunt!” (Trump, tweet, Nov. 30, 2018) “I had no money invested. It was a letter of intent, or option. It was a free option. It was a nothing. And I wasn’t doing anything. I don’t consider that even business. And frankly, that wasn’t even on my radar. If you take a look at that, take a look at the deal. There was no money put up. There was no transfer. I don’t think they had a location. I’m not even sure if they had a location.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

49. …made zero guarantees…

“Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail … lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn’t do the project. Witch Hunt!” (Trump, tweet, Nov. 30, 2018)

50. …and he decided not to do it in the end.

“I didn’t do the project. I decided not to do the project. So I didn’t do it. So we’re not talking about doing a project; we’re talking about not doing a project. … I guess we had — in a form, it was an option. I don’t know what you’d call it. We decided — I decided ultimately not to do it. … But that was — that was a project that we didn’t do, I didn’t do. That was a project that wasn’t done for a lot of reasons. Number one is that I was really — not that I had to do it — but I was focused on running for President. I wanted that to be my primary focus, not running or building a building. … Well, this was a deal that didn’t happen. That was no deal. I mean, if you look, this was an option — I guess, I don’t if I want to — I want to be very specific. So — but, to my way of thinking, it was an option that I decided not to do.” (Trump, press remarks, Nov. 29, 2018) “Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail … lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn’t do the project. Witch Hunt!” (Trump, tweet, Nov. 30, 2018)

51. He might have done it if he had lost the campaign.

“There was a good chance that I wouldn’t have won, in which case I would have gotten back into the business. And why should I lose lots of opportunities?” (Trump, press remarks, Nov. 29, 2018) “Because as you would know, there weren’t a lot of people at the time that thought I was going to win. So I don’t want to give up a year and a half of my life, not do anything, run for president, then have to go back and say, you know, “I could have kept running my business.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

52. Anyway, there would be nothing wrong with doing it.

“We decided — I decided ultimately not to do it. There would have been nothing wrong if I did do it. If I did do it, there would have been nothing wrong. That was my business. … There would be nothing wrong if I did do it. I was running my business while I was campaigning. … Now, here’s the thing: Even if he was right, it doesn’t matter because I was allowed to do whatever I wanted during the campaign. I was running my business — a lot of different things — during the campaign.” (Trump, press remarks, Nov. 29, 2018) Oh, I get it! I am a very good developer, happily living my life, when I see our Country going in the wrong direction (to put it mildly). “Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail … lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia. Put up zero money, zero guarantees and didn’t do the project. Witch Hunt!” (Trump, tweet, Nov. 30, 2018) “But that deal is just like other deals. I was doing other deals. I was running for president, but I was also running a business. … Now, I would have had every right to do a deal. That’s what I did. That’s what I did. … But I was running a business. I mean, I would have been allowed to build 20 buildings. I was doing other things. I was doing a lot of other things. I was running a business.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

52. George Washington ran a business while he was president.

“Very interestingly, you know, George Washington ran his business. You can, I guess, you can go long beyond the election, if you wanted to. You know. But I didn’t do that.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 201

Trump campaign contacts with Russia

US President Donald Trump (L) chats with Russia's President Vladimir Putin as they attend the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in the central Vietnamese city of Danang on November 11, 2017. Mikhail Klimentyev—AFP/Getty Images

53. The Trump campaign had no foreign contacts during the election…

The Trump campaign first pushed back against questions about Russia by arguing that it had no contacts with foreign groups at all. “It never happened. There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign.” (Hope Hicks, statement to the Associated Press, Nov. 11, 2016) “Q: Did anyone involved in the Trump campaign have any contact with Russians trying to meddle with the election? CONWAY: Absolutely not. And I discussed that with the president-elect just last night. Those conversations never happened. I hear people saying it like it’s a fact on television. That is just not only inaccurate and false, but it’s dangerous.” (Kellyanne Conway, interview with “Face the Nation,” Dec. 18, 2016) “I joined this campaign in the summer, and I can tell you that all the contact by the Trump campaign and associates was with the American people.” (Pence, interview with ‘Fox News Sunday,’ Jan. 15, 2017)

54. …and no contacts with Russia during the election.

The Trump team also specifically said that no one had any contact with Russians during the election. Reporter: “Did any adviser or anybody in the Trump campaign have any contact with the Russians who were trying to meddle in the election?” Pence: “Of course not.” (Pence, interview with ‘Face the Nation,’ Jan. 15, 2017)

55. OK, Carter Page had Russia contacts, but he was a low-level volunteer.

When it was revealed that campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page had contacts with Russian intelligence officials, Trump argued that he was simply a low-level aide. “I think the one person — I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to him. I don’t think I’ve ever met him. And he actually said he was a very low-level member of I think a committee for a short period of time.” (Trump, press conference, Feb. 16, 2017) “There is a discussion — I heard some names thrown around before — that were hangers-on or on the campaign, and I think at some point people that got thrown around at the beginning of this hearing, some of those names, the greatest amount of interaction that they’ve had has had cease-and-desist letters sent to them.” (Spicer, press briefing, March 20, 2017) “They know this is one of the great scandals in the history of our country because basically what they did is, they used Carter Page, who nobody even knew, who I feel very badly for, I think he’s been treated very badly. They used Carter Page as a foil in order to surveil a candidate for the presidency of the United States.” (Trump, interview with The Hill, Sept. 18, 2018)

56. OK, George Papadopoulos had Russia contacts, but he was a low-level volunteer.

When former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians, Trump again argued that he was simply a low-level volunteer. “It was extremely limited; it was a volunteer position. And again, no activity was ever done in an official capacity on behalf of the campaign in that regard.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, Oct. 30, 2017) “The Fake News is working overtime. As Paul Manaforts lawyer said, there was ‘no collusion’ and events mentioned took place long before he came to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!” (Trump, tweet, Oct. 31, 2017) “Again, this was a campaign volunteer. He wasn’t somebody that was a senior advisor, as many of you want to bill him to be. He was somebody that played a minimal role, if one at all, and was part of a voluntary advisory board. That’s it.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, Oct. 31, 2017)

Fact Check: Trump claim that Papadopoulos was a ‘low-level volunteer’: Not the Whole Story

57. Lots of Trump campaign people never met with Russians.

Later, Trump argued that, actually, lots of his campaign staffers never met with a Russian. “When Mueller does his final report, will he be covering all of his conflicts of interest in a preamble, will he be recommending action on all of the crimes of many kinds from those “on the other side”(whatever happened to Podesta?), and will he be putting in statements from hundreds of people closely involved with my campaign who never met, saw or spoke to a Russian during this period? So many campaign workers, people inside from the beginning, ask me why they have not been called (they want to be). There was NO Collusion & Mueller knows it!” (Trump, tweet, Nov. 26, 2018)

58. Anyway, the real scandal is that Democrats made this all up because they lost.

Trump has also regularly alleged that Democrats made up the story that his campaign coordinated with Russia as an excuse for losing the election. “I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s just another excuse. I don’t believe it. I don’t know why, and I think it’s just — you know, they talked about all sorts of things. Every week, it’s another excuse.” (Trump, interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Dec. 11, 2016) “The Democrats had to come up with a story as to why they lost the election, and so badly (306), so they made up a story – RUSSIA. Fake news!” (Trump, tweet, Feb. 16, 2017) “And, you know, you can talk all you want about Russia, which was all a, you know, fake news, fabricated deal, to try and make up for the loss of the Democrats and the press plays right into it.” (Trump, press conference, Feb. 16, 2017) “It’s impossible for Republican to win. And not only did I won I won easily. So they made up this Russia thing to try and deflect because they’re embarrassed by what happened.” (Trump, interview with Fox News, April 28, 2017) “Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?” (Trump, tweet, May 2, 2017) “When I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.” (Trump, interview with NBC News, May 11, 2017) “The only frustration is that this Russia story is a hoax made up by the Democrats as an excuse for losing an election that they should have won because it’s almost impossible for a Republican to win the Electoral College.” (Trump, interview with Reuters, July 12, 2017) “This is the greatest con job in history, where a party sits down the day after they got their ass kicked, and they say, ‘Huh, what’s our excuse?'” (Trump, interview with Reuters, July 12, 2017) “But, as you know, the whole concept of that came up perhaps a little bit before, but it came out as a reason why the Democrats lost an election which, frankly, they should have been able to win.” (Trump, press conference, July 16, 2018) “” What the Democrats have done in trying to steal a Presidential Election, first at the “ballot box’ and then, after that failed, with the ‘Insurance Policy,’ is the biggest Scandal in the history of our Country!(Trump, tweet, March 17, 2019)

The Trump Tower meeting

The public Fifth Avenue entrance to Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York, New York. Robert Alexander—Getty Images

59. Donald Trump Jr. is a good man…

“My son is a high-quality person and I applaud his transparency.” (Trump, press statement, July 11, 2017) “As far as my son is concerned, my son is a wonderful young man.” (Trump, press conference, July 13, 2017)

60. … who never met officially with any Russians…

Trump Jr. also specifically denied any official meetings with Russians. “Did I meet with people that were Russian? I’m sure, I’m sure I did. But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment. And certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way, shape or form.” (Trump Jr., interview with the New York Times, March 2017)

61. …OK, except the Trump Tower meeting, which was very short…

When the Trump Tower meeting between a Kremlin-connected lawyer, campaign head Paul Manafort, Trump Jr. and son-in-law Jared Kushner became public in July of 2017, Trump and his son then argued that it was a short meeting. “It was a short introductory meeting.” (Trump Jr., statement to the New York Times, July 8, 2017) “It was literally just a wasted 20 minutes, which was a shame.” (Trump Jr., interview with Fox News, July 11, 2017) “He took a meeting with a lawyer from Russia. It lasted for a very short period and nothing came of the meeting.” (Trump, press conference, July 13, 2017)

62. …and primarily about Russian adoption.

They also claimed at first that the meeting was primarily about Russian adoptions. “We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up.” (Trump Jr., statement to the New York Times, July 8, 2017) “No inconsistency in statements, meeting ended up being primarily about adoptions. In response to further Q’s I simply provided more details.” (Trump Jr., tweet, July 10, 2017) “And there was, you know, some small talk. I don’t even remember what it was. It just was sort of nonsensical, inane and garbled, and then quickly went on to, you know, a story about Russian adoption and how we could possibly help.” (Trump Jr., interview with Fox News, July 11, 2017)

63. OK, the Russians promised dirt on Clinton, but they didn’t give any.

When it was revealed that the Russians had promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton ahead of the meeting, Trump Jr. then shifted his story to say that they did not actually give any. “After pleasantries were exchanged, the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Mrs. Clinton. Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.” (Trump Jr., statement to the New York Times, July 9, 2017) “Obviously I’m the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent… went nowhere but had to listen.” (Trump Jr., tweet, July 10, 2017) “But really, it went nowhere and it was apparent that that wasn’t what the meeting was actually about. … If there was something that came from it that was shady, if it was a danger to national security, I would obviously bring it right to someone. But I didn’t know what anything was. It turns out it was nothing, and therefore, there was nothing to be able to actually talk about.” (Trump Jr., interview with Fox News, July 11, 2017) “He took a meeting with a lawyer from Russia. It lasted for a very short period and nothing came of the meeting.” (Trump, press conference, July 13, 2017) “Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!” (Trump, tweet, Aug. 5, 2018)

64. In fact, the meeting was so boring that Jared Kushner left early…

Trump Jr. also noted that Kushner left early, after emailing an assistant that he “needed an excuse.” “You know, I think it became pretty apparent to, you know, Jared and Paul, who — I think Jared left after a few minutes.” (Trump Jr., interview with Fox News, July 11, 2017) “When I got there, the person who has since been identified as a Russian attorney was talking about the issue of a ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian children. I had no idea why that topic was being raised and quickly determined that my time was not well-spent at this meeting. Reviewing emails recently confirmed my memory that the meeting was a waste of our time and that, in looking for a polite way to leave and get back to my work, I actually emailed an assistant from the meeting after I had been there for ten or so minutes and wrote “Can u pls call me on my cell? Need excuse to get out of meeting.” (Kushner, statement to Congress, July 24, 2017)

65. … and Paul Manafort was on his phone the whole time.

And argued that Manafort was bored by the meeting. “Q: And Paul Manafort was on his… TRUMP JR.: On his phone. Q: The whole time? TRUMP JR.: Pretty much.” (Trump Jr., interview with Fox News, July 11, 2017)

66. Anyone would have taken the meeting.

Trump and his son then shifted their argument to claim that anyone in politics would take a meeting with someone offering damaging information about an opponent. “Obviously I’m the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent… went nowhere but had to listen.” (Trump Jr., tweet, July 10, 2017) “No, I mean, I’ve been on several campaigns and people call offering information. As I know many of you receive similar calls of people offering information.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, July 10, 2017) “Honestly, my takeaway, when all of this was going on, is that someone has information on our opponent.” (Trump Jr., interview with Fox News, July 11, 2017) “Many people, and many political pros, said everybody would do that. If you got a call and said, ‘Listen I have information on Hillary and the DNC,’ or whatever it was they said, most people are going to take that meeting, I think. … Most of the phony politicians who are Democrats who I watched over the last couple of days – most of those phonies that act holier-than-thou, if the same thing happened to them, they would have taken that meeting in a heartbeat.” (Trump, interview with Reuters, July 12, 2017) “I think from a practical standpoint most people would have taken that meeting. It’s called opposition research or even research into your opponent. I’ve had many people … I’ve only been in politics for 2 years but I’ve had many people call up. ‘Oh, gee, we have information on this factor or this person’ or frankly Hillary. That’s very standard in politics.” (Trump, press conference, July 13, 2017) “As I’ve said — most other people, you know, when they call up and say, ‘By the way, we have information on your opponent,’ I think most politicians — I was just with a lot of people, they said [inaudible], ‘Who wouldn’t have taken a meeting like that?‘” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, July 19, 2017) “Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!” (Trump, tweet, Aug. 5, 2018)

67. There was nothing illegal about the meeting.

Giuliani later took that argument further, arguing that there is nothing illegal about such a meeting. “When I ran, they were looking for dirt on me every day. That’s what you do. Maybe you shouldn’t. But you do it. There is nothing illegal about that. Even if it comes from a Russian or a German or American, it doesn’t matter.” (Rudy Giuliani, interview on Fox News, May 16, 2018) “Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!” (Trump, tweet, Aug. 5, 2018)

68. Trump Jr. didn’t know who would be in the meeting…

Trump Jr. has also said that he was not aware of who would be in the meeting. “I was asked to attend the meeting by an acquaintance, but was not told the name of the person I would be meeting with beforehand.” (Trump Jr., statement to the New York Times, July 8, 2017) “I didn’t know who I was meeting beforehand, never heard of the person, never got the information until they were in the room.” (Trump Jr., interview with Fox News, July 11, 2017)

69. …the Russians misrepresented themselves…

And a Trump representative has said that the Russians misrepresented themselves. “We have learned from both our own investigation and public reports that the participants in the meeting misrepresented who they were and who they worked for.” (Trump lawyer Mark Corallo, statement to Circa, July 8, 2017)

70. …and they may have been working for Democrats.

Even claiming that they were working with Democrats. “Specifically, we have learned that the person who sought the meeting is associated with Fusion GPS, a firm which according to public reports, was retained by Democratic operatives to develop opposition research on the President and which commissioned the phony Steele dossier. These developments raise serious issues as to exactly who authorized and participated in any effort by Russian nationals to influence our election in any manner.” (Corallo, statement to Circa, July 8, 2017)

71. This was before anyone cared about Russia.

Trump Jr. has also argued that the meeting happened before anyone in the U.S. was paying attention to Russian meddling. “To put this in context, this occurred before the current Russian fever was in vogue.” (Trump Jr., statement, July 11, 2017) “Honestly, this is pre, like, Russia fever. This is pre Russia mania. You know, this is 13 months ago, before I think the rest of the world was talking about that, trying to build up this narrative about Russia. So I don’t even think my sirens, you know, went up or the antennas went up at this time because of it because it wasn’t the issue that it’s been made out to be over the last, you know, nine months, ten months since it really became a thing.” (Trump Jr., interview with Fox News, July 11, 2017) “That was before Russia was hot, don’t forget. You know, Russia wasn’t hot then. That was almost a year and a half ago. It wasn’t like it is, like it is radioactive, then. Russia was Russia.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, July 19, 2017)

72. There was no follow-up to the meeting…

The Trump team has also noted that there was no follow-up to the meeting. “We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up.” (Trump Jr., statement to the New York Times, July 8, 2017) “Don Jr. took a very short meeting from which there was absolutely no follow-up.” (Sanders, press briefing, July 10, 2017) “It was such a nothing, there was no reason to follow up. It was a waste of time.” (Trump Jr., interview with Fox News, July 11, 2017)

73. …as far as Trump knows…

Trump later amended that answer. “Don has received notoriety for a brief meeting, that many politicians would have taken, but most importantly, and to the best of my knowledge, nothing happened after the meeting concluded.” (Trump, statement to the Washington Post, Aug. 12, 2018)

74. …and Trump did not know about it at the time.

And they’ve argued that Trump himself did not know about the meeting until much later. “Q: When did the President learn that that meeting had taken place? Sanders: I believe in the last couple of days is my understanding.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, July 10, 2017) “Q: Did you tell your father anything about this? TRUMP JR.: No. It was such a nothing. There was nothing to tell.” (Trump Jr., interview with Fox News, July 11, 2017) “That I didn’t know. Until a couple of days ago, when I heard about this. No I didn’t know about that.” (Trump, interview with Reuters, July 12, 2017) “No, I didn’t know anything about the meeting. … It must have been a very important — must have been a very unimportant meeting, because I never even heard about it. … No, nobody told me. I didn’t know noth—— It’s a very unimportant — sounded like a very unimportant meeting.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, July 19, 2017) “I did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr.” (Trump, tweet, July 27, 2018) “Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!” (Trump, tweet, Aug. 5, 2018)

75. Donald Trump Jr. did not call his father.

“Just out: The big deal, very mysterious Don jr telephone calls, after the innocent Trump Tower meeting, that the media & Dems said were made to his father (me), were just conclusively found NOT to be made to me. They were made to friends & business associates of Don. Really sad!” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 31, 2019)

76. Trump was not involved in writing the statement about the meeting.

Various members of the Trump team also argued that the initial statement about the meeting from the summer of 2017, later shown to be inaccurate, was not written by the president. “That was written, no that was written by Donald Trump Jr. and I’m sure with consultation with his lawyer. That wasn’t written by the president.” (Trump attorney Jay Sekulow, interview with CNN, July 12, 2017) “The president didn’t sign off on anything. He was coming back from the G20. The statement that was released Saturday was released by Donald Trump Jr., I’m sure in consultation with his lawyers. The President wasn’t involved in that.” (Sekulow, interview with ABC, July 12, 2017) “The President was not — did not — draft the response. The response came from Donald Trump Jr. and — I’m sure — in consultation with his lawyer. … Let me say this — but I do want to be clear — that the President was not involved in the drafting of the statement and did not issue the statement. It came from Donald Trump Jr.” (Sekulow, interview with NBC, July 16, 2017) “He certainly didn’t dictate, but he — like I said, he weighed in, offered suggestion like any father would do.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, Aug. 1, 2017)

77. OK, he dictated the statement about the meeting, but it was accurate.

Though they later conceded that the president in fact dictated the statement. “You have received all of the notes, communications and testimony indicating that the President dictated a short but accurate response to the New York Times article on behalf of his son, Donald Trump, Jr. His son then followed up by making a full public disclosure regarding the meeting, including his public testimony that there was nothing to the meeting and certainly no evidence of collusion.” (John M. Dowd and Jay A. Sekulow, letter to Robert Mueller, Jan. 29, 2018) “I had bad information at that time and made a mistake in my statement. I’ve talked about that before. That happens when you have cases like this.” (Sekulow, interview, Aug. 5, 2018)

78. Anyway, it was a statement to the New York Times, not a judge.

“It’s irrelevant. It’s a statement to the New York Times — the phony, failing New York Times. … That’s not a statement to a high tribunal of judges. … That’s a statement to the phony New York Times. In fact, frankly, he shouldn’t even speak to the New York Times because they only write phony stories anyway.” (Trump, press remarks, June 15, 2018)

Roger Stone

Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to US President Donald Trump, throws up peace signs outside court on Jan. 25, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Joshua Prezant—AFP/Getty Images

79. Roger Stone is a character.

“I will say this, I’ve always liked — I like Roger, he’s a character. But I like Roger.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

80. He never met with any Russians during the campaign.

In an interview with the Washington Post in 2017, longtime Trump associate Roger Stone denied having any contact with Russians. “I’ve never been to Russia. I didn’t talk to anybody who was identifiably Russian during the two-year run-up to this campaign. I very definitely can’t think of anybody who might have been a Russian without my knowledge. It’s a canard.” (Stone, interview with the Washington Post, April 19, 2017)

81. OK, he met with a Russian one time but it was a setup by the FBI.

In June of 2018, Stone told the Post that a Russian man who asked for $2 million for damaging information about Clinton in a meeting set up by Trump campaign official Michael Caputo, but that he know feels it was a setup by the FBI. “If you believe that [Greenberg] took time off from his long career as an FBI informant to reach out to us in his spare time, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I want to sell you. (Caputo, interview with the Washington Post, June 17, 2018) “I didn’t realize it was an FBI sting operation at the time, but it sure looks like one now.” (Stone, interview with the Washington Post, June 17, 2018)

82. His legal troubles have nothing to do with the White House.

“This has nothing to do with the President and certainly nothing to do with the White House. This is something that has to do solely with that individual. And not something that affects us here in this building.” (Sanders, interview with CNN, Jan. 25, 2019)

83. He never worked for the campaign.

“Roger Stone didn’t even work for me anywhere near the Election!” (Trump, tweet, Jan. 26, 2019) “TRUMP: Sure, now you know Roger didn’t work for me in the campaign. Q: Initially and then he — TRUMP: Well, yeah, but that was before I — you know, that was either early primary or before primary. … He was not my consultant.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

84. Trump never talked with him about WikiLeaks.

“Q: Did you ever talk to him about WikiLeaks? Because that seemed — TRUMP: No. Q: You never had conversations with him. TRUMP: No, I didn’t. I never did. Q: Did you ever tell him to — or other people to get in touch with them? TRUMP: Never did.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

85. People respect that Stone promised never to testify against Trump.

“‘I will never testify against Trump.’ This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about ‘President Trump.’ Nice to know that some people still have ‘guts!’” (Trump, tweet, Dec. 3, 2018) “TRUMP: He’s a character, and I’ll tell you what people respect what he said. Bearing false witness, etc. But yeah, people do respect what he said. Q: What he said about what? TRUMP: Bear false witness. I will never testify against the president. He actually said at one time — you know he’s said it numerous times, but I heard him say it one time he’s done a great job, he’s a great president, and I will not, you know, lie in order to — people respect that so much. They respect that.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

85. The FBI should not have raided his house that way.

“For a team of 29 people with AK27s, or whatever they were using, to charge a house like they did at 6:00 in the morning. I think that was a very sad thing for this country.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2019)

86. Anyway, the real scandal is the Democrats’ contacts with Ukraine.

Finally, the Trump Administration has counterpunched by referencing a Ukrainian-American consultant to the Democratic National Committee who looked for compromising information on Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. “So if you’re looking for an example of a campaign coordinating with a foreign country or a foreign source, look no further than the DNC who actually coordinated opposition research with the Ukrainian Embassy.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, July 10, 2017) “I think if there’s been any evidence of collusion in 2016 that’s come out at all or been discussed that’s actually happened, it would be between the DNC and the Ukrainian government. … Ukrainian actions to coordinate with the DNC was actually successful, unlike anything shown by Don Jr.’s emails.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, July 12, 2017) “Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign – ‘quietly working to boost Clinton.’ So where is the investigation A.G. @seanhannity” (Trump, tweet, July 25, 2017) “You guys are focused on a meeting that Don Jr. had no consequence when the Democrats actually colluded with a foreign government like Ukraine.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, Aug 1, 2017)

Firing Michael Flynn

National Security Adviser Michael Flynn during the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, DC on Feb. 1, 2017. Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post/Getty Images

87. Michael Flynn is a good man…

As with others, Trump has defended former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn by first noting that he is a good person. “Michael Flynn, General Flynn is a wonderful man.” (Trump, press conference, Feb. 15, 2017) “Mike Flynn is a fine person.” (Trump, press conference, Feb. 16, 2017) “I think Mike Flynn is somebody who honorably served our country in uniform for over 30 years.” (Spicer, press briefing, May 9, 2017) “Well, I feel badly for Gen. Flynn. I feel very badly. He’s led a very strong life, and I feel very badly.” (Trump, press remarks, Dec. 4, 2017)

88. … who had a high-level security clearance under the Obama Administration…

He’s also attempted to shift blame to President Obama, who reportedly warned him about hiring Flynn. “General Flynn was a career military officer who maintained a high-level security clearance throughout his career in the military. His clearance was last reissued by the Obama administration in 2016 with full knowledge of his activities that occurred in 2015, as you point out.” (Spicer, press briefing, April 27, 2017) “I didn’t realize this, when he went to Russia, it was 2015 and he was on the Obama clearance. When General Flynn came to us, as you now know, he already had the highest clearance you can have. I think the same clearance as the president of the United States would have. He had this really high clearance.” (Trump, interview with “Face the Nation,” April 30, 2017) “General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration – but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that.” (Trump, tweet, May 8, 2017) “He had clearance from the Obama administration, the highest clearance you can have. And I think it’s a very unfair thing that the media doesn’t talk about that.” (Trump, interview with NBC News, May 11, 2017)

89. …which never tried to suspend it…

“So the question that you have to ask yourself really is, if President Obama was truly concerned about General Flynn why didn’t he suspend General Flynn’s security clearance, which they had just reapproved months earlier.” (Spicer, press briefing, May 8, 2017)

Fact Check: Trump’s pointing of the finger at Obama for failing to vet Flynn: Three Pinocchios

90. …and he didn’t do anything wrong.

Trump has also claimed that there was nothing wrong with Flynn’s contacts with Russia during the transition. “When I looked at the information, I said, I don’t think he did anything wrong. If anything, he did something right. He was coming into office, he looked at the information. He said, huh, that’s fine, that’s what they’re supposed to do. They’re supposed to be — and he didn’t just call Russia. He called and spoke to, both ways — I think there were 30-some-odd countries. He’s doing the job. You know, he was just doing his job.” (Trump, press conference, Feb. 16, 2017) “I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!” (Trump, tweet, Dec. 2, 2017)

91. Trump only fired Flynn because he lied to Mike Pence.

And he’s said that the only reason he fired him is because he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about those contacts. “Mike Flynn is a fine person, and I asked for his resignation. He respectfully gave it. He is a man who — there was a certain amount of information given to Vice President Pence, who is with us today. And I was not happy with the way that information was given. … But he didn’t tell the Vice President of the United States the facts, and then he didn’t remember. And that just wasn’t acceptable to me.” (Trump, press conference, Feb. 16, 2017) “We fired him because he said something to the vice president that was not so.” (Trump, interview with NBC News, May 11, 2017) “I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!” (Trump, tweet, Dec. 2, 2017) “Look, the President knew that he lied to the Vice President, and that was the reason for his firing.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, Dec. 5, 2017)

92. Trump fired Flynn because he lied to the FBI. (Wait, never mind).

In one tweet, Trump also said that he fired Flynn because he lied to the FBI, raising questions about whether the president knew that at the time. Trump’s personal attorney John Dowd then stepped forward to say he wrote the tweet for Trump. “I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!” (Trump, tweet, Dec. 2, 2017)

93. Flynn’s life has been ruined for nothing.

“So General Flynn lies to the FBI and his life is destroyed, while Crooked Hillary Clinton, on that now famous FBI holiday ‘interrogation’ with no swearing in and no recording, lies many times…and nothing happens to her? Rigged system, or just a double standard?” (Trump, tweet, Dec. 2, 2017) “Flynn lied and it’s like they ruined his life. It’s very unfair.” (Trump, press remarks, Dec. 4, 2017) “So General Michael Flynn’s life can be totally destroyed while Shadey James Comey can Leak and Lie and make lots of money from a third rate book (that should never have been written). Is that really the way life in America is supposed to work? I don’t think so!” (Trump, tweet, April 20, 2018)

94. Anyway, the real scandal is that Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI.

Trump has also claimed, without evidence, that Clinton lied during her questioning by the FBI over the email server, something that Comey testified the FBI had no reason to believe. “So General Flynn lies to the FBI and his life is destroyed, while Crooked Hillary Clinton, on that now famous FBI holiday ‘interrogation’ with no swearing in and no recording, lies many times…and nothing happens to her? Rigged system, or just a double standard?” (Trump, tweet, Dec. 2, 2017) “I will say this, Hillary Clinton lied many times to the FBI. Nothing happened to her. Flynn lied, and they destroyed his life.” (Trump, press remarks, Dec. 4, 2017)

Fact Check: Donald Trump claims Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI: False

Firing James Comey

President Trump shakes hands with former FBI Director James Comey at a White House reception Andrew Harrer—Avalon/Zuma Press

95. Comey showed ‘a lot of guts’ when he reopened the Clinton email investigation.

Trump argued that the FBI decision not to recommend charges against Clinton over her private email server was evidence of a “rigged system.” But when Comey reopened the investigation into Clinton’s emails just before the election, Trump praised him. “The FBI – after discovering new emails, is re-opening their investigation into Hillary Clinton. I have great respect for the FBI for righting this wrong.” (Trump, campaign rally, Oct. 28, 2016) “And I have to give the FBI credit. That was so bad what happened originally. And it took guts for Director Comey to make the move that he made in light of the kind of opposition he had where they’re trying to protect her from criminal prosecution. You know that. It took a lot of guts. … I was not his fan but I’ll tell you what: What he did, he brought back his reputation. He brought it back.” (Trump, campaign rally, Oct. 31, 2016)

96. Actually, Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Clinton.

After he became president, Trump returned to arguing that Comey and the FBI went easy on Clinton, however. “FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!” (Trump, tweet, May 2, 2017) “As it has turned out, James Comey lied and leaked and totally protected Hillary Clinton. He was the best thing that ever happened to her!” (Trump, tweet, Oct. 18, 2017) “Director Comey was very, very good to Hillary Clinton, that I can tell you. If he weren’t, she would be, right now, going to trial.” (Trump, interview with Fox Business Network, April 12, 2017)

97. He exonerated Clinton before the email investigation was over.

Trump also seized on the fact that Comey’s chief of staff emailed other staffers a draft of a statement about the investigation before it was complete, which he claimed showed the investigation was not serious. “Wow, FBI confirms report that James Comey drafted letter exonerating Crooked Hillary Clinton long before investigation was complete. Many people not interviewed, including Clinton herself. Comey stated under oath that he didn’t do this-obviously a fix? Where is Justice Dept?” (Trump, tweet, Oct. 18, 2017) “Comey drafted the Crooked Hillary exoneration long before he talked to her (lied in Congress to Senator G), then based his decisions on her poll numbers. Disgruntled, he, McCabe, and the others, committed many crimes!” (Trump, tweet, April 16, 2018)

98. Actually, Trump fired Comey because he treated Clinton poorly during the election.

When Trump fired Comey, he released as support a letter from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein which criticized Comey for his public statements about the Clinton investigation, including the decision not to recommend charges and the later reopening of the investigation. “I cannot defend the Director’s handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton’s emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgement that he was mistaken. … The way the Director handled the conclusion of the email investigation was wrong. As a result, the FBI is unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a Director who understands the gravity of the mistakes and pledges never to repeat them.” (Rosenstein, letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, May 9, 2017) “I have concluded that a fresh start is needed at the leadership of the FBI.” (Attorney General Jeff Sessions, letter to Trump, May 9, 2017) “While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau. It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission.” (Trump, letter to Comey, May 9, 2017) “Then Rosenstein becomes extremely angry because of Comey’s Wednesday press conference, where he said that he would do the same thing he did a year ago with Hillary Clinton, and Rosenstein became extremely angry at that because, as a prosecutor, he knows that Comey did the wrong thing. Totally wrong thing. And he gives me a letter, O.K., he gives me a letter about Comey. And by the way, that was a tough letter, O.K.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, July 19, 2017)

99. Trump fired Comey because he hurt the FBI’s reputation.

“James Comey will be replaced by someone who will do a far better job, bringing back the spirit and prestige of the FBI.” (Trump, tweet, May 10, 2017) “Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me!” (Trump, tweet, May 10, 2017) “After years of Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters – worst in History! But fear not, we will bring it back to greatness.” (Trump, tweet, Dec. 3, 2017) “The FBI has been in turmoil. You know that, I know that, everybody knows that. You take a look at the FBI a year ago, it was in virtual turmoil — less than a year ago. It hasn’t recovered from that. … I have to do the right thing for the American people. He’s the wrong man for that position.” (Trump, interview with NBC News, May 11, 2017) “Certainly, James Comey was fired … for lying, leaking, and politicizing the FBI. And the President has been, I think, repeatedly, day after day, been proven to be exactly right in his decision to fire James Comey.” (Huckabee Sanders, press briefing, May 3, 2018)

100. Trump fired Comey because of the Russia investigation.

“And in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself — I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won. … When I did this now, I said I probably maybe will confuse people. Maybe I’ll expand that — you know, I’ll lengthen the time because it should be over with. It should — in my opinion, should’ve been over with a long time ago because it — all it is an excuse. But I said to myself I might even lengthen out the investigation. But I have to do the right thing for the American people.” (Trump, interview with NBC News, May 11, 2017)

101. Trump did not fire Comey because of the Russia investigation.

“Not that it matters but I never fired James Comey because of Russia! The Corrupt Mainstream Media loves to keep pushing that narrative, but they know it is not true!” (Trump, tweet, May 31, 2018) “Slippery James Comey, the worst FBI Director in history, was not fired because of the phony Russia investigation where, by the way, there was NO COLLUSION (except by the Dems)!” (Trump, tweet, April 18, 2018)

102. Trump never said he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation.

“Because it has been so widely misreported and mischaracterized, we believe it is important to present the exchange in its entirety.” (Dowd and Sekulow, letter to Mueller, Jan. 29, 2018) “The defenses to obstruction were overwhelming including what I told you he’s saying he will be — can’t the investigation would go on to Lester Holt. They conveniently leave that off whenever they play that tape, amazing what they do with tapes.” (Giuliani, interview with Fox News, July 25, 2018) “What’s going on at @CNN is happening, to different degrees, at other networks – with @NBCNews being the worst. The good news is that Andy Lack(y) is about to be fired(?) for incompetence, and much worse. When Lester Holt got caught fudging my tape on Russia, they were hurt badly!” (Trump, tweet, Aug. 30, 2018) “And the evidence, when you look at the entire evidence, you don’t see it. I’m not faulting anybody for running a clip or this, but to turn it into a federal case we don’t think it’s right.” (Sekulow, interview with CNN, Sept. 19, 2018) “But despite that, that was an incorrect statement. When you say what I said, there was nothing said wrong there. But they did not play the whole interview. When they play the whole thing, you see exactly. … But NBC didn’t want to play it that way. They wanted to play it a different way.” (Trump, interview with Fox News, March 27, 2019)

103. Actually, Trump fired Comey because he wouldn’t say he wasn’t a target of the Russia investigation.

“He fired Comey because Comey would not, among other things, say that he wasn’t a target of the investigation. He’s entitled to that. Hillary Clinton got that and he couldn’t get that. So he fired him and he said, ‘I’m free of this guy.'” (Giuliani, interview with Fox News, May 2, 2018)

104. Trump fired Comey because of Rosenstein’s recommendation.

“I have received the attached letters from the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General of the United States recommending your dismissal as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I have accepted their recommendation and you are herby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately.” (Trump, letter to Comey, May 9, 2017) “Then Rosenstein becomes extremely angry because of Comey’s Wednesday press conference, where he said that he would do the same thing he did a year ago with Hillary Clinton, and Rosenstein became extremely angry at that because, as a prosecutor, he knows that Comey did the wrong thing. Totally wrong thing. And he gives me a letter, O.K., he gives me a letter about Comey. And by the way, that was a tough letter, O.K. Now, perhaps I would have fired Comey anyway, and it certainly didn’t hurt to have the letter, O.K. But he gives me a very strong letter, and now he’s involved in the case. Well, that’s a conflict of interest.” (Trump, interview with the New York Times, July 19, 2017)

105. Trump would have fired Comey regardless of Rosenstein’s recommendation.

“He made a recommendation. He’s highly respected. Very good guy, very smart guy. And the Democrats like him. The Republicans like him. He had made a recommendation. But regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey knowing there was no good time to do it.” (Trump, interview with NBC News, May 11, 2017) “Then Rosenstein becomes extremely angry because of Comey’s Wednesday press conference, where he said that he would do the same thing he did a year ago with Hillary Clinton, and Rosenstein became extremely angry at that because, as a prosecutor, he knows that Comey did the wrong thing. Totally wrong thing. And he gives me a letter, O.K., he gives me a letter about Comey. And by the way, that was a tough letter, O.K. N