A friend of James B. Comey says the former FBI director was “disgusted” by President Trump’s attempt to hug him during a White House visit earlier this year.
Benjamin Wittes told PBS on Wednesday, “If you watch the video, he extends his hand, and Comey’s arms are really long, and he extends his hand kinda preemptively, and Trump kind of grabs the hand and pulls him into a hug. But the hug is entirely one-sided. So one guy in the hug is shaking hands.”
“Comey was just completely disgusted by the episode. He thought it was an intentional attempt to compromise him in public,” Mr. Wittes said.
Mr. Wittes is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a noted critic of Mr. Trump. He wrote an essay of his conversations with Mr. Comey on Lawfare earlier this week. Mr. Wittes said the conversations give an insight into the type of cozy relationship Mr. Trump wanted with Mr. Comey.
During his interview with PBS, Mr. Wittes also made it clear he drew his own conclusions on Mr. Comey’s state of mind, and that his insight was only based on these conversations.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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