Do you still believe that the President fired you because of the Russia investigation?
Mr. Comey. I think on balance that I do. The only hesitation I have is I've seen the President since saying other things that it wasn't because of that, and so I'm in a position where I can't know for sure.
Mr. Deutch. When you stated, "I take the President at his word," were you referring to either his meeting with the Russians or his interview with Lester Holt?
Mr. Comey. Both, but more so to the Holt interview because it was on the record. I don't know whether the Washington -- I think it was The Washington Post reporting on that encounter with the Russian ambassador and foreign minister was accurate, so I tend to put more weight on his own words speaking to Lester Holt.
[Comey Exhibit No. 4
Was marked for identification.]
Mr. Deutch. I'd like to introduce exhibit 4. It's the Baker 10/3/18 transcript, pages 147 to 148. That's the transcript of former FBI general counsel James Baker's October 3rd interview with the committee.
It reads, question: Can you explain what the atmosphere was like at the FBI after the President fired Comey?
Answer: I'm not sure that I can reduce it to one or two words. It was an, I guess, horrible atmosphere. It was shock, dismay, confusion at least initially that night and then -- and
