Sarah Huckabee Sanders admitted she made up a claim that FBI agents lost faith in Comey, according to the Mueller report

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• White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made unfounded remarks to the press about former FBI Director James Comey after he was fired. 
• Sanders admitted this to special counsel Robert Mueller’s office, stating her remarks were a "slip of the tongue" and "not founded on anything." 
• A redacted version of Mueller’s report on Russian election interference was released Thursday. 

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders admitted to the office of special counsel Robert Mueller that comments she made to the press on former FBI Director James Comey’s firing were "not founded on anything," according to a redacted version of Mueller’s report released Thursday. 

After President Donald Trump fired Comey in May 2017, Sanders in a press conference told reporters "countless members of the FBI" had told the White House they’d lost confidence in the former FBI director. 

Read more: ‘Really?’: A reporter calls out Huckabee’s claim that ‘countless’ FBI employees were happy with Comey’s firing

"Following the press conference, Sanders spoke to the President, who told her she did a good job and did not point out any inaccuracies in her comments," Mueller’s report said. "Sanders told this Office that her reference to hearing from ‘countless members of the FBI ‘was a ‘slip of the tongue.’"

The report added that Sanders "also recalled that her statement in a separate press interview that rank-and-file FBI agents had lost confidence in Comey was a comment she made ‘in the heat of the moment’ that was not founded on anything."

 

Sanders’ tenure as White House press secretary has been marked by a contentious relationship with the media that has at times resulted in shouting matches with reporters. 

Over the course of Trump’s time in the White House, the number of Trump administration press briefings have declined precipitously, which has sparked concerns from the White House Correspondents’ Association about a "retreat from transparency."

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See Also:

• Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions carried around a resignation letter in his pocket for a year, according to Mueller’s report
• Mueller says Trump was unsuccessful in obstructing justice — but mostly because his aides didn’t follow his orders
• Mueller outlines key Trump-Russia contacts and potential instances of obstruction of justice in final report

SEE ALSO: Read the full report from special counsel Robert Mueller

DON’T MISS: Here are the 11 instances of potential obstruction of justice by Trump outlined in the Mueller report

Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (John Haltiwanger)