Paul Ryan defends president in James Comey case and says Trump is 'new at government'

House Speaker Paul Ryan offered a partial defense Thursday of President Trump’s repeated contacts with former FBI director James Comey, suggesting that Trump was so “new at government” he didn’t appreciate the traditional distance a president keeps from FBI investigations.

“Of course, there needs to be a degree of independence between DOJ (Department of Justice), the FBI and a White House, and a line of communications established,” said Ryan, but “the president’s new at this...He's learning as he goes.”

Ryan said that Trump “probably wasn’t steeped in the long-running protocols” about how the FBI and White House interact when the president discussed with Comey the investigation of his campaign's contacts with Russians.

When asked at his weekly press conference if that was an acceptable excuse, Ryan said, “I’m not saying it’s an acceptable excuse. It's just my observation.”

Ryan deflected questions about Comey’s Senate testimony, saying he had not cleared his schedule Thursday morning to watch it. In the hearing, Comey testified to his deep discomfort over his one-on-one conversations with a president who demanded loyalty and asked him to drop the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Comey said.  

But Ryan expressed sympathy for Trump over at least one aspect of the Russia investigation.

“We now know why (the president) was frustrated,” Ryan said, when he was told by the former FBI director he wasn’t the target of an investigation “but that speculation was allowed to continue.”

Asked on MSNBC Wednesday night by Greta van Susteren whether it’s “appropriate for the president to ask for…loyalty for the FBI director,” Ryan said, “No. I mean obviously, I don't think that it is.”

Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in a statement Thursday: “Based on what Comey said during his testimony today, there is every indication that President Trump blatantly lied to the American people. This should be of grave concern to everyone, regardless of political party.”

Pocan said, “We desperately need an independent commission now to get to the truth about the Trump Administrations ties to Russia period.”

Democrat Gwen Moore echoed the call for an independent "outside commission" and accused Republicans in Congress of an "outright refusal to hold the president accountable for his misconduct." She blamed Ryan and GOP leaders for "an abdication of leadership" on the issue. 

Senate Democrat Tammy Baldwin said Comey's testimony will "help us follow all the facts wherever they lead," and "Congress must continue to work in a bipartisan way to get to the bottom of all of this."  

At an all-day White House infrastructure summit Thursday with state and local officials, the subject of Comey hardly came up, said Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), who attended the summit. 

"Having been in the room with him, he seemed pretty focused on the conversation we were (having), which I give him credit for, with all the stuff going on,” said Vos.