White House rebuffs Comey: 'The President is not a liar'

By: Melissa Hudson

Posted: Jun 8, 2017 1:38 PM EDT

By Kevin Liptak

CNN White House Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House rebuffed claims Thursday that President Donald Trump is a liar after fired FBI Director James Comey suggested he was worried about Trump's commitment to the truth.

"I can definitely say the President is not a liar, and I think it's frankly insulting that question would be asked," spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters during an off-camera briefing at the White House.

Earlier, Comey told lawmakers during sworn testimony that Trump wasn't telling the truth when he characterized Comey as unpopular among FBI staff.

"Those were lies. Plain and simple," Comey told the Senate intelligence committee.

Later, Comey said he felt compelled to document his meetings with Trump because he was concerned the President would mislead the public about what transpired between them.

"I was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting," Comey said.

Sanders, who briefed reporters as Comey's testimony was entering its third hour, said Trump hadn't watched the event in its entirety. Instead he met with members of his national security team to discuss provocations from North Korea and an unraveling situation in the Arab Gulf.

She declined to answer most questions about Comey's testimony, referring instead to an upcoming statement from Trump's outside lawyer Marc Kasowitz, who is due to update reporters later Thursday.

Sanders instead said that Thursday was just another workday at the White House, even amid Comey's bombshell testimony on Capitol Hill.

"We are carrying on as if we normally would," Sanders said.