The first is to make the question a he-said, he-said contest between the two men.
"You do not make much money working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation".
If that seems familiar, it should.
Standing with the president of Romania, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation partner, Trump at last confirmed his commitment to the alliance's mutual defense pact, Article 5, uttering words he deliberately did not say when he spoke at NATO's gathering in Belgium last month.
So if Robert Mueller wanted to speak with you about that ...
Here's how this works in the case of Comey.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a joint press conference with visiting Romanian President Klaus Iohannis (not in the picture) at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on June 9, 2017.
When asked by a reporter if Trump asked Comey to drop the investigation into Flynn, he said: "I didn't say that". McSally, who represents a closely divided district targeted by Democrats, expressed concerns that the House majority could be at risk partly because of "distractions" from Trump and his tweets.
Comey told the Senate intelligence committee Thursday about several one-on-one interactions with the president, during which he said Trump pressed him to show "loyalty", to back off on the FBI investigation of his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and to disclose that Trump himself was not under investigation. He also called Comey a "leaker", a day after the hearing.
Trump declined to answer questions from reporters about whether recordings existed.
Trump's aides have repeatedly dodged questions about whether conversations relevant to the Russian Federation investigation have been recorded, and so did the president.
"No collusion, no obstruction", the president said under a broiling sun, gazing at senior members of his Cabinet and White House staff perched on folding chairs in the grass.
The FBI chief he fired called the president a liar, but the response from many Republicans was a collective shrug.
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U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday accused Qatar of funding terrorism "at a very high level", urging the Gulf Arab country to stop the funding. I didn't say that ...
Karl wanted to know whether Trump agreed with Comey's account of their conversation.
"So they're going to compound the problem", he said. And that gave the situation a useful clarity: either Comey was lying or Trump was.
But that comment also reinforces another way in which this isn't just a he-said, he-said.
Trump also denied asking Comey for a pledge of loyalty.
"He said those things under oath", Karl said.
"One hundred percent", said Trump when asked about his willingness to testify under oath.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday, June 9, that he backs the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation charter's demand that all members be prepared to defend each other, weeks after jarring allies by not restating US support for the agreement.
Would he be willing to talk to Mueller, Karl continued, a conversation which would likely require sworn testimony?
Now who are you going to believe, a dedicated career law enforcement official who took meticulous contemporary notes after each freakish encounter with Trump, precisely because he was concerned that Trump might lie, or the person who still maintains that the Russian Federation investigation is a hoax, that Obama wiretapped him and that there were millions of illegal votes cast? Again, Trump's goal is force people to choose who they trust, him or Comey.
Trump's claim of "vindication" in the wake of Comey's testimony even struck some Republicans as premature.
"That was an excuse by the Democrats who lost an election that some people think they shouldn't have lost, because it's nearly impossible for the Democrats to lose the Electoral College, as you know", Trump said. Last year, The Washington Post documented a deposition in which Trump was forced to admit to 30 distinct falsehoods he'd made when not under oath.
His dry quip at a riveting Senate hearing that he was "between opportunities" vastly understates the career prospects now available to him - not to mention potential benefits from the public's fascination with a man who has commanded respect while drawing outrage from both political parties.
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