Corey Lewandowski said he lied to MSNBC host because he has 'no obligation to be honest with the media'

Corey Lewandowski.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

President Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said that while he is a "truth-teller" while under oath, the same can't be said for when he's not.

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Lewandowski was asked by Barry Berke, an attorney for the Democrats, about comments he made to MSNBC host Ari Melber in February. During the interview, Lewandowski told Melber he didn't remember Trump ever asking him to "get involved" with then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions or the Department of Justice.

Earlier in the hearing, Lewandowski confirmed something that appeared in former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report — that in 2017, Trump did ask him to tell Sessions to limit the scope of Mueller's probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, in order to get the attention off his campaign. Lewandowski said he didn't do this because he was going on a trip with his family. He also said he thought it was a "joke" when Trump said he would fire Sessions if he didn't meet with Lewandowski.

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After being caught in the lie, Lewandowski said "perhaps I was inaccurate at that time," adding, "I have no obligation to be honest with the media."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.