before they came in the room? >> i was going to fire comey. there's no good time to do it, by the way. they -- >> because in your letter you said i accepted their recommendations. you had made the decision? that i was going to fire regardless of recommendation. >> there was -- >> he made a recommendation. he's highly represented. very good guy. very smart guy. the democrats like him, the republicans like him. he made a recommendation but regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey. knowing that there was no good time to do it. and, in fact, when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a made up story, it's an excuse, by the democrats for having lost. >> there's no good time to do it. one might argue right after the president was elected he could have done it but as things are getting hairier with russia he seems to have. megan murphy the editor of bloomberg business-week the issue is on newsstands right