back. i don't know. >> but you felt like those two things were, were directly relevant to your, the kind of relationship that the president was seeking to establish with you? >> sure. yes. >> the president has repeatedly talked about the russian investigation into the u.s. -- or russia's involvement in the u.s. election cycle as a hoax and as fake news. can you talk a little bit about what you saw as fbi director and obviously only the parts that you can share in this setting that demonstrate how serious this action actually was and why there was an investigation in the first place? >> yes, sir. there should be no fuzz on this whatsoever. the russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. they did wit purpose, they did wit sophistication.