This time Trump is making a rather elaborate and careful point of making sure that we know he is lying. That is, in fact, the main purpose of the very particular way he fired FBI Director Comey.
To be precise: Trump wants to make sure we know, without any doubt, that the firing was the direct result of the FBI Director asking for more resources to look into the Trump-Russia connection less than a week ago. And he also wants us to know that he can give a ridiculous reason for the firing — a “justification” so absurd and self-contradictory that nobody in their right mind would believe it — and still get away with it.
This is Trump as Tony Soprano with the baseball bat. His message is clear: I can swing this bat any time I want and smash the heads of my enemies. And there is nothing any of you can do about it. You are all my bitches now.
Welcome to the new politics.