Ousted FBI Director James Comey started his Thursday testimony by noting that he always knew he served at the pleasure of the president, but said the president and his administration’s remarks in the wake of his firing were concerning and at times false.

The president’s "shifting explanations confused me and increasingly concerned me," because he and the president had repeatedly agreed that Comey would continue in his position.

“So it confused me, when I saw on television, the president said he actually fired me because of the Russia investigation, and when I learned again from the media that he was telling other people that my firing had relieved great pressure on the Russia investigation,” Comey said. "The administration then chose to defame me, and more importantly, the FBI by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader. Those were lies, plain and simple."