ABC News(NEW YORK) — White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders sought to double down on statements she’d previously made that she later acknowledged to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators were “not founded on anything,” according to the report.

Those specific claims were that “countless members of the FBI” had lost confidence in former FBI Director James Comey. Despite claiming to the special counsel’s office that it was a “slip of the tongue,” Sanders defended her specific wording in an interview on ABC News’ Good Morning America Friday.

“Actually, if you look at what I said, I said the ‘slip of the tongue’ was in using the word ‘countless,’ but there were a number of FBI, both former current, that agreed with the president’s decision, and they’ve continued to speak out and say that and send notice to the White House of that agreement with the president’s decision,” Sanders told ABC News’ chief anchor George Stephanopoulos Friday.

“James Comey was a disgraced leaker and used authorization to spy on the Trump campaign despite no evidence of collusion,” she said. “I stand by the fact, George–“

“Sarah, hold on a sec,” Stephanopoulos said. “The special counsel writes that those comments were not founded on anything. That’s what you talked to the special counsel about when you were facing criminal penalties if you didn’t tell the truth but now you’re trying to walk away from it. Why can’t you acknowledge that what you said then was not true?”

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