The thing is that with the press, and the other side -
If a thing is not stated in no uncertain terms, then it is a big ole piece of hanging fruit that the crows keep picking at endlessly.
Even when it is stated in no uncertain terms, as it is today in Comey's statement, the press will question the truthfulness of it.
News is fiction, speculation, logical failures, etc. People respnd well to emotion, and that is what the press gives them.