Comey to testify before Congress on Trump interactions June 8
Former FBI Director James Comey is set to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning, June 8, the top lawmakers on the committee announced Thursday.
Sen. Richard Burr, R-North Carolina, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee made the announcement in a press release Thursday. announced that former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey will testify before the Committee on June 8th, 2017. He'll testify in open session first and then in closed session in the afternoon.
Comey is expected to testify about his documentation of interactions with President Trump, in which the president asked Comey for his loyalty and asked Comey to drop the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
The president reportedly told Comey, "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy." Comey is not expected to testify about the details of the FBI's Russia investigation.
A source familiar with the matter told CBS News that Comey had been given the go-ahead to speak before Congress about his conversations after speaking with FBI special counsel Robert Mueller.
The source added that Comey will "continue to make himself available" to Mueller and other investigators following his new testimony.
Comey had previously provided some testimony before lawmakers on Russian interference before he was terminated as FBI Director.
Comey confirmed during congressional testimony that the FBI was investigating possible connections or coordination between President Trump's associates and the Russian government.
The White House initially claimed the president fired Comey for his mishandling of the Clinton email investigation, at the behest of memos from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. But the president himself confused that message, telling NBC News soon after the firing that he thought of the "made-up" story about ties between his campaign and Russia when he fired Comey. Mr. Trump also told Russian diplomats firing that "nut job" Comey relieved great pressure on him from the Russia probe.