"We've seen this movie before", McCain said at a dinner where he was receiving the International Republican Institute's Freedom Award, hours after it was revealed that the United States president in February had urged James Comey, the former FBI director, to drop an investigation into ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn's communications with the Russians.
"Obstruction of justice is not a black-and-white offense, so reasonable minds may well disagree about whether asking Comey to go easy on Flynn rises to the level of what federal law prohibits", said Steve Vladeck, CNN legal analyst and professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law. "It wouldn't be criminal obstruction unless he also said 'you'll have to lay off or else I'll fire you.' Remember, we have separation of powers and the president, as the head of the executive branch, has the power to fire and direct his subordinates". I have my subpoena pen ready, "he wrote in a tweet".
Comey, who was known to keep a paper trail of sensitive meetings, chronicled the president's request in a memo he produced soon after the conversation, according to a Comey associate who reviewed the document and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
Mr Comey didn't directly respond to Mr Trump's request, which was made in February a day after Mr Flynn was sacked for deceiving the vice-president about his contacts with the Russian ambassador, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"I hope you can let this go", Trump told Comey, according to the memo as cited by the New York Times, which first reported on it. Trump said Flynn was a "good guy", the person said.
"I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go", Trump is accused of telling Comey, according to a memo written by the former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief, who was sacked last week. Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told Congress last week the investigation is "highly significant" and said Comey's dismissal would do nothing to impede the probe.
Some Republicans began to press for a more robust investigation of the White House.
Flynn's resignation came hours after it was reported that the Justice Department had warned the White House that Flynn could be vulnerable to blackmail for his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office.
What followed on Fox News were a series of appearances by guests, including a US senator, who repeated refrains that Trump uses regularly: The outcry was the result of a media double-standard and the real culprits were the government officials who leaked information to reporters.
In a statement following the Times' report, Bruce Brown, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said, "The comments attributed to President Trump cross a unsafe line".
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"I can imagine surviving and living as the person who I am and can finally be in the outside world", she wrote last week. A fundraising page set up by friends and family in February to assist Manning after her release has raised $150,000.
But obstruction of justice is a tricky issue both criminally and politically.
Several Democrats said the allegation, if verified, amounted to obstruction of justice, a crime that was among the articles of impeachment drawn up against Richard Nixon.
Nixon resigned office in 1974, engulfed by the Watergate scandal.
"If there were ever a final nail on the case for an independent prosecutor, this is it", Blumenthal said at the Capitol. "There are other memos about his meetings too. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey".
Comey's memos could be valuable in any obstruction investigation. He was originally invited to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday but never accepted and indicated he would appear at another time.
The latest revelation comes a week after Trump fired Comey, in another step that goes beyond the established norms of presidential conduct, even if it's not found to be illegal.
Russia President Vladimir Putin offered Wednesday to turn over to Congress records of President Donald Trump's discussions with Russian diplomats in which Trump is said to have disclosed classified information.
"Let's get to the bottom of what happened with the director", Mr Graham said, declining to comment on the memo.
Without warning and while Comey was out of town, Trump fired him in a manner that many people-even those who thought Comey deserved to be fired-considered demeaning.
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