United States President Donald Trump has insisted that there was no collusion between Russian Federation and his presidential campaign and pointedly rejected allegations that he asked his fired FBI Director to drop the investigation into his former National Security Advisor.
"The Committee looks forward to receiving testimony from the former Director on his role in the development of the Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian interference in the 2016 USA elections, and I am hopeful that he will clarify for the American people recent events that have been broadly reported in the media", Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., said in a statement released Friday evening.
Senator Mark Warner, ranking member of the Committee, hoped that Comey's testimony will help answer some of the questions that have arisen since he was sacked by Trump last week.
Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill said Rosenstein told senators that he knew Comey would be fired before he wrote his letter accusing him of missteps as Federal Bureau of Investigation director, including his handling of an election-year probe into Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. "Moreover, the American people deserve an opportunity to hear it".
The White House initially cited Rosenstein's recommendation to explain Comey's ouster during an ongoing investigation into potential collusion between Trump's associates and Russian Federation. "He should reconsider his decision".
The Washington Post reported that a White House adviser close to the president - whose name was not included in the report - has been identified as a "person of interest" in the investigation of possible collusion between Trump's presidential campaign and Russians who sought to influence the 2016 election by hacking Democratic officials.
A day after appointing former Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller to lead the independent inquiry, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appeared behind closed doors before the full Senate.
In an explosive report that was immediately denied by the Trump administration, the Times reported earlier this week that the president had urged Comey to drop an investigation into the Russian Federation ties of his sacked national security adviser Michael Flynn. Trump has denied that ever happened.
On Wednesday, Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to take over and continue the Justice Department investigation into Russian election interference and possible links with Trump campaign aides.
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In a statement provided to the Times, Spicer explained that Trump had criticized Comey for overly "politicizing" the investigation. Trump fired Comey on May 9.
Friday's report quotes Trump calling ousted FBI Director James Comey "crazy" and "a real nut job".
The newspaper cites the White House's official written account of the Oval Office meeting.
Rosenstein was "very guarded" and would not discuss the circumstances of Comey's firing, according to one House Republican member in the briefing.
The document was read to Times reporters by one USA official and was confirmed by a second official.
Trump is leaving today for his first foreign trip, to the Mideast and beyond, which aides hope can have the effect of refocusing a White House in disarray.
One official says Trump was attempting a negotiating tactic on the Russians, making them feel bad about the political pressure they caused for him.
Trump later told news anchors at the White House that Mueller's appointment was a "very, very negative thing", adding: "I believe it hurts our country terribly, because it shows we're a divided, mixed-up, not-unified country".
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