Former FBI director James Comey accused Donald Trump's administration of defaming him after the president abruptly fired him amid tensions over the agency's Russian Federation probe.
"It is a question I don't think I should answer in an open setting", Comey said, adding that the question would be answered by special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Comey said that he declined to do so in large part because of the "duty to correct" that would be created if that situation changed.
"I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting", Comey said.
Did I miss something or did Comey just say he asked a friend to leak information to the press?
Testifying before a Senate committee, Comey said he felt the need to document the interactions - during which he says Trump urged him to drop a probe into a former national security adviser Michael Flynn - for fear the president might "lie" about their meetings.
Comey was speaking to the senate intelligence committee to give evidence as part of their investigation of Russia's alleged interference with the U.S. election. I told the AG that what had just happened - him being asked to leave while the FBI Director, who reports to the AG, remained behind - as inappropriate and should never happen.
Ex-FBI Boss Comey Heads To The Senate
Senators will have had a day to prepare detailed questions about Comey's public opening statement . A few moments later, the President said, "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty".
Democrats, including Connecticut's congressional delegation, said Comey's written testimony showed that the president had acted improperly and raised questions about Trump's firing of Comey. "President, this is wrong, '?" "Maybe if I were stronger I would have".
However, he said he took it to mean a direction for him to drop the investigation.
He also said that the White House had chosen to defame him after he was abruptly fired.
The Trump administration initially pointed to Comey's handling of the investigation into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as the reason for his dismissal. Clinton has blamed her defeat on Comey's October 28 announcement that he was re-opening the investigation of her email practices. Even though I was appointed to a 10-year term, which Congress created in order to underscore the importance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation being outside of politics and independent, I understood that I could be fired by a president for any reason or for no reason at all.
"There should be no fuzz on this".
Mr Sessions recused himself from the investigation in March after revelations that he had had conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak during the election campaign. He then said, 'I need loyalty.' I replied, 'You will always get honesty from me.' He paused and then said, 'That's what I want, honest loyalty.' I paused and then said, 'You will get that from me'. But in the weeks since, the USA intelligence community has lent credence to some of the details from that dossier. But he has also suggested he doesn't believe it, saying Russian Federation is a "ruse" and calling the investigation into the matter a "witch hunt".
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