In Testimony Over Russian Probe, Comey Accuses Trump of Lying

Outraged Democrats argued that Comey had laid out all the elements of an obstruction of justice case, even as Democratic leaders tried to tamp down calls for impeachment coming from some liberals, including some members of Congress. Chances that Republicans themselves would initiate or even consider impeachment proceedings were zero, and that will change only if the Justice Department special counsel on the case, Robert Mueller, delivers a verdict they can not ignore whenever his investigation concludes.

President Donald Trump smiles during an infrastructure summit with governors and mayors in Washington, DC, on June 8, 2017. Comey told the Senate Intelligence committee that Trump asked him to let go of an investigation into Michael Flynn, the president's former national security adviser. He also reiterated that the ex-FBI director, dismissed on 9 May, is a filter, referring to Comey's recognition of having provided some information to the press to put the arm on appointing a special attorney general for the investigation on the alleged Russian interference in United States elections.

Trump also called Comey a "leaker" in a tweet on Friday morning. My judgment was: I need to get that out into the public square. Risch said: "He didn't direct you to drop the case", to which Comey replied, "Not in those words [but] I took it as a direction".

Trump's personal lawyer in relation to the Russian Federation probes, Marc Kasowitz, has indicated he'll file complaints with both the Department of Justice and the Senate Judiciary Committee related to Comey's decision to feed information about his Trump memos to the New York Times via an intermediary. But it's hard to see how Comey's after-the-fact transcription of his relevant conversations with the president fall within either of these provisions.

In the statement, Comey says he and Trump dined together privately in January.

Comey said Trump did not attempt to get him to drop the overall Russia investigation, just the part of if that related to Flynn, who the president fired in February for misleading US Vice-President Mike Pence about the extent of his conversations previous year with Sergei Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States.

In his testimony on Thursday, Comey said Trump was never an explicit subject of the Russian Federation probe, CNN reported.

He also said he kept a written record of conversations with the president as he was "honestly anxious he might lie" about them, and leaked details of one conversation - about the Michael Flynn investigation - after a version of it had already been published in the press. Provided in summary in his written testimony to the Senate intelligence committee, they were written just after his conversations with Trump, when his memory was fresh and his ability to recall details at its sharpest.

Comey says Trump then made his statement about loyalty. [Director of National Intelligence Dan] Coats is going to testify that Donald Trump asked him to stop the investigation.

"Absolutely, the president has confidence in all of his cabinet and if he didn't, they wouldn't be here", Sanders said on Thursday.

Trump's tweet comes ahead of a news conference planned Friday.

Democrats pounced on Thursday after hearing Comey's suggestive language about "facts that I can't discuss in an open setting".

A public disclosure of any recordings that might exist of meetings between the president and Comey. McCain appeared to try to connect Comey's announcement that he found no reason to recommend Hillary Clinton be prosecuted over her email server with the ongoing investigation into Russia's interference in the presidential election.

And if you look at history here, when [White House counsel] John Dean testified before the U.S. Senate back in 1973, he detailed a whole series of conversations in the Oval Office with the president, with aides.