Comey testified last Thursday that during an unusual one-on-one meeting with Trump in the Oval Office in February the president asked him to "let go" an investigation into fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Collins agreed that the meeting - which Trump initiated - was inappropriate, but that Comey should have pushed back and said "we can not be having discussions like this" because "the independence of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is really important".
The panel, with jurisdiction over the Department of Justice and FBI, has been seeking copies of former FBI Director James Comey's notes and memos about his encounters with President Donald Trump.
In his testimony to Congress last Thursday, Mr Comey laid bare on Capitol Hill months of distrust of the President, asserting that Mr Trump had fired him to interfere with the probe of Russia's ties to the Trump campaign. After he was sacked, Comey said a threatening Trump tweet that hinted there were secret tapes of their conversations prompted him to ask a friend, Daniel Richman, to share the content of the memos with the New York Times.
"I'd like to invite the president to testify before the Senate".
On Friday, Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski criticized Comey as not "man enough" for having leaked the memo via his friend rather than doing it himself.
Another step in Jets purge: Wideout Eric Decker released
A third-round pick of the Broncos in 2010, he has amassed 385 receptions, 5,253 receiving yards and 74 touchdowns in his career. You never know how this is going to unfold. "On behalf of the organization, I wish him the best as he continues his career".
Comey "leaking his own memos to manipulate the system is exactly why people dislike the swamp", said Trump ally Newt Gingrich.
It's entirely possible that Trump Jr. misspoke and meant to say that his father never told Comey anything related to dropping the Flynn investigation, but in trying to support the Trump family's strongman image, Trump Jr. just made his dad seem like a liar.
On Friday, Trump indicated that he was willing to do that, a highly unusual step for a sitting president and one fraught with legal hazard.
The New York Democrat added that the Senate would also consult with special counsel Robert Mueller, who has taken the lead on a wide-ranging investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Trump's pledge to offer sworn testimony to Mueller came in a press conference the day after Comey's dramatic testimony before the Senate intelligence committee. "The subject matter: I was talking about matters that touch on the FBI's core responsibility and that relate to the president, president-elect, personally".
Another Republican senator, Lindsey Graham of SC, told CBS he thought it would be "inappropriate for the president to testify publicly". "Stop talking. You're heading into a giant perjury trap".
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