The former FBI chief is scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also conducting an investigation into the election and possible collusion.
Despite speculation that President Trump may seek executive privilege to prevent his former Federal Bureau of Investigation director- James Comey- from testifying next week before the Senate, two senior administration officials reportedly said there is no plan to hinder the testimony. Assuming the oft-impulsive president doesn't change his mind, the report would seem to quash earlier caginess on the part of Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer regarding the issue.
Russia has repeatedly denied any effort to interfere in the U.S. election, but Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday some Russians might have acted on their own without their government's involvement.
Had Trump kept silent, "He would have had a stronger basis because of the ongoing Russian Federation investigation", Rozell added.
One of these notes, allegedly written by Comey, was recently leaked and it appears to reveal Trump directly asking Comey to kill the Flynn investigation. In 1974, during the Watergate scandal, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v. Nixon that executive privilege can only be invoked in certain circumstances, such as when a president is trying to protect national security or confidential advice from aides.
The President has said that Comey informed him three times that he was personally not under investigation.
Alongside the Russian Federation investigation, he was heading a separate probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein also are expected to testify.
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Perhaps he should just be grateful for the scorer's table shenanigans that allowed to remain on the floor and keep it moving. Unlike past year , the Warriors will head into Game 5, another potential closeout, with their gritty forward available.
Trying to stop Comey from testifying by using executive privilege will nearly certainly fail, but I understand why the White House would want to do it.
"I want to ask those individuals directly, 'Did they have that kind of pressure?'" Warner said, referring to Coats and Rogers.
"I said to myself, I said "You know, this Russian Federation thing with Trump and Russian Federation is a made-up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won", Trump said. Comey reportedly kept detailed, contemporaneous memos of his conversations with Trump, which included requests that the FBI director swear loyalty to him and a personal plea to quash the Flynn investigation.
He said he had not spoken to the White House counsel, Don McGahn, about the matter.
After officials in the White House floated the idea that Trump may attempt to block Comey from testifying, House Democrats from the Judiciary Committee wrote a letter saying that such a move would "obstruct the truth from both Congress and the American people".
Just as the Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris accord brought White House strategist Steve Bannon into direct confrontation with Jared and Ivanka, any Russian Federation spill will play into Bannon's hands.
Comey will testify in an open session beginning at 10 am.
Similarly, though a repeat appearance by Comey will generate an enormous television audience, don't expect disclosure of important new evidence supporting claims of obstruction of justice against the President.
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