After Trump's dismissal of Comey following the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the US election, the former FBI chief spoke to senators detailing his encounters and communication with the president.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify at a public hearing before the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday, the committee chairman said in a statement.
The prospect of Nixon-style tapes, which the president alluded to in a cryptic tweet last month, have added to the cloud of intrigue hanging over the Trump administration.
Sessions said in a letter on Saturday that he would appear before the committee to address matters that Comey brought up last week in testimony to the same panel. While Comey did not run to tell Sessions of his concerns over what the President supposedly said about the investigation of Michael Flynn, Comey did say he asked Sessions to shield him from Mr. Trump, anxious by the President's phone calls and questions.
But after lawmakers indicated that they planned to use the opportunity to question Sessions on Russian Federation and Comey's dismissal, he canceled those appearances and said he would testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee instead.
Comey's testimony, however, wasn't just about the decisions that Trump did and did not make.
"My sense was the attorney general knew he shouldn't be leaving, which is why he was lingering", Comey said last week.
As president-elect, Trump nominated the Republican Alabama senator in November to serve as his attorney general.
Sessions' testimony will be open to the public.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifies before Congress
Burr also noted that the committee has spoken to " more than 35 individuals to date" as part of its Russian Federation probe. But reports of a possible third meeting between Sessions and Kislyak have occupied congressional investigators since then.
"The Senate Intelligence Committee is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information". Reed said he expects Sessions to be asked if he was aware that Trump was factoring Comey's handling of the Russian Federation investigation in his decision to fire Comey.
Did Sessions lie about his meetings with Russian officials?
.Why did you leave Comey alone with Trump in the Oval Office?
CNN previously reported that congressional investigators are examining whether Sessions had an additional private meeting with the Russian ambassador in April 2016 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.
"I don't think it's for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct", Comey testified. Democrats have also indicated that they plan to question Sessions extensively.
Did the Russian Federation investigation factor into Comey's firing?
Blunt and plainspoken, Sessions, 70, went from a GOP foot soldier to prosecutor to politician and ultimately one of President Donald Trump's leading champions, sharing his hardline views on national security and immigration. During that time, how many one-on-one conversations did you have with any of those presidents? Feinstein said she was especially concerned after National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers refused to answer questions from the intelligence committee about possible undue influence by Trump.
The Senate Intelligence Committee now wants answers from the attorney general, and Sessions will have a chance to provide them this Tuesday during a public hearing. The attorney general has obfuscated on this point a few times, first during his confirmation hearing when he insisted that he had no contact with Russian officials (that was untrue) and more recently as lawmakers look into whether he had a third interaction with Kislyak past year.
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