Mr Comey would not say in his testimony last week whether he thought the President sought to obstruct justice, but added it would be up to special counsel Mr Mueller "to sort that out".
A few hours later, Trump again tweeted, this time attempting to divert attention toward his former rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, first saying: "Why is that Hillary Clinton's family and Democrats dealings with Russian Federation are not looked at, but my non-dealings are?"
Now that Trump is president and Comey has emerged as a top Trump antagonist, some former Comey critics see his willingness to go after the leaders of both political parties as proof of his independence. "It is my view that fully investigating the facts, circumstances, and rationale for Mr. Comey's removal will provide us the opportunity to do that on a cooperative, bipartisan basis". Grassley said Comey's dismissal and Comey's testimony on Lynch should be looked at together, noting that Comey "took the opportunity in his testimony to clear his own name by denouncing as false the administration's claims that the FBI rank-and-file had lost confidence in Mr. Comey's leadership in the wake of the Clinton email investigation". The office of Director of National Intelligence and Ledgett declined to comment.
The White House has denied any collusion, and Trump has repeatedly complained about the probe, saying Democrats can not accept his election win.
A spokesman for Trump's personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz, ripped the Post's report Wednesday: "The FBI leak of information regarding the president is outrageous, inexcusable and illegal". Comey acknowledges that. He says in the statement that historically, historically presidents have done that to the Justice Department.
Mueller investigation appeared to be reaching a broadening circle of current and former officials. Experts point out that the Supreme Court ruled during the Watergate scandal that officials can not use privilege to withhold evidence in criminal prosecutions.
Probing the president for possible crimes is a complicated affair, even if convincing evidence of a crime is found.
During the 1990s, President Bill Clinton and supporters protested the investigation of independent counsel Kenneth Starr, which began as a probe of the Whitewater real estate deal and ended with Clinton's impeachment on charges of perjury and obstruction regarding his relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky.
USA repeatedly interfered in Russian elections - Putin
Comey , who was overseeing the probe of Russia's involvement in the US elections, was recently sacked by US President Trump . Putin said he was surprised because the average wage for teachers in her region should be twice that.
Coats and Rogers refused to answer questions about the matter during a Senate committee hearing last week. Trump disputed, though, Comey's assertion he had asked for a pledge of loyalty.
For months now it's been his mission for it to be stated publicly that he is not personally under investigation.
Flynn was removed from his job by Trump in February.
According to the Post, a March 22 exchange among Trump, Coats, and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, alone in the White House, is of potential interest to Mueller.
Coats was attending a briefing at the White House together with officials from several other government agencies.
That changed following Comey's firing, sources told The Post. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a June 13 Senate hearing refused to say whether Russian Federation came up in discussions with Trump about firing Comey-asserting his right to keep secret his conversations with the president. Coats later told lawmakers that he never felt pressured to intervene. Forty-two per cent think they're doing more good by giving the public necessary information. Nor does it undermine the credibility of anything Comey said as to what occurred.
Mueller is also investigating Trump for obstruction of justice, the Post reported Wednesday. Comey also revealed he had asked a friend to share the contents of one memos with a reporter.
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