The White House initially said Trump was acting on the recommendation of Justice Department leaders, citing as justification a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that lambasted Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email server investigation. There are potential presidential candidates past and future, senators up for re-election in a tough political climate and a couple veteran GOP lawmakers, including committee Chairman Richard Burr of North Carolina, who were re-elected previous year against the odds, thanks partly to Trump's own victory.
Fired FBI director James Comey said yesterday that Donald Trump urged him to drop a probe into former national security advisor Michael Flynn, prompting fresh allegations that the USA president tried to obstruct justice.
But their counterparts on the House Russia investigation clearly thought the testimony could prove obstruction of justice by Trump. "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go".
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the second-ranking official at the Department of Justice who signed a letter recommending Comey's dismissal, will testify, a day ahead of Comey's own hotly anticipated testimony in the investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 US election.
Experts say the most damning statement in Comey's written testimony concerns former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, who was under investigation for making false statements about contacts with Russian officials.
Warner says that in violation of clear guidelines put in place after Watergate to prevent any whiff of political interference by the White House in FBI investigations, President Donald Trump also called Comey twice to ask him to lift the cloud of the Russian Federation investigation over his White House.
Comey also said Trump told him during a one-on-one dinner on January 27 that he needed "loyalty".
Sara Just, the program's executive producer, tweeted around 3 p.m. Wednesday that Pence had canceled "moment ago". He said that "effectively means at least when Comey was involved, that there was not evidence that the President was involved in any potential collusion with Russian Federation or anybody in his campaign that assisted their interference in the campaign".
"The key question is whether there was a threat to fire Comey if he did not do what he was told", Painter said. He was to do the interview from Houston.
"I did find the timing of the release a little bit interesting, directly after testimony", Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a White House spokeswoman, told reporters on Air Force One as the president returned from Cincinnati.
Police arrest east London man in connection with bridge attacks
Police have arrested six men in actions directed against terror in the U.K.as a tense nation begins voting in a national election. Mr Rowley said: "While formal identification is yet to take place, detectives believe they know the identity of the attackers".
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat on the Judiciary panel, said he, too, was encouraged that Trump's pick is a veteran of law enforcement "rather than a career in partisan politics, as was rumored over the past several weeks". Comey's opening remarks have already been released by the committee. According to Comey, Trump said "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty". "We do not indict people for being boorish or clueless".
Pundits and punters will argue the legal merits of those allegations long after Comey's must-see testimony. USA law enforcement officials said Comey had discussed his testimony with Mueller's investigative team to ensure it did not interfere with the special counsel's probe. He then went to the Oval Office. On Wednesday night, Ryan said on MSNBC that there was nothing new in Comey's statement, but he acknowledged that it was inappropriate for Trump to have asked for Comey's loyalty.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen.
Trump began the day by announcing his new nominee to lead the FBI - Christopher Wray, a career white-collar crime attorney and former Justice Department official under former president George W. Bush. "In fact, you might say the contrary".
This was in a phone call on March 30 - according to written testimony Comey submitted ahead of an appearance Thursday before the Senate Intelligence committee.
Comey says he told the president that the bureau was investigating the matter as quickly as possible. It's during that conversation, Comey states, that Trump brought up Flynn.
The reassurance came after Comey briefed Trump on the existence of a soon-to-be-published dossier.
"I didn't move, speak or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed", Comey writes.
Comey's testimony includes dozens of threads of information that lawmakers are likely to pursue during questioning.
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