"It was so jarring to hear recent reports of White House officials - perhaps even the president himself, attempting to interference and enlist our intelligence community leaders in an attempt to undermine an ongoing FBI investigation", said Mr. Warner.
Comey's statement came hours after two top U.S. spy agency chiefs skirted questions from the Senate panel about whether the president also "asked" them to intervene in the Flynn probe, while saying they never felt pressured to do so.
The former director told the Senate Intelligence Committee it was set off by Trump's tweet on May 12 warning that Comey had "better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversation before he starts leaking to the press".
MIKE ROGERS: I have never been directed to do anything I believe to be illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate.
But when pressed on the question of conversations McCabe had with Comey about Trump, McCabe said, "Those matters also begin to fall within the scope of issues being investigated by the special counsel".
Mark Warrren, the ranking Democrat on the panel, to clear up the allegations that Trump asked him to help derail the investigation, Coats said he doesn't believe it's "appropriate for me to address" discussions he had with the president in "a public session".
"I woke up in the middle of the night on Monday night, because it didn't dawn on me originally, there might be corroboration, a tape", he said. I'm not asking whether you felt pressured.
Warner said he was "disappointed" with the officials' answers.
Russian hackers 'planted false story' behind Mideast crisis
The severing of land and maritime links have also sparked fears of food shortages in Qatar, which relies heavily on imports. The Muslim Brotherhood ruled in Egypt from mid-2012 to mid-2013 before the Egyptian military removed the party from power.
Republican John McCain of Arizona took a softer approach, drawing chuckles when he asked Coats, "Do you want to tell us any more about the Russian involvement in our election that we don't already know from reading The Washington Post?".
Rogers was testifying before the Senate intelligence committee Wednesday about surveillance laws. Coats' testimony in particular was all but an admission that Trump had, as reported, asked him to influence the FBI's Russian Federation investigation.
Four top intelligence officials are fielding questions Wednesday on whether Trump intervened into the Justice Department's investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. elections, the latest development in a tumultuous 24 hours.
The release of the statement that former Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey has prepared for his Thursday testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee is a legitimate bombshell.
With the frustrated lawmakers gearing up for Thursday's long-awaited testimony from ousted FBI Director James Comey, the committee on Wednesday afternoon took the unusual step of releasing the written statement Comey plans to deliver. But not surprisingly, numerous questions were about President Trump.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia asked if they could show up in the SCIF, the secure facility for classified hearings, but Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr said that was not an option.
It has been reported Trump asked two of the witnesses to publicly state there was no evidence that his campaign colluded with Russian Federation during the election.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) stopped short of saying Trump's behavior amounts to obstruction of justice, but said, "I think there's enough there that we should be very, very concerned about what went on". Coats reportedly felt the request was inappropriate and did not act on the president's request.
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