Back in March, Sessions stepped aside from overseeing a federal investigation into contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign after he acknowledged meeting twice past year with the Russian diplomat, Sergey Kislyak.
In nearly three hours of sworn testimony, Comey also said he orchestrated a leak to a New York Times reporter of a memo describing his conversations with Trump in the hope that it would prompt the appointment of a special counsel.
"...and WOW, Comey is a leaker!"
Trump also retweeted a comment from attorney Alan Dershowitz, who had written: "We should stop talking about obstruction of justice. That was true; we did not have an open counter-intelligence case on him". "I mean, I will tell you, I didn't say that", Trump replied. Trump says on Twitter, "Totally illegal?" Before that, he spoke at the Transportation Department about his plan for improving the country's roads and bridges.
Asked if Trump ever demanded the Russian Federation investigation be shut down, Comey flatly replied "No".
But the self-imposed silence didn't last. In his testimony, Comey said that after he was sacked and Trump's May 12 tweet, he gave the memos to Richman with the intent that they be leaked to the media.
Israel calls for end of UN Palestinian refugee agency
It operates schools and provides healthcare and other social services in the West Bank, Gaza , Jordan , Lebanon and Syria . Hamas used tunnels along the Gaza Strip and into Israel during the 2014 war but it denied the UNRWA allegations.
Legal experts questioned whether Mr Trump's private encounters with Mr Comey could be considered privileged.
The ex-FBI boss testified that he documented his meeting with Trump over fears the president might "lie". "And I think he should've told the president when the president made the truly outrageous and unacceptable request that he drop or let go [of] the Michael Flynn investigation".
"Comey is a leaker", Trump wrote on Twitter, adding the fired Federal Bureau of Investigation director gave "false statements and lies" Thursday - which would be considered perjury as Comey was under oath.
The tweet from Trump about Comey claiming total vindication was a milestone for the president in one way: It ended Trump's second-longest tweet drought since he became a presidential candidate, falling just three minutes shy of the all-time mark. She called Comey an "honorable individual".
Trump and aides referenced those comments in claiming vindication, but some officials said Comey's statements that Trump leaned on him to drop the Russian Federation investigation could add up to obstruction of justice.
On Thursday, Comey confirmed to the Senate Intelligence Committee that he did write the memos, which he then turned over to his friend Professor Daniel Richman of Columbia Law School to leak to the press.
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