The special counsel appointed to investigate Russian influence in the 2016 presidential campaign is now examining whether President Donald Trump tried to obstruct justice, it has been reported.
Sessions refused to say whether he had ever discussed the Russian Federation investigation with Trump, arguing that he could not disclose private communications with the president. Officials say that changed shortly after Comey's firing.
In a pivotal shift in the investigation that has riveted Americans like no other in decades, senior intelligence officials have agreed to be interviewed by investigators working for the special counsel, Robert Mueller, the Post said.
Mr Grassley said Mr Comey's dismissal and his testimony on Ms Lynch should be looked at together, noting that Mr 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 NSA said in a statement that it would cooperate with Mueller's investigation, but did not comment further.
"The FBI leak of information regarding the president is outrageous, inexcusable and illegal", said Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Trump's private attorney, Marc Kasowitz.
Harvard's first female president to step down next year
She sharply raised the amount of financial aid the school offers students to $539 million a year ago from $339 million in 2007. Harvard said that move has sharply raised the number of students from low- and middle-income families who enroll.
Burr told CNN they had a "good meeting" with Mueller. During the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court found in United States v. Nixon that executive privilege could not be used to withhold evidence in criminal investigations. The obstruction-of-justice investigation of the president began after Comey was sacked on May 9.
The meeting comes a day after lawmakers questioned Justice Department officials about the probe and Mueller's independence, and after a friend of Trump said the White House was considering firing Mueller.
The interviews could come as early as this week, the Post said. Did Trump complain about the Russian Federation probe at that meeting? That position was similar to the one taken at a separate hearing last week by the country's intelligence chiefs. When the briefing ended, as The Post previously reported, Trump asked everyone to leave the room except for Coats and CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
Sessions contradicted Comey, who last week told the intelligence committee that after an encounter with Trump in which he said Trump pressured him to back off an investigation into the former national security adviser, Comey "implored" Sessions to make sure he was never left alone with the president again - but that Sessions didn't respond.
Sessions: Senator Feinstein, I would say I believe it has been made public that the president asked us our opinion, and it was given, and he asked us to put that in writing. Donald Trump didn't request that meeting as president-elect, Jim Comey did.
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