Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended1496954344

Comey testimony as it happened: Trump's lawyer hits back at fired FBI director and says he could be investigated

The Independent will be covering his testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee live 

Alexandra Wilts
Washington DC
Thursday 08 June 2017 16:39 EDT
Comments
Former FBI Director James Comey says Donald Trump demanded personal loyalty to him
Former FBI Director James Comey says Donald Trump demanded personal loyalty to him (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Former FBI Director James Comey is due to give evidence to the Senate Intelligence Committee about conversations he had with President Donald Trump and whether the former businessman pressured him to drop an investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

The committee has already released his prepared opening statement in which he will confirm under oath that Mr Trump tried to get him to drop the probe into whether General Flynn, who was forced to resign two weeks after the inauguration, had met with Russian officials during the campaign to discuss economic sanctions imposed by Barack Obama.

He will also testify about a pair of phone calls with Mr Trump where he had reportedly complained to him about the FBI's investigation into his campaign team's links with Russia, calling it a "cloud" looming over the presidency and reportedly urged mr comey to state publicly that the President himself was not under investigation.

Follow our liveblog below the video:

James Comey: Trump administration 'defamed' me and FBI with 'lies'

1496934048

Mr Comey said he should have been "stronger" in pushing back against Mr Trump over Mr Flynn

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:00
1496934108

The full quote on that exchange:

Ms Feinstein asked why Mr Comey did not say ‘this is wrong’ after Mr Trump said “I hope you can let this go”.

“Maybe if I were stronger, I would have. I was so stunned by the conversation that I just took it in,” Mr Comey says

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:01
1496934292

Mr Comey talks about Mr Trump’s reference to the Russia investigation as a “cloud.”

Mr Comey says Trump’s ask was to establish publicly that he, Trump, was not under investigation. Comey told the president he’d see what could be done.

Comey says his assurance to Trump that “we’ll see what we can do” was a “slightly cowardly way” of getting off the phone.

Then he reported the conversation to his team.

“You have the president of the United States asking you to stop an investigation,” Feinstein says. What did your colleagues think?

They were shocked, Comey says. “They were very concerned.” 

“We decided that the best thing to do would be to hold it, keep it in a box.”

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:04
1496934431

Talking about Mr Flynn and Mr Trump's request to "let it go" Mr Comey says:

"I saw the tweet about the tapes, Lordy I hope there are tapes. I remember saying ‘I agree he’s a good guy,’ as a way of saying ‘I’m not agreeing with what you asked me to just do.’

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:07
1496934633

On the topic of tweets, nothing from President Trump yet, but Donald Jr has weighed in on the conversation over Flynn.

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:10
1496934765

Mr Comey tells Marco Rubio that he perceived Mr Trump's comments over Mr Flynn as an 'order'.

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:12
1496935062

Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon. “I believe that the timing of your firing stinks.”

“The odour of presidential abuse of power,” Mr Wyden says, “is so strong.”

Mr Wyden: "Did that dinner suggest that your job may be contingent on how you handle the [Russia] investigation?" 

Mr Comey: “I don’t know if I would go that far... Seemed that job could be contingent on how I conduct myself and whether I demonstrated loyalty."

Mr Wyden: "Do you have any information on who recommended or may have been involved in your firing?"

Mr Comey: “I don’t.”

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:17
1496935186

Mr Comey also mentioned Jeff Sessions but he can’t talk in an open setting about why he thought the Attorney General  would recuse himself from the Russia case.

Comey says he knew things that would make his "presence in a continued Russia investigation problematic... [things indicating] that he was not going to be in contact with Russia-related matters much longer."

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:19
1496935446
Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:24
1496935871

Mr Comey said he spoke to the Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein “and explained my serious concern about the way the President was interacting with the FBI.” But he did not tell them what the President had said.

Mr Comey asked a friend, a professor at Columbia Law School, to share the content of his memo - the one with Mr Trump asking him to let the Flynn investigation go - with a reporter.

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:31

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in