WASHINGTON (AP) — In a hugely anticipated hearing, fired FBI director James Comey will recount a series of conversations with President Donald Trump that he says made him deeply uneasy and concerned about the blurring of boundaries between the White House and a law enforcement agency that prides itself on independence.
Then-FBI Director James Comey pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the House Intelligence Committee hearing on allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Comey will testify that President Donald Trump sought his «loyalty» and asked what could be done to «lift the cloud» of investigation shadowing his White House, according to prepared remarks released ahead of his appearance on Capitol Hill on June 8, 2017.
he testimony, Comey’s first public statements since his May 9 dismissal, is likely to bring hours of uncomfortable attention to an administration shadowed for months by an investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.His account of demands for loyalty from the president, and of requests to end an investigation into an embattled adviser, are likely to sharpen allegations that Trump improperly sought to influence the FBI-led probe.
In Seven Pages
Comey’s detailed and vivid recollections of his one-on-one conversations with Trump were revealed in seven pages of prepared testimony released Wednesday, the day before his appearance before the Senate intelligence committee. He’ll will testify under oath that Trump repeatedly pressed him for his «loyalty» and directly pushed him to «lift the cloud» of investigation by declaring publicly the president was not the target of the probe into his campaign’s Russia ties.Trump has repeatedly cast the Russia investigation as a «hoax» and denied having any improper ties to Moscow. According to Comey, Trump was acutely aware of the political toll of the investigation, complaining that the probe had left a «cloud» that was «impairing his ability to act on behalf of the country.»
«Lift the Cloud»
In a phone call on March 30, Comey says the president asked him what could be done to «lift the cloud.» He says Trump also volunteered that «he had nothing to do with Russia, had not been involved with hookers in Russia, and had always assumed he was being recorded when in Russia» — referencing an unverified intelligence dossier detailing compromising information Moscow had allegedly collected on Trump.
The White House initially said Trump fired Comey on the recommendation of the Justice Department, citing as justification a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that criticized Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. But Trump later said he was thinking of «this Russia thing» when he fired Comey and would have dismissed him without the Justice Department’s input, reports Associated Press.
