Comey reveals Trump’s attempts to undermine investigation into Russian collusion with US elections
Former FBI director James Comey on Thursday accused President Donald Trump of firing him to try to undermine the bureau’s investigation into possible collusion between his 2016 presidential campaign team and Russia, Reuters reported.
In the most eagerly anticipated U.S. congressional hearing in years, Comey told lawmakers the Trump administration had lied and defamed him and the FBI after the president dismissed him on May 9, Reuters indicated.
During more than two hours of testimony, Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee he believed Trump had directed him to drop an FBI probe into the Republican president’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn as part of the broader Russia investigation, Reuters added.
Comey nevertheless did not make any major new revelations about alleged links between Trump or his associates and Russia, an issue that has dogged the president’s first months in office and distracted from his policy goals such as overhauling the U.S. healthcare system and making tax cuts, according to Reuters.
Dressed in a dark suit and giving short, deliberative answers, Comey painted a picture of an overbearing president who he did not trust and who pressured him to stop the FBI investigating Flynn, said Reuters.
After Trump fired Comey, the administration gave differing reasons for his dismissal. Trump later contradicted his own staff and acknowledged on May 11 he fired Comey because of the Russia probe, Reuters explained.
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