Former FBI Director James Comey is to testify before Senate to confirm accusations that President Donald Trump pressured him to end his investigation into a top Trump aide’s ties to Russia, a source close to the issue said Wednesday.
Details are yet to be revealed, whereas no official date for the testimony has been set. Comey is to speak before the Senate Intelligence Committee. The body has launched an inquiry into Trump’s campaign and possible Russian involvement in last year’s presidential election.
Comey’s Senate testimony will be constrained by guidelines established between the former FBI Director and Robert Mueller III, the special prosecutor appointed to investigate allegations that members of the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election. Mueller and Comey are both striving to ensure that this testimony doesn’t accidentally cause legal complication.
Comey will likely sit down with Mueller, a longtime colleague of his at the Justice Department, for a formal interview only after his public testimony.
Moreover, Comey is unlikely to discuss details about FBI’s investigation into the charges of possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, but he could discuss his tense interactions with Trump before his firing, which have now spurred allegations that the president may have tried to obstruct the investigation.
If this happens, Comey’s public testimony could be a dramatic chapter in the months-long controversy, and it will likely bring even more intense scrutiny to an investigation that Trump has repeatedly denounced as a “witch hunt.”
The appointment of Mueller as a special counsel in the Russia investigation had raised concerns among some members of Congress that his probe could scuttle the chance for Congress and the public to hear directly from Comey.
However that appears less likely now that Mueller and Comey have discussed the limits of his testimony. A week after he took office in January, Trump allegedly demanded Comey’s “loyalty” if he kept him on as FBI director, and he urged the then FBI Director to drop his ongoing investigation into Michael Flynn, Trump’s fired national security adviser, in a separate, one-on-one meeting.
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