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 21:39 BST
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

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. 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'

1496935919

“The president tweeted on Friday after I got fired that ‘I hope that there’s not tapes,” Mr Comey said. Then Mr Comey woke up in the middle of the night on Monday and realised it was important to get his own version out.

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:31
1496936055

Democratic sentor Martin Heinrich: “A lot of this comes down to who should we believe.”

Mr Comey: “I think people should look at the whole body of my testimony.”

Why would you kick everyone out of the Oval Office to talk to me, Mr Comey adds. As an investigator, that’s a very significant fact.

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:34
1496936452

Talking about the memo and leaking it through a friend, Mr Comey says he believed his note from the Flynn conversation with Mr Trump, was "my recollection recorded" and not classified, so he wanted the information out in the public domain

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:40
1496936582

Mr Comey says the reason he sent the memo out through a friend was that the media were camping "at teh end of his driveway by that point" and handing it out would be like "feeding seagulls at the beach".

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:43
1496936633

Mr Comey says he had to break a date with his wife to have dinner with Mr Trump.

He adds that he never initiated communication with the President.

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:43
1496936692

Mr Comey refuses to answer a question in open session about whether Mr Flynn "was and is central to the investigation" into potential ties between the trump administration and Russia.

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:44
1496936779

Outside of the hearing - House Speaker Paul Ryan is showing his disdain as he tweets about his daily press conference that is going on now.

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:46
1496936852

CNN are reporting that Mr trump's lawyer will be giving a press conference after the hearing:

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:47
1496937027

As for the dinner, Mr Trump told NBC News: “He [Comey] wanted to have dinner because he wanted to stay on.” Is that accurate

When asked if that is accurate, Mr Comey says "no sir".

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:50
1496937167

In terms of the major point of the Senate investigation - Russian meddling in the presidential election - Mr Comey says "they will be back."

The election meddling has been a little lost amid the rest of the Trump accusations...

Adam Withnall8 June 2017 16:52

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