Former FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate intelligence committee on Thursday in one of the most anticipated congressional hearings in recent memory. The testimony marked the first time Comey will be speaking since he was fired by President Donald Trump on May 9.
In seven pages of prepared opening remarks released ahead of his statement on Wednesday afternoon, Comey said Trump told him, “I need loyalty. I expect loyalty” during an “awkward” conversation at a dinner in January. His statement went on to detail several meetings with Trump that led him to create memos and thoroughly document each confrontation.
Though Comey said that he did assure Trump that the president was not under investigation in regards to the investigation into Russian collusion in the 2016 presidential election, Trump did urge Comey to end the probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. “[Trump] said 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,” Comey’s prepared statement says. “He asked what we could do to ‘lift the cloud.'”
Trump’s lawyer said the president felt “vindicated” by the details in Comey’s testimony confirming that Trump was not under investigation in the ongoing Russian probe. “The president is pleased that Mr. Comey has finally publicly confirmed his private reports that the president was not under investigation in any Russian probe,” attorney Mark Kasowitz said in a statement. “The president feels completely and totally vindicated. He is eager to continue to move forward with his agenda.”
The event was broadcast live at 10 a.m. ET across C-SPAN and all news networks, as well as CBS, ABC, NBC and PBS. CNN and Twitter live-streamed the event on their respective platforms. The Los Angeles Times also streamed the event on its Facebook page.
Comey’s public testimony will be followed by a closed session later in the day.
Watch video of Comey’s public testimony below.
