Former FBI Director James Comey will testify publicly before a Senate committee that President Donald Trump pressured him to end the FBI’s investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s ties to Russia, according to multiple reports.
According to CNN, Comey is expected to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee “as early as next week," although no official date has been scheduled. The committee is investigating allegations that the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.
"The bottom line is he's going to testify," an unnamed source told CNN about Comey. "He's happy to testify, and he's happy to cooperate."
Trump fired Comey on May 9, prompting allegations that the president was attempting to thwart the FBI’s investigation into allegations of Russian interference in the election. American intelligence officials have said that Moscow sought to impact the 2016 election.
BREAKING: James Comey plans to testify that Trump pushed him to end FBI probe into aide’s Russia ties, a source says https://t.co/V6AskneABk pic.twitter.com/RV2GkY1Dr1
— CNN (@CNN) May 31, 2017
Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that while Comey was still at the bureau Trump asked the then-director to end the FBI’s investigation into Flynn.
“I hope you can let this go,” the president reportedly told Comey, according to a memo Comey is said to have written following a meeting with Trump.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Comey will testify that Trump asked him “to back off the investigation” into Flynn.
Flynn resigned from his position as national security adviser in February after admitting that he misled Vice President Mike Pence about conversations with the Russian ambassador before Inauguration Day.
