A day after former FBI director James Comey accused US President Donald Trump of trying to get him to water down the bureau’s investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election, Trump’s lawyer said that the President feels “vindicated”.
Attorney Marc Kasowitz said:
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. The president feels completely and totally vindicated. He is eager to continue to move forward with his agenda.
Trump had asked Comey to drop an investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn as part of the FBI probe into whether Moscow meddled in the election, according to testimony from Comey posted on the Senate Intelligence Committee's website.
Comey said Trump met at a dinner on 27 January, a week after the president took office, and told him “I need loyalty. I expect loyalty”. During the dinner, the president asked him if he wanted to stay on as FBI director, Comey said. The former FBI head said he became concerned that Trump was trying to create “some sort of patronage relationship.”
Comey, who Trump fired last month, is to deliver his testimony in person at a much-anticipated hearing at the intelligence committee on Thursday.
Probes of the Russia allegations have hung over Trump's presidency since he took office and threaten to overwhelm his policy priorities, with several congressional committees conducting their own investigations of the alleged meddling by Moscow.
The Kremlin denies US intelligence agencies' conclusion that Moscow tried to tilt the election campaign in Trump's favor, using means such as hacking into the emails of senior Democrats. Trump has denied any collusion.
Read the full statement here:
(With inputs from AP and Reuters)
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