Amid a fiery debate in Washington, a top Democratic senator has pushed for the ex-FBI chief to testify on a probe into Russia and Donald Trump's campaign. But the US president has warned James Comey in a sobering tweet.
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Former FBI Director James Comey declined an invitation Tuesday to discuss an investigation into US President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia before the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Virginia Senator Mark Warner, a leading lawmaker of the Democratic Party.
Warner, who sits as the top Democrat on the Senate committee, said the committee reached out to the seasoned law enforcement official after Trump fired Comey earlier this week.
"Yes well, one of the things we did do is we invited Comey to come and testify on Tuesday. He is not going to be testifying on Tuesday, but it is our hope in the not too distant future that we can find time for him to come in and talk to our committee," Warner told American broadcaster MSNBC in a televised interview.
However, North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, who serves as the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he believes Trump's decision to fire Comey was not connected to the investigation. Earlier this week, Burr confirmed in a tweet that Comey had been invited to a closed session to testify.
"To date, there has been no evidence of collusion," Burr said in a statement. However, he added that he thought Trump's tweet about Comey was "inappropriate."
'Comey better hope'
Trump on Friday appeared to threaten the former FBI director in a tweet that warned of releasing recordings of phone calls in which the president asked Comey whether he was personally under investigation.
"James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press," Trump said.
Trump told US news network NBC in a televised interview that he asked Comey on three separate occasions whether he was personally targeted in the ongoing investigation, remarks that raised allegations of presidential interference in the investigation.
On Friday, Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, a leading Democrat, suggested that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appoint an independent prosecutor to pursue potential criminal charges over Trump's decision to fire Comey.
Durbin cited the NBC interview in which Trump said he had considered the investigation into Russian meddling before firing Comey as possible grounds for pursuing action for obstruction of justice.
"When I decided to (fire Comey), I said to myself, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story," Trump told NBC.
The sacking of James Comey: How it came about
President Donald Trump's move to fire FBI Director James Comey has set off shock waves in Washington. From the probe into Hillary Clinton's emails to Trump's alleged Russia ties, we look at how it all got to this point.
Image: Getty Images/A. Harrer
May - July 2016: FBI investigates Clinton emails
FBI Director James Comey announces in May that the bureau will open an investigation into Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server for both her personal and government correspondence while secretary of state between 2009 and 2013. Two months later, Comey says that the FBI will not pursue criminal charges against Clinton, enraging Republican legislators.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
October 3, 2016: Congressman's laptop seized
US authorities seize former New York congressman Anthony Weiner's laptop and mobile devices as part of a probe into allegations he sent sexually explicit text messages to a 15-year-old. They go on to discover emails from Clinton and Huma Abedin, Weiner's wife and a close Clinton aid, on the devices.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/EPA/A. Kelly
October 7, 2016: White House accuses Russia of meddling
The Obama administration publically accuses Moscow of meddling in the 2016 presidential election after WikiLeaks publishes a trove of confidential emails from the Democratic National Convention. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security says it believes that "based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities."
Image: picture-alliance/Sputnik/A. Druzhinin
October 28, 2016: FBI reopens Clinton probe
Just days before the presidential election, Comey announces the FBI is reopening its investigation into Clinton's email on the back of evidence found on Weiner's laptop. "It took a lot of guts... But I’ll tell you what he did, he brought back his reputation," Republican nominee Donald Trump says. On November 6, the FBI concludes it found nothing in the emails to alter its original decision.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Thew
November 9, 2016: President-elect Trump
Trump is elected President, defeating Clinton by winning 304 electoral college votes to her 227.
Image: Getty Images/S. Eisen
March 20, 2017: Trump - Russia links
Comey confirms that the FBI is investigating alleged ties between Trump's election campaign team and the Russian government. The FBI director also dismisses the president's tweets alleging that Obama ordered Trump Tower to be wiretapped during the election.
Image: Reuters/J. Roberts
May 2, 2017: Clinton opens up
In her most extensive remarks since the divisive presidential election, Clinton says that Comey's email probe announcement in October contributed to her election defeat. Trump, meanwhile, takes a different view, tweeting that Comey "gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!"
Image: picture-alliance/AP Images/M. Altaffer
May 3, 2017: Comey defends pre-election decision
The very next day, Comey testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee, defending his decision to reopen the investigation into Clinton's email just days before the election. He says it makes him "nauseous" to think he could have affected the election, but adds that Abedin had forwarded "hundreds and thousands of emails (to Weiner), some of which contain classified information."
Image: Reuters/K. Lamarque
May 9: FBI clarifies Comey statement
The Washington Post newspaper and ProPublica investigative journalism network reveal that the FBI was forced to clarify in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Comey had exaggerated about the number of emails Abedin forwarded.
Image: Reuters/B. Snyder
May 9, 2017: Comey fired
Trump, heeding advice from Department of Justice, fires Comey, informing him that he is "not able to effectively lead the bureau." In a memo, the White House says it "cannot defend the Director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails," and does "not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken."
