Former FBI Director James Comey testified before a Senate committee Thursday that President Donald Trump never asked him to end the investigation into Russian election interference.
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, asked Comey, “Did the president at any time ask you to stop the FBI investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. elections?”
The former FBI director replied, “Not to my understanding, no.”
Burr followed up by asking if any member of the administration made this request, and Comey replied, “no.”
The answers from Comey come after weeks of Democrats accusing Trump of being guilty of obstruction of justice. The former FBI director’s opening testimony said that Trump told him in a meeting that he “hopes” Comey can “let” the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn “go.”
Burr asked Comey whether he thinks this was obstruction of justice from Trump, or if the president was trying to allow his former aide Flynn to save face.
“I don’t think it’s for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct,” the former FBI director replied. “I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning, but that’s a conclusion I’m sure the special counsel will work towards to try and understand what the intention was there, and whether that’s an offense.”