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Comey to Testify Before Senate Intel Panel on June 8

James Comey
James Comey / Getty Images
June 1, 2017

Former FBI Director James Comey will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8, the committee's chairman and ranking member announced Thursday.

Comey will discuss Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and will likely also address the circumstances surrounding his firing last month.

He will appear in an open session in the morning and a closed session following that in the afternoon, Bloomberg reported.

https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/870311126701158400

Comey is expected to discuss statements President Donald Trump reportedly told him prior to getting fired on May 9. According to memos authored by Comey at the time, Trump asked the former FBI director to drop the bureau's investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. Trump denies that the interaction happened.

The administration initially claimed that Comey's dismissal—only the second time an FBI director has ever been fired—was caused by his handling of the investigation of the Hillary Clinton email scandal last year. Trump later changed the story, saying that it was related to the ongoing investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

In the wake of Comey's firing, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to the Russia investigation. It is not clear if Comey's public statements will be limited by Mueller's investigation, which has curtailed public discussion in the past.