Former FBI director James Comey will "stop short of saying the president interfered with the agency's probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn" when he testifies Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to a story from ABC News.
The report is based on what is described as a “source familiar with Comey's thinking,” according to the story. The source said Comey will not testify that Trump interfered with the FBI’s investigation.
He will dispute the president’s claims that he assured him on three occasions that he was not under investigation, according to the report.
Comey confirmed in March that the FBI was investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and any possible coordination with those in the Trump campaign. Comey also testified in May, repeating that an investigation into Russian interference was continuing and defending his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
Trump fired Comey days later. Two weeks after that, word that Comey had kept memos of his meetings with the president was reported by The New York Times.
The White House confirmed Monday that Trump would not seek executive privilege to stop Comey from appearing before the committee. According to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, Comey has received clearance from special counsel Robert Mueller to testify in an open session.
"They've talked, and I understand the special counsel has not fenced him off in any way, shape or form on the items he intends to talk about," Burr said.
Mueller is in charge of the investigation into the Russian hacking of the 2016 presidential election.
