Former FBI director James Comey plays his Trumpet

Former FBI director, who was fired by Donald Trump, alleges he was removed to undermine FBI's probe into Russian collusion in 2016 US Presidential election

James Comey

Former FBI director James Comey on Thursday accused President Donald Trump on Thursday of firing him to try to undermine the bureau's investigation into possible collusion between his 2016 presidential campaign team and Russia. Trump dismissed Comey on May 9 and the administration gave differing reasons for the action. Trump later contradicted his own staff and acknowledged on May 11 that he fired Comey because of the Russia probe.

Asked at a US senate intelligence committee hearing why he was fired, Comey said he did not know for sure, but he added: "Again, I take the president's words. I know I was fired because of something... about the way I was conducting the Russia investigation was in some way putting pressure on him, in some way irritating him, and he decided to fire me because of that."

Donald Trump

Comey earlier told the committee in the eagerly anticipated testimony that he believed Trump had directed him to drop an FBI probe into the Republican president's former national security adviser Michael Flynn as part of the Russia investigation. But Comey would not say whether he thought the president sought to obstruct justice.

"I don't think it's for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct. I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning," Comey told the committee.

Dressed in a dark suit and giving short, deliberative answers, Comey painted a picture of an overbearing president.

In more than two hours of testimony, Comey did not make any major new revelations about alleged links between Trump or his associates and Russia.

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