Comey's dramatic account rocks Washington

President Trump repeatedly sought to influence the FBI’s investigation into Russian election meddling before firing James Comey as the bureau’s director, according to blockbuster testimony that Comey is set to deliver Thursday to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Comey’s riveting opening statement details multiple interactions with the president, including a January dinner at the White House where Trump said he needed and expected the FBI director’s loyalty.

The one-on-one dinner, Comey felt, was an attempt to create “some sort of patronage relationship” with the president — something that “concerned me greatly, given the FBI’s traditionally independent status.”

Following that discussion, Trump on several occasions raised the Russia investigation with Comey in ways that unnerved him.

On Feb. 14, Trump cleared the Oval Office after a counterterrorism meeting to speak with Comey alone, according to the testimony. Trump then asked Comey to “let go” of any investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had been forced to resign the previous day for misleading Vice President Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/336848-comeys-dramatic-account-rocks-washington