This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40192255
The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Comey to testify Trump told him: 'I expect loyalty' | Comey to testify Trump told him: 'I expect loyalty' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Former FBI Director James Comey will testify to Congress on Thursday that President Donald Trump told him at a dinner: "I expect loyalty." | Former FBI Director James Comey will testify to Congress on Thursday that President Donald Trump told him at a dinner: "I expect loyalty." |
| According to his opening statement, Mr Comey will also say the president asked him to drop an inquiry into fired National Security Adviser Mike Flynn. | According to his opening statement, Mr Comey will also say the president asked him to drop an inquiry into fired National Security Adviser Mike Flynn. |
| Mr Comey will back up the president's assertion that the FBI chief assured him Mr Trump was not under scrutiny. | Mr Comey will back up the president's assertion that the FBI chief assured him Mr Trump was not under scrutiny. |
| He will say Mr Trump called the Russian probe "a cloud" over him. | He will say Mr Trump called the Russian probe "a cloud" over him. |
| In Thursday's eagerly anticipated hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mr Comey will detail his interactions with Mr Trump leading up to his firing on 9 May. | In Thursday's eagerly anticipated hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mr Comey will detail his interactions with Mr Trump leading up to his firing on 9 May. |
| He will say his first meeting with the president occurred on 6 January in a conference room at Trump Tower, where Mr Comey briefed him alone on "salacious and unverified" allegations about him. | He will say his first meeting with the president occurred on 6 January in a conference room at Trump Tower, where Mr Comey briefed him alone on "salacious and unverified" allegations about him. |
| A dossier compiled by a former British intelligence official claimed the Russian security services had compromising material on Mr Trump, including that he had been recorded consorting with prostitutes at a Moscow hotel. | |
| Mr Comey's statement says the president emphatically denied he had "been involved with hookers in Russia" during a subsequent meeting. | |
| That denial came in a one-on-one dinner on 27 January at the White House, Mr Comey will say, adding that he had a "very awkward conversation" with the president that evening. | |
| Mr Trump asked the FBI director during the discussion in the Green Room whether he wanted to stay in his job, Mr Comey will testify. | |
| Mr Comey will say he found this "strange" because Mr Trump had already told him twice in earlier conversations that he hoped he would not step down. | |
| The former FBI director will say the question "concerned me greatly" because he felt the dinner was an effort to "create some sort of patronage relationship". | |
| The former FBI director will say: "A few moments later, the President said, 'I need loyalty, I expect loyalty.' | |
| "I didn't move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence." | |
| Mr Comey will say the president moved on, only to return to the subject near the end of the dinner. | |
| The FBI director will testify that he explained to the president why it was so important that the FBI and US Department of Justice kept independent of the White House. | |
| Mr Comey will say: "He [Mr Trump] then said, 'I need loyalty.' I replied, 'You will always get honesty from me.' He paused and then said, 'That's what I want, honest loyalty.'" | |
| In testimony, the former FBI director will detail his next encounter with Mr Trump was during a meeting attended by intelligence chiefs in the White House on 14 February. | |
| The president asked Mr Comey to stay at the end of the Oval Office meeting and told him: "I want to talk about Mike Flynn." | |
| Mr Trump fired Mr Flynn as national security adviser just 24 days into the job after he misled the White House about his conversations with the Russian ambassador. | |
| Mr Comey will say Mr Trump told him: "I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." | |
| The former FBI Director will testify that he did not say he would "let this go". |