Former FBI Director James Comey has been invited to speak to a Senate panel next Tuesday to give a status update on the Russia investigation at the time of his firing.
Comey was scheduled to speak to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, but Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., told reporters the acting director of the FBI, Andrew G. McCabe, will now be testifying in his place.
Firing of James Comey comes two days before Senate Intel Cmte was to hear from Comey in open setting pic.twitter.com/FWXF3FGkxn
— Tim Mak (@timkmak) May 9, 2017
But senators still want to hear from Comey, so they have asked him to testify exactly a week after he was terminated by President Donald Trump. Comey has not responded to the invitation yet.
According to CBS News, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a top Democrat on the committee, told reporters it’s “extremely important that Comey come to an open hearing in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as quickly as possible and testify as to the status of the U.S.-Russia investigation at the time of his firing.”
Following Comey’s termination, which the White House attributed to Comey’s mishandling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, many Democrats and some Republicans called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Republican leadership, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said a special prosecutor is not needed.
“Partisan calls should not delay the considerable work of Chairman Burr and Vice Chairman (Mark) Warner — too much is at stake,” McConnell said in a Senate floor speech Wednesday. Warner is a Virginia Democrat.
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