Trump accuses Comey of lying to Congress
US President Donald Trump has broken
his silence on Twitter after James Comey's explosive testimony to
accuse the former FBI chief of perjury.
"Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication...and WOW, Comey is a leaker!" he tweeted early on Friday.
Mr Comey told Congress under oath he believed he was fired to influence his investigation into the Trump campaign.
The ex-FBI boss led one of several Russia inquiries before he was sacked.
Mr
Comey, who testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on
Thursday, said the president pressured him to drop an investigation into
former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Mr Flynn was
himself forced out after misleading the vice-president about
conversations with Russia's ambassador before Mr Trump took office.
Mr Comey also said the president defamed him and the FBI by claiming
the agency was "poorly led", which Mr Comey called "lies, plain and
simple".
He said he began writing memos after his meetings with Mr Trump because he was "honestly worried he might lie".
He leaked details of his memos after an account of it had already been published in the press.
As
a result of that episode, a special counsel was appointed to lead an
independent investigation into the Trump campaign's potential ties to
the Kremlin.
But there is no known evidence of collusion between
Russia and the US, and President Donald Trump has dismissed the story as
"fake news".
After the hearing, the president's personal lawyer issued a statement rejecting many of Mr Comey's allegations.
Marc
Kasowitz said on Thursday that the president never sought to impede the
investigation into possible Russian interference in the US election and
that Mr Comey's leaks should be investigated.
He also said the
testimony confirmed that Mr Trump was not under investigation as part of
any probe into Russian political meddling.
Hours later, Mr Trump ignored reporters when asked about whether Mr Comey was telling the truth.
BBC
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