Former FBI Director James Comey declined to say whether conversations he had with President Trump were an effort to obstruct the investigation into former national security adviser Mike Flynn and the Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
“Gen. Flynn at that point in time was in legal jeopardy,” Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. “There was an open FBI investigation into his statements to Russian contacts and the contacts themselves, and so that was my assessment at that time.
“I don’t think it’s for me to say if the conversation with the president was an effort to obstruct. I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning.”
Comey wrote in testimony released before the hearing that Trump had asked him to ease up on the Flynn investigation, if not end it directly.
Comey also said he had “no doubt” the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election, and he was confident no votes were altered during the election.
“By the time I left as director, I had seen no indication of that whatsoever,” he said.
