Former FBI Director James Comey will say Thursday that President Donald Trump asked him about the former national security adviser Michael Flynn and to "see your way clear to letting this go," according to a copy of his opening remarks posted online.
Read the full text of Comey's testimony here.
"He then said, '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,'" Comey said in remarks posted on the website of the Senate intelligence committee. "I replied only that 'he is a good guy.' (In fact, I had a positive experience dealing with Mike Flynn when he was a colleague as Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the beginning of my term at FBI.) I did not say I would 'let this go.'"
Comey is scheduled to give his testimony before the Senate committee Thursday.
Comey, in his opening statement, said Trump told him "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty" during their first dinner in January. Comey said in the statement "I didn't move, speak or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed." Comey said he told Trump "you will always get honesty from me." He said the President responded, "that's what I want. Honest loyalty."
