Trump will not block sacked FBI director Comey's testimony

Comey, will be making his first public remarks since Trump sacked him on May 9.

Washington, June 6: United States President Donald Trump will not use his presidential powers to prevent sacked FBI director James Comey from testifying before Congress on Thursday, the White House said, setting the stage for potentially explosive testimony later this week.

The White House had floated the idea that Trump could invoke executive privilege, to protect the confidentiality of presidential discussions, but some aides were wary that it could look too much like a White House cover-up.

Trump's office put an end to that speculation on Monday, saying: "President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey's scheduled testimony."

Meanwhile, sacked FBI director James Comey has told the Senate intelligence committee he would not be constrained in discussing his conversations with President Donald Trump.

Senior United States Senator Richard Burr, who has spoken to Comey several times expects the former FBI director to talk in detail about his conversations with Trump when he testifies openly before the committee.

Comey will appear before the Senate intelligence committee on Thursday, with lawmakers seeking answers as to whether he believes the President sought to obstruct his Russia probe or demanded his loyalty before he fired Comey.

The public hearing is expected to shed light on his private conversations with Trump in the weeks before his dismissal, including one discussion in which Trump allegedly asked Comey to drop an investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn and his Russian contacts.

However, he is refrain from discussing the ongoing federal Russia investigation, a Senate intelligence committee reports CNN.

This development comes after Comey's discussions with Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the agency's probe into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia.

Burr also told that former White House national security advisor Michael Flynn, a focus of the Russia probe, had turned over some of the documents to the Senate intelligence committee in response to a subpoena they issued last month."

OneIndia News (with PTI inputs)