Recorded every meeting with Trump as he may lie: Ex-FBI boss
Sacked FBI Director James Comey has revealed that he took notes of his conversations with President Donald Trump after their meetings as he thought Trump might lie about their discussions. Comey, who was leading an investigation into allegations of Russia's interference in the US presidential elections, also confirmed that Trump has never been under investigation.


3.38pm BST
15:38

Now Warner?s up. He begins by revisiting the ?smear? of Comey?s character following his firing. Warner is going to talk about Comey?s meeting with the president. He starts with the first meeting Comey described, in which Comey briefed the president on the Steele dossier.Why did Comey decide to document that discussion. What was it about that meeting?Comey replies:?A combination of things. The circumstances, the subject matter and the person I was interacting with.?Comey says he was alone with the president-elect discussing weighty matters.Then:I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, and so I thought it was important to document it.Updated
at 3.53pm BST


3.36pm BST
15:36

Burr asks Comey whether he doubts that the congressional committee plus Bob Mueller can get to the bottom of the Russia affair.No doubt, Comey says. 

3.35pm BST
15:35

Burr is back to Comey?s decision to talk about Clinton?s emails. He asks whether attorney general Loretta Lynch?s tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton influenced his decision.?That was the thing that capped it for me, that I had to do something separately,? Comey said.Comey says he was ?confused and concerned? that Lynch directed Comey to call the Clinton email affair not an investigation but a ?matter.? That was ?one of the bricks in the load? that convinced him to act unilaterally, he said. 

3.33pm BST
15:33

Question: When did you first become aware of Russian cyberintrusion?A: There were a lot of them. Late summer 2015. ?There was a massive effort.?Comey says Russians targeted ?hundreds, I suppose it could be more than a thousand? entities in an attempt to crack the US election.He says in late 2015 or early 2016 he became aware that data had been exfiltrated.He says the FBI undertook an effort to notify victims of the ?massive spearfishing campaign.?Comey says the Obama administration was looking for ways to fight the cyberattack. This all happened out of the public view, of course, while Comey stepped forward to give multiple updates in the Clinton emails inquiry.

3.30pm BST
15:30

Burr is on to the so-called Steele dossier, an intelligence file on Trump produced by a former British intelligence officer. Comey is asked whether the FBI confirmed any criminal allegations in the dossier. He declines to comment in an open setting.

3.28pm BST
15:28

Comey says ?honestly no? he would not have acted differently in advising the public and Congress about the Clinton emails investigation. 

3.28pm BST
15:28

Comey: In any complex investigation, when you start turning over rocks, sometimes you find things unrelated to the primary investigation that are criminal in nature.

3.27pm BST
15:27

Burr turns to Michael Flynn. He says Flynn had unreported contacts with the Russians.Was general Flynn at that time in serious legal jeopardy. Do you think the president was trying to obstruct justice or just give Flynn a way to save face??Obstruct justice? ? Burr?s phrase.Comey says it?s not for him to say whether what the president did amounts to obstruction. 

3.26pm BST
15:26

Burr asked Comey whether the special counsel, Robert Mueller, reviewed his testimony.No.Comey says he has ?no doubt? that the Russian government was behind various intrusions in the election and attempts to tamper.Are you confident that no votes... were altered?Comey: ?I?m confident.?Did the president ask you to stop the Russia investigation?Not to my understanding, no.

3.24pm BST
15:24

In a poignant moment, Comey tells his former colleagues he is ?so sorry? he wasn?t able to say goodbye to them.Then he offers his testimonial:?The FBI is honest, the FBI is strong, and the FBI is and always will be independent.?