The day after President Donald Trump allegedly asked former FBI Director James Comey to end the bureau’s investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Comey told Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he did not want to meet with the president alone in the future, according to The New York Times.
Last month, the Times reported that earlier this year, Trump asked then-Director Comey to end the FBI’s probe into Flynn’s ties to Russia.
“I hope you can let this go,” Trump told Comey, according to a memo Comey reportedly wrote following a private meeting with the president.
The Times reported Wednesday that Comey confronted Sessions after the meeting and told the attorney general that he should “protect the FBI from White House influence.” Comey told Sessions that he thought it was “inappropriate” for the president to have a private meeting with an FBI director.
According to the Times, Sessions told Comey that he could not guarantee that the president wouldn’t seek another private meeting.
Comey reportedly did not tell Sessions about the president's request to end the FBI’s investigation into Flynn.
Flynn resigned shortly before Trump’s meeting with Comey. The former national security adviser admitted in his resignation letter to misleading Vice President Mike Pence about conversations with the Russian ambassador.
Comey is scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee about his conversations with Trump. He was fired by Trump last month, spurring allegations that Trump was trying to impede the FBI’s investigation into his associates’ ties to Russia.
