Comey testimony: The five biggest things we learnt from his damning Senate hearing on Trump

Former FBI Director James Comey testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding his conversations with Donald Trump and the bureau’s investigation into the alleged ties between the Trump campaign team and Russia as well Russian interference in the 2016 US election.  Here are the main takeaways from the roughly two hours of testimony which included questioning by Senators.

“I take the president at his word that I was fired because of the Russia investigation”

Mr Comey, who found out he was sacked while watching television in the Los Angeles bureau of the agency, was confused at first as to why he was let go.

Initial statements and comments from the White House suggested that a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rodney Rosenstein was what swayed the President. The memo stated that public distrust in the bureau had grown since Mr Comey’s 28 October letter regarding an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private sever to send classified emails while she served as Secretary of State.

Many in Washington believed that the letter had a profound impact on the election, which took place just a week after that.

Then the President said on NBC’s Nightly News programme that “when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.'”

MORE: Comey testimony: The five biggest things we learnt from his damning Senate hearing on Trump | The Independent