President Donald Trump will not prevent former FBI Director James Comey from testifying against the president who sacked him when he appears before Congress later this week.
A spokesman said the presidential powers known as executive privilege will not be employed.
The White House has denied blocking Comey would have looked like a cover-up.
ADVERTISEMENT“The president’s power to exert executive privilege is very well established. However, in order to facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey scheduled testimony,” said White House Spokesperson Sarah Sanders.
WH staffer: Trump was furious when advised he couldn’t use executive privilege to stop Comey testimony. https://t.co/HSUyQYLDzR via
nbcnews</a></p>— Jon Cooper (joncoopertweets) June 5, 2017
The stakes are high when Comey stands before a Senate committee on Thursday . He will be asked directly if Trump tried to persuade him to stop an investigation into improper contacts between a former top aide and Russian officials. The committee also wants to know if Trump sought a vow of personal loyalty and whether Comey was fired because he did not comply.
Trump has denied trying to get Comey to drop the case but if Comey’s testimony contradicts him it represents an obstruction of justice by the president making impeachment a remote possibility.
Trump won’t use Executive Privilege to block Comey testimony because he did nothing wrong. Obama used to cover for Holder #FastAndFuriouspic.twitter.com/cjGeAw4M1N
— Feisty☀️Floridian (@peddoc63) June 5, 2017