Will Trump stop Comey from testifying? Spicer doesn't rule it out
White House press secretary Sean Spicer isn't ruling out the possibility that President Trump could invoke executive privilege to stop fired FBI Director James Comey from testifying before Congress next week.
Spicer said Friday he didn't know whether the president will prevent his fired FBI director from testifying during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing scheduled for Thursday, saying the matter needs to be "reviewed."
"My understanding is the date for that hearing was just set," Spicer said. "I have not spoken to counsel yet. I don't know what they're -- how they're going to respond."
Spicer said for the first time this week that all questions related to ongoing FBI and congressional investigations into Russian election meddling will be referred to Mr. Trump's lawyer.
Comey is currently clear to testify after speaking with Robert Mueller, the former FBI director appointed to be special counsel in the FBI's investigation of Russian election meddling. But, the president could exercise his executive authority to stop Comey from testifying -- a move that would be politically dicey for the president, as he is already under scrutiny for abruptly firing Comey.
Comey is expected to testify about interactions with Mr. Trump, in which the president asked Comey for his loyalty and asked the then-FBI director to drop the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Comey documented the president's request to drop the investigation in a memo, which, along with the president's own comments, muddled the White House's claims that the president fired Comey over his mishandling of the Clinton email investigation. The president seemingly contradicted the White House's justification after he told NBC's Lester Holt he thought of the "made-up" story of ties between his campaign and Russia when he fired Comey, and disclosed to Russian diplomats that firing that "nut job" Comey relieved great pressure on him from the Russia probe.
