:00:09. > :00:10.Hello, I'm Ros Atkins, this is Outside Source.
:00:11. > :00:13.A month ago, the director of the FBI was fired by Donald Trump.
:00:14. > :00:19.Today, he gave his side of the story.
:00:20. > :00:21.James Comey gave an extraordinary account of his dealings
:00:22. > :00:23.with the President in the weeks ahead of his sacking.
:00:24. > :00:33.It is my judgment that I was fired because of the Russian
:00:34. > :00:38.investigation, I was fired in some way to change, or the endeavour was
:00:39. > :00:41.to change the way the Russian investigation was being conducted.
:00:42. > :00:43.And James Comey used a word some shy away
:00:44. > :00:47.The administration then chose to defame me
:00:48. > :00:53.and I am so sorry that the FBI workforce had to hear them,
:00:54. > :00:55.and I'm so sorry that the American people were told them.
:00:56. > :01:00.The White House has been quick to respond.
:01:01. > :01:04.The president feels completely vindicated and is eager to move
:01:05. > :01:07.forward with his agenda, with the business of this country, and with
:01:08. > :01:10.this public cloud removed. And, of course, we can't forget
:01:11. > :01:13.that voting is under way We'll bring you the exit polls
:01:14. > :01:30.in just under one hour. The former FBI Director
:01:31. > :01:32.James Comey gave testimony
:01:33. > :01:35.to the US Senate today. This is how Glenn Thrush
:01:36. > :01:38.of the New York Times puts it. "History made, former FBI director
:01:39. > :01:42.calls a sitting president a liar." Or you could take the view
:01:43. > :01:46.of Bill O'Reilly. "The President took hits
:01:47. > :01:49.on Flynn but nothing
:01:50. > :01:51.that was not already known." Mr Comey answered questions
:01:52. > :01:54.from the Senate Intelligence And his contact with
:01:55. > :02:02.Donald Trump was the focus. As was alleged Russian
:02:03. > :02:04.interference in the US election. by a president for any reason
:02:05. > :02:21.or for no reason at all. And on May 9th, when I learned
:02:22. > :02:23.that I had been fired, for that reason, I immediately
:02:24. > :02:26.came home as a private citizen. But then the explanations,
:02:27. > :02:29.the shifting explanations, confused me
:02:30. > :02:33.and increasingly concerned me. They confused me, because
:02:34. > :02:39.the president and I had had multiple So it confused me when I saw
:02:40. > :02:44.on television the president saying that he actually fired me
:02:45. > :02:46.because of the Russia investigation, and learned again from the media
:02:47. > :02:49.that he was telling privately other parties that my firing had
:02:50. > :02:51.relieved great pressure I was also confused by the initial
:02:52. > :02:55.explanation that was offered publicly, that I was fired
:02:56. > :02:58.because of the decisions I had made That didn't make sense to me
:02:59. > :03:03.for a whole bunch of reasons, including the time and all the water
:03:04. > :03:06.that had gone under the bridge since those hard decisions
:03:07. > :03:10.that had to be made. And although the law required
:03:11. > :03:18.no reason at all to fire an FBI director, the administration then
:03:19. > :03:20.chose to defame me by saying that the organisation
:03:21. > :03:26.was in disarray, that the workforce had lost
:03:27. > :03:47.confidence in its leader. He was also asked why he thought he
:03:48. > :03:51.was fired, this was his answer. It is my judgment that I was fired
:03:52. > :03:55.because of the Russian investigation, I was fired in some
:03:56. > :03:58.way to change, or the endeavour was to change the way the Russian
:03:59. > :04:02.investigation was being conducted. That is a very big deal, and not
:04:03. > :04:09.just because it involves me - the nature of the FBI and its work
:04:10. > :04:15.requires that it not be the subject of political consideration. And on
:04:16. > :04:17.top of that, you have the Russian investigation itself is vital
:04:18. > :04:21.because of the threat, and I should have said this area, but it is
:04:22. > :04:27.obvious, if any Americans were part of helping the Russians do this to
:04:28. > :04:29.us, that is a very big deal. I am confident that if that is the case,
:04:30. > :04:31.the director will find that evidence.
:04:32. > :04:35.Rajini Vaidyanathan was in the hearing.
:04:36. > :04:41.On the face of it, a bad day for Donald Trump, so how do we explain
:04:42. > :04:48.that a lot of Republicans seem quite bullish at the end of the testimony?
:04:49. > :04:52.Well, I think, from the republican perspective, many are saying that,
:04:53. > :04:57.actually, James Comey's version of events is nothing new, and that some
:04:58. > :05:01.of the things that he talked about in that hearing, and of course he
:05:02. > :05:04.released the testimony the day before, just confirmed what we have
:05:05. > :05:08.already heard. People on the Republican side are not necessarily
:05:09. > :05:15.jumping to the President's defence, but they did pick some owls, even
:05:16. > :05:19.during the testimony, about the way James Comey handled this. We might
:05:20. > :05:21.come to this later, he went to a friend to leak some information
:05:22. > :05:28.about one of his meetings with President Trump. That was picked up
:05:29. > :05:32.in the meeting as a question of concern. Also, people said, well, so
:05:33. > :05:35.many things were leaked during the time in the last few months that
:05:36. > :05:40.there was concern over the dealings between James Comey and President
:05:41. > :05:44.Trump, yet the one thing that actually presents Mr Trump in a
:05:45. > :05:48.positive light, the fact that he is not being investigated as part of
:05:49. > :05:52.the Russian inquiry, well, that was not believed. Also, I think one of
:05:53. > :05:57.the wider concerns the Republican side is that they don't see this as
:05:58. > :06:01.any grounds for a case for impeachment. The Democrats I have
:06:02. > :06:07.been speaking to here on Capitol Hill say this gives them more of a
:06:08. > :06:12.case, it emboldens them. Lots of elements to pick up on, before we
:06:13. > :06:15.talk further, let me show all of you watching what Donald Trump's lawyer
:06:16. > :06:21.has been saying, he spoke to the media a little while ago.
:06:22. > :06:27.Contrary to numerous false press accounts, Mr Comey has now finally
:06:28. > :06:35.confirmed publicly what he repeatedly told President Trump
:06:36. > :06:37.privately. That is that the president was not under
:06:38. > :06:46.investigation as part of any probe into Russian interference. The
:06:47. > :06:51.president never in form or substance directed or suggested that Mr Comey
:06:52. > :06:58.stop investigating anyone, including the President never suggested that
:06:59. > :07:03.Mr Comey, quote, let Flynn go, close quote. The president feels
:07:04. > :07:10.completely vindicated and is eager to continue moving forward with his
:07:11. > :07:11.agenda, with the business of this country, and with this public cloud
:07:12. > :07:12.removed. We heard reference to
:07:13. > :07:14.Michael Flynn there. He was President Trump's
:07:15. > :07:16.national security advisor. The Senators were particularly
:07:17. > :07:18.interested in whether Donald Trump asked Mr Comey to drop
:07:19. > :07:32.the investigation into Mr Flynn. Why didn't you stop and say, Mr
:07:33. > :07:36.President, this is wrong, I cannot discuss this with you? It's a great
:07:37. > :07:45.question. Maybe if I were stronger, I would have. I was so stunned by
:07:46. > :07:49.the conversation that I just took it in, and the only thing I could think
:07:50. > :07:54.to say, I was playing in my mind, I could remember every word he said, I
:07:55. > :08:00.was playing in my mind, what should my response be? That is why I
:08:01. > :08:04.carefully chose the words. Lordy, I hope there are tapes. Ireland is
:08:05. > :08:10.saying, I agree he is a good guy, as a way of saying, I am not agreeing
:08:11. > :08:13.with what you asked me to do. Maybe other people would be stronger in
:08:14. > :08:21.that circumstance, but that is how I conducted myself. I will never have
:08:22. > :08:28.another opportunity, maybe if I did it again, I would do it differently.
:08:29. > :08:33.Rajini, the senators have heard all of this information, what do they do
:08:34. > :08:36.with it? Well, this is all part of ongoing investigations that are
:08:37. > :08:42.being conducted here in Congress about whether or not the Trump
:08:43. > :08:46.campaign had any contacts with the Russians, that they had yielded
:08:47. > :08:51.influence in some way, and more principally as well about the
:08:52. > :08:56.connection between the Russians and their hacking of the election last
:08:57. > :09:00.year. In that hearing, James Comey was an equivocal in saying that he
:09:01. > :09:04.believed that the Russians did hack the election last year. He said this
:09:05. > :09:08.was not a case of Republicans or Democrats, this was a case of
:09:09. > :09:14.Americans who needed to be concerned about the potential for Russia to do
:09:15. > :09:18.this again. So that is the focus of the inquiries here in the Senate and
:09:19. > :09:24.the House, but the main event, you could say, is the FBI investigation,
:09:25. > :09:28.which is being overseen by the special counsel appointed recently,
:09:29. > :09:31.Robert Muller, a former head of the FBI as well. So lots of
:09:32. > :09:36.investigations going on, and it could be a long and drawn-out
:09:37. > :09:41.process. Please stay with us, I want to pick up on one of the things
:09:42. > :09:44.Rajini referred to. One of the most significant revelations was James
:09:45. > :09:48.Comey admitting that he had asked a friend to leak details of his
:09:49. > :09:52.conversation with President Trump about Michael Flynn. The memo was
:09:53. > :09:58.mentioned multiple times today, here is a couple of them. What was it
:09:59. > :10:04.about that meeting that led you to determine that you needed to start
:10:05. > :10:07.putting down a written record? A combination of things. I think the
:10:08. > :10:12.circumstances, the subject matter and the person I was interacting
:10:13. > :10:18.with, the circumstances first, I was alone with the President of the
:10:19. > :10:20.United States, with the President-elect, soon to be
:10:21. > :10:23.president. The subject matter that I was talking about, matters that
:10:24. > :10:26.touch on the FBI's core responsibility and relate to the
:10:27. > :10:29.President-elect personally. And the nature of the person - I was
:10:30. > :10:33.honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting, so
:10:34. > :10:37.I thought it important to document it. That combination of things I had
:10:38. > :10:43.never experienced before, but it led me to believe I had to write it down
:10:44. > :10:48.in a details way. Rajini, whatever anyone's politics, impossible to
:10:49. > :10:51.deny that the former director of the FBI and looked relaxed, what did it
:10:52. > :10:56.look like? Yes, I should just say that quote that you just played is
:10:57. > :11:00.staggering, and that felt like a moment in the room that will
:11:01. > :11:03.certainly be replayed and played again in history. You have
:11:04. > :11:08.effectively got the former head of the FBI complying that the President
:11:09. > :11:12.of the United States is a liar. In that room, James Comey came across,
:11:13. > :11:16.as you say, as very relaxed, he did not hesitate when he was asked
:11:17. > :11:20.questions by senators from both sides of the political aisle. He had
:11:21. > :11:23.no notes, and even though he was questioned for a number of hours,
:11:24. > :11:28.you barely took any sips of water from the glasses on the table in
:11:29. > :11:31.front of him. I wrote this down, quite a staggering quote amongst all
:11:32. > :11:36.the others that we have picked apart, but one that is quite
:11:37. > :11:41.telling, Ros. He said at some point, I remember every word he said, and
:11:42. > :11:46.you get the impression, Rose, the James Comey is a man who has an
:11:47. > :11:49.attention to detail. If you read the testimony that was released, where
:11:50. > :11:53.he described the encounters with the president in great detail, you got
:11:54. > :11:57.that impression. People watching this, not just where I was, a few
:11:58. > :12:02.seats behind him, but across America, they might actually think
:12:03. > :12:06.that James Comey's details and his account could be believable because
:12:07. > :12:10.of the detail and level at which he went into it. I must stress that the
:12:11. > :12:14.President's lawyer has come out and denied several areas of that
:12:15. > :12:17.account, but really this does come down to what Donald Trump said,
:12:18. > :12:23.President Trump, and what James Comey said. OK, Rajini, appreciate
:12:24. > :12:26.you taking us through that. In a few minutes, we will be back in
:12:27. > :12:31.Washington to take some of your questions on the story, so if you
:12:32. > :12:39.are getting confused, and it is understandable, send them my way.
:12:40. > :12:43.The e-mail address is on the screen. Any questions on what has been
:12:44. > :12:49.happening in Washington, DC, you are welcome to send them my way. We will
:12:50. > :13:10.get some questions answered for you a little bit later.
:13:11. > :13:17.The day the British liberated the Falklands. By tonight, British
:13:18. > :13:22.troops had begun the task of disarming the enemy. In the heart of
:13:23. > :13:27.the West German capital, this was Gorby mania at its height, the crowd
:13:28. > :13:31.packed to see the man who, for them, had raised great hopes of a vision
:13:32. > :13:35.of Europe. Michael Jackson was not guilty on all charges. The screams
:13:36. > :13:43.of the crowd testament to his popularity and their faith in his
:13:44. > :13:46.innocence. As long as they paid to Gozie Ugwu, I will get at there and
:13:47. > :14:04.take them down the hill. -- to go see me.
:14:05. > :14:11.I am Ros Atkins with Outside Source, we are live in the BBC newsroom. Our
:14:12. > :14:15.laid story is that James Comey has testified in the US Senate about his
:14:16. > :14:19.dealings with President Trump and the alleged Russian interference in
:14:20. > :14:23.the US election campaign. He says he documented all of his meetings with
:14:24. > :14:26.Mr Trump because he was concerned the president might lie about them.
:14:27. > :14:31.The White House has responded, saying the president is not a liar.
:14:32. > :14:36.Some of the main stories from BBC World Service, first of all, as you
:14:37. > :14:39.will know, it is the UK general election today, we are into the last
:14:40. > :14:45.hour of voting, that has been taking place in more than 40,000 polling
:14:46. > :14:50.stations. A total of 650 Members of Parliament are going to be elected,
:14:51. > :14:53.and nearly 47 million people are registered to vote. The polls will
:14:54. > :14:58.close at the end of this programme in about 45 minutes. BBC News will
:14:59. > :15:01.be broadcasting an election special, we will get the exit polls very
:15:02. > :15:03.quickly, and whether you are watching in the UK or outside of the
:15:04. > :15:09.UK, you will see that right here. Let's look at the timeline
:15:10. > :15:11.that leads us to today's His first clash with Donald Trump
:15:12. > :15:18.was during the election campaign. Mr Comey had announced the FBI
:15:19. > :15:21.was dropping an investigation into Hillary Clinton's use
:15:22. > :15:33.of a private email server. Although there is evidence of
:15:34. > :15:39.potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified
:15:40. > :15:39.information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring
:15:40. > :15:41.such a case. "FBI director said crooked Hillary
:15:42. > :15:47.compromised our national security." "No charges. Wow!
:15:48. > :15:51.#RiggedSystem." Remember, later on,
:15:52. > :15:53.Mr Comey announced that the FBI was examining
:15:54. > :15:55.new emails of Mrs Clinton's, less than two weeks
:15:56. > :15:59.before the election. Next, let's move on to
:16:00. > :16:07.when Donald Trump became President. He appointed Michael Flynn
:16:08. > :16:12.as his national security advisor. Questions quickly arose
:16:13. > :16:18.about his connections to Russia. James Comey says Mr Trump
:16:19. > :16:27.invited him to dinner, alone. He says during this dinner
:16:28. > :16:29.the President said, "I didn't move, speak,
:16:30. > :16:35.or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward
:16:36. > :16:39.silence that followed." because the same account had
:16:40. > :16:43.appeared in the New York Times. It turns out
:16:44. > :16:49.James Comey had leaked it. the President denied
:16:50. > :16:54.saying any such thing. Meanwhile, the allegations
:16:55. > :16:56.about General Flynn continued to leak in the press,
:16:57. > :17:00.including one that said he'd misled about talks he'd had
:17:01. > :17:24.with the Russian ambassador. The president was very concerned
:17:25. > :17:28.that general Flynn had misled the vice president and others. The
:17:29. > :17:32.evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation, and a
:17:33. > :17:35.series of other questionable instances, is what led the president
:17:36. > :17:40.to ask for General Flynn's resignation.
:17:41. > :17:44.The day after, Mr Comey claims that Mr Trump kept him back
:17:45. > :17:47.after a meeting and told him, "I hope you can see your way
:17:48. > :17:52.clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go."
:17:53. > :17:55.He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go."
:17:56. > :17:56.Again, this these lines had been leaked
:17:57. > :18:00.Here's how Mr Trump responded to a question
:18:01. > :18:06.Did you at any time ask James Comey to back down
:18:07. > :18:18.Allegations about key members of President Trump's administration
:18:19. > :18:21.and links to Russia had been surfacing since the early days
:18:22. > :18:26.In March, his Attorney-General, Jeff Sessions,
:18:27. > :18:28.recused himself from any federal inquiries
:18:29. > :18:33.into the alleged Russian interference in the election.
:18:34. > :18:38.that claiming he'd not disclosed meetings he'd had
:18:39. > :18:43.with that same Russian ambassador who met with Michael Flynn.
:18:44. > :18:50.he admitted he'd made a mistake but said it was an honest one.
:18:51. > :18:58.This statement from James Comey at a congressional hearing.
:18:59. > :19:03.The FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is
:19:04. > :19:08.investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in
:19:09. > :19:13.the 2016 presidential election. And that includes investigating the
:19:14. > :19:15.nature of any links between individuals associated with the
:19:16. > :19:20.Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was
:19:21. > :19:21.any coordination between the campaign and Russia's efforts.
:19:22. > :19:25.It was the first time the FBI had confirmed
:19:26. > :19:30.Mr Comey has claimed today that in the time that followed,
:19:31. > :19:33.Mr Trump called him twice to talk about the Russia inquiry.
:19:34. > :19:41.Then, in May, Mr Comey was fired by letter.
:19:42. > :19:44.At the time, he claimed that it was because of the deputy
:19:45. > :19:48.Attorney General's criticism of the handling of the inquiry
:19:49. > :20:00.But then in a later interview, the President said this.
:20:01. > :20:08.I was going to fire Comey, my decision. I was going to fire him.
:20:09. > :20:11.Now one of those articles I showed you, the one on Jeff Sessions
:20:12. > :20:17.was written by Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post.
:20:18. > :20:24.Earlier I spoke to her from their newsroom and got her to assess Mr
:20:25. > :20:30.Comey's statement today. He did not disappoint. He lived up to the hype
:20:31. > :20:34.of, you know, being someone who was just a master at giving dramatic
:20:35. > :20:42.testimony. It was remarkable, nearly three hours long, opening remarks in
:20:43. > :20:53.which he basically accused the Trump administration of the framing him
:20:54. > :20:57.and the FBI. -- the -- defaming. And putting out information that was all
:20:58. > :21:00.lies, he said. Some have said that Mr Trump was unfair in his
:21:01. > :21:05.description of him, and of not telling the truth, and on one level
:21:06. > :21:09.that will not hurt the president, is it? It is not going to hurt him
:21:10. > :21:14.amongst his base of supporters who firmly believe that there are people
:21:15. > :21:19.who are just lobbing accusations and falls and without foundation, and
:21:20. > :21:30.are doing so with political motives. But what we have here is an
:21:31. > :21:37.extraordinary showdown of sorts between a well-regarded former FBI
:21:38. > :21:42.and director and the President of the United States over whether or
:21:43. > :21:49.not the President of the United States sought to interfere in any
:21:50. > :21:52.way into an investigation of Russian interference in the presidential
:21:53. > :21:57.election, and whether or not there was coordination between the Trump
:21:58. > :22:01.campaign and Russian officials. One of the big takeaways was that Mr
:22:02. > :22:05.Comey was the source of Bailey got a story which contains details of
:22:06. > :22:10.conversations that he had had with Mr Trump. You yourself have written
:22:11. > :22:12.very high impact articles, I wonder what it is like working in
:22:13. > :22:16.Washington at the moment with this be Reilhac must be and with the
:22:17. > :22:24.media and your publication right in the middle of it. -- with this
:22:25. > :22:28.febrile atmosphere. I have never seen anything like it, and never had
:22:29. > :22:40.such a per and of stories and revelations of almost a daily basis.
:22:41. > :22:45.You just wonder how long it can go on. Help our viewers around the
:22:46. > :22:52.world understand what changes because of the day's testimony,
:22:53. > :22:58.where do we go from here? What changes is, in a sense, the focus
:22:59. > :23:08.now is in part on whether or not there was obstruction of justice by
:23:09. > :23:12.the president himself. Jim Comey said he could not answer that
:23:13. > :23:17.question, it would be up to the special counsel, himself a former
:23:18. > :23:22.FBI director who was appointed after Jeff Sessions recused himself. In
:23:23. > :23:27.fact, another remarkable revelation today at the hearing was that Mr
:23:28. > :23:33.Comey himself leaked these memos in the hope that they would spur the
:23:34. > :23:38.appointment of a special counsel. And that detail, that he had hoped
:23:39. > :23:41.to provoke the appointment of a special counsel, does that make
:23:42. > :23:47.James Comey a political player now, someone who ceases to be above the
:23:48. > :23:53.political fray? One could reasonably, you know, argue that, I
:23:54. > :24:00.think, or I can definitely see a debate about that point. I mean, it
:24:01. > :24:07.was certainly I opening enough for us to want to make that our lead
:24:08. > :24:14.story during the hearing, once we heard that revelation. You know,
:24:15. > :24:17.first of all, to acknowledge that he had written these detailed memos
:24:18. > :24:25.after all of these meetings with the president, then to say that he
:24:26. > :24:30.purposely shared them with close associates and ask one of them to
:24:31. > :24:36.get it out to the public and the media through a leak, that was just
:24:37. > :24:40.stunning. Thank you very much indeed, Ellen Nakashima. We have
:24:41. > :24:43.tried to bring you up to date on what has happened today, and also
:24:44. > :24:46.the context that has made it important, but if you want more
:24:47. > :24:50.information on the story and all the allegations and statements that have
:24:51. > :24:55.come with it, you can find that wherever you wanted on the BBC News
:24:56. > :25:00.website or the BBC News app. Let me quickly mention, before we end this
:25:01. > :25:01.half-hour, something that all of you watching, I am sure, are completely
:25:02. > :25:03.aware of. Across the UK millions of people
:25:04. > :25:06.are voting in the general election. Prime Minister Theresa May
:25:07. > :25:23.cast her vote Every politician is not just seeking
:25:24. > :25:27.to become a Member of Parliament, whether they are the leader of their
:25:28. > :25:28.party or not. Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader
:25:29. > :25:30.of the Opposition, Labour Party Tim Farron is the leader
:25:31. > :25:33.of the Liberal Democrats. He voted in Kendal
:25:34. > :25:35.in the north of England. Polling stations will stay open
:25:36. > :25:50.until 10pm local time. Very soon after they close, a
:25:51. > :25:53.glorious shot we have of Westminster there and the River Thames, almost
:25:54. > :25:57.immediately after those polls shut, we get the exit polls, which would
:25:58. > :25:59.give us simply indications of he is old. You can see those, of course,
:26:00. > :26:03.on the BBC.