'100 percent' ready to testify under oath
Says Trump, accuses ex-FBI chief Comey of lying
US President Donald Trump punched back Friday against James Comey, accusing the ousted FBI director of lying about their private conversations -- and saying he is "100 percent" willing to testify under oath.
Comey delivered scathing testimony a day earlier in a highly anticipated Senate hearing, saying Trump sought to derail a probe into onetime national security advisor Michael Flynn -- at best, a political miscalculation, and at worst a criminal obstruction of justice.
Trump was addressing reporters at the White House for the first time since Comey's explosive appearance, in which he branded the president a liar and said he believed he was fired over his handling of the FBI probe into Russian election meddling.
"Yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction," Trump said in reference to the twin controversies dogging his administration -- accusations his aides colluded with the Russian effort to tilt the vote, and that he sought to block the related Flynn probe.
Trump lashed out at Comey, dubbing him a "leaker" for indirectly providing reporters with the contents of his memos summarizing their private conversations in the weeks before he was sacked.
"Some of the things that he said just weren't true," added the president, who -- when asked if he would be willing to speak under oath to special prosecutor Robert Mueller about the encounters -- responded: "100 percent."
The White House has seized on Comey's confirmation that Trump personally was not under investigation over his ties to Russia to declare a victory of sorts.
The Trump administration has also highlighted the fact Comey stopped short of accusing the president of obstructing justice -- a potentially impeachable offense. The former FBI chief has said the decision was now in the hands of special counsel Mueller.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee, which is also probing Russian election meddling, wrote Comey requesting his notes memorializing his conversations with Trump.
They separately wrote the White House counsel Don McGahn asking whether the recordings exist, and if so, that they be produced to the committee by June 23.