Former FBI director James Comey is expected to confirm in public testimony as soon as next week that President Donald Trump pressured him to drop the bureau’s investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to multiple reports.
CNN first reported that Comey is expected to testify next week before the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of multiple groups investigating Trump-Russia ties.
The Wall Street Journal confirmed that Comey is expected to testify as early as Thursday of next week.
>> Related: Senate Intelligence Committee requests Comey memos
No firm date has been set for the hearing, according to CNN.
Comey is expected to validate reports that surfaced in the wake of his May 9 dismissal that Trump suggested Comey drop his investigation of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Flynn was forced to resign less than a month into his tenure after it was revealed that he lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his contact with Russian officials.
>> Related: Report: Trump asked Comey to drop Flynn investigation
One day after Flynn's resignation in February, the president dismissed other senior national security officials attending a meeting in the Oval Office to speak privately with Comey, The New York Times reported.
"I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go," Trump said, according to a memo written by Comey, The Times reported. "He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go."
Comey detailed the conversation in a memo written on the same day as the meeting, according to The Times. He wrote similar memos about each call and meeting he had with the president, who he felt was trying to influence the FBI investigation into possible collusion between Trump and his advisers and Russian officials.
>> Related: Who are key players in the Russia/Trump saga?
The White House has denied Comey's account of the February meeting.
"The bottom line is he's going to testify," a source told CNN. "He's happy to testify, and he's happy to cooperate."
An unidentified source told NBC Nightly News that special counsel Robert Mueller has cleared Comey to publicly testify.
Multiple investigations are ongoing into whether Trump or his associates worked with Russian officials to win November's presidential election. Trump has characterized the probes as little more than a "witch hunt" and "fake news."
The intelligence community said earlier this year with "high confidence" that Russia interfered in last year's election in Trump's favor against Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton. Russia has denied any meddling.
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