Key excerpts of ex-FBI director Comey's prepared testimony
The Senate committee investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election on Wednesday released the written testimony of fired FBI Director James Comey.
Two Navy stewards waited on us, only entering the room to serve food and drinks.
The president began by asking me whether I wanted to stay on as FBI director, which I found strange because he had already told me twice in earlier conversations that he hoped I would stay, and I had assured him that I intended to.
I replied that I loved my work and intended to stay and serve out my 10-year term as director.
[...] because the setup made me uneasy, I added that I was not "reliable" in the way politicians use that word, but he could always count on me to tell him the truth.
Near the end of our dinner, the president returned to the subject of my job, saying he was very glad I wanted to stay, adding that he had heard great things about me from Jim Mattis, Jeff Sessions and many others.
The term - honest loyalty - had helped end a very awkward conversation and my explanations had made clear what he should expect. ...
On February 14, I went to the Oval Office for a scheduled counterterrorism briefing of the president. ...
When the door by the grandfather clock closed, and we were alone, the president began by saying, "I want to talk about Mike Flynn."