--- title: Comey Memo: Senate Intel Committee Asks For Public Testimony description: The request comes after reports of James Comey's memo that detailed how President Donald Trump told him to stop investigating Michael Flynn canonical: https://time.com/4782581/comey-memo-senate-intelligence-committee/ author: Jennifer Calfas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-17T17:08:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:58:31.067Z article:section: Politics og:title: Senate Intelligence Committee Asks Comey to Testify Publicly og:description: The request comes after reports of James Comey's memo shook the Capitol. og:url: https://time.com/4782581/comey-memo-senate-intelligence-committee/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17e4bd1b89f14abe/6988b5590b72e369a16ec3fa/james-comey.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: FBI Director Comey Testifies To House Committee On FBI Recommendation Not To Prosecute Clinton Over Private Email Server og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Senate Intelligence Committee Asks Comey to Testify Publicly twitter:description: The request comes after reports of James Comey's memo shook the Capitol. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17e4bd1b89f14abe/6988b5590b72e369a16ec3fa/james-comey.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senate Intelligence Committee Asks Comey to Testify Publicly for Russia Interference Probe by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas May 17, 2017 5:08 PM UTC  Director James Comey is sworn in during a hearing before House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill, on July 7, 2016. Director James Comey is sworn in during a hearing before House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill, on July 7, 2016.Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas May 17, 2017 5:08 PM UTC The [Senate Intelligence Committee](http://time.com/4713744/jared-kushner-donald-trump-senate-inquiry-russia/) has requested former FBI Director [James Comey](http://time.com/4778500/trump-james-comey-fired-poll/) to testify in both open and closed sessions for its investigation of Russia’s influence in the 2016 U.S. election. In letters sent Wednesday, the leaders of the committee also asked acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to release “any notes or memorandum” prepared by Comey related to his conversations with “senior White House and Department of Justice officials related to investigations into Russia’s efforts.” North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the committee, sent the requests just a day after [the New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html?%5Fr=0) reported that [President Trump](http://time.com/4782530/donald-trump-coast-guard-commencement-speech/) had urged Comey to shut down his investigation former National Security Advisor [Michael Flynn](http://time.com/4776697/donald-trump-michael-flynn-defends-good-person/), according to a memo Comey wrote about the meeting. The White House [denied](http://time.com/4781623/michael-flynn-james-comey-donald-trump-fbi-investigation/) the report, which was also confirmed by a number of national news outlets, including NBC News, the Washington _Post_, ABC News and CNN, among others. Just days he was [fired](http://time.com/4773210/donald-trump-fires-fbi-director-james-comey/), Comey [declined](http://time.com/4778010/james-comey-testify-senate-intelligence-committee/) to testify in front of the committee in a closed session. But with news of his memo, some senators have said it is now even more important for Comey to testify. “If he \[Trump\] did something inappropriate with Director Comey the best way to find that out is to call him before the committee and before the country and to find that out. That’s the way to do it,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican member of the Judiciary Committee, [said](http://time.com/4781623/michael-flynn-james-comey-donald-trump-fbi-investigation/) Tuesday. Trump cited Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of State as reason for his dismissal. But Democrats and some Republicans had questioned his timing and motives, since Comey had been involved in investigations into whether Trump’s campaign had colluded with Russia to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4782581/comey-memo-senate-intelligence-committee/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4782581/comey-memo-senate-intelligence-committee/"},"headline":"Senate Intelligence Committee Asks Comey to Testify Publicly for Russia Interference Probe","datePublished":"2017-05-17T17:08:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:58:31.067Z","description":"The request comes after news broke of James Comey's memo on his conversation with Donald Trump about Michael Flynn","url":"https://time.com/4782581/comey-memo-senate-intelligence-committee/","keywords":["Congress","FBI","Donald Trump","James Comey","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17e4bd1b89f14abe/6988b5590b72e369a16ec3fa/james-comey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Calfas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17e4bd1b89f14abe/6988b5590b72e369a16ec3fa/james-comey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FBI Director Comey Testifies To House Committee On FBI Recommendation Not To Prosecute Clinton Over Private Email Server","caption":"FBI Director Comey Testifies To House Committee On FBI Recommendation Not To Prosecute Clinton Over Private Email Server","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4782581/comey-memo-senate-intelligence-committee/","name":"Senate Intelligence Committee Asks Comey to Testify Publicly for Russia Interference Probe"}}]}] ```