Trump on Comey: 'I wish him luck'

As fired FBI director James Comey gets ready for his first public comments since he was fired, US President Donald Trump wishes him "luck".

Jim Comey and Donald Trump.

James Comey and Donald Trump. Source: AAP

Ahead of fired FBI director James Comey's upcoming congressional testimony President Donald Trump said: "I wish him luck".

Trump was asked about his message for Comey as the president welcomed Republican congressional leaders to the White House on Tuesday.

Comey is scheduled to testify on Thursday before the Senate intelligence committee.

The appearance will mark Comey's first public comments since Trump abruptly fired him last month.

Trump has scheduled a speech addressing religious conservatives around the same time as Comey's testimony.

The brief message came as Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly indicated that Trump's son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner and his communications with Russia are part of a wide-ranging probe by the Justice Department's special counsel.

Kelly defended Kushner at a Senate hearing amid reports that he attempted to establish a "back-channel" communication between Russia and Trump's presidential transition team.

Under Democratic questioning, Kelly said "we have to make the assumption - and I will - that Jared Kushner is a great American".

Kelly said back-channel talks have been common in US diplomacy, but indicated that the matter is under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller as part of his probe into contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Kelly made the comments the same day that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn turned over about 600 pages of documents to the Senate intelligence committee. The panel is conducting its own investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

A congressional aide said the Senate intelligence committee's investigators received the documents on Tuesday afternoon.

Flynn had previously invoked his Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination in rebuffing an earlier subpoena from the committee. After the panel narrowed the scope of that subpoena and issued additional ones for records from two of his businesses, Flynn agreed to turn over some documents.


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Published 7 June 2017 6:00am
Updated 7 June 2017 8:00am
Source: AAP


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