The acting director of the FBI has denied White House claims that his predecessor had "lost the confidence of rank and file" bureau staff before being fired.

Andrew McCabe was asked during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about Donald Trump's dismissal of FBI director James Comey earlier this week.

Mr McCabe, who was taking Mr Comey's place at the hearing, told senators he would not update them on their "highly significant" investigation into allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 US election and had possible ties with the Trump campaign.

He also agreed to refrain from updating the White House on the investigation.

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On Wednesday, the White House said Mr Comey had been fired by President Trump partly because he had lost the confidence of FBI staff.


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Mr McCabe said his predecessor had "enjoyed broad support" within the agency and that he holds Mr Comey in the "absolute highest regard" and that it was the "greatest privilege" of his career to serve under him.

Democrats have alleged that Mr Comey was fired because he was unhappy at the FBI's ongoing probe into the Russia connection.

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Senator Mark Warner, the senior Democrat on the committee, said: "It's hard to avoid the conclusion that the President's decision to remove Director Comey was related to this investigation and that is truly unacceptable.

"We and the American people were supposed to hear straight from the individual responsible for the FBI investigation.

"We anticipated asking Director Comey a series of questions about his actions and the actions of the FBI; looking into which Trump associates, if any, and some of their actions during the campaign, relates to the Russians.

"However, President Trump's actions cost us an opportunity to get at the truth, at least for today."

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Mr McCabe assured senators that he would tell them if he learns of any effort to interfere with the government's investigation.

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He also would not confirm Mr Trump's account that Mr Comey had told him on a number of occasions he was not under investigation.

He said that it would not appear to be standard practice.

But in an interview to be aired on NBC on Thursday, Mr Trump will repeat his claim that Mr Comey told him three times he was not the subject of an investigation.

Mr Trump also accuses Mr Comey of being a "showboat" and a "grandstander"

He will insist he decided to fire him before a meeting with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and regardless of a Department of Justice recommendation.