“I think it would be good for him if he did. It would be good for the country," Sen. Lindsey Graham said. | AP Photo Graham invites Comey to testify before Senate panel

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has invited former FBI Director James Comey to testify publicly at a Senate hearing, the South Carolina Republican said Tuesday.

Comey previously declined a request to testify on Tuesday in closed session before the Senate Intelligence Committee, but The New York Times reported Comey would be willing to testify in an open session.


“I’ve asked Comey to come before the Judiciary Committee to tell his side of the story," Graham told reporters. “I think it would be good for him if he did. It would be good for the country.”

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It was not clear whether Graham’s invitation was for a hearing before the full Judiciary Committee or the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, which has jurisdiction over the FBI and is chaired by Graham.

The open hearing would be a first chance for Comey to publicly discuss the circumstances of his firing last week. Graham’s invitation also comes as The New York Times reports Comey wrote a memo that says Trump asked him to shut down the FBI’s investigation into former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.