Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, talking to reporters on May 17 about the controversies surrounding President Donald Trump's firing of the FBI director, James Comey. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Sen. Mark Warner — the leading Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee — will use his opening statement at Thursday's James Comey hearing to call the former FBI director's testimony "disturbing."

In excerpts of his opening statement released before the hearing, Warner responded to Comey's prepared remarks, which were released Wednesday.

Warner emphasized an early interaction Comey said he had with Trump in which the president told the then-FBI director, "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty." This, Warner argued, appeared to be an instance of Trump threatening Comey's job.

The Virginia senator also cited another private discussion Comey said he had with Trump in which the president pushed him to drop the investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn.

Warner described these actions, as well as others outlined in Comey's testimony, as violations "of clear guidelines put in place after Watergate to prevent any whiff of political interference by the White House into FBI investigations."

A lawyer for Trump on Wednesday said the president felt "completely and totally vindicated" by the early release of Comey's testimony, which also confirmed previous comments by Trump that Comey had told him he was not under investigation.

But from Warner's remarks, it appears that Democrats will use the Comey hearings to look broadly at the Trump presidency.

"This is not how a president of the United States behaves," Warner said. "Regardless of the outcome of our investigation into those Russia links, Directory Comey's firing and his testimony raise separate and troubling questions that we must get to the bottom of."