Former FBI director James Comey began his testimony this morning in front of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee not by reading a prepared statement that was released a day prior, but rather by speaking about the commitment of the FBI to the United States. "The FBI is honest, the FBI is strong, and the FBI is and always will be independent. And to my former colleagues, I am so sorry I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to you properly.... Thank you for doing so much good for this country," he said.

Any disparagement of the FBI from the president wasn't truthful, Comey said. "Those were lies, plain and simple. And I'm so sorry that the FBI workforce had to hear them." Comey also said the "shifting explanations" for the reasoning behind why he was fired caused him confusion and concern.

A seven-page document detailing Comey's interactions with President Trump was released by the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 7 after the director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency director Mike Rogers gave their testimony. Comey detailed conversations that he had with Trump and said he started to document every encounter he had with the president starting on January 6, the date of their first meeting. "To ensure accuracy, I began to type it on a laptop in an FBI vehicle outside Trump Tower the moment I walked out of the meeting," he wrote.

During his testimony, Comey, who says he was asked by Trump to close the investigation into former national security adviser Mike Flynn, said he took notes on his meetings with Trump because of "the nature of the person." He never saw the need to document his conversations with previous presidents Barack Obama or George W. Bush, but regarding Trump, Comey said, "I was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting."

By May, Trump had fired Comey because the FBI was in "turmoil" and he had "lost confidence" in him. Comey said during testimony that he believes he was fired to "change the way the Russia investigation was being conducted."

The testimony revealed that Trump allegedly told Comey that he was looking forward to working together on a number of occasions before a January 27 dinner at which he asked for Comey's "loyalty." The former FBI director referenced a moment on January 23 in the Blue Room at the White House, in which Trump whispered in his ear, "I really look forward with working with you."

At that January 27 dinner alone with Trump, Comey recalled the president telling him "lots of people" wanted his job. Trump also said to him, "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty." In his prereleased statement, Comey wrote, "I didn't move, speak, or change my facial expression in any way during the awkward silence that followed. We simply looked at each other in silence. The conversation then moved on, but he returned to the subject near the end of our dinner.... He then said, 'I need loyalty.' I replied, 'You will always get honesty from me.' He paused and then said, 'That's what I want, honest loyalty.' I paused, and then said, 'You will get that from me.' As I wrote in the memo I created immediately after the dinner, it is possible we understood the phrase 'honest loyalty' differently, but I decided it wouldn't be productive to push it further. The term — honest loyalty — had helped end a very awkward conversation and my explanations had made clear what he should expect." Comey backed up this incident numerous times throughout the hearing.