The White House said Wednesday it was "interesting" former FBI Director James Comey's prepared testimony was released following a hearing of top intelligence officials before the same Senate committee earlier in the day.
"I did find the timing of the release a little bit interesting, directly after testimony from . . . [the] hearing earlier today," deputy White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on Air Force One, according to The Hill.
Comey is scheduled to appear before the panel in open session Thursday.
The committee posted his remarks online Wednesday, in which he detailed private meetings in which President Donald Trump asked for his loyalty and possibly pressured him to drop the investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Sanders said she was "not aware" of whether Trump had reviewed Comey's seven-page remarks.
He was returning to Washington from a trip to Ohio, The Hill reported.
"I think they're reviewing that now," Sanders said when asked if the White House disputed Comey's statement. "It was just released a few minutes ago."
That morning, Intelligence Committee members heard testimony from Navy Adm. Mike Rodgers, the head of the National Security Agency, and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.
Coats and Rodgers refused to tell senators whether President Trump asked them to influence or play down the federal investigation into Russian meddling in last year's election.
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