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Trump Won't Use Executive Privilege to Stop Comey Testimony

President Donald Trump will not invoke executive privilege to prevent former FBI Director James Comey from testifying before Congress Thursday.
Image: US House Committee requests FBI to provide Comey's documents on Trump
epa05968855 (FILE) - A combo file picture made available on 17 May 2017 shows US President Donald J. Trump (L) participating in a town hall meeting on the business climate in the United States, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House complex in Washington, DC, USA, 04 April 2017, and FBI Director James Comey (R) testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on 'Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.' on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, 03 May 2017. According to media reports, the US House Committee requested that the FBI provide all the documents that FBI former Director James Comey had made on his talks with Donald Trump. Comey has been dismissed by the US President Donald J. Trump according to White House spokesman Sean Spicer on 09 May 2017. EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS/SHAWN THEWMICHAEL REYNOLDS/SHAWN THEW / EPA

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will not invoke executive privilege to prevent former FBI Director James Comey from testifying before Congress Thursday.

Despite having that "established" power, deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, Trump will not assert the privilege in order to "facilitate a swift and thorough examination of the facts sought by the Senate Intelligence Committee."

Comey will head to the Hill on Thursday for a highly-anticipated testimony — his first since President Trump unexpectedly fired him last month.

Trump contradicted White House staffers who explained that a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was critical to helping Trump decide to fire Comey. But in an interview with NBC's Lester Holt, Trump said he would've fired Comey "regardless" of that memo.

Since the firing, which ushered in weeks of political turmoil in Washington, NBC News learned that Comey kept memos about his conversations with Trump — including one that said Trump asked him to shut down an investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.