James Comey expected to reveal whether FBI is investigating Trump campaign for Russia ties

James Comey is expected to make the announcement at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
James Comey is expected to make the announcement at a Senate hearing on Wednesday. (Stephan Savoia/AP)

FBI Director James Comey is expected to reveal on Wednesday whether his bureau is investigating potential ties between President Trump's campaign and Russia, according to a Democratic senator.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse told several news outlets that Comey recently promised him and GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham to confirm at a Senate hearing on Wednesday whether the FBI is probing the Trump camp for Kremlin connections.


Comey apparently made the promise during a private March 2 meeting with the two senators. The announcement was first reported by CNN on Tuesday night.

The FBI did not immediately confirm the report.

Graham blasted the White House earlier Tuesday for not providing any proof for Trump's unsubstantiated claim that President Barack Obama wiretapped his Manhattan headquarters during the campaign. The South Carolina Republican and Sen. Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who are spearheading three House probes into Russia's role in the 2016 election, both requested last week that the Justice Department present any evidence supporting Trump's explosive claim.

Graham said he intends to go "tough" on the White House during Wednesday's Senate hearing.

Presidents can't order wiretap operations and a number of former and current intelligence agency heads have refuted Trump's baseless accusation. The President's representatives have walked back his remarks, with press secretary Sean Spicer saying Monday that Trump didn't literally believe that Obama had wiretapped him.

At least three Trump associates are already under FBI investigation for alleged ties to Russia, and Trump himself has refused to accept the intelligence community's consensus that the Kremlin meddled in the election to help him win the White House.