Paul Ryan, the Speaker of US House of Representatives, on Wednesday said that that it was "obvious" that there were people who wanted to "harm" President Donald Trump by leaking documents of former FBI Director James Comey.
Ryan was referring to allegations that Donald Trump requested James Comey to end the FBI investigation into the links between the Kremlin and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
"We need the facts. It is obvious there are some people out there who want to harm the president and that means before rushing to judgment we (must) get all the pertinent information," Efe news agency quoted Paul Ryan as saying on Wednesday.
The New York Times recently made revelations about Trump's request for Comey to end the FBI investigation into the links between the Kremlin and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
Ryan said that Congress will call James Comey to testify after the FBI chief was fired by Trump last week.
Comey had been heading the FBI probe into the connections between Russian officials and Trump's presidential campaign.
"I'm sure we're going to want to hear from Comey," said Ryan, adding that "our job is to be responsible, sober and focused only on gathering the facts. That is what Congress does in conducting oversight of the executive branch."
The House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday asked the FBI for all documents prepared by Comey regarding his conversations with Trump.
The Times reported that Comey wrote in a memo that Trump told him that "He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go," referring to the Flynn investigation.
The Democrats in Congress have emphasised the seriousness of the accusations of Russian involvement in the election, not to mention the accusations that Trump tried to obstruct justice, and have demanded an independent investigation into the matter.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that "the country is being tested in unprecedented ways" after learning of new reporting saying that Trump asked Comey to shelve the investigation.
Meanwhile, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, said that "Enough is enough," adding that "Congress needs to get to the bottom of this."
The top lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee invited Comey to testify in both open and closed hearings regarding the investigation he was heading.
Republican Senator Richard Burr, the committee chairman, and the assistant chairman, Democratic Senator Mark Warner, announced in a statement that they had sent a new letter to Comey, who had rejected their previous invitation because he wanted to testify in public, not exclusively in private.
The request came after The New York Times revealed on Tuesday the existence of a memo Comey had written showing Trump's attempt to obstruct the FBI's Russia investigation.
(With IANS inputs)
