(Reuters) - Former FBI Director James Comey said on Thursday that he gave a memo describing his conversations with U.S. President Donald Trump to a "close friend" and told him to share its contents with a reporter, a revelation that sparked sharp criticism from Trump's lawyer.
In testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey said he wanted to get his account of his conversations with Trump into the public sphere in the hope it would prompt the appointment of a special counsel, as later occurred, to oversee the investigation into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
