Fired FBI director James Comey on Thursday kicked off a political controversy in the United States by claiming that President Donald Trump had asked him to stop probing the Russia links of one of his top aides. He accused the White House of defaming him with “lies”.

Mr Comey said he saw Trump’s request to stop investigating the alleged ties of his former national security adviser Michael Flynn as an “order”.

Asked whether he considered Mr Trump’s request to drop the investigation of Flynn, Comey said, “I don’t think it’s for me to say whether the conversation I had with the president was an effort to obstruct. I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning.”

Responding to a question from Senator Burr, Mr Comey said he has no doubt that the Russians attempted to interfere in the the 2016 elections. He said Trump misguided the public by saying that the FBI was in “disarray”.