Key moments of Trump-Comey clash and what's come after

Protesters gather to rally against US President Donald Trump's firing of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey, outside the White House in Washington, US, May 10, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

May 9, 2017: Trump abruptly fires Comey. "It is essential that we find new leadership for the FBI that restores public trust and confidence in its vital law enforcement mission," Trump states in a letter addressed to Comey. In announcing the firing, the White House circulates scathing memo, written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein criticizing Comey's handling of the Clinton probe.

May 11, 2017: Trump, in an NBC interview, says he had been intending to fire Comey — whom he derided as a "showboat" and "grandstander" — for months. He denies it had anything to do with the Russia investigation, but also says: "In fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story."

May 12, 2017: Trump tweets that Comey "better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"

May 16, 2017: A person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press that Comey wrote a memo after the Feb 14 meeting with the president that said Trump had asked him to shut down the FBI investigation into Flynn. The person had seen the memo but was not authorized to discuss it by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. The White House denies the account. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Republican chairman of a House oversight panel, vows to get copies of any memos Comey wrote about meetings with Trump, tweeting: "I have my subpoena pen ready."This story corrects in May 16 entry that Comey wrote the memo after a meeting in February, not January.

AP