Comey to testify as Dem sees signs of Russia-Trump collusion

AS EMBATTLED FBI Director James Comey prepared to testify before a congressional panel probing White House wiretapping claims, lawmakers hit the airwaves Sunday debating the Trump administration’s alleged ties to Russia.

Even as Rep. Devin Nunes, (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, expressed his doubts about President Trump’s spy charge, he said he has also seen “no evidence of collusion” between members of Trump’s campaign and Russia — which had been the original point of the investigation.

But Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, rebuffed that notion.

“There was circumstantial evidence of collusion,” Schiff said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“There is direct evidence, I think, of deception. There’s certainly enough for us to conduct an investigation,” he added. “The American people have a right to know, and in order to defend ourselves we need to know whether the circumstantial evidence of collusion and direct evidence of deception is indicative of more.”

The Intelligence Committee is set to hold a hearing Monday on allegations that Moscow attempted to interfere with the 2016 election by hacking email and meeting with the Trump campaign.

The committee is also looking into Trump’s unfounded claims that his predecessor bugged his headquarters at Trump Tower. It was Comey who first disputed the spying charges, urging the Justice Department to denounce them after Trump accused former President Barack Obama of the bugging. Comey, who was also the FBI director under Obama, is expect-