Summary

  • The FBI's director confirms an inquiry into any Donald Trump campaign links to Russia

  • The law enforcement chief says there is no evidence to support Trump's claim that Obama wiretapped Trump

  • The Trump administration says 'nothing has changed' and 'there is NO EVIDENCE of Trump-Russia collusion'

  • The NSA's head strongly denies Trump administration claims that he asked Britain's GCHQ to spy on Trump

  • Democrats and Republicans, meanwhile, trade barbs at Senate hearing on Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch

  1. Thank you for being with uspublished at 20:12 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    That's all for today, thanks for joining us.

    For the rest of the day, you can keep across the latest developments on the Russia investigation and on the Supreme Court nomination - which resumes tomorrow - in our news stories below.

    FBI confirms Russia probe

    Senators clash at Gorsuch hearing

  2. Trump's approval rating fallspublished at 20:00 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    After a recent bump in popularity, according to the polls, the president's approval rating now appears to have fallen in the last week.

    How today's events play out, we will see.

    You can follow the latest on what Trump is doing, and how his actions are viewed by the American public, on our Trump tracker page.

    How much has the president achieved so far?

    graphic
  3. What a tangled web she weavespublished at 19:55 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    And one unexpected fact we unearthed today - tarantulas don't grow webs, as one congresswoman learned the hard way when she made a clumsy non-BBC-Earth-approved metaphor.

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  4. Three Trump claims 'debunked' - Voxpublished at 19:53 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    Vox says several of the president's allegations have today been put to bed.

    1. The Russia story is fake, created by Democrats

    2. President Obama ordered a wiretap on Trump Tower

    3. Britain's top spies helped Obama

    Read the full article , external

    The White House takes a different view and said earlier "nothing has changed" with today's evidence.  

  5. 'Big grey cloud hanging over us'published at 19:46 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    As the five-and-a-half hour hearing concludes, Republican chairman Devin Nunes summarised the difficulty ahead.

    "Here's the challenge...you've announced that you have this big investigation, but now you've got these people who are involved in our government.. These are important players," he said in his closing remarks.

    "The longer this hangs out here, the bigger the cloud is."

    He seems particularly frustrated that no specific names have been identified and no collusion identified.  

    Nunes asks that if anyone working in the White House or for the Trump administration is found to have contacted the Russians, that the intelligence directors immediately disclose that.

    Republican Devin Nunes (right) with Democrat Adam SchiffImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Republican Devin Nunes (right) with Democrat Adam Schiff

  6. 'This behaviour is not likely to stop'published at 19:11 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    The witnesses are asked by Washington state Democrat Denny Heck why it would matter that Russia allegedly meddled in the US election campaign. 

    FBI Director Comey says: "When there’s an effort by a foreign nation state to mess with that (US democracy), to destroy that, to corrupt that, it’s very, very serious, threatens what is America. 

    "If any Americans are part of that effort that’s a very serious matter and so you would expect the FBI to understand if that’s so, and if so who did what." 

    NSA chief Mike Rogers says: "This behaviour is not likely to stop, this is not likely to be the last time we have a discussion about this kind of activity."

  7. Meanwhile, in Crimeapublished at 18:37 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    Three years after Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory our correspondent Steve Rosenberg has been to Crimea to hear what people are saying there.

    There's been a lot of talk about Crimea and Vladimir Putin in today's hearing, so it might be helpful to see what things really look like on the ground there.

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  8. A tale of two tycoonspublished at 18:32 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    President Trump met Bill Gates at the White House today to discuss foreign aid.

    As they met, it was revealed that the Microsoft founder had yet again topped the list of the world's wealthiest people, according to Forbes.

    Gates' fortune rose to $86bn, from $75bn.

    But it was bad news for Trump, who slipped 220 spots to 544 and must now scrape by on just $3.5bn.

    Forbes said a $1bn fall in his wealth was due to the slow US property market.

    More details here

    Bill GatesImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    Bill Gates, richest earthling - still

  9. Were Russians successful?published at 18:26 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    The FBI director is back from his bathroom break.

    Asked about the Trump tweet below, Comey says intelligence agencies have made no judgement on whether the Russians were successful or not in influencing the US 2016 election.

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  10. White House reacts to FBI probepublished at 18:20 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    Spicer says he is not aware of any White House official under investigation by the FBI.

    FBI director Comey earlier refused to be drawn on any names of who might be under scrutiny in the ongoing inquiry into alleged Russian meddling in the election.

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  11. Clinton's former campaign team reactpublished at 18:08 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

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  12. Spicer defends Trump golf-playingpublished at 18:07 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    Spicer is asked why Trump spends so much time at golf clubs when he excoriated Obama for hitting the fairway.

    The press secretary says Trump has used "the game of golf" to advance America's interests, such as his links outing with Japan's PM.

    Spicer is asked to produce other examples of how the president has mixed work with golf. He says the president is entitled to some privacy.

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  13. Watergate defender: 'Trump has no defense'published at 18:01 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    John Dean, a former legal counsellor to President Richard Nixon's White House, is on Twitter and giving his response to today's events.

    He played a role defending Nixon, leading the FBI to call him "the master manipulator of the cover-up". 

    He believes a grand jury should be called for an independent investigation.

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  14. Manafort had 'limited role'published at 18:00 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    Sean Spicer says Paul Manafort, the former chairman of the Trump campaign, played a "limited role for a limited time".

    Manafort was repeatedly mentioned by Democratic lawmakers in today's hearing for alleged Russia intelligence links.

    Twitter wags had fun with Mr Spicer's use of the description "very limited role".

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  15. 'Nothing has changed'published at 17:54 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017
    Breaking

    Of today's FBI and NSA evidence in Congress, Sean Spicer echoes his boss' view that "nothing has changed... there's no evidence of a Trump-Russia collusion".

    A member of the press corps points out that Comey told lawmakers the matter was still very much under investigation.

    "Investigating it and having proof of it are two different things," Spicer retorts.

  16. Catch up: What we learned from Comeypublished at 17:51 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    Media caption,

    What FBI Director Comey said on Trump, Russia and wiretaps

  17. White House briefing beginspublished at 17:51 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    Sean Spicer is at the podium with one of the most difficult jobs in Washington today.

    He will be asked by the press corp why he had accused the British of helping Obama to wiretap Trump Tower before the election - a claim that will be very hard to prove today now that the FBI and NSA directors say there is no proof of any such wiretap.

    So far he's touting praise for Judge Neil Gorsuch, who is taking questions at his first confirmation hearing today.

  18. 'I'm not made of steel' - FBIpublished at 17:39 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    Comey interrupts Congressman Schiff to ask for a quick break.

    "I'm not made of steel," he adds. 

    "Ten minutes?" the congressman offers.

    "That's plenty," the FBI director responds.

  19. Republican plan to 'capture' judicial branchpublished at 17:32 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    Meanwhile, over in the US Senate, the confirmation hearing continues for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

    Illinois Senator Dick Durbin told Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch that his nomination formed part of a Republican party strategy to "capture" the judicial branch of the US government. 

    Media caption,

    Democrat senator criticises Republican tactics in Supreme Court nominations

  20. 'Knowing collusion'?published at 17:30 Greenwich Mean Time 20 March 2017

    Illinois congressman Mike Quigley wants know if collusion requires two knowing parties, or if collusion can be possible when one "actor doesn't necessarily know that what they're doing is helping the other government". 

    The NSA chief says that does happen sometimes, leading Quigley to ask about "naive acquiescence", in which one party should know better.

    "I don't know what that means," spy chief Rogers chuckles when presented with that scenario.