Former FBI director James Comey鈥檚 testimony before a U.S. Senate intelligence committee Thursday will likely be remembered as a key event in America鈥檚 political history.
Here are six things that stood out from Comey鈥檚 stunning answers to committee members:
Heartfelt goodbye to FBI
In his opening remarks, Comey chose to directly address his former colleagues at the FBI, saying he was 鈥渟o sorry鈥� that he didn鈥檛 get a chance to properly say goodbye when he was fired by U.S. President Donald Trump on May 9.
鈥淚t was the honour of my life to serve beside you, to be part of the FBI family, and I will miss it for the rest of my life,鈥� Comey said, looking directly at the cameras in front of him.
鈥淭hank you for standing watch. Thank you for doing so much good for this country. Do that good as long as ever you can.鈥�
"Lies, plain and simple"
Comey said he accepted the fact that the president could fire him for any reason 鈥� 鈥渙r for no reason at all鈥� 鈥� but he was 鈥渃onfused鈥� by the public explanations for his dismissal from U.S. President Trump and White House officials.
The White House had said that Comey was fired for his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton鈥檚 use of a private email server, while Trump said in an interview that Comey was fired in relation to the Russian hacking probe.
鈥淭he administration then chose to defame me, and more importantly the FBI, by saying that the organization was in disarray, that it was poorly led, that the workforce had lost confidence in its leader,鈥� Comey testified. 鈥淭hose were lies, plain and simple.鈥�
"Lordy, I hope there are tapes"
In Comey鈥檚 written testimony to the Senate intelligence committee, he said that Trump at one point wanted to discuss the FBI investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was forced to resign over his contacts with Russia.
Comey said that Trump told him: 鈥淚 hope you could see your way to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.鈥�
Comey testified Thursday that he took that as 鈥渄irection鈥� from the president, even though Trump did not explicitly order him to drop the investigation into Flynn.
鈥淚 understood what he wanted me to do was drop any investigation connected to Flynn's account of his conversations with the Russians,鈥� Flynn said.
Asked why he didn鈥檛 stop the conversation and tell Trump, 鈥淢r. President, this is wrong, I cannot discuss this with you,鈥� Comey replied that maybe he would have, 鈥渋f I were stronger.鈥�
He then referenced a that suggested there may be 鈥渢apes鈥� of their conversations.
鈥淟ordy, I hope there are tapes,鈥� Comey said.
Why he documented his conversations with Trump
Comey said he felt compelled to start documenting his conversations with Trump after a Jan. 6 meeting in Trump Tower because 鈥淚 was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting.鈥�
He said a combination of 鈥渃ircumstance, subject matter and the person I was interacting with鈥ad led me to believe I鈥檝e got to write it down and write it down in a very detailed way.鈥�
Comey said he had never felt the need to document his conversations with former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush (Comey served as deputy U.S. attorney general during the Bush administration).
"No fuzz" about Russian interference
Several times throughout his testimony, Comey said there is 鈥渘o doubt鈥� that Russian hackers interfered in the U.S. presidential election.
鈥淭here should be no fuzz on this whatsoever,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did with purpose. They did it with sophistication. They did it with overwhelming technical efforts. It was an active measures campaign driven from the top of that government. There is no fuzz on that.鈥�
Comey's medieval reference
When Sen. Angus King asked Comey if he took Trump鈥檚 comment -- 鈥淚 hope you could see your way to letting Flynn go鈥� -- as a 鈥渄irective,鈥� Comey dropped a 12th century reference that many viewers may have missed.
鈥淵es. It rings in my ear as, well, 鈥榃ill no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?鈥欌�� Comey replied.
Those words were famously uttered by King Henry II in 1170, in reference to Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Some of the king鈥檚 men interpreted the king鈥檚 remark as an order to kill Becket, who was then murdered.
鈥淚 was just going to quote that,鈥� Sen. King said.
