The James Comey Saga, In Timeline Form

Updated at 4:20 p.m. ET on June 20

Attorney General Jeff Sessions' appearance June 13 before the Senate Intelligence Committee was the latest chapter in a saga that began long before President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on May 9.

It began even before the announcement Comey made in late October 2016 that Hillary Clinton partly blames him for her 2016 electoral loss to Trump.

In fact, it's a story that has now continued past his termination, with a winding narrative that has seen the president make veiled threats and contradict his own staff as well as the vice president. In testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee June 8, Comey upped the ante when he said the president had lied about him and the FBI.

Wednesday, both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees hold hearings about Russian election meddling in 2016 — specifically about Russian efforts to intrude into state election systems. And, Comey's temporary replacement, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, also testifies on Capitol Hill about the agency's budget, but lawmakers will be free to ask McCabe about other matters.

Here's a timeline of key Comey-related events:

Oct. 1, 2015: Comey tells reporters that FBI investigators looking into possible compromise of information on Clinton's private email server would be fiercely independent, because they "don't give a rip about politics."

"Part of doing our work well is to make sure we don't talk about it," he said, approximately a year and 27 days before talking about the FBI's work in a pretty public way.

July 2, 2016: Trump tweets that it "is impossible for the FBI not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton," setting up a major conflict when Comey goes public with his investigation announcement just a few days later. Trump's theme continues throughout July, as the Republican National Convention is peppered with "Lock her up!" chants.

July 5, 2016: Comey announces that the FBI is recommending the Justice Department not bring charges against Clinton for her handling of classified data. Still, Comey says Clinton and her staff were "extremely careless" in using a private email server and adds that he thinks it's possible classified information on the server could have been hacked by "a hostile actor."

The appearance at the FBI headquarters in Washington gives ammunition to the Trump campaign and sets Comey up to serve as Trump's latest political foil.

Aug. 22, 2016: Trump makes news at a rally in Akron, Ohio, when he argues a special prosecutor is needed for the Justice Department to "investigate Hillary Clinton's crimes."

"The Justice Department is required to appoint an independent special prosecutor because it has proven itself to be really, sadly, a political arm of the White House," Trump says.

Ken Gormley, president of Duquesne University and author of two books on special prosecutors, spoke to NPR's Carrie Johnson at the time. "If you look at the chronology, pretty much the political party that does not control the White House tends to want special prosecutors and independent counsel laws," he said. "As soon as the party is in the White House, they don't want it anymore."

The message would become relevant again when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats began calling for a special prosecutor to investigate Russia's meddling in the U.S. election after news broke that Comey had been fired by Trump.

Oct. 28, 2016: In a letter to the leaders of congressional oversight committees, Comey notifies Congress that the FBI is reopening the investigation into the handling of classified information in connection with Democratic presidential candidate Clinton.

"The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation," Comey wrote. "I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation."

Republicans quickly jumped on the opportunity to bash Clinton. At a rally in New Hampshire, Trump said, "Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we have never seen before." And the Republican National Committee added that the FBI's decision to reopen the investigation ahead of the election "shows how serious this discovery must be."

No information was revealed about the content of the newly uncovered emails, but by the end of the day, sources had confirmed to NPR the emails were found through an unrelated criminal investigation of Anthony Weiner.

Oct. 30-31, 2016: The FBI obtains the search warrant necessary to examine the newly found emails. At this point, there's still no confirmation of whether the emails contained any new information or even whether they were sent or received by Clinton.

During this time, the assistant attorney general wrote a letter to Democratic senators assuring them that the Justice Department was dedicating "all necessary resources" to go through the emails as quickly as possible.

These stories illustrate the vague daily news dribble, spurred by Comey's announcement, that helped get the words "Clinton" and "email" back into headlines, just a week before voters went to the polls.

Nov. 6, 2016: Comey announces that the new trove of emails doesn't change the FBI's recommendation that the Justice Department not charge Clinton for her handling of classified information.

"Since my letter, the FBI investigative team has been working around the clock to process and review a large volume of emails from a device obtained in connection with an unrelated criminal investigation," Comey wrote to 16 chairmen and ranking members of relevant House and Senate committees. "Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July with respect to Secretary Clinton."

Sources told NPR that almost every email the FBI reviewed in the new batch was a duplicate of an email the bureau had already seen.

Trump uses the news to call the FBI, and Comey by extension, "rigged."

"Right now, [Clinton's] being protected by a rigged system," Trump told a crowd in Michigan. "You can't review 650,000 new emails in eight days — you just can't do it, folks. Hillary Clinton is guilty."

Nov. 8, 2016: Trump defeats Clinton in the presidential election, with an Electoral College victory of 306 to 232. Clinton wins the popular vote by almost 3 million votes. Trump will become the next president of the United States.

Neither Clinton nor Trump mentions Comey or the Oct. 28 letter in election night speeches.

Jan. 22, 2017: Two days after Donald Trump becomes President Trump, Comey and the president meet at a reception for law enforcement and security officials in the White House Blue Room. Trump calls Comey over and they hug.

"He's become more famous than me," Trump said with a chuckle, according to Reuters.

March 8, 2017: At a cyber conference in Boston, Comey reiterates that he intends to serve the entirety of his 10-year term. "You're stuck with me for about 6 1/2 years," he says.

The comments follow Comey's urging the Justice Department for days to issue a public denial of Trump's accusations of wiretapping against President Obama.

NPR's Carrie Johnson reported at the time that Comey "has demonstrated a nearly unique ability to draw critics from both ends of the political spectrum."

March 20, 2017: Comey confirms that the FBI is investigating "whether there was any coordination between the [Trump] campaign and Russia's efforts" to interfere in the 2016 election. He made the statement during the first open hearing on Russian meddling, held by the House Intelligence Committee.

May 2, 2017: Clinton says that if it weren't for Comey's Oct. 28, 2016, letter, she would be president.

"It wasn't a perfect campaign — there's no such thing — but I was on the way to winning until a few things happened," Clinton tells CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour at a women's leadership luncheon.

"If the election was on Oct. 27, I'd be your president," Clinton added.

Trump fired back later that night, tweeting "FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!"

May 3, 2017: The FBI director testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and tells Congress that it makes him "mildly nauseous" to think his late October decision could have swung the election.

Still, he defends himself.

"Lordy, has this been painful," he told committee members. "I've gotten all kinds of rocks thrown at me, and this has been really hard, but I think I've done the right thing at each turn."

He also has an exchange with Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, about whether senior Justice Department officials can "halt" an FBI investigation if they oppose it. "In theory, yes," it can happen, Comey says. "Has it happened?" Hirono asks. "Not in my experience," Comey responds.

May 9, 2017: Trump suddenly fires Comey on a Tuesday afternoon.

May 11, 2017: Trump contradicts his White House staff as well as the vice president over the reasoning. At first, staffers said Trump acted on the assessment of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, but in an interview with NBC News, Trump says he was going to fire Comey regardless of Rosenstein's advice.

"It was set up a while ago," Trump told Lester Holt on May 11. "And frankly, I could have waited, but what difference does it make?"

Just before the firing, the FBI sent a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley correcting aspects of Comey's May 3 testimony. The letter came after ProPublica first reported inaccuracies in Comey's statements to Congress.

From ProPublica's Peter Elkind:

May 12, 2017: Trump tweets on Friday, "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" The following Monday, journalists in the White House briefing continued to ask press secretary Sean Spicer to comment on the implication of a taping system in the Oval Office. Spicer did not clarify.

May 16, 2017: Two sources close to Comey say that Trump asked him to close down the FBI's investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn a day after Flynn was fired. Comey, who was still FBI director at the time, wrote a memo about the exchange immediately after the Oval Office conversation in February, an associate of Comey's told NPR.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, sends a request to acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe for "memoranda, notes, summaries, and recordings referring or relating" to communications between Comey and Trump, setting a deadline of May 24.

The White House has denied that the president ever asked for the investigation to end. The FBI would not comment, but McCabe testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on May 11 that "there has been no effort to impede our investigation to date."

May 17, 2017: The Senate Intelligence Committee invites Comey to testify in open and closed sessions. It also sends a request to McCabe "seeking any notes or memorandum prepared by the former Director regarding any communications he may have had with senior White House and Department of Justice officials related to investigations into Russia's efforts." The Senate Judiciary Committee is also seeking the alleged memos and related documentation.

Rosenstein appoints former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead the Russia investigation as a special counsel.

May 18, 2017: Trump denies asking Comey to shut down the Flynn investigation during a joint press conference with the president of Colombia, responding curtly to a reporter with: "No. No. Next question." He also changes his rationale for firing Comey again, saying he based his decision on Rosenstein's recommendation. Rosenstein briefs senators the same day, saying he knew that Comey would be fired before he wrote the memo.

May 19, 2017: Rosenstein talks to members of the House, later releasing his opening remarks to lawmakers, in which he says he stands by the memo he wrote about Comey and that he "thought it was appropriate to seek a new leader."

The Senate Intelligence Committee says Comey will testify in an open hearing, to be scheduled after Memorial Day (the committee later announced it would take place on June 8). Comey turned down the Senate Judiciary Committee's request.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Trump told Russian officials during a May 10 meeting that he fired "nut job" Comey to ease the pressure of the mounting investigation into the election and his team's potential ties to Russia. White House press secretary Sean Spicer does not dispute the account.

May 22, 2017: In addition to reportedly pushing Comey on the Russia investigation, Trump asks top U.S. intelligence chiefs to push back against the FBI's investigation, The Washington Post reports.

A White House spokesman said in a statement, "The White House does not confirm or deny unsubstantiated claims based on illegal leaks from anonymous individuals." Asked about the report in later testimony, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said that he did not "feel it's appropriate to characterize discussions with the president."

May 25, 2017: House Oversight Committee Chairman Chaffetz says the FBI declined to release documents his panel had requested regarding communications between Comey and the president. Reuters reports: "The FBI said it was still evaluating the request ... in light of the appointment of a special prosecutor" to lead the Russia probe.

June 7, 2017: Trump announces he is nominating Christopher Wray to be FBI director. Wray is a former Justice Department official who currently works in the private sector.

Ahead of its hearing the next day, the Senate Intelligence Committee releases Comey's opening statement. In it, Comey corroborates much of what has been reported in The Washington Post and New York Times, saying the president asked him for "loyalty" and to let the Flynn investigation "go." Comey also says he had an awkward dinner with Trump on Jan. 27 at which the president asked whether he wanted to stay on as FBI director. Read NPR's analysis of the comments.

June 8, 2017: Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee, in his first public comments since his dismissal. The hearing is one of the most closely watched testimonies in recent memory, even prompting bars in D.C. and beyond to open early and host watch parties.

Comey says the Trump administration "chose to defame" him by saying the FBI was "poorly led" under him. He adds that the White House lied in arguing he was let go for any reason other than the ongoing Russia investigation, and that he documented his conversations with President Trump because he "was honestly concerned [Trump] might lie" about their meetings.

He says plainly that he told his friend to release his memos to the New York Times, specifically hoping they would lead to the appointment of a special counsel.

And that's just the hearing that was open to the public. Comey continues to speak to senators in a closed afternoon session.

White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tells reporters after the testimony that she "can definitely say the president is not a liar." And Trump sends out his personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, to make a statement on his behalf.

"[Comey] also admitted that there is no evidence that a single vote changed as a result of any Russian interference," he says. He also claims Trump never told Comey he needed loyalty from him "in any form or substance," even though the president "is entitled to expect loyalty from those who are serving in an administration."

June 9, 2017: In a joint press conference with the president of Romania, Trump says he would be willing to testify under oath about his interactions with Comey.

"Frankly, James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said — and some of the things that he said just weren't true," Trump says in his first on-camera remarks following Comey's testimony. He doubles down on Kasowitz's claim that he never asked Comey for a loyalty pledge or urged him to do away with an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

When asked whether he would be willing to speak with special counsel Robert Mueller under oath about his conversations with Comey, Trumps responds: "100 percent."

June 13, 2017: Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee. It's his first public appearance before Congress since Jan. 10, when he said he "did not have communications with the Russians." It was later reported that Sessions had in fact met twice with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. in 2016, though Sessions insists those were part of his role as a senator at the time and were not about the Trump campaign.

Sessions recused himself in March from any investigations into Russia's actions in the 2016 election. At the time, Sessions said he was recusing himself because he was an adviser for the campaign. Comey's testimony on June 8 cast doubt on that reasoning, when the former FBI director said he had thought Sessions would recuse himself weeks before he did because of reasons that were classified.

Testifying before his former colleagues in the Senate, Sessions denies any suggestion that he was involved in any collusion with the Russians. The attorney general called such allegations "an appalling and detestable lie."

With regard to Comey's firing, Sessions said he agreed with the assessment provided by Deputy Attorney Rod Rosenstein. Furthermore, Sessions explained, "It is absurd, frankly, to suggest that a recusal from a single specific investigation would render the attorney general unable to manage the leadership of the various department of justice law enforcement components that conduct thousands of investigations."

June 14, 2017: Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating President Trump for possible obstruction of justice, the Washington Post reports. Comey's firing is a "central moment that's being looked at" in Mueller's investigation, the Post's Devlin Barrett told NPR's Ari Shapiro on All Things Considered, "but it's not the only thing." Investigators are also considering the conversations Comey and the president had leading up to the firing.

June 15, 2017: President Trump takes to Twitter in the wake of the Post's report and calls the Russia inquiry "the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history ...." "They made up a phony collusion with the Russians story," Trump also says on Twitter, "found zero proof, so now they go for obstruction of justice on the phony story. Nice"

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