Donald Trump says he feels 'completely and totally vindicated' after Comey's testimony

President Donald Trump's private attorney, Marc Kasowitz, said his client felt "completely and totally vindicated" by James Comey's opening statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee which said that Trump was not personally being investigated amid the FBI's wide-ranging Russia inquiry.

Comey's remarks were outlined in an advance copy of his testimony released on Wednesday. "The President is pleased that Comey has finally publicly confirmed his private reports that the President was not under investigation in any Russian probe," Kasowitz said in a statement.

"The President feels completely and totally vindicated. He is eager to continue to move forward with his agenda. Comey's seven-page testimony, released prior to his official hearing scheduled for Thursday, detailed Trump's interactions with Comey, including a dinner where he asked for Comey's loyalty and another meeting where Trump asked Comey to drop the FBI's probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Meanwhile, Trump is committed to ensuring that US elections are conducted fairly and protected from interference from anyone, the White House said on Thursday.

"The president takes our elections very seriously," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. Separately, she added that current sanctions against Moscow would remain in place until the Ukraine crisis was resolved.