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President Trump is dining with a group of Republican lawmakers on Tuesday night, including several who are slated to question former FBI Director James Comey during this week's Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.

The White House said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton who sit on the intelligence committee will be among the six GOP lawmakers having dinner at the White House. Earlier Tuesday, Trump is meeting with congressional GOP leadership at the White House, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who is also on the committee.

Comey, who was fired by Trump last month, is scheduled to testify before the intelligence committee on Thursday. He is expected to be asked about his conversations with the president and whether Trump pressured Comey to end the FBI's probe into any ties between his campaign and Russia.

Over the last few days, the White House had considered invoking executive privilege to prevent Comey from testifying, on the grounds that the executive branch has the right to withhold information from conversations between the president and other officials.

But the White House ruled that out on Monday. "The president's power to assert executive privilege is very well established," White House deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders said. "However, in order to facilitate a swift examination of the facts sought by the intelligence committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey's scheduled testimony."

Other Republican lawmakers eating dinner with Trump in the White House residence are Indiana Sen. Todd Young, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, Florida Rep. Francis Rooney and New York Rep. Lee Zeldin.

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Trump dining with several Republicans on Senate Intelligence Committee ahead of James Comey hearing - Washington Examiner