Democratic and Republican senators were apparently discussing the 'definition of obstruction of justice' shortly after news of Comey's memo broke

Moments after The New York Times reported Tuesday evening that President Trump apparently urged fired FBI Director James Comey to close the investigation into ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) noted a foreboding topic of conversation among lawmakers leaving the Senate floor:

The New York Times reported that Trump's request to Comey — whom he abruptly fired a week ago — came just one day after Flynn resigned over misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his conversation with a Russian ambassador. Comey apparently wrote a memo about this particular conversation with Trump, including the fact that Trump had pushed Comey to "let this go" because Flynn "is a good guy."

Comey created a "paper trail" of his interactions with Trump, the Times adds, to document "what he perceived as the president's improper efforts to influence an ongoing investigation." The White House denies Trump asked Comey to halt the investigation.

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