At the time, Comey's boss, Attorney General John Ashcroft, was seriously ill, and being treated at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Top officials from the Bush White House went to Ashcroft's hospital room to try to get Ashcroft to sign off on the NSA surveillance program - as Comey, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and others dashed to the hospital to try to stop them.
Here is some of Comey's testimony.
The White House later backed off and agreed to certain changes in the surveillance program, as Comey, Mueller, Ashcroft and others had threatened to resign.
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