is one in a series of hearings that will be happening. >> reporter: president trump's official government twitter account firing off defensive tweets in realtime, throughout the hearing. leading one lawmaker to press comey to clarify the record. >> is the tweet, as i read it to you, the nsa and fbi tell congress that russia did not influence the electoral process, is that accurate? >> we've offered no opinion, have no view sw, have no information on potential impact, because it's never something we looked at. >> reporter: comey also revealing the intelligence community has come to at least one clear conclusion. russia's interference in the election was primarily driven by vladimir putin's disdain for hillary clinton. >> putin hated secretary clinton so much that the flip side of that coin was, he had a clear preference to the person running against the person he hated so much. >> reporter: meantime, republicans trying to deflect from the investigation, instead focusing on leaks and who revealed former national security adviser michael flynn's identity. >> one thing you and i agree on