Former FBI Director James Comey has rejected a request by House Republicans give a closed-door interview as part of two ongoing House committee investigations into allegations of political bias at the Justice Department and FBI.

But Comey said he would participate in a public hearing instead.

“Mr. Comey respectfully declines your request for a private interview,” his attorney David Kelley wrote in a letter. “He would, however, welcome the opportunity to testify at a public hearing.”

Kelley told House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., that because Comey “no longer has a security clearance,” a public hearing would be easy to plan. It is unclear if Republicans would rather a public than private hearing with Comey.

“We also expect that, because any information about which you may inquire was acquired by Mr. Comey while he was in the employ of the FBI, you will obtain in advance the necessary approvals from the FBI for Mr. Comey to disclose FBI information that may be responsive to your examination,” he wrote.

According to Kelley, the request by the two GOP lawmakers was made on Sept. 21, but he made no mention of a deadline for when they want to bring his client in. Kelley said Comey is busy after the release of his recent book.

Goodlatte and Gowdy issued requests last week to interview a handful of former Justice Department and FBI officials from the Obama administration, and even threatened to issue subpoenas.

Among those requested include former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates.

Comey was fired by President Trump in May 2017. Trump later admitted that the FBI’s ongoing investigation into Russian election interference and any connections to the Trump campaign was on his mind when he fired Comey.

In June 2017, Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he told Trump he was personally not under investigation by the FBI, and that Trump pressured him to say so publicly to lift the "cloud" on his presidency.

The firing of Comey and ensuing drama paved the way for Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint special counsel Robert Mueller to take over the Russia probe.

Since last fall, the House Judiciary and Oversight committees have been investigating what the Justice Department and FBI did and didn’t do during both its Russia investigation, and separate investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

A handful of top officials have been interviewed already, including former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and top former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.

Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of research firm Fusion GPS, was hit with a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee last week after his lawyer said he would not appear.

Fusion GPS hired former British spy Christopher Steele to assemble a dossier portraying links between Trump and Russia, an effort that was financed by the Democratic Party.

The dossier was then used in part to obtain a surveillance warrant on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, but Republicans have said the political motivations behind the dossier were not fully revealed when applying for and obtaining the warrant. Because of that, the FBI’s greater investigation into Russian election interference and the Trump campaign is biased, Republicans say.

Democrats have decried the ongoing investigation by House Republicans as a means to discredit Mueller.

After Comey's book, "A Higher Loyalty" came out in April, Trump railed against the former FBI head on Twitter, calling him an “untruthful slime ball” and a “proven LEAKER & LIAR.”

Trump also said that it was his “great honor to fire” Comey.