Washington, May 19 (IANS): The US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that former US Senator Joe Lieberman was one of his top picks to be nominated as FBI director.

Trump confirmed when he was asked if Lieberman, the Democrat-turned-independent senator from Connecticut was a top candidate, CNN reported.

He also announced he was "very close" to choosing a new FBI director to replace James Comey.

Trump met with Lieberman on Wednesday and found him "agreeable".

For the new candidate who would lead the bureau, replacing Comey, Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have been interviewing various candidates.

Trump came under criticism for firing Comey as he was supervising the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 US election and any possible links between the Trump and Russia during the campaign.

"While Trump's team initially claimed that the firing came after a review by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, laid out in a memo, that largely faulted Comey on his handling of the investigation into the private email server of Hillary Clinton, Trump later said in an interview he had already decided to fire Comey and cited the Russia investigation as being at the top of mind," the report noted.

Lieberman was Democrat Al Gore's vice presidential nominee in 2000 and unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.

Apart from Lieberman, other candidates considered included current acting Director Andrew McCabe, former Oklahoma Gov. and FBI Agent Frank Keating, career FBI official Richard McFeely and Texas Sen. John Cornyn and New York Judge Michael Garcia, who both withdrew their names.

According to the report, Lieberman has in past served as his state's attorney general, while FBI directors traditionally have had prosecutorial experience, either as an FBI agent or as a member of the Justice Department.

Lieberman is a devout follower of Orthodox Judaism.