Members of key congressional committees are pledging a full public airing as to why former FBI director James Comey was ousted amid an intensifying investigation into Russia’s interference with the U.S. election.
The probe appears to be reaching close to President Donald Trump and his inner circle.
In Sunday show appearances, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers said they will press Comey in hearings as to whether he ever felt that Trump tried to interfere with his FBI work. Others are insisting on seeing any White House or FBI documents that detail conversations between the two, following a spate of news reports that Comey had kept careful records.
Comey was fired by Trump earlier this month. The former FBI director agreed to testify before the Senate intelligence committee after the Memorial Day holiday.
“The American public deserves to know the answers,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a member of the Intelligence committee. “Did he keep these memos? What do those memos say? And why did he write it? And how did he feel? Did he ever feel like he was being put in a position where he couldn’t do his job? There’s no doubt that that’s the questions that are going to get asked, and asked repeatedly.”
The New York Times reported last week on a Comey memo indicating that Trump had urged him to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. A second Times report said Trump also had told Russian officials in a closed-door meeting at the Oval Office that firing Comey “had relieved great pressure on him.” The Washington Post, meanwhile, said a senior Trump adviser is now being considered a “person of interest” in the law enforcement investigation into whether Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the election.
“This cloud is impacting everything else,” Rubio said, describing a number of questions, such as possible obstruction of justice, that are hanging over the White House. Asked if he wished for a bit less drama from the White House, Rubio described it as political reality, explaining: “People got what they voted for. ”
The leaders of the House oversight committee, Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, also said they had many questions and would seek Comey’s notes.
Chaffetz said he expects to speak with Comey on Monday and that if there are any notes of White House meetings, “we’re certainly pursuing them.”
“There have been so many lies, so many contradictions,” Cummings said, adding that he expects parallel investigations from Congress to proceed fully after the Justice Department last week appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as special counsel to head an investigation into possible Russian coordination with the Trump campaign.
Referring to the whole sequence of events leading to Comey’s firing, Cummings said: “I think that there may be quite a few people that may have some problems with the law.”
The White House has repeatedly insisted that a “thorough investigation will confirm that there was no collusion between the campaign and any foreign entity.” It has not denied the Times report that Trump was critical of Comey to the Russians the day after he fired him. Instead, White House spokesman Sean Spicer has called the president’s rhetoric part of his deal-making, contending that Comey had created “unnecessary pressure” on Trump’s ability to negotiate with Russia on a range of issues.
White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster underscored that point in an interview that aired Sunday, saying Trump had felt “hamstrung.”
“The president feels as if he is hamstrung in his ability to work with Russia to find areas of cooperation because this has been obviously so much in the news,” said McMaster, who was present at the White House meeting.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a member of the Intelligence Committee, said she plans to press Comey regarding what was discussed with Trump about Flynn and whether he was asked by Trump to alter the FBI investigation. The California Democrat said public hearings should ferret out what has been a flurry of apparently contradictory comments by many of the people involved.
“I really think that rather than have all these memorandums and issues circulating around, that we need to put the facts before the American people,” she said. “Did the president fire Comey because of his investigation and was he worried about what the investigation might conclude? If so, that borders on a very serious charge.”
“And it’s got to come from Director Comey himself,” Feinstein said.
Rubio appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” and CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Feinstein also was on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” and Chaffetz, Cummings and McMaster spoke on ABC’s “This Week.”
(AP)
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MORE AP FAKE NEWS!
By now, everyone is already aware that the “Russian interference” is a democratic HOAX to get the focus away from Hillary’s huge corruptions!!
Did the “Russian interference” include rigging the voting machines and inserting over 10 million illegal votes and duplicate votes for Trump, like they did for Hillary? If not, stop wasting our tax money on nonsense and start investigation the real criminal, namely Hillary. Why don’t you look into the massive amount of money she OPENLY received from China and Saudi Arabia to manipulate the election for her? Why is she immune to all this and her corruptions and criminal activities are being covered up? And why is she not behind bars yet with her 18-wheeler load of corruptions?
And regarding Comey the Crook’s firing, FAKESTREAM HYPOCRISY!
ABC News:
Democrats cry foul over Comey firing after previously calling for him to resign
Less than a year ago, some of the same Democratic politicians who are now attacking Trump for firing Comey called for the director’s resignation or questioned his credibility.
Comey set off a firestorm when he sent a letter to Congress on Oct. 28 of last year announcing the FBI was in possession of recently discovered emails in relation to Hillary Clinton’s use of a private server while secretary of state. Some Democrats, including Clinton, have blamed Comey’s actions for tilting the presidential election to Trump.
The White House has taken notice of the Democrats’ prior statements and used them to defend the president’s decision.
Here are SOME criticism of Comey by Democrats (and one independent) before he was fired:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York
“I do not have confidence in him any longer,” Schumer told Bloomberg on Nov. 2.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California
“Maybe he’s not in the right job,” she said to CNN on Nov. 2.
Former Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada
In October, Reid suggested Comey’s actions “demonstrated a disturbing double standard for the treatment of sensitive information” and may have violated “the Hatch Act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election,” in a letter to the director.
Reid wrote that he has “been a supporter” of Comey’s and “led the fight” to get him confirmed, as he believed Comey was a “principled public servant.”
“With the deepest regret, I now see that I was wrong,” Reid added.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Sanders told ABC News just before Trump’s inauguration that it “would not be a bad thing for the American people” if Comey stepped down.
“I think that Comey acted in an outrageous way during the campaign,” said Sanders. “No one can say that this was decisive or this is what elected Trump, but clearly his behavior during the campaign in terms of what he said during the week or two before the election was unacceptable.”
Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee
In October, Cohen called on Comey to “resign his position effective immediately.”
“If Director Comey cares about the bureau and the rule of law … I’m sure upon reflection of this action, he will submit his letter of resignation for the nation’s good,” Cohen wrote.
He bashed Comey’s letter as “plainly premature, careless and unprecedented.”
Steven Cohen, 31 October 2016
In light of the recent comments by #FBI Director #Comey re: #HillaryClinton emails, I call on him to resign. Read my full statement here:
Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York
“The president can fire him for cause and ought to. He violated all the guidelines and put his thumb on the scale of an election. Whether it was decisive or not is a different question,” Nadler told CNN on Nov. 14.
Rep. Maxine Waters of California
“All I can tell you is the FBI director has no credibility. That’s it,” Waters told reporters after leaving a Jan. 13 classified briefing on Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.
Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia
“My confidence in the FBI director’s ability to lead this agency has been shaken,” said Johnson, after the Jan. 13 closed-door briefing on the Russia investigation for House members.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida
“I think Director Comey has taken enough actions that call into question his ability to continue to serve credibly,” she said during a CNN appearance on Jan. 17. “I would lean in the direction that he no longer is able to serve in a neutral and credible way.”