House Republicans weigh subpoena in spat with ex-FBI chief Comey

By Sarah N. Lynch

 

FILE PHOTO - Former FBI director James Comey arrives at the Irish Film Institute for for a public interview in Dublin, Ireland June 22, 2018. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Republicans may subpoena former FBI Director James Comey to force him to testify before a House panel about the agency's decisions before the 2016 presidential election, a House aide told Reuters on Monday.

 

In a potential escalation of tensions between rival inquiries into Russian meddling in U.S. politics, House Republicans were prepared to increase pressure on Comey, who has already refused to testify in a closed session.

 

Comey's attorney David Kelley, in a letter dated Oct. 1 that was sent to the Republican chairmen of two committees, said: "Mr. Comey respectfully declines your request for a private interview. He would, however, welcome the opportunity to testify at a public hearing." A copy of the letter was seen by Reuters.

 

Representatives Trey Gowdy and Bob Goodlatte chair the House Oversight panel and the Judiciary panel, respectively. Both are probing the FBI's decisions before the 2016 presidential election; neither is seeking reelection in November.

 

The Republicans' probe is running parallel to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign. That probe has resulted in indictments or guilty pleas from 32 people.

 

If the Democrats take majority control of the House in the Nov. 6 elections, the two committees' probes will likely end. Between now and then, it was not immediately clear what Gowdy and Goodlatte hope to accomplish. The House is out of session until Nov. 13.

 

Their probe into the FBI's handling of Russia's role in U.S. politics and Hillary Clinton's emails when she was secretary of state has been criticized by Democrats as seeking to undermine the Mueller probe.

 

Comey, who was fired by Trump, is seen as a key witness into whether Trump tried to obstruct the Mueller probe. Comey has also been criticized by the Justice Department's inspector general for announcing the FBI's decision not to propose criminal charges against Clinton over her use of a private email server.

 

Republicans have said Comey's handling of the Clinton matter shows he is biased against Trump. The inspector general found that while he acted improperly, he did not exhibit bias.

 

Goodlatte recently issued a subpoena to the Justice Department after he alleged it had refused to provide certain documents from the Russia investigation.

 

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, has since agreed to meet with Republicans in coming weeks, said a person familiar with the matter.

 

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Leslie Adler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-02

"Mr. Comey respectfully declines your request for a private interview. He would, however, welcome the opportunity to testify at a public hearing." A copy of the letter was seen by Reuters.

 

In a democracy and under a President who promised to ‘drain the swamp’’ what’s not to like about testimony before a public hearing?

This is where removing his security clearance is a problem.  He no longer has access to any of his cases, interviews and other information.   

 

I don't think the GOP wants to lift this old rock.  Underneath, is a slew of testimony how they were pressuring the FBI to prosecute Clinton for her email server when it was a big nothing burger.  Comey, unfortunately, succumbed to GOP pressure and began making public statements about an ongoing investigation in order to respond to that pressure which was a big no-no.  That was his fatal flaw, but it does absolutely nothing to help the GOP and only goes to show their efforts to politicize the FBI.

Troll post and reply removed.

 

6 hours ago, Credo said:

This is where removing his security clearance is a problem.  He no longer has access to any of his cases, interviews and other information.   

 

Lack of a security clearance then gives Comey the classic "I don't recall" response to any detailed questions.

4 hours ago, zaphod reborn said:

I don't think the GOP wants to lift this old rock.  Underneath, is a slew of testimony how they were pressuring the FBI to prosecute Clinton for her email server when it was a big nothing burger.  Comey, unfortunately, succumbed to GOP pressure and began making public statements about an ongoing investigation in order to respond to that pressure which was a big no-no.  That was his fatal flaw, but it does absolutely nothing to help the GOP and only goes to show their efforts to politicize the FBI.

evidence please

4 minutes ago, mcambl61 said:

evidence please

• “I knew this would be disastrous for me personally, but I thought this is the best way to protect these institutions that we care so much about,”

Or protect Comey himself from the congressional Republican majority.

• The Department of Justice inspector general’s report on the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email investigation, released Thursday, includes multiple interviews that suggest Comey feared that failing to inform Congress that the FBI had potentially discovered messages relevant to the investigation was not “survivable,” that he might be “impeached,” should Congress discover after the fact that the investigation had been reopened during the election.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/06/comey-letter/562889/

54 minutes ago, mcambl61 said:

evidence please

You're a man-child supporter. Since when did you start to care about evidence and facts???