Former FBI Director James Comey spent several hours behind closed doors during a hearing on Friday — only to leave Republicans frustrated by his lack of cooperation.
The House Judiciary Committee and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have been reviewing questionable decisions made by the Department of Justice and FBI related to the presidential election of 2016.
Comey (shown above left) has been a main person of interest since the beginning, for his involvement in a key investigation and his public comments.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) (above right) told reporters outside the hearing room on Friday that some lawmakers had been frustrated with Comey’s testimony so far.
Issa noted that his two attorneys have been instructing him not to answer the vast bulk of the questions.
Comey, according to Issa, also appeared to be gleeful about following those instructions.
“One of the disappointments of this deposition so far has been the amount of times in which the FBI believes that Congress doesn’t have a right to know,” Issa said, according to Fox News.
“The Department of Justice is going to have to agree to allow [Comey] to come back and answer a great many questions that currently he is not answering,” Issa said.
Related: Rep. Darrell Issa Warns That Jim Comey Could Slip Past Republicans
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), for his part, disputed the argument that Comey dodged questions.
He argued that the hearing is a big wild goose chase. But he seemed to agree that the hearing got lawmakers nowhere.
He also said it reinforced his view that the Clinton probe has run its course.
“Mr. Comey is the right witness, but here for the wrong questions,” Krishnamoorthi said outside the hearing room, according to USA Today. “We should be talking about the Russia investigation [instead], and quite frankly obstruction of justice.”
Specifically, House Republicans have been reviewing an investigation into the actions of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She used a private email server to conduct official diplomatic business while she was secretary of state.
They have also been interested in what led to the ongoing special counsel investigation against President Donald Trump.
Comey decided not to recommend the filing of charges against Clinton during the election season of July 2016. He said her actions were extremely careless but did not rise to a criminally prosecutable offense.
He reopened the case for a short time just days before the November election, when additional emails were discovered on former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s (D-N.Y.) laptop.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said he will end the investigation when Democrats become the majority in the new session beginning January 3.
The House flipped to Democratic control after the midterm elections in early November. Republicans were able to hold onto their majority in the Senate.
“This is a waste of time to start with,” Nadler said outside the hearing room, according to the Associated Press. “The entire purpose of this investigation is to cast aspersions on the real investigation … There is no evidence whatsoever of bias at the FBI or any of this other nonsense.”
The hearing wrapped up shortly after, when it was supposed to end around 5 p.m. ET. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) left the hearing room, saying that Comey will return for more questioning in two weeks, according to Bloomberg News congressional correspondent Billy House.
Jim Jordan says Comey returning for more questioning "in two weeks."
— Billy House (@HouseInSession) December 7, 2018
President Donald Trump ultimately fired Comey in May 2017. He has since become a vocal critic of the president and has periodically opined on the ongoing investigation against him.
Special counsel Robert Mueller has been investigating whether Trump or his associates colluded with Russian interests during the presidential campaign.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) has been trying to get Comey back to ask new questions, given how much information has come to light since then, including some contradictions to his earlier comments, such as how many emails they were able to review.
Related: Strzok Hides Behind National Security Cover, Mum to Most Key Questions
Comey resisted the calls to appear for a hearing while insisting that it be made public. House Republicans rejected the idea of a public hearing because they planned to go over classified information.
Eventually Comey agreed to a closed-door hearing on the condition that a transcript be made public afterward.
Goodlatte said the transcript will be released to the public as soon as possible after the interview December 2. He said that move was in the name of their combined desire for transparency.
Comey had already testified during a nearly three-hour hearing in June 2017.
Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a review of the email investigation on June 14. Comey was accused in the report of making a serious error in judgment by sending the letter to lawmakers that was he reopening the email investigation.
But the report didn’t find there was an attempt to influence or rig the election.
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