Former FBI Director James Comey, whose dismissal in 2017 through President Donald Trump sparked a broader investigation into Trump’s campaign’s ties to Russia, led by special suggestion Robert Mueller, defended Wednesday’s investigation that he first helped publish as “essential. “
“Overall, I’m proud of the work,” Comey told a Republican-led Senate committee investigating the initial government scrutiny of the Russia probe that followed much of the Trump presidency.
At the same time, the former director also admitted that there were “significant and significant gaps” in the repeated prosecution of supervisory authorities to stick to Trump’s crusade exasessor, Carter Page, as a component of the investigation.
Continually pressed through Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Comey said he would not have approved several wiretap requests for Page if he had known that the programs filed with the Secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court were full of errors, as we decided. last year through the courts. Inspector General of the Ministry.
Still, Comey said the mandate represented a “much smaller” component of the general investigation he continued to read about the former director’s firing as a component of Trump’s effort to obstruct the investigation.
Comey, whose dismissal has been the subject of a memoir and television drama, is the third leading witness in the Senate Judiciary Committee investigation, which has described the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election as a politically motivated operation aimed at undermining the candidate. . Trump and then the Trump presidency.
On Wednesday, committee chairman Lindsey Graham, CSR, took Page’s surveillance order, suggesting that the FBI and the Obama Department of Justice turned their backs on data that has raised questions based on the wiretap request.
Directly criticizing Comey, who gave the impression through the video, Graham said it is “surprising” that the FBI director is unaware of the shortcomings of the investigation, suggesting that the director “ignores it. “
The findings of the Justice Department inspector general led to the prosecution of a former FBI attorney who pleaded guilty last month for falsifying an email used for the surveillance request. .
When the FBI received registration in September 2016, compiled through former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, Comey told lawmakers that he did not know steele’s main source, an alleged Russian agent.
The abuses exposed through the inspector general, Graham said Wednesday, have “shaken up” confidence in the system, but the inspector general’s own report also concluded that Russia’s investigation was justified and not influenced by political prejudice.
Graham Comey’s voluntary appearance “the day of the trial” in the Senate investigation. Lawmakers have already heard testimony from former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller to lead the 22-month investigation into Russia, and former Interim Attorney General Sally Yates, who first warned Trump management that then-national security adviser Michael Flynn had lied to Tossed’s vice president, Mike Pence, about his early contacts with Russia.
Republican joined Graham in blowing up Comey’s initial surveillance of the investigation, and Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz apparently called Russia’s investigation “corrupt. “
Senator John Kennedy, Republican for Los Angeles, called Comey “equal opportunity selfish” for his public role in handling trump’s investigation and Hillary Clinton’s email investigation, which he soon reopened in the days leading up to the 2016 election.
Trump entered the twitter fray on Wednesday, calling Comey a “MENTIROSO” and saying “he should be arrested immediately!”
The flood came just hours after Tuesday night’s spiteful presidential debate, where Trump insulted and interrupted his through a 90-minute confrontation with Democratic candidate Joe Biden, who called the president a “clown” and implored him to “shut up. “
The committee’s Democrats, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, described the Senate hearing as “a political race for Trump’s re-election effort” a few weeks before Election Day.
“We degrade in this way, ” said Leahy.
‘Nothing like this has happened’: former interim attorney general Sally Yates says Obama, Biden urged Flynn to be investigated
‘I’m responsible’: former prosecutor Rod Rosenstein defends Russian surveillance Investigation accepts FBI surveillance failures
Comey’s firing has resonated for years, with Trump’s popularity taking action due to the FBI chief’s handling of the Russia investigation and the president’s connection to her.
Weeks after Comey’s dismissal, Rosenstein appointed Mueller, paving the way for the special defender’s extensive investigation.
In an explosive testimony a month after his dismissal, Comey told a separate Senate committee that he had memorized conversations with Trump in the early days of management in which the president allegedly asked the FBI director for a non-public “loyalty” and asked him to leave office. investigation into Flynn’s contacts with the Russian ambassador.
More: DOJ denies former FBI director James Comey’s demand for leaking Trump memos and concluded that he violated politics
The memos are at the center of a television miniseries, titled “The Comey Rule”, which debuted this week.
Graham’s committee also highlighted the FBI’s handling of Flynn’s investigation, suggesting that the office tried to unfairly target Flynn. The administration’s most sensible national security adviser later pleaded guilty to the FBI’s lie for his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn withdrew the guilty plea in January, saying the government had violated the plea agreement.
While Flynn awaited his conviction, the Justice Department reduced fees in May due to the objection of career prosecutors. The decision was challenged through the sentencing judge, who has since asked a federal appeals court to reconsider the court’s ruling, leaving the court’s fate. The retired lieutenant general of the army is uncertain, almost 3 years after he pleaded guilty for the first time.
Before Wednesday’s hearing was postponed, Graham questioned Comey’s earlier statement that the global Russia investigation had been conducted “according to the rules. “
Comey gave no reason, saying that “overall” the investigation was correct, which caused some other flourishing in the president’s component.
“God is helping us all if this was done through the book,” Graham said. “If this is consistent with the book, we will have to rewrite the book. “