GRAHAM SHAKES UP WITH COMEY IN WHAT THE FORMER FBI DIRECTOR KNEW QUESTIONS IN THE SENATE
Comey decided not to open on Wednesday, but appreciated the questions. The committee’s chairman, Senator Lindsey Graham, RSC, went straight to the point and asked what efforts the FBI had made to verify the file.
“I don’t know, ” said Comey.
Graham also asked what Comey knew about former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty after being accused of changing an email to say Page was not running with the CIA while the FBI knew Page was running with the agency.
“I don’t know anything about Mr. Clinesmith, ” said Comey.
Comey blamed the court order, saying he had only signed the certification, not the affidavit on which it was based, but when asked who deserved to appeal to the committee and who was guilty of deceiving the court, Comey again accepted the terms. .
At first, Comey said to take a look at IG’s report, but when asked if he knew, he gave a familiar answer.
“I don’t do it, ” he said.
Graham then talked about the deputy deputy deputy Christopher Steele, whom the FBI interviewed. The deputy truster told the FBI that the data on the record was unreliable and based on rumors. Graham noted that the deputy source was known through the FBI as a Russian spy imaginable. Faced with those details, Comey back declared himself ignorant.
“I didn’t learn anything about Steele’s sources,” he said. When asked if he knew that the FBI had questioned the sub-source in January 2017, Comey back replied, “I don’t have a settlement. “
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When questioned again, Comey later said that he “did not remember being informed of any interviews. “When asked if he had been informed, Comey replied that he might not respond.
Graham visibly frustrated with Comey’s answers.
“Was it a vital case for the FBI or was it a matter?”asked at one point, commenting on the lack of data comey.
Graham also referred to a report through the US intelligence network. But it’s not the first time That included reports that the major lascive points about Trump in the case came from Russian intelligence agencies.
“Did you know when he came out? Graham asked, noting that parts of Steele’s case were Russian misinformation, but the FBI remained dependent on it anyway.
Graham went on to cite false main points in the case, as a reference to a Russian consulate in Miami that does not exist, and one that Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, allegedly made to Prague and has since been discredited.
“They never corrected all the wrong data in the file,” Graham said. “It was used over and over again, and they never told the court how unreliable it was. Is it a small thing or a big thing?”
“Whenever there are significant omissions in an application to make a judgment of any kind, but especially in an ex parte procedure, it is a very vital issue,” Comey said.
Graham also asked Comey about the newly declassified one published Tuesday through Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.
According to declassified information, in September 2016, U. S. intelligence officials referred an investigation into Clinton allegedly backing “a plan about US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers preventing U. S. elections” in order to divert public attention from their email scandal. Comey and Deputy Deputy Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok.
“Don’t you get an investigation from the intelligence network?On September 7, 2016, U. S. intelligence officials were stationed by U. S. intelligence officials. But it’s not the first time They sent an investigative reference to James Comey and Strzok regarding Clinton’s approval of a plan [on] Trump . . . As a means of distraction? Comey on Wednesday.
“That doesn’t tell me anything, ” replied Comey.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, a member of the rankings, downplayed FISA’s problems and noted that Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz found that the Russia investigation was successfully introduced.
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He claimed the FBI had made mistakes, but said President Trump and his supporters had Carter Page’s order “to claim that the entire Russia investigation was corrupt. “Feinstein insisted that he “played no role in the broader russia investigation. “
Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat for Minnesota, stated that Wednesday’s hearing was important, but said the Senate had been about four years old to enact FISA reform and that there were more pressing problems facing now, such as coronavirus, pandemic, or even existing ones. electoral problems.
“Elections are coming up in a few weeks,” Klobuchar said, “and as Senator Durbin pointed out, there are many considerations about Russia lately. Not about what Comey participated in this research years ago, but about what’s going on. “happening right now.
“We have director Wray same Array . . . which says, “Russia is very active in the 2020 election, basically through what we would call malicious foreign influence to check and undermine Joe Biden,” Klobuchar said.
Senator Mike Lee, Republican for Utah, referred to past discussions he and Comey had about FISA when Comey first conducted his confirmation procedure for the FBI leadership.
“I trusted you. I think he would act in intelligent faith,” Lee said. “When I asked him at my workplace and later at committee hearings, first at his confirmation hearing and then at our upcoming surveillance hearings, what he would do to make sure the FISA procedure is respectable and unper manipulated, he gave me his word. And having set up this brief appointment with you all those years before, I trusted you.
Lee said he is now “very disappointed” that Comey beyond the promises “now seems very ins sincere. “
Lee then commented on Comey’s repeated claims that he was unaware of any problematic movements or applicable data while the investigation was ongoing.
“With all due respect, you should know nothing about an investigation you conducted,” he said.
Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican for Missouri, however, is less frustrated with Comey’s testimony than some of his colleagues, and said Comey’s efforts to avoid responsibility would possibly be more revealing than he had anticipated.
“What you see here is that he is struggling to shirk duty and admit what he knew,” Hawley said outdoors during the hearing, “and unfortunately he’s tying knots. Hawley referred to occasions in the hearing in which Comey denied the wisdom of data as the political association of Steele’s investigation.
“It’s all on the record, I’ve read it again, so I think it’s vitally important,” Hawley said, hoping that “accusation efforts” will be made.
Graham intends to call additional witnesses to explore the FISA procedure in the Russia investigation.
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“We will keep moving forward, ” he said. I’ll call everyone who signed the court order application and ask them if they knew what they know now, would they have signed the court order application against Carter Page?And, by the way, how is it possible for the other guilty people to show up?Not knowing anything about the blatant abuse in one of the maximum vital instances in FBI history?”
The committee already has former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe to testify at a hearing scheduled for October 6.
Kelly Phares and Brooke Singman of Fox News contributed to this report.