Former FBI Director James Comey is scheduled to testify before House investigators Monday.
Members of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees will try again to assess Comey’s role in the revelation that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was using a private email server to conduct government business and why the collusion probe seemed to give authorities wide powers to spy on Trump’s closest associates.
His appearance Monday comes more than a week after the reticent Comey avoided answering hundreds of questions, according to multiple sources, about his role in the Russian collusion probe that continues to pursue President Donald Trump.
Comey’s most oft-repeated phrases were reportedly some variation of “I don’t know,” “I don’t remember” and “I don’t recall.”
Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill June 8, 2017 in Washington. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The former FBI director’s overuse of the phrases — some 245 times — prompted Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy to comment: “Comey just thinks he’s always right, and … it doesn’t matter if everyone else concludes he did wrong.”
“He knows better,” Gowdy continued. “So, that’s what it’s like to interview an amnesiac with incredible hubris.” (RELATED: James Comey Denies Being A Leaker)
The investigators will also want to know why Comey ordered two FBI agents to conduct an explosive interrogation of then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn without telling him that inaccurate answers could lead to criminal charges.
On Sunday, California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa told Fox News that he believes Comey deliberately set up Flynn and that Flynn’s conviction will be tossed out. (RELATED: Comey: Dossier Was Unverified Before And After FBI Used It To Obtain Spy Warrants)
California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa in 2014. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
“Tomorrow is going to be a very different day for Comey, particularly in light of what we’ve learned — the misconduct during the Flynn investigation was all about,” Issa reportedly said.
Issa predicted some good news for Flynn. “I would not be surprised a bit if the conviction of Flynn is overturned because of the Justice Department and FBI’s misconduct — and that in fact, we go potentially all the way to the Supreme Court, with new protections — when the FBI and the Department of Justice lies to someone and tricks them into making statements, and then charges them with a lie they entrapped them in,” he continued. “This kind of conduct we haven’t seen in a long time.”
