TRUMP NOT AN EARLY TARGET
Comey told pols probe started before elex
What President Trump calls a “witch hunt” actually began long before he was elected, when the FBI began looking in mid-2016 into Russian hacking of Democratic National Committee computers, former FBI director James Comey told a House committee.
And by the time he was fired as FBI director, the bureau hadn’t come to any conclusion that Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russia to sway the election, Comey said.
During seven hours of testimony Friday before the House Judiciary Committee, Comey provided more background information into the FBI probe as well as special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Confirming a statement from Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, Comey said that the FBI opened an investigation into four Americans “to see if there was any connection” between them “and the Russian interference effort,” according to a transcript of his testimony released over the weekend.
“At least some” of the four were associated with Trump’s campaign, Comey confirmed when questioned by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.).
“The FBI and the Department of Justice have not confirmed the names of those folks publicly, which is why I’m not going into the specifics,” he said.
Comey did, however, confirm that President Trump was not among the four.
Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, have all pleaded guilty to lying about their interactions with Russia during and after the campaign.
Comey denied a long-running Republican belief that his investigation began after the release of the so-called Steele dossier, which included allegations that Trump’s campaign conspired with the Russian government to steal the 2016 election.
He said his investigators didn’t know about the dossier until “weeks or months” after their probe began.
Early Sunday morning, Trump lashed out at Comey, accusing him — without offering evidence — of lying in his testimony.
“On 245 occasions, former FBI Director James Comey told House investigators he didn’t know, didn’t recall, or couldn’t remember things when asked. Opened investigations on 4 Americans (not 2) — didn’t know who signed off and didn’t know Christopher Steele. All lies,” he tweeted.
“Leakin’ James Comey must have set a record for who lied the most to Congress in one day. His Friday testimony was so untruthful! This whole deal is a Rigged Fraud headed up by dishonest people who would do anything so that I could not become President. They are now exposed!”
During his testimony, Comey pushed back against Trump, denying he was close friends with Mueller — particularly the President’s accusation that he had “100s of pictures” of Comey and Mueller “hugging and kissing each other.”
“I am not. I admire the heck out of the man, but I don’t know his phone number, I’ve never been to his house, I don’t know his children’s names,” Comey said.
“I think I had a meal once alone with him in a restaurant. I like him. I am not a ... I’m an associate of his who admires him greatly. We’re not friends in any social sense.”