Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Senators question ex-FBI director
Looking back, Russia inquiry ‘sloppy,’ Comey acknowledges
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., listens as former FBI Director James Comey (left) speaks virtually during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday on Capitol Hill. The session was part of the panel’s examination of the FBI investigation into ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia before the 2016 election.
WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers on Wednesday questioned former FBI Director James Comey about his oversight of the Trump-Russia investigation that Comey called “sloppy” and “embarrassing.”
Comey, making his first appearance before Congress since a critical inspector general report on the investigation, acknowledged under questioning that said he would not have certified the surveillance had he known then what he knows now about applications the FBI submitted in 2016 and 2017 to eavesdrop on the aide, Carter Page.
The hearing was part of a review of the Russia probe by the GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee.
Though Comey acknowledged the FBI’s shortcomings in the surveillance of Page, he also described that aspect of the inquiry as a “slice” of the broader Russia investigation, which he defended as legiti- mate and valid.
But those answers, including Comey’s repeated assertions that he had been unaware at the time of the extent of problems, frustrated Republicans who point to the surveillance flaws to try to discredit the overall Russia investigation.
A Justice Department inspector general report identified errors and omissions in each of the four applications that the FBI submitted to obtain warrants to surveil Page, who was never charged with any wrongdoing. The FBI relied in part on Democratic-funded research in applying for those warrants. The inspector general report, and documents released in recent months, have raised questions about the reliability of that research.
The FBI relied on that documentation “over and over and over” again even though it was “fundamentally unsound,” said the Judiciary Committee chairman, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
“What do we do? We just say, ‘Well, that was bad, that’s the way it goes?’ Does anybody get fired? Does anybody go to jail?” Graham said. “To my Democratic friends, if it happened to us, it can happen to you.”
Comey was fired by Trump in May 2017. Republicans have joined President Donald Trump in heaping scorn on Comey, but Democrats have not embraced him either, angered by his public statements made during the Hillary Clinton email case that they believe contributed to her loss.
Democrats lamented the backward-looking nature of Wednesday’s hearing, saying the FBI had good reason to investigate contacts between Trump associates and Russia and that the committee’s time could be better spent on other matters.
Comey defended the investigation, which was opened after a campaign adviser boasted that he had heard Russia had damaging information about Clinton. The investigation examined numerous contacts between Russians and Trump associates during the 2016 campaign. Comey noted that former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation resulted in criminal charges against dozens of people.
“In the main, it was done by the book. It was appropriate, and it was essential that it be done,” Comey said.
But Comey acknowledged “embarrassing” problems in the handling of surveillance applications. He said had he known then about the problems, he would not have certified the surveillance “without a much fuller discussion” within the FBI.
“I’m not looking to shirk responsibility,” Comey said. “The director is responsible.”
A Justice Department inspector general report did not find evidence of partisan bias and concluded the investigation was opened for a legitimate reason. But Republican lawmakers have seized on the critical aspects of the watchdog report to cast broader doubt on the Russia investigation. They also have released documents they say support the conclusion that the inquiry was flawed.
On Tuesday, Graham revealed that he had received declassified information on the investigation from national intelligence director John Ratcliffe.
In a letter to Graham made public Tuesday, Ratcliffe said that in late July 2016, U.S. intelligence agencies obtained “insight” into Russian spycraft alleging that Clinton had “approved a campaign plan to stir up a scandal against” Trump.
But Ratcliffe added that American intelligence agencies do “not know the accuracy of this allegation or the extent to which the Russian intelligence analysis may reflect exaggeration or fabrication.”