Comey passionate about why Russia probe matters
During his testimony Thursday, former FBI Director James Comey was asked why the investigation into Russian interference in our presidential election is important. A partial transcript:
(D-N.M.): The president has repeatedly talked about … Russia’s involvement in the U.S. election cycle as a hoax and as fake news.
Can you talk a little bit about what you saw as FBI director … that demonstrate(s) how serious this action actually was, and why there was an investigation in the first place?
The — there should be no fuzz on this whatsoever … the Russians interfered in our election during the 2016 cycle. They did it with purpose. They did it with sophistication. They did it with overwhelming technical efforts. And it was an active-measures campaign driven from the top of that government. There is no fuzz on that.
It is a high-confidence judgment of the entire intelligence community, and — and the members of this committee have seen the intelligence. It’s not a close call. That happened. That’s about as un-fake as you can possibly get, and is very, very serious, which is why it’s so refreshing to see a bipartisan focus on that, because this is about America, not about any particular party. So that was a hostile act by the Russian government against this country? Yes, sir. that’s a big part of our role here?
Yes, sir, and it’s not a Republican thing or Democratic thing. It really is an American thing. They’re going to come for whatever party they choose to try and work on behalf of. And they’re — they’re not devoted to either, in my experience. They’re just about their own advantage. And they will be back.
That’s my observation. I don’t think Putin is a Republican or a Democrat. He’s an opportunist.
I think that’s a fair statement.
(D-W. Va.): People said, “Well, this is a — why are we worried about this? Why make such a big deal out of this Russian investigation?” Can you tell me what your thoughts would be?
The reason this is such a big deal … we have this big, messy, wonderful country where we fight with each other all the time, but nobody tells us what to think, what to fight about, what to vote for, except other Americans, and that’s wonderful and often painful.
But we’re talking about a foreign government that, using technical intrusion, lots of other methods, tried to shape the way we think, we vote, we act. That is a big deal. And people need to recognize it.
It’s not about Republicans or Democrats. They’re coming after America, which I hope we all love equally. They want to undermine our credibility in the face of the world. They think that this great experiment of ours is a threat to them, and so they’re going to try to run it down and dirty it up as much as possible.
That’s what this is about. And they will be back, because we remain — as difficult as we can be with each other — we remain that shining city on the hill, and they don’t like it.
Republican Sen. John McCain became an unexpected focus of befuddlement and concern Thursday after a line of questioning that appeared to conflate two separate FBI investigations during James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
McCain, 80, of Arizona, said he believed there was a “double standard” because an investigation into the use of a private email server by Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president, was completed in July, while an investigation into Russia’s meddling in the presidential campaign continues.
“It’s hard to reconcile: In one case you reach a complete conclusion, and the other side you have not,” he said.
He added: “She’s one of the candidates, but in her case you say there will be no charges, and in the case of President Trump, the investigation continues.”
After a yearlong investigation, Comey, then director of the FBI, announced July 5 that he recommended no criminal charges for Clinton for her handling of classified information while she was secretary of state.
That investigation was not connected to the continuing investigation into how Russia sought to influence the presidential election, but McCain appeared to connect the two. Referring to the July 5 announcement, McCain said: “I don’t quite understand how you could be done with that, but not done with the whole investigation of their attempt to affect the outcome of our election.”
The questioning briefly befuddled Comey. “I’m a little confused, Senator,” he responded to one of McCain’s questions. He clarified that there were two separate investigations, but the senator continued the muddled questioning.
Some of McCain’s colleagues were worried about his well-being after his performance. Others on social media, including political critics, shared the sentiment.
McCain’s office issued a statement from him explaining why he wandered during questioning.
“I get the sense from Twitter that my line of questioning today went over people’s heads,” the senator said. “Maybe going forward I shouldn’t stay up late watching the Diamondbacks night games,” he said, referring to the Arizona major-league baseball team.
“What I was trying to get at was whether Mr. Comey believes that any of his interactions with the President rise to the level of obstruction of justice. In the case of Secretary Clinton’s emails, Mr. Comey was willing to step beyond his role as an investigator and state his belief about what ‘no reasonable prosecutor’ would conclude about the evidence. I wanted Mr. Comey to apply the same approach to the key question surrounding his interactions with President Trump — whether or not the President’s conduct constitutes obstruction of justice.”