Friday, 15 Nov 2024

Highlights of Comey Testimony: He Likes Mueller, but They’re Not Best Friends

Has James B. Comey, the former director of the F.B.I., ever hugged and kissed the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III?

President Trump, who fired Mr. Comey in May 2017, said in September he could produce more than 100 photographs of such affection.

In testimony behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and House Oversight Committees on Friday, Mr. Comey had an answer: “I’m an admirer, but not that kind of admirer.”

Mr. Comey’s testimony was laid out in a 235-page transcript that was released on Saturday. It revealed that he answered questions about investigations into Hillary Clinton’s email server and whether Mr. Trump’s campaign advisers colluded with the Russian government in the 2016 presidential election.

He defended the integrity of the F.B.I. despite claims of bias. He spoke about four Americans the F.B.I. investigated for connections to Russian interference in the 2016 election. And he defended his decision not to prosecute Mrs. Clinton in July 2016 over her handling of classified information while she was secretary of state.

In two angry tweets, Mr. Trump on Sunday lashed out at Mr. Comey, calling him a liar.

“His Friday testimony was so untruthful!” Mr. Trump said in one. “This whole deal is a Rigged Fraud headed up by dishonest people who would do anything so that I could not become President.”

What else did Mr. Comey have to say on Friday? The transcript offered some interesting morsels. Here’s a look.

Comey and Mueller: Are they best friends?

In an interview with The Daily Caller in September, Mr. Trump declared that Mr. Mueller was Mr. Comey’s best friend.

“And I could give you 100 pictures of him and Comey hugging and kissing each other,” Mr. Trump said.

About the photographs, Mr. Comey said he wasn’t aware that any existed. “I have never hugged or kissed the man,” he said. “Again, I’m an admirer but not that kind of admirer.”

Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, asked, “Are you best friends with Robert Mueller?”

“I am not,” Mr. Comey replied. “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. I think I had a meal once alone with him in a restaurant. I like him.”

Mr. Nadler thanked Mr. Comey and said he would not ask “whether you’ve ever hugged and kissed him.”

“A relief to my wife,” Mr. Comey replied.

He was quizzed on the history of elections

At one point, questioning turned to text exchanges between the F.B.I. agent Peter Strzok, who had overseen an investigation into Mr. Trump’s campaign, and Lisa Page, an F.B.I. lawyer.

Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican of South Carolina, said that one text from March 2016 read, “Hillary should win 100 million to zero.”

“In the course of human history, has anyone won an election 100 million to zero, to your knowledge?” Mr. Gowdy asked.

“I don’t mean to be facetious,” Mr. Comey replied. “I can’t speak to Stalin’s re-election or Mao Zedong re-election campaigns.”

He added, “I remember as a student the vote in Soviet Russia was 99.9 percent to …”

Mr. Gowdy interjected to say, “We are going to get to Russia in a little bit.”

Mr. Strzok was fired this year after an inspector general’s report exposed texts that it said demonstrated animosity to Mr. Trump. Ms. Page resigned in May.

In one text, Ms. Page asked: Mr. Trump was “not ever going to become president, right? Right?!” Mr. Strzok responded: “No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it.”

Later in his testimony, Mr. Comey defended Mr. Strzok, saying he never saw any indication that he was biased.

Lying is, thankfully for some, not a crime

Representative John Ratcliffe, Republican of Texas, asked whether the F.B.I., in interviewing Mrs. Clinton, had considered the possibility that she would lie.

“Knowingly making a false statement to the F.B.I. is a crime, correct?” Mr. Ratcliffe asked.

“That is correct,” Mr. Comey replied.

“Making a false public statement ordinarily is not a crime, correct?” Mr. Ratcliffe said.

“That is correct,” Mr. Comey said. “Thank goodness, for a lot of people.”

Critics are ‘smoking something’

Mr. Ratcliffe questioned Mr. Comey’s decision not to prosecute Mrs. Clinton.

“And on July 5, 2016, you stood before the American people and said that neither you nor any reasonable prosecutor would bring any charges in this fact pattern. Is that accurate?” Mr. Ratcliffe asked.

“Yep. I believed it then, I believe it now,” Mr. Comey replied. “And anybody that thinks we were on Team Clinton trying to cut her a break is smoking something.”

“I’ll object to everything after ‘yep’ as nonresponsive to my question,” Mr. Ratcliffe said.

The Russia investigation can’t be stopped

There has been persistent chatter in recent months about the possibility of the president firing Mr. Mueller.

Representative Steve Cohen, Democrat of Tennessee, asked Mr. Comey what he thought would happen to continuing investigations if that were to happen.

“I don’t know at this point,” Mr. Comey said. “I don’t know. And as an informed outsider, I think that it would — you’d almost have to fire everyone in the F.B.I. and the Justice Department to derail the relevant investigations, but I don’t know exactly what the effect would be.”

Follow Mihir Zaveri on Twitter: @MihirZaveri.

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