Comey Interview 12-7-2018

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EXECUTIVE SESSION
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY,
JOINT WITH THE
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT,
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
WASHINGTON, D.C.

INTERVIEW OF:

JAMES COMEY

Friday, December 7, 2018

Washington, D.C.

The interview in the above matter was held in Room 2141,
Rayburn House Office Building, commencing at 10:12 a.m.
Members Present: Representatives Goodlatte, Issa, King,
Gohmert, Jordan, Buck, Ratcliffe, Gaetz, Biggs, Nadler, Jackson
Lee, Cohen, Deutch, Bass, Gowdy, Sanford, Meadows, Hurd,

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Cummings, Cooper, Krishnamoorthi, Gomez, and Plaskett.

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Chairman Goodlatte.
James Comey.

This is a transcribed interview of

Chairman Gowdy and I requested this interview as

part of a joint investigation by the House Committee on the
Judiciary and the House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform into decisions made and not made by the Department of
Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding the
2016 Presidential election.
Would the witness please state his name and the last
position he held at the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the
record?
Mr. Comey.

Certainly, Mr. Chairman.

My name is James

Brien Comey, Jr., and my last position was Director until May
9th of 2017.
Chairman Goodlatte.
today.

I want to thank you for appearing

My name is Bob Goodlatte.

I am chairman of the Judiciary

Committee, and I will now ask everyone else who is here in the
room, other than Mr. Comey's personal counsel, who we will get
to in a moment, to introduce themselves for the record.
Mr. Gowdy.

Trey Gowdy, South Carolina.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Biggs.
Mr. Buck.

John Ratcliffe, Texas.
Mark Meadows, North Carolina.

Jim Jordan, Ohio.
Andy Biggs, Arizona.
Ken Buck, Colorado.

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Mr. Don.

Ethan Don, FBI.

Ms. Bessee.

Cecilia Bessee, FBI.

Mr. Parmiter.

Robert Parmiter, House Judiciary Committee

staff.
Mr. Baker.

Arthur Baker, House Judiciary Committee staff.

Mr. Somers.

Zach Somers, House Judiciary Committee,

majority.
Mr. Nadler.
Mr. King.

Jerrold Nadler, New York.
Steve King, Iowa, Four.

Mr. Gomez.

Jimmy Gomez, California.

Mr. Cooper.

Jim Cooper, Fifth District of Tennessee.

Mr. Cohen.

Steve Cohen, Memphis.

Ms. Bass.

Karen Bass, California.

Mr. Cummings.

Elijah Cummings, Maryland.

Ms. Jackson Lee.

Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas.

Mr. Krishnamoorthi.
Mr. Breitenbach.

Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois.

Ryan Breitenbach, House Judiciary

Committee staff.
Mr. Ventura.

Chris Ventura, House Judiciary Committee

staff.
Ms. Husband.
Mr. Castor.

Shelley Husband, House Judiciary, majority.
Steve Castor, Oversight and Government

Reform.
Mr. Buddharaju.
Government Reform.

Anudeep Buddharaju, Oversight and

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Ms. Doocy.

Mary Doocy.

Ms. Greene.

Emily Greene.

Mr. Gaetz.

Matt Gaetz, Florida, House Judiciary

Committee.
Mr. Ritchie.
Mr. Dalton.

Branden Ritchie, House Judiciary, majority.
Jason Dalton, FBI Congressional Affairs.

Ms. Hariharan.
Ms. Shen.

Arya Hariharan, House Judiciary, minority

Valerie Shen, House Oversight and Government

Reform.
Ms. Sachsman Grooms.

Susanne Sachsman Grooms, House

Oversight.
Mr. Thadani.

Akhil Thadani, House Judiciary, Democrat.

Mr. Gohmert.

Louie Gohmert.

Mr. Sanford.

Mark Sanford, House Judiciary.

Mr. Apelbaum.
Mr. Hiller.

Perry Apelbaum.
Aaron Hiller, House Judiciary, minority.

Chairman Goodlatte.

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

do not apply in this setting, but there are some guidelines that
we follow that I'd like to go over.
in rounds.

Our questioning will proceed

The majority will ask questions first for an hour,

and then the minority will have an opportunity to ask questions
for an equal period of time.

We will go back and forth in this

manner until there are no more questions and the interview is
over.
Typically, we take a short break at the end of each hour

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of questioning, but if you would like to take a break apart from
that, please let us know.

We also may take a break for lunch

at the appropriate point.
As I noted earlier, you are appearing today voluntarily.
Accordingly, we anticipate that our questions will receive
complete responses.

To the extent that you decline to answer

our questions or if counsel instructs you not to answer, we will
consider whether a subpoena is necessary.
As you can see, there is an official reporter taking down
everything that is said to make a written record, so we ask that
you give verbal responses to all questions, and I know you
understand that.
Mr. Comey.

Yes, sir.

Chairman Goodlatte.

So that the reporter can take down a

clear record, it is important that we don't talk over one another
or interrupt each other if we can help it.

Both committees

encourage witnesses who appear for transcribed interviews to
freely consult with counsel if they so choose, and you are
appearing today with counsel.
Could counsel for Mr. Comey please state their names for
the record?
Mr. Kelley.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

It is David N. Kelley from

Dechert LLP.
Chairman Goodlatte.

We want you to answer our questions

in the most complete and truthful manner possible, so we will

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take our time.

If you have any questions or if you do not

understand one of our questions, please let us know.

If you

honestly do not know the answer to a question or do not remember
it, it is best not to guess.
recollection.

Please give us your best

It is okay to tell us if you learned information

from someone else.

If there are things you don't know or can't

remember, just say so, and please inform us who, to the best of
your knowledge, might be able to provide a more complete answer
to the question.
Mr. Comey, you should also understand that, although this
interview is not under oath, you are required by law to answer
questions from Congress truthfully.
Do you understand that?
Mr. Comey.

Yes, I do, sir.

Chairman Goodlatte.

This also applies to questions posed

by congressional staff in an interview.
Mr. Comey.

Do you understand this?

Yes, sir.

Chairman Goodlatte.

Witnesses who knowingly provide false

testimony could be subject to criminal prosecution for perjury
or for making false statements.
Do you understand this?
Mr. Comey.

Yes, I do.

Chairman Goodlatte.

Is there any reason you are unable to

provide truthful answers to today's questions?
Mr. Comey.

No, sir.

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Chairman Goodlatte.

Finally, I'd like to just note that,

as was discussed last weekend with your attorneys with regard
to withdrawing your motion to quash our subpoena, we anticipate,
after speaking with the Clerk's Office, that we will be able to
provide a copy of the transcript of today's interview sometime
tomorrow.
In the meantime, as we also discussed with your attorneys,
you are free to discuss today's interview publicly once it is
concluded.

Chairman Gowdy and I ask that everyone else here in

the room also refrain from speaking publicly about today's
interview until it has concluded.
That is the end of my preamble.

Do you have any questions

before we begin?
Mr. Gaetz.

Matt Gaetz from Florida.

I wanted to state

that I was not a party to any such agreement and don't consider
myself bound by it.

I also don't know of any provision in the

Constitution, the rules of the House, or any Federal law that
would prohibit members of the committee from engaging in free
speech, debate, and opining at any time.
Mr. Gowdy.

Mr. Chairman, I think -- I do intend to comply

with the representations we made to this witness.
encourage all of my colleagues to do so.

I would

There's a reason that

we have something called the rule of completeness.

It is

manifestly unfair to take part of what someone says and disregard
the whole.

I also think there's an argument to be made that when

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the chairman of a committee makes a representation to a witness,
that it should not only bind the members of the committee, but
it also reflects poorly on the House as an institution to not
abide by what the chairman represented.
So I will abide by what the chairman agreed to with this
and other witnesses, and I would encourage all of my colleagues
to do so, if, for no other reason, to protect the integrity of
the House and because that's what serious investigations do.
Mr. Nadler.

Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Goodlatte.

The gentleman from New York, the

ranking member.
Mr. Nadler.

Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I find myself in

rare but happy agreement with Mr. Gowdy.

I think

representations were made to the witness.

I think we ought to

be bound by it.
And I think that if Mr. Gaetz does not consider himself
bound by it, he should perhaps be asked to leave at this point,
as should anybody else who tells us upfront they will not feel
bound by what this committee has represented to the witnesses.
Chairman Goodlatte.

I will not ask him to leave since he

hasn't violated the commitment we have made.

However, I would

ask him to respect that this is a representation made by all of
the members of these two committees by the chairmen of the
committees.

And, yes, you did not make the representation

yourself; I understand that.

But it is important that we respect

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the integrity of this interview.
And, with that, the time -Mr. Gohmert.

Mr. Chairman, may I ask a question?

Wasn't

the terms that you just dictated part of an agreement that was
in lieu of litigation, sort of a settlement agreement rather than
litigate the subpoena?
Chairman Goodlatte.

It is correct that, in the proceedings

that were ongoing last weekend with regard to Mr. Comey's motion
to quash the subpoena that I issued, that an understanding was
reached that he would appear voluntarily for a private
transcribed interview with the conditions that I read a moment
earlier.
Mr. Gohmert.

So it is actually an agreement between the

parties that ended litigation, which normally is enforceable.
Chairman Goodlatte.

I think that is correct.

The time is now 10:20.

We will get started with the first

round of questions.
Mr. Kelley.

If I may, Mr. Chairman, before we start, I

appreciate very much you having read the terms of the agreement,
which you did so accurately, and we appreciate that.

And given

the comments of Mr. Gaetz, we appreciate and will be sure that
the chairmen of both committees will do the best they can to
ensure that the terms of the agreement are abided.
Mr. Comey is here voluntarily, as you said, for the
interview.

He looks forward to answering your questions

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concerning the subject matter that you laid out.

We are getting

a little bit late start, but we have a hard stop at 4:15, and
we think we can get a lot done until that time.

Should there

be any additional questions thereafter, we can certainly talk
about how to accomplish that best, should there be a need to
schedule a subsequent opportunity to interview him.

We also

would like your indulgence for maybe a short 30-minute, if less,
break for lunch.
Chairman Goodlatte.

We definitely will take that into

account.
And, with that, the chair recognizes the chairman of the
Oversight Committee, Mr. Gowdy.
Mr. Gowdy.

Good morning, Director Comey.

I'm going to go

through the first series of questions in an unusually leading
way, but that is in the interest of time and -Chairman Goodlatte.

I think we have to say that if we do

have a hard stop today at 4:15, we're going to have to agree that
we will continue it at another time, because we, I think, run
the risk that we'll not ask all the questions that need to be
asked by that time.
Mr. Kelley.

And as I said, Mr. Chairman, if there are

additional questions and a compelling need to have another
opportunity, we can talk about how to schedule that.
Mr. Meadows.

Mr. Chairman, I guess what I would rather do

is have -- before we get into questioning, let's have an

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understanding that the 4:15 hard stop is new information right
now.

And I think in a spirit of being here voluntarily, we need

to have an understanding that if all the questions are not asked
and answered, that an agreement to agree in the future is
certainly a problem, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Kelley.

What I agreed to do in the future, sir, is to

schedule another time.
Mr. Meadows.

That's fine.

As long as we're agreeing to

schedule another time, that's fine.
Mr. Gowdy.

Director Comey, Peter Strzok was an FBI agent

who was assigned to the Clinton Espionage Act investigation.

Do

I have that right?
Mr. Comey.

That is correct.

Mr. Gowdy.

What was his title?

Mr. Comey.

His title was special agent.

I think he had

a variety of different supervisory assignments during the
pendency of that investigation from mid-2015 to the end of '16.
I don't remember exactly what those were.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did he interview witnesses?

Mr. Comey.

Did he interview witnesses?

Yes, he did during

the Clinton investigation, is my understanding.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did he review documents?

Mr. Comey.

My understanding is, yes, he did review

documents.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did he provide advice, counsel, insight to you

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in your role as the Director?
Mr. Comey.

I don't -- I'm just hesitating over the

description of advice, counsel.

He was a supervisory special

agent of some role who would periodically brief me on the status
of the investigation, was his primary responsibility as it
related to me.
Mr. Gowdy.
artfully.

Let me see if I can ask the question more

Did he help you prepare or edit your July 5th press

statement?
Mr. Comey.

July 5th press statement?

Yes, he did help

edit that.
Mr. Gowdy.
2016.

Lisa Page, she was an attorney with the FBI in

Is that right?
Mr. Comey.

Lisa Page, yes, that is correct.

Lisa Page was

an attorney I think before 2016, but certainly during 2016
assigned to the Office of General Counsel.
Mr. Gowdy.

What role did she have with the Clinton

Espionage Act investigation?
Mr. Comey.

Lisa Page's role in the investigation into

whether Hillary Clinton had mishandled classified information
was in her capacity as a lawyer assigned to support the Deputy
Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did she assist you in drafting or editing your

July 5th press statement?
Mr. Comey.

I believe she did assist in drafting -- or

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editing the statement of July 2016.
Mr. Gowdy.

So, from January 2016 up until your July 5th

press statement, it is fair to say that both Special Agent Peter
Strzok and FBI Attorney Lisa Page were working on the Clinton
Espionage Act or mishandling of classified information
investigation?
Mr. Comey.

The reason I'm hesitating, Mr. Gowdy, is I've

never applied the label of Espionage Act investigation.

It was

an investigation into the mishandling of classified information.
I don't mean to quibble, but that's how I thought of it and talked
about it.
Yes, they each participated in some respect in that
investigation or in our public statement about the investigation
and things like that.
Mr. Gowdy. February of 2016, Lisa Page wrote:

Trump simply

cannot be President.
February of 2016, Peter Strzok wrote:

Trump's abysmal,

hoping people will just dump him.
February of 2016, Lisa Page wrote:
President.

She might be our next

The last thing you need us going in there loaded for

bear.
March 2016, Lisa Page wrote:

Trump is a loathsome human.

March of 2016, Strzok wrote:

Trump's an idiot.

March of 2016, Strzok wrote:

Hillary should win 100

million to zero.

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Do you recall whether the Democrat primary was still ongoing
in March of 2016?
Mr. Comey.

I'm not in a position to answer -- you gave a

long preamble to that about things that I don't know from my own
knowledge.

So I'm going to exclude that part of your preamble

and just answer the question at the end.
Do I know whether the Democratic primary was ongoing in
March of 2016?
Mr. Gowdy.

I think so, yes.
Well, let me back up, in fairness to you, and

ask whether or not you've had a chance to read any of the text
exchanges between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page?
Mr. Comey.

I've seen some of them in the open source, in

the media, obviously, since I was fired as Director.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did you read any of them in preparation for

today?
Mr. Comey.

No, I did not.

Mr. Gowdy.

So, if you are correct that the Democratic

primary was still open in March of 2016, I read that as Special
Agent Peter Strzok commenting that she should win the primary
100 million to zero.
And I guess an alternative reading of that would be that
he already had her as the nominee and she should win the general
100 million to zero.
Is there another reading other than those two, winning the
primary or winning the general?

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Mr. Comey.

I'm not in a position to interpret their text

exchanges, so I can't answer that.
Mr. Gowdy.

In the course of human history, has anyone won

an election 100 million to zero, to your knowledge?
Mr. Comey.

In the United States?

Mr. Gowdy.

Anywhere.

Mr. Comey.

I don't mean to be facetious.

I can't speak

to Stalin's reelection or Mao Tse-tung reelection campaigns.
In -Mr. Gowdy.

100 million to zero is a lot.

Mr. Comey.

Sure.

I'm not trying to be facetious, but I

remember as a student the vote in Soviet Russia was 99.9 percent
to -Mr. Gowdy.

We are going to get to Russia in a little bit.

We'll get to Russia in a little bit.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Gowdy.

So in the -- I can answer your question,

In the United States, I'm not aware of any such

lopsided vote.
Mr. Gowdy.

So, in March of 2016, Peter Strzok is

investigating Secretary Clinton -- we'll use your phrase -- for
the alleged mishandling of classified information.

And at least

according to this text, he has her winning the primary and/or
the general election.
Mr. Comey.

Is that fair?

I can't answer that because I don't know the

text or what the intention was.

So I'm just not the witness to

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answer that.
Mr. Gowdy.

How about the plain language of the text, what

do you interpret that to mean?
Mr. Comey.

I really can't without knowing them and knowing

the context of them.

I'm just not your best witness to answer

that.
Mr. Gowdy.

July of 2016, do you know which agent

interviewed Secretary Clinton?
Mr. Comey.

I believe two FBI agents participated in the

July interview of Secretary Clinton, one of which was Peter
Strzok, and the other was another veteran special agent.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you know the other veteran special agent's

Mr. Comey.

I think so.

name?
I'm hesitating only because I may

butcher his name, and I don't know whether the FBI wants the names
of special agents on a public record.
Ms. Bessee.

So I think I know his name.

If the agent is not at the SES level and above,

you probably cannot state the name.
Mr. Gowdy.

When you say "probably cannot," is that a legal

prohibition, or is that an FBI policy prohibition?
Ms. Bessee.
Mr. Gowdy.

An FBI policy and a DOJ policy prohibition.
Does the FBI take the position that that's

binding on Congress?
Ms. Bessee.

Based on my direction from the FBI Director

and from the Deputy Attorney General's Office, that is our

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direction.

We can go back and ask the question if we can reveal

the name.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, how about do that for me.

For the

meantime, we'll just refer to that person as FBI Agent 1.
Director Comey, after the Clinton interview on July 2nd,
if memory serves, 2016, FBI Agent 1 wrote:

"I'm done

interviewing the President," dash, and then typed 302.
Another FBI employee responded:

You interviewed the

President, question mark.
And FBI Agent 1 wrote back:

You know, HRC.

A couple days later, you were before Congress, and you said,
among other things, "The decision was made and the recommendation
was made the way you would want it to be, by people who didn't
give a hoot about politics."
Now, Representative Ratcliffe is going to go into how that
decision was made.

My question to you is, had you known about

these texts, would you have kept Peter Strzok and Lisa Page on
the Espionage Act/mishandling of classified information case?
Mr. Comey.

In your question, Mr. Gowdy, you talked about

texts that I'm not aware of that involve an agent other than Peter
Strzok or FBI employee other than Peter Strzok and Lisa Page,
so I can't answer that part of it.
To the extent you're asking about communications of Page
and Strzok, if I had known about those things that they were
communicating that I've seen in open source, I would not have

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had them stay on the -- playing any role in connection with that
investigation.
Mr. Gowdy.

Would you have fired them?

Mr. Comey.

That I can't answer in the abstract.

I'd

certainly want the FBI disciplinary process to work and to look
at it, to decide whether discipline was appropriate and what that
would be.

But I can't answer the ultimate question.

Mr. Gowdy.

But if I understood your answer to the first

part of that correct, you would not have allowed them to remain
on the Clinton investigation had you been aware of those texts.
Mr. Comey.

My judgment would have been -- and based -- the

challenge for me is I haven't read all the texts, but based on
what I saw -- have seen in the media since I left the FBI, that
unless there was some explanation for that that I was missing,
in my judgment, they wouldn't have remained part of the
investigation.
Mr. Gowdy.
in the abstract.

Well, I don't want you to answer that question
Peter Strzok did offer a justification.

said that he was not biased for Clinton or against Trump.

He
Not

that his bias didn't impact his work, he got around to that later.
He just said he wasn't biased.
So, if you had brought him in and he had said, "Oh, but,
Director Comey, I know I said he was a loathsome human being and
I know I said that she should win 100 million to zero, but that
doesn't mean I can't do my job," because that is certainly what

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he told my Democrat colleagues, which they bought, so my question
is, would you have bought that?

Would you have left him on the

investigation had you known about these texts?
Mr. Comey.

I would have certainly been open to listening

to any explanation, but when you're the leader of a justice
agency, the appearance of bias is as important as the existence
of actual bias.
And although I have seen no evidence of any bias in any of
the participants in that effort, the appearance of bias would
have been very important to me.

So I -- again, it's hard to go

back and live a life you didn't live, but I would imagine my
judgment would have been you can't remain on the case.
Mr. Gowdy.

When Special Counsel Mueller was made aware of

the texts, he did immediately kick Strzok off of his team.

Do

you have any reason to disagree with his decision?
Mr. Comey.

No.

I don't know the details of his decision,

but, again, I've seen the open source reporting to that.

And

if that's true, it's a reasonable decision by a reasonable
leader.
Mr. Gowdy.

And you believe, as we sit here today, that had

you been aware of the texts contemporaneously, you too would have
kicked Strzok off of the Midyear Exam investigation?
Mr. Comey.

I think I answered that one already.

I would

certainly be open to an explanation that I don't know, can't
imagine sitting here.

But absent an explanation, the appearance

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issue would have been very important to me, and it's unlikely
I would have left him on the case.
Mr. Gowdy.

Why is the appearance of bias as insidious as

actual bias?
Mr. Comey.

The appearance of bias is as important.

I

don't know exactly what the word "insidious" means, so I'm not
saying that one.

It's as important as actual bias because the

faith and confidence of the American people that your work is
done in an independent, fair, and competent way matters
enormously.

And so a reasonable appearance of bias can corrupt

that faith in your work as much as actual bias can.
Mr. Gowdy.

Had you known about the texts

contemporaneously, would you have allowed Peter Strzok and Lisa
Page to move from the Espionage Act or mishandling investigation
to the Russia investigation?
Mr. Comey.

I would have thought of it the same way, in that

if either bias or appearance of bias, political bias, is very
important to not have as part of your investigative work.

So

I would have thought that way about any investigation that was
likely to touch the public interest in the way that that
investigation did.

So most likely I would think about it the

same way.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, I don't want to put words in your mouth,

but I do want to gain as much clarity as I can into this.
You -- if I understand you correctly, you believe you would have

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not kept them on either investigation, but you would be open to
an explanation, but you can't think of what that explanation
could have been that would have persuaded you to keep them?
Mr. Comey.

That's right.

I try as a leader always to be

open to things I might be missing, but absent something like that,
I think it's likely -- again, it's hard to live a life you didn't
live.

But it's likely I wouldn't have kept them on the case for

that reason, the reasons I said.
Mr. Gowdy.

If you had gained familiarity with a text from

Lisa Page where she said, "Please tell me Trump won't ever be
President," and Strzok responded, "No, no, he won't, we'll stop
it," do you think you would have kept them on the investigation?
Mr. Comey.

I think of -- again, assuming you're recounting

actual texts, I would think of it in the same way I thought of
the ones you recounted earlier.

I'd be concerned about bias or

the perception of bias, and -- so I think about it the same way
I thought about the earlier text you laid out.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, I want to remain open-minded to any other

interpretations of that text, but what other interpretation
could there be:

Please tell me he won't be President.

period, no, comma, He won't.

No,

We'll stop it.

What explanation could there be that was benign enough to
leave them on the very investigation they were commenting on?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

And that -- I think that's what

it means to be open-minded, to give people a chance to explain

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something and then to think about their explanation.

I don't

know what it would be, and maybe there's none, but -- yeah, that's
how I would think about it.
Is there some explanation for this?

If there is, tell me

what it is, and then I'll make a judgment based on that.

I can't

get inside the head of people writing texts that I never saw,
so that's why it's a little tricky for me to answer.
Mr. Gowdy.

What was the Russia investigation?

When you

hear the phrase "Russia investigation," what do you think?
Mr. Comey.

To my mind, the term "Russia investigation"

often refers to two different things:

First, the investigation

to understand what are the Russians doing to interfere in our
election during the 2015-16 period; and then, second, it's often
used to refer to the counterintelligence investigations that the
FBI opened in late July.
And so I hear it used interchangeably there, and those two
things obviously connect, but I've always thought of it in two
separate elements.
Mr. Gowdy.

Okay.

We'll go with that.

Late July of 2016,

the FBI did, in fact, open a counterintelligence investigation
into, is it fair to say the Trump campaign or Donald Trump
himself?
Mr. Comey.

It's not fair to say either of those things,

in my recollection.

We opened investigations on four Americans

to see if there was any connection between those four Americans

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and the Russian interference effort.

And those four Americans

did not include the candidate.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you recall who drafted the FBI's initiation

document for that late July 2016 Russia investigation?
Mr. Comey.

I do not.

Mr. Gowdy.

Would you disagree that it was Peter Strzok?

Mr. Comey.

I don't know one way or the other.

Mr. Gowdy.

Do you know who approved that draft of an

initial plan for the Russia investigation in late July 2016?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

Mr. Gowdy.

Would you disagree that it was Peter Strzok?

Mr. Comey.

That Peter Strzok approved?

I don't know one

way or the other.
Mr. Gowdy.

Drafted and approved it.

Mr. Comey.

I don't know one way or the other.

Mr. Gowdy.

Have you read that initiation document?

Mr. Comey.

I don't think so.

Mr. Comey.

Do you recall seeing the phrase "Trump

I don't remember ever seeing

it.

campaign" in that initiation document?
Mr. Comey.

Well, I don't remember seeing it, ever seeing

it, so certainly don't remember any portion of it, because I don't
remember ever seeing it.
Mr. Gowdy.

If it said Trump campaign, do you still have

the same answer you had when I asked you whether or not it involved

25

the Trump campaign?
Mr. Comey.

That's a question, Mr. Gowdy, I can't answer

without having seen the document.

So I'd be speculating about

a document I don't think I've ever seen.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, I want to be fair to you and make sure

I understand your testimony.

You have not, did not read the FBI

initiation document that launched the Russia investigation, or
you read it and do not recall what it said?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember ever seeing it.

Mr. Gowdy.

How does the FBI launch counterintelligence

investigations?
Mr. Comey.

What documents are required?
I don't know for sure because it's opened far

below the Director's level.

But there's documentation in

criminal investigations and in counterintelligence
investigations to explain the predication for the opening of a
file, that is, the basis for the opening of a file.
Mr. Gowdy.

Who at the FBI has the authority to launch a

counterintelligence investigation into a major political
campaign, and would that eventually have to be approved by you?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know for a variety of reasons.

I've

never encountered a circumstance where an investigation into a
political campaign was launched, and so I don't know how that
would be done.
Mr. Gowdy.

And -- so that's my best answer to that question.
When did you learn there was a

counterintelligence investigation into potential Russian ties

26

with the Trump campaign?
Mr. Comey.

I was briefed sometime at the end of July that

the FBI had opened counterintelligence investigations of four
individuals to see if there was a connection between those -- any
of those four and the Russian effort.
Mr. Gowdy.

And who were those four individuals?

Mr. Comey.

I don't think that the Bureau has said that

publicly, and so I'm not going to answer that unless it's okay
with the government.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, lucky for us we have the Bureau right here

with us.
Ms. Bessee.

Mr. Chairman, my understanding, this is an

unclassified setting, and also anything that goes to the special
counsel's ongoing investigation would be off limits for this
witness to be able to respond to if they are individuals that
are currently being looked at or investigated as part of the
Russian investigation, the ongoing Russian investigation.
Mr. Gowdy.
position.

Let me make sure I understand the Bureau's

The former Director, actually the Director at the

time, can confirm publicly that there is a counterintelligence
investigation, but he cannot now tell us who that
counterintelligence investigation involved?
Ms. Bessee.
Mr. Gowdy.

That is correct.
Director Comey, can you tell us the factual

predicate that may have led to the launching of that

27

counterintelligence investigation?
Mr. Comey.

I don't think that I can describe the factual

predicate for two reasons:

I don't remember precisely; and to

the extent I remember, I think those are classified facts that
implicate the concern the Bureau just expressed.
Mr. Gowdy.

Some of our friends in the media use the word

"collusion" from time to time.
Mr. Comey.

What is the crime of collusion?

What is the crime of collusion?

I do not know.

I've never heard the term "collusion" used in the way it's been
used in our world over the last couple years before that.
know of a crime that involves collusion.

I don't

I think in terms of

conspiracy or aiding and abetting.
Mr. Gowdy.

With counterintelligence investigations, is

there always a criminal component or sometimes a criminal
component?
Mr. Comey.

Counterintelligence investigations involve an

effort to understand the plans and intentions and activities of
a foreign adversary.
tools to disrupt.

Sometimes that leads to the use of criminal

Sometimes it involves other tools to disrupt.

So criminal is an element of counterintelligence investigations
always because it's a potential tool to disrupt.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you recall your March 2017 testimony in an

open setting before the House Intelligence Committee?
Mr. Comey.

In a general way.

Mr. Gowdy.

It was when I believe the Bureau first confirmed

28

the existence of a counterintelligence investigation.
Mr. Comey.

Okay.

I remember that.

I remember generally

it was in March, but sure.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you recall in what way you used the word

"criminal" and at what point in your testimony?
Mr. Comey.

Without looking at the testimony, I don't.

Mr. Gowdy.

Do you recall Rod Rosenstein's memo appointing

special counsel?
Mr. Comey.

No, I don't.

Mr. Gowdy.

What is the difference between collusion and

conspiracy?
Mr. Comey.
means.

I don't know because I don't know what collusion

It's a term I haven't heard in my career in the Justice

Department, so I don't know.
Mr. Gowdy.

Let's assume that collusion and conspiracy are

synonyms, and we'll just use the word "conspiracy" because the
word "collusion," despite its nonstop use, has no criminal
consequences.
Would it be a crime to access the DNC server or Podesta's
email without permission or in an unlawful way?
Mr. Comey.

That's a hard one to answer in the abstract.

It's potentially a crime whenever someone either, without
authorization, enters a computer system or conspires to enter
a computer system without authorization.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did the FBI, in July of 2016, have any evidence

29

anyone in the Trump campaign conspired to hack the DNC server?
Mr. Comey.

Did we have evidence in July of '16 that anyone

in the Trump campaign conspired to hack the DNC server?

The

challenge in answering that is -- and please don't take this
nonanswer to imply that there is such information.
I just -- I don't think that the FBI and special counsel
want me answering questions that may relate to their
investigation of Russian interference during 2016.

And I worry

that that would cross that line, Mr. Gowdy.
Mr. Gowdy.

All right.

Well, I'm not asking you what

happened after the initiation.

July 2016, when this was

launched, when Peter Strzok drafted the initiation documents,
did the FBI have evidence at the time that any member of the Trump
campaign conspired to access the DNC server?
Mr. Comey.

And, again, the challenge with answering that

is it's a slope to answering questions about what we did or didn't
know about Russian activity and the connection of any Americans
to it during 2016, and I think that implicates the same problem
I just talked about.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, Director, we're trying to understand what

the factual predicate for launching a counterintelligence
investigation was.
Mr. Comey.

Sure.

I understand the gravamen of your

question.
Mr. Gowdy.

You can't tell us, or you won't tell us?

30

Mr. Comey.

Probably a combination of both; that is, as I

said in response to your earlier question, I don't remember
seeing the opening memos on counterintelligence cases opened in
late July, so I can't recall exactly what the predication was.
But, to the extent I recall facts developed during our
investigation of Russian interference and the potential
connection of Americans, I think that's a question that the FBI
doesn't want me answering.
Mr. Gowdy.

So it's both a can't and a won't.

Do you believe your firing is evidence of

obstruction of justice?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know that I can answer that question

because I'm not -- because I'm a witness, in a sense.

I don't

know the universe of facts that would reflect on that, so I can't
answer it.
Mr. Gowdy.

Have you ever had conversations with Rod

Rosenstein where he indicated that he did not believe the
contents of the memo he drafted?
Mr. Comey.

I've never had any conversation with Rod

Rosenstein about the memo he drafted, assuming you mean the memo
that related to my firing.
Mr. Gowdy.

Yes.

Mr. Comey.

I've never had any conversation with him about

that at all.
Mr. Gowdy.

Have you read the memo?

Mr. Comey.

Yes.

31

Mr. Gowdy.

Do you think it lays out a defensible case for

terminating you as the FBI Director?
Ms. Bessee.

Mr. Chairman, to the extent that question

goes -- again, goes to the special counsel's investigation into
obstruction, the witness will not be able to answer.
Mr. Gowdy.

I think the whole world has read the memo

and -- or most of the world.

My question is whether or not

Director Comey -- I think he's already answered he had no
conversations with Rod Rosenstein.
My question is, whether or not -- and he's entitled to his
opinion -- whether or not he believes that that framed a
sufficient factual basis for his termination as the FBI Director.
Ms. Bessee.

He is entitled to his opinion, but to the

extent -- because he also stated that he is also a witness in
the investigation.
Mr. Gowdy.

Which investigation is he a witness in?

Ms. Bessee.

To the special counsel.

He said he is a

potential witness.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, you just said witness.

Is there an

obstruction of justice investigation?
Ms. Bessee.

I believe there is an investigation that the

special counsel is looking into.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, we all know that.

Is it an obstruction

of justice investigation?
Ms. Bessee.

Mr. Chairman, can you rephrase the question,

32

please?
Mr. Gowdy.

Yes.

We all know that.

Is it an obstruction

of justice investigation?
Ms. Bessee.
Mr. Gowdy.

Can you rephrase the question for the witness?
Yes.

Director Comey, you're familiar with the

memo drafted by Rod Rosenstein.

You have not talked to Rod

Rosenstein, as I understand your testimony.

Do you believe the

memo, just on the cold four pages of the memo, four corners of
that document, do you believe it provides sufficient basis for
your termination?

Even if you would have done it differently,

is it a basis for your termination?
Mr. Comey.

I can't answer that, Mr. Chairman, because it

requires me to get into the mind of the decisionmaker, who is
the President, and I'm not in a position to do that.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you have any evidence the memo was subterfuge

to fire you, but not for the -- but for a different reason?
Mr. Comey.

I have no evidence at all about how the memo

came to be created.

I know that it was part of the documentation

that was attached, what was sent to me, delivered to the FBI on
the day I was fired.

That's the only thing I have personal

knowledge of.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Director Comey, I'd like to ask you some

questions about the events surrounding your July 5th, 2016, press
conference to announce your decision not to charge Hillary
Clinton for the mishandling of classified information.

33

One of the things that happened the week before that press
conference was, on June 27th of 2016, a meeting between Attorney
General Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, a meeting that
got a lot of attention.
Mr. Comey.
27th.

Do you recall that?

I do recall press coverage of a meeting on June

Mr. Ratcliffe, one thing I have to make sure is clear.

You said my decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton.

I made

a recommendation on behalf of the FBI to the Department of
Justice.

I just want to make sure that's precise.

I do recall

the coverage around that meeting.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

And that is a meeting that took place on

a tarmac in Phoenix, Arizona?
Mr. Comey.

That's my recollection, yes, sir.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you agree that any discussion about the

Hillary Clinton mishandling classified information
investigation, as you called it today, between the Attorney
General and the spouse of the subject of the investigation would
have been inappropriate?
Mr. Comey.
investigation?

Any discussion of the substance of the
Potentially inappropriate.

Again, I'd have to

understand whether there was some other appropriate basis for
the communication, but it would be concerning.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Potentially inappropriate is your answer.

Also potentially illegal?
Mr. Comey.

Well, that one's a hard one to answer.

Any

34

conversation is potentially illegal, depending on what people
talk about.

And so it would be potentially inappropriate,

absent some explanation that would move it into the range of
appropriate.

That's why I'm giving you that answer because I

don't know what was talked about.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Highly unusual for an Attorney General to

meet with the spouse of the subject of one of her investigations.
Do you agree with that?
Mr. Comey.

I would agree with that.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

And important to find out as much detail

as possible about that conversation.
Mr. Comey.

Would you agree with that?

I don't know that I would agree with that

because the fact of the communication is in some ways more
important than the substance of it.

So I don't think I'd agree

with that in the abstract.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Did you recall that Attorney General Lynch

subsequently admitted that her actions in meeting with former
President Clinton cast a shadow over the Department of Justice?
Mr. Comey.

I actually don't remember that.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you remember what you said about the

meeting on the tarmac?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

I mean, if you give me more context,

maybe I'd remember.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you recall saying it was part of your

decision, one of the factors in your decision to take the, I

35

think, unprecedented step of holding the press conference on July
5th of 2016?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

I remember it being a factor, an

important factor in my decision to step away from the Attorney
General.
contexts.

I think I've talked about it in a variety of different
But I was very concerned by the appearance of that

interaction.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

You mentioned it was one of a number of

things that caused you to take that action, correct?
Mr. Comey.

Correct.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

One of those I believe you've testified

previously was the fact that the Attorney General had asked you
to refer to this investigation as a matter, correct?
Mr. Comey.

That is correct.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

One of the other things that you were

concerned about was material or documentation, as yet
unverified, indicating some possible agreement between Attorney
General Lynch and the Clinton campaign about the investigation,
correct?
Mr. Comey.

Not that second piece because I've been

very -- tried to be very careful in public comments about this.
There was material that had not been verified that I believed
if it became public would be used to cast doubt on whether the
Attorney General had acted appropriately with respect to the
investigation.

I haven't gone -- I don't think I'm allowed to

36

go beyond that in characterizing that material.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

It was information that would, you believe,

if released, have caused some to question the objectivity of the
Department of Justice?
Mr. Comey.

Correct.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Was there anything in that information that

also would have raised questions about your objectivity or
ability?
Mr. Comey.

Not to my knowledge.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Did you share with the Attorney General or

the Deputy Attorney General or anyone at Main Justice your
concerns that this information raised about the Attorney
General's either real objectivity or the perception of her
objectivity?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Who?

Who did you raise that with?

My recollection is that, at some point in the

first half of 2016, both the Deputy -- that the Deputy Attorney
General was briefed on the nature of that material, and at some
time after that, the Attorney General was briefed and interviewed
about the nature of that material.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you know who the Attorney General was

interviewed by?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know for sure.

I believe one of the

participants in the conversation was the Deputy Director.

At

37

that point, it was Andrew McCabe.
as well, is my recollection.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

But there were others present

I was not there.

Was there a discussion about the Attorney

General needing to recuse herself as a result of that
information?
Mr. Comey.

Not to my knowledge.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

In the event of an Attorney General

recusal, what does the Department of Justice policy say about
a succession order of authority?
Mr. Comey.

My recollection is that the Department of

Justice policy then makes the Deputy Attorney General the Acting
Attorney General for purpose of that matter, that case.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

So, at that point, in the days leading up

to the July 5th press conference, had you concluded or did you
think that Attorney General Loretta Lynch should not be able to
make a decision about whether to prosecute Hillary Clinton for
the mishandling of classified information?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember reaching that conclusion.

I

remember being concerned about whether she should remain
involved, especially after the tarmac visit, tarmac
conversation.

But before I had an opportunity to discuss that

with anyone at DOJ, the Attorney General announced that she would
not recuse but would accept my recommendation and that of the
career prosecutors.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

And 5 days after that tarmac incident, the

38

FBI and prosecutors from the Department of Justice did, in fact,
interview Secretary -- former Secretary Clinton, correct?
Mr. Comey.

I think it was 5 days.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

It was on July 2nd.

It was the Saturday after that tarmac meeting.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

You mentioned some of the agents earlier.

Do you know how many folks combined, from the FBI and the
Department of Justice, were present for the interview of
Secretary Clinton?
Mr. Comey.

The DOJ team for the interview of Secretary

Clinton I think -- I could be wrong, but I think was five people:
two special agents from the FBI and three lawyers from the
Department of Justice.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

You did not participate in the interview?

No, sir.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Who drafted the questions that Secretary

Clinton was going to be asked?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Did you participate at all in the

questions?
Mr. Comey.

No, I did not.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Why wasn't that interview recorded?

The interview wasn't recorded because the FBI

does not record noncustodial, voluntary interviews.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Why wasn't that interview conducted before

39

a grand jury?
Mr. Comey.

I don't recall exactly.

of strategic reasons.

I think for a number

You'll know, as an experienced person,

that the grand jury is often a limiting way to conduct a
wide-ranging interview, but I don't remember for sure.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
recollection.

Let me see if I can refresh your

I think you had a conversation with Inspector

General Horowitz about that.

On page 141 of the inspector

general's report -Mr. Kelley.

Can we have a copy of that so we can follow

along?
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Does someone have an extra copy?

Page 141, the top of the page.

See where it says:

"Comey

told us"?
Mr. Comey.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

So I'm reading for the record:

Comey told

us that he did not remember discussing with anyone the
possibility of subpoenaing Clinton before the grand jury.
However, he stated:

At that point, I really didn't think there

was a there there.

And the question was, is she going to lie

to us?
Did I read that correctly?
Mr. Comey.

Yes, you read it correctly.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Does that refresh your recollection?

It really doesn't.

I'm sure I said this

40

because it's a transcript from the IG interview, but I don't -- I
honestly don't remember saying that.

It seems reasonable,

though.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Well, as you read that, if it's

accurately -- if you're accurately quoted, it sounds like you
had your mind made up about whether or not Hillary Clinton was
going to be prosecuted for the mishandling of classified
information before her interview.
Mr. Comey.

I don't think that's exactly right.

My

judgment going into the interview was that we had not found
sufficient evidence to recommend prosecution for any substantive
offenses related to the mishandling of classified information.
Still a possibility that she would lie to us and give us an opening
to prosecute her or that there would be further investigation.
But going into it, based on almost a year of investigation, I
didn't see a substantive case there.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
that you and I had?

Do you recall, Director Comey, an exchange
You appeared before the House Judiciary

Committee on September 28th of 2016, and I asked you a question.
I said:

Did you make the decision not to prosecute or not to

charge Hillary Clinton for the mishandling of classified
information before or after her July 2nd, 2016, interview?
your answer was:

After.

Do you recall that?
Mr. Comey.

Yep.

And

41

Mr. Ratcliffe.

When I asked you how that could possibly

be the case, your response was:

If colleagues of ours think I'm

lying, please have them contact me privately.
Now, I will tell you, Director, when I asked you that
question and you gave me that answer, there were a number of
things that I was not aware of.

One of the things that I didn't

know was that the day before the interview, the Hillary Clinton
interview on July 1st, Lisa Page texted Peter Strzok about
Loretta Lynch and her decision to follow your recommendation,
and said, quote:

Yeah, it's a real profile in courage, since

she -- meaning Lynch -- knows no charges will be brought.
Do you recall reading that text anywhere, or hearing about
it?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember I read it.

I think I've heard

about it in the media.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

It's also in the inspector general report.

Did you read the inspector general report?
Mr. Comey.

I did, so I must have seen it there.

Yes, I

read it, so I must have seen it there.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Well, the text doesn't -- doesn't say that

Hillary Clinton might not be charged or that charges probably
won't be brought.

It says that the Attorney General knows that

charges won't be brought.
Do you have any explanation for why Lisa Page, Peter Strzok,
and Attorney General Loretta Lynch might have known that Hillary

42

Clinton wasn't going to be charged before her July 2nd, 2016,
interview if you hadn't made the decision yet?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

I don't know what she means in there

or what the nature of the communication was.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Could it be based on one of the other things

that I didn't know when you and I had that exchange, and that
was the fact that I didn't know that 2 months before that July
2nd interview, on May the 2nd, you had actually circulated a draft
memo of a public announcement stating that neither you nor any
reasonable prosecutor would charge Hillary Clinton with the
mishandling of classified information.
Mr. Comey.

I'm sorry.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Do you recall that?

Recall what, Mr. Ratcliffe?

Recall that memo?

Sure.

I recall a variety of drafts in May of

that memo.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Would you agree with me that that draft of

that memo certainly would be or its contents would appear to be
inconsistent with the testimony that I just related that you and
I had in September of 2016?
Mr. Comey.

No, I don't agree.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Who's Jim Rybicki?

Jim Rybicki was my chief of staff.

As -- I'm

sorry.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

One of the things that I didn't know when

you and I had that exchange was how Mr. Rybicki was going to

43

testify.

And he has testified that the only charges that could

have come out of her interview would have been false statements
to an FBI agent, not any violations of the Espionage Act.
Would you agree with Mr. Rybicki's testimony?
Mr. Comey.

No, I would not.

I'm not familiar with it, but

assuming it's what you just summarized, I would not.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Well, I think I've related to you that at

least a number of folks -- Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Loretta
Lynch, Jim Rybicki -- all seem to have the idea that Hillary
Clinton wasn't going to be charged for the mishandling of
classified information -- she might be charged for lying to the
FBI -- but that she wasn't going to be charged for the mishandling
of classified information.
Do you still think that the answer that you gave me on
September 28 of 2016 was an accurate statement?
Mr. Comey.

I do.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you think that that statement was at all

misleading to me or other Members of Congress?
Mr. Comey.

I guess I can't speak to your mental state.

It

wasn't intended to be misleading.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
it by saying:

You didn't answer my question when I asked

Well, I had pretty much made the decision that

she wasn't going to be charged because everyone knew I had
circulated a draft memo.
You didn't say to me what you said to the inspector general,

44

that you really didn't think there was no there there.

You just

said no.
Do you think that's a candid statement?
Mr. Comey.

I do.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

I do.

So your testimony then is the same as it

is today, that when you went into the Hillary Clinton -- or when
the FBI and the Department of Justice went in to interview Hillary
Clinton, a decision had not been made about whether or not to
prosecute her for anything and all charges were still on the table
at that point?
Mr. Comey.

Correct.

The final decision of what our

recommendation would be had not been made.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

The final decision.

Well, sure.

You'd be incompetent if you didn't

have a view of the case after a year.

And, as I said, as I said

to the inspector general, it didn't look to me like there was
a substantive case there.

But you're about to interview the

subject, and so you want to keep your mind open to the possibility
that you will develop something that needs to be pursued.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Well, that's a great explanation.

Why

didn't you give me that explanation in September of 2016 when
I asked you that question?
Mr. Comey.

It's an explanation, Mr. Ratcliffe, that's

entirely consistent with the answer I gave you.
you asking me to explain why I say that.

I don't remember

If you did, I'm sorry

45

if I didn't answer that question, but they're consistent.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

So it was a serious interview with Hillary

Clinton that was about to take place intended at getting at the
truth of everything that was troubling you?
Mr. Comey.

That's not how I thought about it.

It was about

interviewing the subject near the close of a year-long
investigation.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Okay.

So, when the team of FBI agents and

lawyers interviewed Hillary Clinton, what questions did they ask
Secretary Clinton about the tarmac meeting?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Would that be reflected in the 302 or in

the FBI summary of the interview?
Mr. Comey.

I would expect so.

You're asking about whether

they asked Hillary Clinton about the meeting that Bill Clinton
had with Loretta Lynch.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

I don't know whether they asked that.

I would

expect if it was asked, it would likely be reflected in the 302.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Not unless you really want me to.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
about them.

Would you like to review those?

Well, I've read them, and I've asked folks

There's no mention of the word "tarmac" or "Loretta

Lynch" anywhere that appears in the 302 or the summary that the
FBI has made publicly available.

46

So my question is, do you know whether or not any questions
were asked about that tarmac meeting?
Mr. Comey.

It's the same answer; I don't know.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

So 5 days after the Attorney General meets

with the spouse of a subject on a tarmac, the meeting that a lot
of folks are talking about and that raised concerns enough to
be one of the reasons that caused you to take the actions that
you took in holding the press conference, none of those folks
in the room thought about asking Hillary Clinton any questions
about that?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know what they thought.

And, as I said

earlier, I don't know whether she was asked about that.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Would that have been a reasonable question

to Secretary Clinton, what did your husband discuss about this
case, if anything, 5 days ago with the Attorney General?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know the answer to that.

As it relates

to her mishandling of classified information as Secretary of
State, I don't know.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Well, I thought you were looking for any

crimes, not just the mishandling of information.
Mr. Comey.

The FBI doesn't investigate people to find any

crimes.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

I didn't say investigate people, but in the

course of investigating if you become aware of things that cause
concern to investigators, like you've expressed you had, isn't

47

there an obligation to pursue that?
Mr. Comey.

Hard to answer in the abstract.

what the facts were that you had.

Depends upon

But sure, if you develop facts

in the course of an investigation of the possible commission of
another crime, in almost all circumstances, you follow up on it.
I don't know what that would drive, in terms of the interview
of Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

So do you know what questions the agents

or prosecutors asked Hillary Clinton about that troubling
information that we talked before about potential compromise of
Attorney General Lynch with respect to her objectivity?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know whether they asked any questions

that related to Loretta Lynch of Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

If they did, it should be reflected in the

302 or the FBI summary of the interview, correct?
Mr. Comey.

You would expect that in the ordinary course.

The only reason I'm hesitating is that I don't know whether
questions were asked about that, but if questions are asked and
the answer may implicate -- may be considered classified,
sometimes that's not put in the 302.

But I don't know whether

that's the case here.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Weren't those questions that you wanted

answered?
Mr. Comey.

Of Hillary Clinton?

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Of anyone that could answer a question

48

about whether or not there was any problem with the objectivity
of the Attorney General, based on contacts with the Clinton
campaign.
Mr. Comey.

I did not see anything that led me to conclude

that Loretta Lynch was acting inappropriately in supervising the
Department of Justice in that investigation.

The appearance of

conflict or the appearance that she was compromised in some
fashion was what drove me to separate myself from her in July.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

So, as you've already mentioned, one of the

things you thought might happen or you wanted to find out was
whether or not Hillary Clinton might lie during that interview.
Knowingly making a false statement to the FBI is a crime, correct?
Mr. Comey.

That is correct.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Making a false public statement ordinarily

is not a crime, correct?
Mr. Comey.

That is correct.

Thank goodness, for a lot of

people.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

But false statements made in public can be

evidence of knowledge or intent, absence of mistake, or provide
all kinds of other evidentiary context, correct?
Mr. Comey.

Potentially, yes.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't

David Petraeus' comments, false comments in public a basis for
why you argued that he had knowledge or intent to commit the crime
of mishandling classified information?

49

Mr. Comey.

I don't remember that about the Petraeus case,

that public statements figured in it.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

You don't recall, or it didn't happen?

Well, I don't remember it being a feature, so

it's possible I'm just not remembering or that it didn't happen.
It just -- as I think about that case, I don't remember anything
about public statements as a factor in that case.

I remember

a lot about lying to the agents during an interview, but not
public statements.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

All right.

Clinton's public statements.

So let me ask you about Hillary

Do you recall Secretary Clinton

publicly stating that she neither sent nor received classified
information?
Mr. Comey.

I don't specifically in her public statements,

so I don't specifically.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

If there were those public statements,

would you have expected the agents to ask her about that during
her interview?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

I would expect them to ask about

what she was thinking when she communicated in the way she did,
but whether to ask her, "Did you say on the campaign trail X or
Y," I don't know.

That would be up to their judgment.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you recall Secretary Clinton making that

same statement under oath before Congress?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

50

Mr. Ratcliffe.
recollection.

Do you recall -- maybe I can refresh your

I think, on October 22nd of 2015, in response to

a question from Congressman Jordan, Secretary Clinton said,
quote, "There was nothing marked classified in my emails either
sent or received," end quote.
Does that refresh your recollection about Secretary Clinton
making that statement?
Mr. Comey.

I don't -- it doesn't help me with her

testimony, but I actually do remember being asked, maybe by
Mr. Jordan, when I testified about whether that was accurate or
not.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Is it accurate?

Mr. Comey.

My recollection is there were -- I hope I don't

get this wrong.

In some email, there was a letter C deep in the

email to mark some of the paragraphs that looked to us like
portion markings, as I recall.

And I'm sorry if I'm misrecalling

that, but I have the recollection of that.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
5th.

Well, I have your public statement on July

I think you mentioned the fact that there were actually

three emails that were marked classified.
Mr. Comey.

When I talked on July the 5th?

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Okay.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Kelley.

Yes.

Any reason to --

Do you have a copy of that statement we can

51

take a look at?
Mr. Ratcliffe.

I do.

Do you have -- as you review that, do you independently have
a recollection about Hillary Clinton's July 2nd interview where
agents asked her questions about those classification markings,
whether it appeared on one document or multiple documents?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

You don't have any recollection?

No, I don't have an independent recollection,

sitting here, of what they asked her about that.

I have some

recollection that the topic came up, but I don't remember what
was asked or said about that.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

What do you recall about -- you mentioned

the letter C coming up during that interview and what that might
mean?
Mr. Comey.

I don't -- I'm sorry.

look at the statement?

Do you want me to still

So far, I haven't found the thing about

the C, so I'll pause there for a second.
I don't remember what came up in her interview about that.
What I was referring to earlier is I remember some member I think
of the Judiciary Committee asking me about that portion marking
that appeared -- I was thinking in one email, but it sounds like
you think there's more than one.
I don't see anything, sir, in my statement -- I could be
missing it -- about the portion marking.

52

Mr. Ratcliffe.

I will resume with that when we resume our

questioning.
Mr. Comey.

Okay.

Chairman Goodlatte.

I think, in the interest of

expediency, we'll proceed with the Democrats right now, and then
we'll take a 30-minute lunch break after the Democrats.

53

[11:32 a.m.]
Ms. Chen.

Okay.

The time is 11:32, and we're back on the

record for the Democrat's first round.
Mr. Cohen, if you would like to ask a few questions.
Mr. Cohen.

Are we ready?

Mr. Comey.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Cohen.

Thank you.

I'm Steve Cohen from Tennessee.

First thing I'd like to ask you, Mr. Comey, is, Mr. Trump
asked you once to lay off the Flynn investigation, and I was just
wondering what your reaction was to his having pled guilty and
him having, according to Mr. Mueller, provided much truthful
information that is apparently going to be a part of the
investigation that Mr. Mueller is pursuing.
What was your reaction?

Did you feel kind of good that you

didn't tell Mr. Trump that you would be loyal and drop that
investigation?
Mr. Comey.

How did it make you feel?
Well, there was no chance at all that I was going

to abide that direction to let that go.

When I saw the public

accounts of his plea and cooperation, I felt, as a citizen, glad
that he was held accountable for his crimes and that he was
assisting the United States.

So it seemed to me like a just

outcome.
Mr. Cohen.

Did Mr. Trump or anybody else in the

administration ever ask you anything about specifics about the
Russia involvement in the 2016 election?

54

Ms. Bessee.

Congressman, to the extent it goes into the

purview of the special counsel, the witness will not be able to
answer that question.
Mr. Cohen.

Let me ask you this, Mr. Comey:

There was a

memo that some had said had something to do -- and you maybe even
said -- had something to do with your going forth on July 5 to
announce that you and not the Attorney General was going to not
investigate and go further with the Clinton email investigation,
and that that memo was something that the FBI had in their
possession for some time concerning, allegedly, Attorney General
Lynch communicating to Ms. Renteria that this was going to be
kind of not going to be pursued and not to worry about it.

And

then later, I think, many think that that was really a Russian
operative that got somehow some information that wasn't true and
got it into the Justice Department.
Do you know what I'm talking about?
Mr. Comey.

I know generally, and I have to tread carefully

here, because I think the underlying material is still
classified.

So there was material -- this is what I've said

publicly, and so I'll say it again, there was material that was
classified that if unclassified, released, would open the
Attorney General up to the accusation -- whether it was true or
not -- the accusation that she had not been acting fairly and
impartially in overseeing the investigation.
So far as I knew at the time, and still think, the material

55

itself was genuine, which is a separate question, though, from
whether it was what it said was accurate.
Mr. Cohen.

When you say it was genuine, I mean, did you

not think that at this point that it was conjured up by the
Russians to try to maybe influence actions at the Justice
Department or at the FBI?
Mr. Comey.

We didn't think that at the time.

I don't know

whether that view has changed.
Mr. Cohen.

Okay.

Was Peter Strzok considered the top

counterintelligence FBI agent?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know whether Peter Strzok was

considered the top.

He was very highly regarded as a

counterintelligence professional, and I saw that borne out in
the nature and quality of his work with me.

But whether he's

the top or not, I don't know, but certainly among the best.
Mr. Cohen.

In the past, had his work not resulted in the

outing of some Russian spies and their being returned to Russian,
expelled from this country?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember specifically.

I just

remember his reputation was very, very strong in the
counterintelligence world.
Mr. Cohen.

So it would make sense that he would be assigned

to this investigation?
Mr. Comey.

It would make sense that he'd be assigned to

the investigation into the potential mishandling of classified

56

information by Secretary Clinton.

It would also make sense he'd

be assigned to the Russia investigations.
Mr. Cohen.

And what was Ms. Page's reputation as an

attorney and as a public servant?
Mr. Comey.

Ms. Page was less well-known.

She was a more

junior attorney assigned to the deputy attorney -- excuse me,
the deputy director, so I knew less about her.

In my

interactions with her, what I liked about her is she would be
candid and blunt and often disruptive in a meeting, which I kind
of liked.

The FBI can be very hierarchal.

She would tend to

speak up even when, in a normal FBI meeting, it wasn't her turn,
and I found that very helpful.
Mr. Cohen.

The attacks that Mr. Trump has made on the FBI

and the Justice Department, and particularly Mr. Strzok and Ms.
Page and you and others, can you tell us how that's affected the
morale of the FBI?
Mr. Comey.

It's hard for me to give you a high-confidence

answer because I'm not there any longer, so I'll give you my
sense, which I think is right but I don't have high confidence
in it, is that it has hurt morale in some senses, and in other
senses, has redoubled the commitment of the people of the FBI
to its mission and its apolitical nature.

So I think it's

actually a tale of two cities in that way.
Mr. Cohen.

When you were at the FBI, did you have any reason

to investigate the people who propagated stories that Seth Rich

57

was murdered by folks within the DNC or other democratic
operatives or any of the people that talked about this pizza
operation, the pizzagate thing?

Did you ever investigate the

people that started those conspiratorial stories?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember.

investigations on those topics.

I don't remember

I remember at one point

receiving an email from someone, a private citizen, to my
personal account, raising issues about the -- is it Ping Pong?
Whatever the pizza place was that was involved in some conspiracy
theories.

I remember sending it to my staff saying, make sure

this gets to the appropriate place, but I don't know whether there
were investigations.
Mr. Cohen.

If Mr. Mueller were fired, how would that

affect further investigations of crime that are ongoing now?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know at this point.

I don't know.

And

as an informed outsider, I think that it would -- you'd almost
have to fire everyone in the FBI and the Justice Department to
derail the relevant investigations, but I don't know exactly what
the effect would be.
Mr. Cohen.

Mr. Trump has said that the folks that work for

him are 12 angry Democrats.

Do you know those 12 or so people --

Mr. Comey.

I don't.

Mr. Cohen.

-- who they are?

Mr. Comey.

I know by name some of them, and I think I've

met some of them personally, but I don't know them well.

58

Mr. Cohen.

Do you know if any of them are angry?

Mr. Comey.

Not to my knowledge, but I'm sure they're like

all normal humans; sometimes they're happy, sometimes they're
sad, sometimes they're angry, but I can't comment on that
characterization beyond that.
Mr. Cohen.

All right.

Despite the emails between

Mr. Strzok and Ms. Page, was there anything you ever saw that
you believe caused the FBI or the Justice Department,
particularly the FBI, to not operate and investigate in an
unbiased fashion?
Mr. Comey.

No, I never saw -- and in those two people's

cases -- I never saw any indication at all of bias by Mr. Strzok
or Ms. Page.

And, in fact, Peter Strzok helped draft my letter

to Congress on October 28th that Hillary Clinton blames for her
defeat.

So it's hard for me to see how he was on Team Clinton

secretly at that point in time.

And he also was one of the

handful of people in the entire world who knew we were
investigating four Americans who had some connection to
Mr. Trump during the summer of 2016, and he didn't tell a soul.
So it's hard to reconcile that with his being on Team Clinton.
And so all of that is consistent with my view, I never saw
any indication of anything but the facts and the law from those
people.
Mr. Cohen.

Thank you for your testimony.

for your service to our country.

And thank you

59

I yield.
Mr. Nadler.

Thank you.

Mr. Comey, I've been troubled by escalating attacks against
the Department of Justice, the Special Counsel's Office, and the
FBI, attacks against the independence of the institutions, the
integrity of their employees, and the legitimacy of the
Department of Justice and FBI investigations.
As I'm sure you're aware, President Trump and his allies
have repeatedly described Special Counsel Mueller and his
investigation as illegitimate and politically biased.
On November 27th, President Trump tweeted in reference to
the special counsel, quote:

The fake news media builds Bob

Mueller up as a saint, when in actuality, he's the exact opposite.
He is doing tremendous damage to our criminal justice system
where he's only looking at one side and not the other.

Heroes

will come of this and it won't be Mueller and his terrible gang
of angry Democrats.
from.

Look at their past and look where they come

And now a $30 million witch hunt continues and they have

got nothing but ruined lives.

Where is the server?

Let these

terrible people go back to the Clinton Foundation and Justice
Department, close quote.
On December 3rd, President Trump tweeted, quote:

Bob

Mueller, who is a much different man than people think, and his
out-of-control band of angry Democrats don't want the truth, they
only want lies.

The truth is very bad for their mission, close

60

quote.
I'll note that Robert Mueller is well-known to be a lifelong
Republican.
Now, generally speaking, does being identified as a
Democrat mean a prosecutor would be too conflicted to conduct
a fair investigation of a Republican or vice versa?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

No, it does not.
Are you aware of any, quote, "conflicted"

people on the special counsel's team?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

I am not.
Do you agree with the characterization that

the special counsel's investigation is a witch hunt?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

I do not.
What is your general impression of the

individuals on the special counsel's team?
Mr. Comey.

I know them by reputation, and it's an all-star

team of people whose names I've known for years as great Federal
prosecutors.

Others are unknown to me.

But I know the

reputation and substance of the person leading them, the best.
Although we're not friends, I admire Bob Mueller.

He is more

than people realize.
Mr. Nadler.

Do you agree with the characterization that

the special counsel's team is out of control and are not seeking
the truth?
Mr. Comey.

I don't have any reason to believe that's true.

61

Mr. Nadler.

And how confident are you that the members of

the special counsel team are conducting the investigation based
solely on the facts and the law and not on their political
affiliation?
Mr. Comey.

I've seen no indication.

it through is the public media.
in the media.

Again, all I follow

I've seen no indication of that

And, again, I also know the person who leads them

and the kind of culture he creates, and it's one of integrity.
Mr. Nadler.

Why do you think the President publicly

attacks Robert Mueller and his investigators as frequently as
he does?

Is it to undermine public confidence in their findings

or some other reason?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

I don't know.
Do you agree with the President's

characterization that Robert Mueller is damaging the criminal
justice system?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

I do not.
How would you characterize the special counsel

investigation and its importance, not only to our national
security, but as a means of restoring public confidence in our
elections and law enforcement agencies?
Mr. Comey.

Watching it from the outside, my judgment as

an experienced prosecutor and investigator is it's been
conducted with extraordinary speed, with extraordinary
professionalism, and zero disclosure outside of public court

62

filings.

It represents the way our criminal justice system is

supposed to work in investigating, and I believe it's incredibly
important to the rule of law in this country that the work be
allowed to finish.
Mr. Nadler.

Now, you may have answered this already, but

one specific assertion is that you and Special Counsel Mueller
are, quote, "best friends."
On September 5th, President Trump brought up Special
Counsel Mueller in an interview with The Daily Caller stating,
quote:

And he's Comey's best friend, and I could give you a

hundred pictures of him and Comey hugging and kissing each other.
You know he's Comey's best friend, close quote.
Are you best friends with Robert Mueller?
Mr. Comey.

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.
alone with him in a restaurant.

I think I had a meal once

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.
Mr. Nadler.

Thank you.

I will not ask whether you've ever

hugged and kissed him.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

A relief to my wife.
On page 88 of your book, A Higher Loyalty:

Truth, Lies in Leadership, you recount a hospital scene during
the Bush administration with then-FBI Director Robert Mueller.

63

In the first full paragraph you wrote, quote:

Mueller and

I were not particularly close and had never seen each other
outside of work, but I knew Bob understood and respected our legal
position and cared deeply about the rule of law.

His whole life

was about doing things the right way, close quote.
How do you know Robert Mueller cares deeply about the rule
of law and doing things the right way?
Mr. Comey.

Well, from watching him work.

I was his

supervisor when I was deputy attorney general and he was the FBI
director.

But most importantly, through that incident,

watching him be prepared to resign, to end his career, because
he thought the Bush administration was doing things inconsistent
with the law, and he wasn't going to be any part of it, wasn't
going to have it.

And that strength bolstered me during that

difficult period but was just typical of the way he approached
things.
Mr. Nadler.
administration.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

And he was at that point part of the Bush
Is that correct?
Correct.

He was the FBI director.

And how confident are you that he will do

things the right way with respect to the special counsel
investigation?
Mr. Comey.
on.

There are not many things I would bet my life

I would bet my life that Bob Mueller will do things the right

way, the way we would all want, whether we're Republicans or

64

Democrats, the way Americans should want.
Mr. Nadler.

And is it fair to say that there are no facts

that you know of to support the notion that Special Counsel
Mueller is politically motivated or biased?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know of any.

I'm smiling at this moment

because I can't imagine any, given the nature of that person and
his life.
Mr. Nadler.

And it's still accurate that you're not

particularly close to Robert Mueller?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

It is accurate.
On October 17th, the FBI responded to a

Freedom of Information Act request for, quote, "photographs of
former FBI Director James Comey and Robert Mueller hugging and
kissing each other," by saying "no responsive records were
located."
I assume you're not aware of any such photographs?
Mr. Comey.

I'm not aware of any such photograph.

never hugged or kissed the man.

I have

Again, I'm an admirer but not

that kind of admirer.
Mr. Nadler.

The FBI and the Department of Justice have been

more broadly accused of conducting investigations driven by
political bias instead of just by the facts and the rule of law.
During your tenure at the FBI and the Department of Justice,
were you aware of any FBI investigation motivated by political
bias?

65

Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

None.

Never.

Were you aware of any Justice Department

investigations that were motivated by political bias?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

Never.

None.

On May 22nd, Republican Members of Congress

introduced House Resolution 907 requesting that the Attorney
General appoint a second special counsel to investigate
misconduct at the Department of Justice and the FBI.
That resolution alleged, quote, "Whereas, there is an
urgent need for the appointment of a second special counsel in
light of evidence that raises critical concerns about decisions,
activities, and inherent bias displayed at the highest levels
of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation regarding FISA abuse, how and why the Hillary
Clinton email probe ended, and how and why the Donald
Trump-Russia probe began," close quote.
Is there any evidence of inherent bias displayed at the
highest levels of the DOJ and the FBI regarding how and why the
Hillary Clinton email probe ended?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

Not that I'm aware of.
Are you aware of any evidence of inherent bias

displayed at the highest levels of the DOJ and the FBI against
Donald Trump as part of the Trump-Russia investigation?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

I am not.
Are you aware of any actions ever taken to

66

damage the Trump campaign at the highest levels of the Department
of Justice or the FBI?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

I am not.
Are you aware of any actions ever taken to

personally target Donald Trump at the highest levels of the
Department of Justice or the FBI?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

I am not.
And you have previously noted, I believe, that

if Agent Strzok, who had expressed his personal political
opinions negatively about then-candidate Trump, had wanted to
misuse his office to damage the Trump campaign, he could easily
have done so by leaking information about the fact that there
was an ongoing investigation.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

Is that not correct?

Certainly, yes.
And he could have done that, but he did not

do that?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

He did not.
That would be evidence that he was not doing

anything to bring his political opinions into making judgments
at the FBI?
Mr. Comey.

Certainly inconsistent with the conspiracy

theory that he was trying to hurt Donald Trump.

If you're going

to have a conspiracy theory, you've got to explain all the facts.
And it's hard to reconcile his not leaking that Trump associates
were under investigation and his drafting of a letter to Congress

67

on October 28th that Secretary Clinton believed hurt her chances
of being elected.
Mr. Nadler.

At a campaign rally in August, President Trump

said, quote, "Our Justice Department and our FBI have to start
doing their jobs and doing it right and doing it now because
people are angry.

People are angry," close quote.

In another rally in September, the President said, quote,
"Look what's being exposed at the Department of Justice and the
FBI.

You have some real bad ones.

the FBI.

They're all gone.

You see what's happening at

They're all gone.

But there's a

lingering stench and we're going to get rid of that too," close
quote.
Do you agree with the President's characterization that the
Department of Justice and the FBI are not doing their jobs?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

I do not.
Do you believe there are some "real bad ones"

at the FBI or DOJ?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

I do not.
Are you at all concerned that the President

of the United States is trying to smear and undermine the
credibility of his investigators at the Justice Department?
Mr. Comey.

Deeply concerned.

I think the part of that

that's right is that people are angry.

Some people are angry

because they've been lied to for so long about the nature and
quality of the FBI and the Department of Justice.

68

Mr. Nadler.
Mr. Comey.

I'm sorry.

Lied to --

Lied to by the President and his supporters

about the nature and quality of the Department of Justice and
the FBI.

It's shortsighted, and anybody who knows those

organizations, knows it's not true.
Mr. Nadler.

And what implications might there be under the

Justice Department and the rule of law?
Mr. Comey.

Those kind of lies hurt the ability of the FBI

to be believed at a doorway or in a courtroom.
of us less safe.

That makes all

These are honest institutions made up of normal

flawed human beings, but people committed to doing things the
right way.

When they're lied about constantly, it hurts the

faith and confidence of the American people in them, and that
is bad for all of us.

I don't care what your political stripe

is.
Mr. Nadler.

And how does that impact our national

security?
Mr. Comey.

Our national security turns upon the ability

of an FBI agent to convince the girlfriend of a jihadi that we
will protect her if she cooperates with us.

If we're seen as

a political group of one kind or another, an untrustworthy group,
that trust is eroded and the agent loses the ability to make that
case.

If a jury doesn't believe an FBI agent when he or she says,

I found this or I heard this in the course of this case, we're
less safe because the case can't be made.

69

Mr. Nadler.

Okay.

And these are direct consequences of

statements made, such as I've quoted, by the President and by
other people who go along with him?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Nadler.

I believe they are.
And what impact do you believe that actions

of this Congress' resolutions, such as H.R. 907 that I quoted
a few minutes ago, and investigations, frankly, such as this one,
have on the ability of the Justice Department to conduct fair
and thorough investigations and prosecutions?
Mr. Comey.

To the extent it echoes the lies and the smears

from the President, it simply increases the chances that the
Department of Justice and the FBI's credibility will be
undermined.
I'm a big fan of oversight and truth-seeking, but when
people veer from truth-seeking into trying to find any excuse
to bad-mouth an organization that's investigating the President,
we've lost our way.
Mr. Nadler.

Would you be surprised to know that criminal

defendants are using attacks similar to those levied by the
President and Republicans?
Mr. Comey.

No.
[Comey Exhibit No. 1
Was marked for identification.]

Mr. Nadler.

And I want to introduce an exhibit.

article from the Huffington Post.

It's an

The headline, Trump's FBI

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Attacks Are Helping Accused Terrorists Defend Themselves in
Court.
This article details the defense of three alleged domestic
terrorists in Kansas.

They are anti-Muslim militia members

accused of planning to bomb an apartment complex with
predominantly Somali immigrant residents.
Defense counsel argued the men were targeted by, quote, "a
biased FBI conspired against them in the lead up to the 2016
election due to their political beliefs," close quote.
What is your reaction to that?
Mr. Comey.

Well, again, I don't know the particular case,

but taking the news article at face value, it's an example of
the kind of thing that I worry about.

When corrosive attacks

are directed at our institutions of justice, we will all pay a
price for that.
Mr. Nadler.

And, therefore, you'd believe that the current

political rhetoric endorsed by the President and his allies, such
as I've quoted, is potentially damaging to law enforcement's
ability to keep Americans safe?
Mr. Comey.

I do.

I'm not against criticizing law

enforcement organizations or law enforcement leaders.
been criticized, I think, reasonably.

I've

But when you attack the

fiber of the institution and say it's corrupt and untrustworthy
and aiming at political enemies, you do lasting damage to an
institution this country relies upon, and everybody should

71

realize that's a mistake.
Mr. Nadler.

Thank you.

I have no further questions.

Ms. Jackson Lee.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Good morning, moving into good afternoon.

Thank you for your presence here.
I want to put on the record that Democrats never received
a copy of the agreement.

So I hope that, in short order, the

majority will provide us with the agreement regarding the
quashing of the subpoena.
Mr. Kelley.

I will be more than happy to, and its merely

an email correspondence.
Ms. Jackson Lee.
writing.

I appreciate getting something in

Thank you so very much.

Let me thank you, Mr. Comey, for your service to the Nation.
I share your view that the American people would have been better
served if the lame duck House Republican majority of this
committee had scheduled a public hearing instead of a private
interview behind closed doors to discuss matters that are vital
to the health of our democracy.
I fully expect that to be a standard practice for this
committee in the 116th Congress under a new Democratic majority.
So I have several questions, which I'd like to lay the predicate
for.
Dealing with the FBI investigation of Secretary Clinton's
emails, the investigation was an outgrowth of the House

72

Republican Benghazi investigation.

A sad investigation, which

we now know, because it was confirmed by House Majority Leader
McCarthy that it was for one purpose.

It had at its principal

aim was to undermine and damage the public image and standing
of Secretary Hillary Clinton, whom House Republicans feared
would be the 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee.
You'll recall that House Republicans relentlessly
questioned, second-guessed, and attacked her integrity and that
of career FBI agents when you announced at your famous July 5th,
2016, press conference that the FBI concluded that there was no
evidence to support a finding Secretary Clinton had violated the
law.

House Republicans bitterly criticized you and questioned

the integrity and legitimacy of the investigation.
For your part, you were confident enough in the
determination reached by the FBI that you've stated under oath
the case itself was not a cliffhanger and that no reasonable
prosecutor would ever bring such a case on these facts.
Republicans disagreed with you extensively.

House

They wanted you to

prosecute Secretary Clinton regardless of the facts.
And from July 2016 through October 2016, House Republicans
engaged in an almost daily ritual of holding hearings,
desperately trying to tear down your investigation and your
recommendation.

They did not stop attacking you until

October 28th, the day you sent your letter to the congressional
leaders announcing that, in an unrelated investigation, the FBI

73

had learned of the existence of emails that appeared to be
pertinent to an investigation of Secretary Clinton's email
server.
House Republicans promptly leaked your update, according
to the media, characterizing your action as a decision by the
FBI to reopen its investigation, even though the FBI had not at
that time reviewed any of the emails in question and
notwithstanding the fact that you advised them the FBI was not
then in a position to assess whether or not this material may
be significant.
For the next 8 days, a period in which millions of Americans
were casting their ballots during early voting, the baseless
claims of House Republicans were repeated ad nauseam by them and
candidate, Mr. Trump, dominating media coverage in the final
days, and did not stop even after your announcement 2 days before
the election on November 5th, 2016.

That upon further review,

that the FBI had again found no basis to believe that Secretary
Clinton had committed a crime.
Given this chronology and the benefit of hindsight, do you
regret not following the Justice Department's policy and
practice of refraining from taking investigatory or prosecutory
actions that could affect the outcome of an election to be held
within the ensuing 60 days of an election?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

I regret being involved at all, but

even in hindsight, I think that that was the decision I had to

74

take.

And I don't want to quibble, but there's no policy around

taking action in a runup to an election, but there's a really
important norm that I believe in.

If you can avoid it, you take

no action in the runup to an election.

It might have an impact

on the election, I believe in that, even today.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Well, I can't put words in your mouth,

but you were, in essence, engaged or interfering or participating
in an election of the known and documented leaders of the free
world.
I would consider the elections of the President of the
United States in a world context as one of the most significant
elections that we would ever have in the world.
Again, would you not consider that maybe in that context
that the timing was very difficult?
Mr. Comey.

Oh, excruciating.

Causes me great pain even

to sit here and talk about it today, but the two alternatives
I saw, I chose the least bad.
was worse.

I still think the other alternative

And as between bad and worse, I had to choose bad.

I wish we weren't involved, but given that we were involved, we
tried to make the right decision for the right reasons.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

You sent a letter dated October 28th,

2016, to indicate that there was a reopening of the
investigation.

I count the numbers of addressees as 16.

Why would you need to send -- did you send this classified?
Did you send this with an indication that this was not to be

75

exposed to the media?

Did you make the point or have your

liaisons make the point to the Members of Congress that this
should not have been exposed?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know for sure.

It wasn't classified.

It was a private communication to the eight chairs and rankings
of the committees that had received information from the FBI.
And the Congressional Affairs staff of the FBI thought those were
the people it ought to go to.

It was not, as you said earlier,

we didn't release anything to the public, but it wasn't
classified.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

But I think you can -- would you pretty

well agree that 16 addressees is almost inevitably going to be
released?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Ms. Jackson Lee.

Do you think that the FBI could have been

more cautious, whether you did government affairs, 8 days out
or how many days out before the election?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know, is the honest answer.

The staff

that works Congressional Affairs thought we had to inform these
eight committee chairs and rankings.

And so I think about it

the way you do, that raised the serious prospect it would be
released to the public, and -- but that was a risk we thought
we had to run.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Why did not Attorney General Lynch or

Deputy Attorney General Yates not make the announcements of

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July 5th, October 28th, or November -- 2016?
Were they consulted?
Mr. Comey.

Did they concur in your judgment?

Separate incidents.

July 5th, I informed them

that I was going to make an announcement, and so they weren't
consulted on the substance of the announcement.
The October 28th letter, I informed them the day before that
I thought I had to inform Congress but would be happy to discuss
it with them.

And they said they didn't wish to discuss it with

me.
And so in the first instance, I don't think they had much
opportunity to engage with me on it because I said I think I need
to do this separately.

In October, they did but chose not to

take the chance -- take the opportunity.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Why wouldn't you yield to Deputy Attorney

General Yates to make that announcement?

Is that not the normal

protocol in any structured law enforcement versus prosecutor
from the low level -- let me not call local district attorneys
low level -- but from the level of local government all the way
up to the Federal Government, that the district attorney, the
prosecutor, the attorney general, the attorney general of the
State of whatever, makes the announcement regarding any
prosecutorial stance?
Mr. Comey.

Definitely.

Ms. Jackson Lee.
Mr. Comey.

And then why was that not done here?

First of all, to agree with the first part of

77

your question, yeah, the normal circumstances, the Attorney
General would make that announcement with the FBI director -Ms. Jackson Lee.
Mr. Comey.

Absolutely.

-- standing next to her.

Absolutely.

And so

I had never even actually heard of a circumstance where the FBI
made an announcement separate from the -- without coordinating
it with the Attorney General.

I thought we had to do that if

the American people are going to have confidence that the result
was apolitical.
Now, it would have been great if Loretta Lynch had recused
herself and made Sally Yates the acting attorney general.

I

think what I would have done in that circumstance is hand it to
Sally, who did not have the issues that Loretta had -- I like
them both -- but didn't have the issues that Loretta had with
potential appearance of bias, but Loretta announced that she
would not recuse herself.

She would just accept my

recommendation and that of the career prosecutors.
And so I felt like I didn't have the option to hand it to
Sally because Loretta had stayed in charge.

That makes sense.

And so I called each of them and said, I'm going to make an
announcement this morning.
you.

I'm not going to coordinate it with

I hope when you see it, you'll understand why.
And the goal was to make sure the American people knew, this

wasn't the Obama administration.
fix.

This wasn't some political

There was no case there because apolitical professionals

78

thought so.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Let me move on.

It is true, is it not, that Secretary Clinton's campaign
was not the subject of a Federal counterintelligence
investigation by our Nation's law enforcement?
Mr. Comey.

To my knowledge, it was not.

You're saying the Clinton campaign?
Ms. Jackson Lee.
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

To my knowledge, it was not.

Ms. Jackson Lee.

But the same is not true with respect to

the Trump campaign, which was under investigation for colluding
with a hostile foreign power to influence the outcome of the 2016
election?
Mr. Comey.
investigation.

The Trump campaign was not under
The FBI, in late July, opened

counterintelligence investigations of four Americans to see if
they were working in any way with the Russians to influence our
elections.
Ms. Jackson Lee.
the campaign?

Those individuals were affiliated with

I believe they were in some form.

Mr. Comey.

At least some of them were.

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.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

However, during the discovery of that

investigation, which was comparable to an investigation of

79

another candidate, that information was not announced or
presented to the American people or asked of the Attorney General
to make a statement based upon the facts that the FBI had.
announcement was made about that.
Mr. Comey.

That's correct.

Is that correct?
And it was treated the way the

Clinton investigation had been treated.
the beginning of it.

No

We said nothing during

It wasn't until the following spring that

we confirmed to Congress that there even was an investigation
of any sort without naming the people.

So the rule actually was

consistently applied.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

But you never ever came to the American

people during the election to indicate that there were
investigations of principals that may have been involved in the
Trump campaign on any matter?
Mr. Comey.

That's correct, because of our policies and

approach to those investigations, all investigations.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Let me offer to say, I don't know if the

American people could decipher between the distinction.

What

is left in the minds is you announced one, you didn't announce
the other.
Mr. Comey.

Yeah, I agree with that --

Ms. Jackson Lee.

When you met with the President at the

White House on January 27th, 2017, the meeting during which he
asked you to let Flynn go, did the President know at the time
that the FBI was investigating Russia's interference in the 2016

80

elections?
Mr. Comey.

The meeting you're referring to was Valentine's

Day, February 14th of 2017, not the 27th.
Ms. Jackson Lee.
Mr. Comey.

I stand corrected.

And I don't know -Thank you.

I don't know what the President knew at that

point.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

What did you understand the President to

be asking for when he requested that you let Flynn go?

To stop

investigating Michael Flynn's conduct or stopping investigating
Russian interference of the 2016 election?
Mr. Comey.

The first.

As I've testified, I understood him

to be directing me -- asking, but I took it as a direction -- to
drop an investigation of Flynn's interaction with the FBI over
his conversations with the Russians in the transition.
Ms. Jackson Lee.
Mr. Comey.

What was your impression of that request?

That it was improper and that I was not going

to abide by it.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Were you silent at that time or did you

indicate that to the President?
Mr. Comey.

My recollection is he said something about

Flynn being a good guy and that he hoped I would let it go.

And

I answered, "I agree he's a good guy," or words to that effect,
but I didn't agree to his request.

I actually just commented

on part of what he had said.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

And did you pursue responding back to him

81

or was there silence after that?
subsequent to that of his point?

Meaning, did you engage
Because, obviously, when the

President of the United States speaks, and though you're in an
independent agency, he might believe that work should begin on
responding to his request.
Mr. Comey.

I don't know what he believed.

I never spoke

to him about it again.
Ms. Jackson Lee.
Mr. Comey.

Did you feel a certain pressure?

I felt that he was asking me, directing me to

drop a criminal investigation, which I thought was improper, so
I went back, wrote a memo about it, briefed the leadership of
the FBI so we could figure out what to do about it.
[Comey Exhibit No. 2
Was marked for identification.]
Ms. Jackson Lee.
an exhibit.

This is my last question, and it requires

Pages 68, 69 of the transcript from former FBI

General Counsel James Baker.
The question was:

"You had said that the President's

firing of Director Comey, you considered to be a threat to
national security.

And my question was, in what way was it a

threat to national security?"
The answer was:

"So the investigation at a high level was

about Russia, period, full stop.

And it was trying to assess,

in this particular instance, what the Russians were doing or had
done with respect to the 2016 Presidential election.

We are

82

trying to investigate what the Russians did and what any -- and
whether there were any Americans or others who had done things
in support of those efforts, either knowingly or unknowingly,
so that we could understand the full nature and scope of what
the Russians had attempted to do.
And so to the extent that this action of firing Director
Comey may have been caused by or was the result of a decision
to shut down that investigation, which I thought was a legitimate
investigation, then that would frustrate our ability to some
degree to ascertain what the Russians as well as any other
Americans or others had done in furtherance of the objectives
of the Russian Federation.
So not only -- I guess the point is not only would it be
an issue about obstructing the investigation, but the
obstruction itself would hurt our ability to figure out what the
Russians had done and what is and what would be the threat to
the national security.

Our inability or our -- the inability

or the delays, the difficulties that we might have with respect
to trying to figure out what the Russians were doing, because
our main objective was to thwart them."
Director Comey, do you agree with Mr. Baker's assessment
that President Trump's firing you was a threat to national
security?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know enough to say to the -- if it's

true that the firing was designed to thwart the Russian

83

investigation, then I would agree, understanding of what Russia
was doing.

But I don't know enough about the reasons -- what

the real reasons were for the firing to give you a definitive
answer.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Well, Mr. Comey, didn't you write memos

about the conversation?

Wasn't it important enough to you as

a law enforcement officer who deals with national security to
solidify or to cement your memory in a memo?
Mr. Comey.

Sure.

Ms. Jackson Lee.

So wouldn't that lead to a conclusion that

this was really a dangerous posture to be in and it might
jeopardize national security?
Mr. Comey.

Sure, it might.

I just can't answer the

ultimate question as to whether it did because I don't know for
certain what the motivation was in firing me.
Ms. Jackson Lee.
Mr. Comey.

In hindsight as well?

Well, I've heard President Trump say on

television that he fired me because of the Russia thing.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

So with that in mind, would you say that

was a threat to national security?
Mr. Comey.

If that was the reason for the firing.

But I've

also heard him say other things at other times that that wasn't
the reason, and so it's really not -- I'm not able to answer it
because I can't see enough of the facts.

I'm sure that's

something the special counsel is examining.

84

Ms. Jackson Lee.

Do you agree that your firing could have

threatened the ability of the FBI to learn what the Russians as
well as any other Americans or others had done in the furtherance
of the objectives of the Russian Federation?
Mr. Comey.

Potentially.

Ms. Jackson Lee.

In the past 18 months since that

testimony, do you feel more certain that you were fired because
of the Russian investigation?
Mr. Comey.

If so, why?

I'm still in the same place, that I've heard

the President say that, but I've also heard him say different
things.

So I can't answer the question.

Ms. Jackson Lee.

Is there any need to further investigate

Hillary Clinton's emails based upon the decision that you made
not to prosecute?
Mr. Comey.

Not that I can possibly see.

Ms. Jackson Lee.

You consider this case closed?

Mr. Comey.

There's no serious person who thinks

Yes.

there's a prosecutable case there.
Ms. Jackson Lee.
Mr. Cummings.

I yield.

And so, not that can I see.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Director Comey, Elijah Cummings, the ranking member of the
Oversight Committee.
You've already testified to Congress about the Russia
investigation a number of times.

The last time was June 2017

during the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, so that was

85

about 18 months ago.
During your June 2017 testimony before the Senate
Intelligence Committee, you stated, and I quote, "The Russia
investigation itself is vital because of the threat, and I know
I should have said this earlier, but it's obvious if any Americans
were part of helping the Russians do that to us, that is a very
big deal," end of quote.
Director Comey, can you elaborate on what, quote, "the
threat," unquote, is that makes the Russia investigation so
vital?
Mr. Comey.

The aim of the Russian effort in 2016 was to

destabilize, undermine, damage our democracy.
overwhelming goal.

That was their

And so you have a foreign nation that is

attacking the United States of America in an effort to undermine
that which is essentially us, our democratic process.
a very serious threat.

So that's

And understanding whether any Americans

were part of that effort is incredibly important because the
threat of those Americans by virtue of their alliance with the
Russians would pose to our country.
Mr. Cummings.

Can you describe for us the magnitude of the

national security threat the FBI was investigating?
Mr. Comey.
I just said it.

Well, I don't know that I can say it better than
We saw, as did the rest of the intelligence

community, in 2016, the Russians engaged in a widespread,
sophisticated effort to undermine this democracy, to hurt one

86

of the candidates, Secretary Clinton, and to help the other
candidate, Donald Trump.

Given the stakes of the election and

the nature that we are a democracy, it is hard to imagine anything
more important than understanding and thwarting that threat.
Mr. Cummings.

If someone were to impede or prematurely

halt the special counsel's Russia investigation, how severe
would the implications be to our national security, in your
opinion?
Mr. Comey.

Well, in my opinion, it would undermine our

national security by not holding accountable people who might
have been involved in either the Russians or people who worked
with them, first.

And second, it would send an absolutely

appalling message about the rule of law in this country of ours.
Mr. Cummings.

And would there also be severe implications

for our democracy and the rule of law?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

The Russians' goal was for everyone in

the world to have doubt about the nature and credibility of the
American democracy, to dirty it up so it's not a shining city
on the hill.

So their attack had implications for that, the role

of the American democratic experiment.

And if someone were to

order it stopped, the investigation into that, it would have a
similar effect.
Mr. Cummings.

You stated it was, quote, "obvious," end

quote, that any Americans helping the Russians interfere with
our election is a big deal.

And I agree.

87

Can I ask you to spell out in as basic terms as possible
why that would be a very big deal?

I also think it is a big deal

that the President's campaign chairman and his national security
advisor both pleaded guilty to committing crimes.

Michael Flynn

and the President's national security advisor pleaded guilty to
having lied to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian
Government, about sanctions.

So the national security advisory

lied about his contacts with the foreign government over a
national security issue.
How serious of a national security risk is it to have the
national security advisor lying about his contacts with a foreign
government adversary to the FBI and the American people?
Mr. Comey.

Mr. Cummings, I don't think I can answer the

last part of that question because it touches on the work of the
special counsel.
I can answer the first part, which is, the reason it's a
big deal is you have an adversary nation attacking America.

If

Americans in our country are assisting them, it's aiding and
abetting the enemy in attacking our country.
We take it seriously when people were helping German
saboteurs infiltrate Long Island during World War II.

We take

it seriously when scientists are selling secrets to the Soviets
about our nuclear capabilities.

I take it just as seriously if

there are Americans who were -- and I'm not saying that there
were -- but if there were Americans who were assisting this

88

attack on our democracy, it's of the same type, which is why I
said it's so obvious.
Mr. Cummings.

The President's national security advisor

has access to our country's most closely held secrets.

The

Russians knew that, and they had talked to Flynn and what he
talked about, and they knew that Flynn and others in the White
House were lying about those communications.
Does that create the concern that the national security
advisor had been compromised by a foreign adversary?
Mr. Comey.

I think I have to give you the same answer about

the particular, that even though the man has pled guilty, it's
still something I think is within the purview of the special
counsel, so I ought not to be opining on it.
Mr. Cummings.

All right.

What is the risk to our country

of having the person with access to our most closely held secrets
be compromised or potentially compromised by a foreign
adversary?
happened.

And I'm not saying that you're concluding that it
I am just asking, what's the risk, if that were the

case?
Mr. Comey.

Thank you for that.

Mr. Cummings.
Mr. Comey.

You follow me?

Yeah, I follow you, and I'd like to take it to

one more level of abstraction.
Mr. Cummings.
Mr. Comey.

Sure.

Not talk about any particular person.

89

A big part of the FBI's counterintelligence work in the
United States is trying to understand whether foreign
adversaries have gained any leverage over anyone in a position
to influence a policy of the United States Government or to reveal
its secrets.

And so it's at the heart of our counterintelligence

work, because that's how the bad guys overseas hurt us.

One of

the ways is they co-opt people, recruit them, or coerce them into
giving up information that's inconsistent with American
interest.

And so it's a critical issue without regard to the

person.
Mr. Cummings.

Okay.

When Deputy Attorney General Sally

Yates learned of the significant national security risk, she went
over and warned the White House counsel, who was Don McGahn.
Proper protocol when the White House learned about that
potential national security risk would have been for the White
House to suspend General Flynn's access to classified
information while they looked into the matter, but they didn't
do that.

So we've been told that General Flynn held his active

clearance until he was fired by the White House about 18 days
later.
In your experience at the FBI, when the FBI learned that
an individual who had an active security clearance might be a
risk to our national security, did the FBI follow the standard
procedure I described and suspend that individual's security
clearance pending an investigation?

90

Mr. Comey.

Well, obviously I can't comment on the

particulars of the Flynn case.
Mr. Cummings.
Mr. Comey.

But in general --

Mr. Cummings.
Mr. Comey.

Right.

Would that be -- no, you go ahead.

A normal response would be to suspend their

clearance, but there may be operational reasons why you wouldn't
do that.

Say you have somebody inside the FBI you think might

be a spy.

You don't want to alert them to the fact that you're

on to them.

Suspending their clearance might alert them that

you're on to them.

So you might instead just try to put them

in a bit of a box and restrict the information there without them
knowing.
Mr. Cummings.

Assuming -- so the question then becomes,

in your opinion, why would a suspension of a clearance be
significant there, assuming you don't have that history that you
just stated?
Mr. Comey.

Well, if we had someone in the FBI that we

thought might be working for a foreign power, you want to stop
the damage.

And so that's why the normal practice, absent

operational concerns, would be to stop the damage by cutting off
their access to information that they might give to the
adversary.
Mr. Cummings.

Just a few more questions.

You have decades of dedicated service to our country and

91

have served in senior roles at the Department of Justice and as
the head of the FBI, and so I want to get your views about national
security.
Do you think that President Trump's actions pose a treat
to our national security?
Mr. Comey.

Can you explain?

Well, I think -- maybe the best answer I can

give is, I think the relentless attacks on the institutions of
justice are something we will all be sorry we stood silent, if
we stood silent and watched that happened.

Because those

institutions, the Justice Department and the FBI, and the rest
of the intelligence community, are essential to our national
security, that they are credited and believed, which they should
be.

And when you run them down for political reasons, you may

see a short-term gain; you see a long-term damage to our country
and its security.
Mr. Cummings.

Where do we go from here, Mr. Comey, and how

do we rebuild after the attacks on our democratic institutions
and the constant breaching of our ethical norms?
Mr. Comey.

Well, our consolation should be the depth and

strength of America's values.

The FBI will be fine.

snap back, as will the rest of our institutions.

It will

There will be

short-term damage, which worries me a great deal, but in the long
run, no politician, no president can, in a lasting way, damage
those institutions, because their values are too strong.
American military, the intelligence community, the law

The

92

enforcement community, it would take generations to screw them
up in a permanent way.

So we're going to be okay.

What falls to all of us is to speak up so that we reduce
the damage in the short run and don't become numb to something
that, frankly, we should all be ashamed of.

And I think a whole

lot of people will be ashamed of some day that they stood silent
while this happened.
Mr. Cummings.
Mr. Gomez.

Well, thank you for your service, sir.

Thank you.

Mr. Comey, Congressman Jimmy Gomez from California.
A few questions.
bias here.

There have been a lot of discussion about

I wanted to bring up the potential nominee for the

next Attorney General of the United States, Bill Barr.
Bill Barr has stated that he sees more reason for the
Department of Justice to investigate Hillary Clinton's tenure
as Secretary of State than investigate conspiracy between the
Trump campaign and Russia.

Do you think this is a useful and

reasonable allocation of DOJ or FBI resources?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

So it's hard for me to react,

Congressman, to a statement.
or what the full context was.

I don't know what he meant by that
Unless there are facts that I

didn't see when I was Director of the FBI, I don't see a basis
for continued investigation on the email front.

I don't know

what he -- I can't imagine he saw something as a private citizen,
so I don't know what to think of that.

And I think very highly

93

of him.

I mean, I used to work for him.

better than I know Bob Mueller.

I probably know him

I probably just damned him by

saying he's a friend of mine, but I respect him.

I just don't

know what he meant by that.
Mr. Gomez.

Do you think Bill Barr may be acting out of

political motivation when suggesting a new Clinton probe?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

Mr. Gomez.

Bill Barr supported Trump during the campaign.

And then during the campaign, he also publicly supported your
decision to disclose the Clinton investigation had been
reopened.

Later, however, he supported President Trump's

decision to fire you on the basis that you, quote/unquote,
sandbagged the Department of Justice with your unilateral action
on the Clinton probe.
Do you think that Bill Barr is fit to oversee the FBI and
the special counsel investigation in a nonpartisan manner if he
were to return to serve as Attorney General?
Mr. Comey.
General.

I think he's certainly fit to be Attorney

As I said, I think very highly of him.

Whether he

should be involved in those particular cases or not is a question
I can't answer.

I'm sure he'll reflect on it carefully, he's

a very smart guy, and get expert advice on it.

I just can't

answer it without knowing more.
Mr. Gomez.

What factors would he take into consideration

if he were to be involved in overseeing the special counsel

94

investigation?
Mr. Comey.

Well, most importantly you want to consider,

any time you are a leader of an institution of justice, whether
there's a reasonable appearance that you lack the impartiality
necessary to be involved in a particular case.

And so you'd want

to look at prior statements, prior engagement in litigation,
those kinds of things to see whether reasonable folks could have
a doubt about whether you are calling it as you see it or on one
team or the other.

And given the things you just laid out, it

raises a question with respect to him, so I'm sure he's going
to want to look at it, as will the Senate, very closely.
Mr. Gomez.

What do you think may be the factors that led

President Trump to nominate or will nominate Bill Barr as
Attorney General?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

I know Bill for years and his

record as a lawyer and as the Attorney General, and I think
they're impressive.

But I don't know what the President was

thinking.
Mr. Gomez.

I do believe that Congress has a role in the

oversight of the executive branch.
lines of that oversight.

My concern is what are the

What factors could you take into

account that oversight leads to interference with an ongoing
investigation?

Or is there anything in your mind that would be

off limits?
Mr. Comey.

Well, hard to answer in the abstract.

I mean,

95

I can say this:

I'm a big fan of oversight.

My staff used to

think I was kidding when I said I want to come here and answer
every question when I was Director of the FBI.
I think it's important that this branch of government
exercise its power.

I think one of the really bad things about

the drift of American history, in my lifetime, is this
organization, this institution has given up a lot of its power.
And so I like the idea of oversight.
That said, investigations have to be done with a Lady
Justice with a blindfold on, and so you really can't have
oversight by a political branch of ongoing investigations and
still credibly claim that the Lady Justice is wearing the
blindfold.

So what I would suggest is you do oversight after

investigations are completed to see if the institution was acting
in an appropriate way.
As I said, when I moved to quash the subpoena, I support
oversight of the executive branch.

I just have concerns about

interference with ongoing investigations, and when oversight
moves from seeking truth to seeking something else, it concerns
me.
Mr. Gomez.

Some of the questions that have been brought

up to me from my constituents relate to the decision to reveal
the Hillary Clinton investigation 11 days before an election but
not regarding the individuals that were being investigated in
regards to any potential conspiracy with the Trump

96

administration or the Russian Government.
Can you get into that a little bit?

I know you did earlier,

but there is still -- you're getting shots from both sides of
the aisle and on some of the decisionmaking.

And my constituents

are really interested in that response.
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

It's a reasonable question, yes.

Everybody seems to think I'm on somebody else's side, but the
treatment of the two cases illustrates the rule.
In the Clinton investigation, we didn't say anything about
that investigation for a year, except simply 3 months in to
confirm that we had an investigation.

And that was an

investigation that began publicly, with a public referral.
the whole world knew we had it.

So

We formally confirmed it after

investigating for 3 months, then we said nothing until it was
done.
That's the way we treated the Russian counterintelligence
investigations.

We opened them in late July, didn't know

whether we had anything.

In fact, when I was fired as director,

I still didn't know whether there was anything to it.

And so

we would never consider making a statement about classified
investigations that were just beginning.
The problem in late October was we -- me and Loretta
Lynch -- had told the world, "We're done with the Clinton email
investigation.

Move on."

And I got hammered in this room by

Republicans, and in many other rooms.

And I stood my ground and

97

said, "No, there's no there, there.

Move on."

On October 27th, I learned that that was no longer true.
And I had my team telling me, not only is it no longer true, but
the result may change from our review of these hundreds of
thousands of emails, and we can't finish it before the election.
And so what do I do?

Do I stay silent and leave the Congress

and the American people relying on something I now know is a lie
or do I speak?

And those are two really bad options.

choice was to take the least bad.

And my

Tell Congress what I told you

repeatedly is no longer true and try to make sure it's, "we don't
know," "we're not sure," but to speak.

Because to conceal would

be to destroy the FBI and the Department of Justice.
Forget Hillary Clinton's Presidency, although that would
be severely damaged if she became President on that basis.

I

made the judgement that the Department of Justice and the FBI
will be ruined if I concealed a lie from this Congress.
Reasonable people can disagree about that, but it illustrates
that we treated the two consistently.

And what trapped us in

October was we had told everybody it was over in the summertime.
Mr. Gomez.

Thank you.

Ms. Sachsman Grooms.

We're out of time.

We'll go off the record.

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[1:00 p.m.]
Mr. Gowdy.

We'll go back on the record.

Director Comey, I'm going to summarize from a portion of
what we refer to as the Comey memos.
of 2017.

This one is from February

I don't know whether or not you have a copy of your

memos or whether or not you have recollection of what's in them.
Mr. Kelley.

We don't have copies with us.

If you want to

give them to us, it might expedite things.
Mr. Gowdy.

And, again, this is one from February of 2017.

Mr. Comey.

Which date in February?

Mr. Gowdy.

I want to say it's the 14th, but I could be

wrong -- 14th.
Mr. Comey.

Okay.

Got it.

Mr. Gowdy.

And at the top, it says, "I attended an Oval

Office" -- you got that one?
Mr. Comey.

I got it.

Mr. Gowdy.

Fourth paragraph, and just tell me whether or

not I'm fairly summarizing this.
but:

I'm not going to read it all,

He -- and I assume "he" is the President, President

Trump -- began by saying he wanted want to talk about Mike Flynn.
That's in quotes.

He said that, although Flynn hadn't done

anything wrong in his call with the Russians, he had to let him
go because he misled the Vice President, whom he described as
a good guy.

Now, was the "he" -- is the "he" modifying Vice

President Pence or Mike Flynn, when you say whom he described

99

as a, quote, good guy?
Mr. Comey.

I took him to be meaning Mr. Flynn is a good

Mr. Gowdy.

Okay.

guy.
He explained that he just couldn't have

Flynn misleading the Vice President.

In any event, he had other

concerns about Flynn; he had a great guy coming in, so he had
to let Flynn go.

Have I fairly summarized that paragraph?

Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Mr. Gowdy.

All right.

I think.

Next page, second full paragraph,

Yeah, second full paragraph, it begins:

He then.

You got it?
Mr. Comey.

Got it.

Mr. Gowdy.

He then returned to the topic of Mike Flynn,

saying:

Flynn's a good guy and has been through a lot.

He

misled the Vice President, but he didn't do anything wrong in
the call.

Said:

I hope you can see your way clear of letting

this go, to letting Flynn go.
let this go.

He is a good guy.

I hope you can

I replied by saying I agree he is a good guy, but

said no more.
Have I fairly described that paragraph?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

In fact, I think you read it.

Mr. Gowdy.

Do the contents of that paragraph, are they

sufficient to launch an obstruction of justice investigation?
Mr. Comey.

Potentially.

Mr. Gowdy.

What part of it potentially could lead to the

100

initiation of an obstruction of justice investigation?
Mr. Comey.

The President asking -- one interpretation of

it is the President asking the FBI to drop a criminal
investigation.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did you act or fail to act in any way in the

Flynn matter because of what the President said to you?
Mr. Comey.
direction.

Act or fail to act?

I didn't abide this

In fact, kept it to a fairly small group in FBI

headquarters so it would not have any impact on the
investigation.
Mr. Gowdy.

But I'm asking you specifically --

Mr. Comey.

I took acts -- the reason I'm hesitating is I

took acts to make sure it had no impact on the investigation.
Mr. Gowdy.

I'm with you, but it did not -- did his comments

prevent you from following the leads that you thought should have
been followed?
Mr. Comey.

No.

Mr. Gowdy.

Did his comments prevent you from taking any

act as the Director of the FBI that you thought were warranted
by the other fact pattern?
Mr. Comey.

No.

This had -- I did not abide this.

And it

did not affect the investigation, so far as I'm aware, in any
way.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did you initiate an obstruction of justice

investigation based on what the President said?

101

Mr. Comey.

I don't think so.

I don't recall doing that,

so I don't think so.
Mr. Gowdy.

Would you recall initiating a criminal

investigation into the President of the United States?
Mr. Comey.

Yes, I'm sorry.

I didn't personally, but I

took it also to mean, did anyone else in the FBI open a file with
an obstruction heading or something?

Not to my knowledge is the

answer.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did you talk to Andy McCabe the day you were

fired?
Mr. Comey.

I don't think so.

I don't think -- it's

possible, but I don't think so.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did you talk to Lisa Page the day you were fired?

Mr. Comey.

That I'm sure of.

Mr. Gowdy.

Did you talk to Peter Strzok the day you were

No.

fired?
Mr. Comey.

No.

Mr. Gowdy.

Do you know whether or not an obstruction of

justice investigation was launched the day you were fired?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

Mr. Gowdy.

If Flynn had said, "Director Comey" -- I'm

sorry.
If President Trump had said, "Director Comey, General Flynn
made a mistake, and he didn't have the intent to violate the law,"
would you have viewed that as obstruction?

102

Mr. Comey.

I can't answer that hypothetical.

Mr. Gowdy.

Well, we're going to have to get our way through

it a little bit.

Is someone saying, "Look, he just made a

mistake" -- mistake is a defense to certain crimes, right?

So

that could be interpreted as didn't commit a criminal offense.
Mr. Comey.

The reason I don't feel comfortable going into

hypotheticals is obstruction is a crime that turns on intent,
and I can't speak in -- either in fact or in hypotheticals to
intent here.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, what was the President's intent

when -- in your opinion, when he said, "I hope you can see your
way clear to letting this go"?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know for sure.

Mr. Gowdy.

So it would be the failure of an essential

element of an obstruction of justice case if the person who
received that information did not view it as an attempt to impact
his decisionmaking?
Mr. Comey.

I don't think that's right as a matter of law.

I don't think the reaction of the object of the obstructive
effort, their perception, is dispositive.
Mr. Gowdy.

Were you obstructed?

Mr. Comey.

Because I think I could have -- I could endeavor

to obstruct something and you not realize what I'm doing.
Mr. Gowdy.

Were you obstructed?

Mr. Comey.

Well, I don't know -- there was no impact, so

103

far as I'm aware, on the investigation, from this conversation.
Mr. Gowdy.

If he had said, "Look, General Flynn doesn't

have the intent to commit a crime," how would you have viewed
that?
Mr. Kelley.
Mr. Comey.

Do you understand the question?
Yeah, I still would not offer an opinion as to

what his intention was in doing that.

I would find it very

concerning, just as I found this very concerning, but I didn't
then, and I don't now, have an opinion on the ultimate question
about whether it was obstruction.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, the reason I ask general -- Director

Comey, is, there was another Chief Executive who referred to an
ongoing criminal matter by saying she made a mistake, and she
lacked criminal intent.

Did you view that as potentially

obstruction of justice?
Mr. Comey.

Talking about President Obama now?

Mr. Gowdy.

Yes.

Mr. Comey.

I didn't see it as -- through the lens of

obstruction of justice.

I saw it as threatening our ability to

credibly complete the investigation.
Mr. Gowdy.

In what way?

Mr. Comey.

The President of the United States offering a

view on a matter or a case that's under investigation, when that
President is of the same party as the subject of the investigation
and working for her election, would tend to cast doubt in

104

reasonable people's minds about whether the investigation had
been conducted and completed fairly, competently, and
independently.
Mr. Gowdy.

So, if it doesn't rise to the level of

obstruction, how would you characterize the Chief Executive
saying that the target of an investigation that was ongoing
simply made a mistake and lacked the requisite criminal intent?
Mr. Comey.

It would concern me.

It concerns me whenever

the Chief Executive comments on pending criminal investigations,
something we see a lot today, which is why it concerned me when
President Obama did it.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, it concerns me too, Director Comey.

I'm

also concerned that people treat similarly situated people the
same.

And did you make a memo after President Obama said she

made a mistake and lacked the requisite criminal intent?
Mr. Comey.

He said that on FOX News.

Mr. Gowdy.

Right.

Mr. Comey.

I did not make a memo about the FOX News

broadcast.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did you have a meeting with your investigative

team to make sure that they were not in any way impacted by what
he said?
Mr. Comey.

No.

Mr. Gowdy.

Who is Christopher Steele?

to that, let me ask you this.

Well, before I go

105

At any -- who interviewed General Flynn, which FBI agents?
Mr. Comey.

My recollection is two agents, one of whom was

Pete Strzok and the other of whom is a career line agent, not
a supervisor.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did either of those agents, or both, ever tell

you that they did not adduce an intent to deceive from their
interview with General Flynn?
Mr. Comey.

No.

Mr. Gowdy.

Have you ever testified differently?

Mr. Comey.

No.

Mr. Gowdy.

Do you recall being asked that question in a

HPSCI hearing?
Mr. Comey.
I was asked.

No.

I recall -- I don't remember what question

I recall saying the agents observed no indicia of

deception, physical manifestations, shiftiness, that sort of
thing.
Mr. Gowdy.

Who would you have gotten that from if you were

not present for the interview?
Mr. Comey.

From someone at the FBI, who either spoke to -- I

don't think I spoke to the interviewing agents but got the report
from the interviewing agents.
Mr. Gowdy.

All right.

So you would have, what, read the

302 or had a conversation with someone who read the 302?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember for sure.

I think I may have

done both, that is, read the 302 and then spoke to people who

106

had spoken to the investigators themselves.
spoke to the investigators directly.

It's possible I

I just don't remember

that.
Mr. Gowdy.

And, again, what was communicated on the issue

of an intent to deceive?

What's your recollection on what those

agents relayed back?
Mr. Comey.

My recollection was he was -- the conclusion

of the investigators was he was obviously lying, but they saw
none of the normal common indicia of deception: that is,
hesitancy to answer, shifting in seat, sweating, all the things
that you might associate with someone who is conscious and
manifesting that they are being -- they're telling falsehoods.
There's no doubt he was lying, but that those indicators weren't
there.
Mr. Gowdy.

When you say "lying," I generally think of an

intent to deceive as opposed to someone just uttering a false
statement.
Mr. Comey.

Sure.

Mr. Gowdy.

Is it possible to utter a false statement

without it being lying?
Mr. Comey.

I can't answer -- that's a philosophical

question I can't answer.
Mr. Gowdy.

No, I mean, if I said, "Hey, look, I hope you

had a great day yesterday on Tuesday," that's demonstrably false.
Mr. Comey.

That's an expression of opinion.

107

Mr. Gowdy.

No, it's a fact that yesterday was --

Mr. Comey.

You hope I have a great day --

Mr. Gowdy.

No, no, no, yesterday was not Tuesday.

Mr. Comey.

Oh, see, I didn't even know that.

Mr. Gowdy.

So is it possible to make a false statement

Yeah.

without having the intent to deceive?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Mr. Gowdy.

All right.

Is making a false statement without

the intent to deceive a crime?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

I can't answer that without

thinking better about it.
Mr. Gowdy.

So would it, therefore, be relevant, whether

or -- I'll let you finish talking to your lawyer.
Mr. Comey.

Sorry, go ahead.

Mr. Gowdy.

Would it, therefore, be relevant whether or not

General Flynn had an intent to deceive?
Mr. Comey.

Let me step away from the case.

In

investigating any false statement case, you want to understand,
did the defendant, the subject, know they were making a false
statement?

Because you aren't prosecuted for accidents, slips

of memory, things like that.

So, in any false-statement case,

it's important to understand, what's the proof that they knew
what they were saying was false?
Mr. Gowdy.

And, again -- because I'm afraid I may have

interrupted you, which I didn't mean to do -- your agents, it

108

was relayed to you that your agents' perspective on that
interview with General Flynn was what?
you was, you said:

He was lying.

Because where I stopped

They knew he was lying, but

he didn't have the indicia of lying.
Mr. Comey.

Correct.

All I was doing was answering your

question, which I understood to be your question, about whether
I had previously testified that he -- the agents did not believe
he was lying.

I was trying to clarify.

I think that reporting

that you've seen is the product of a garble.

What I recall

telling the House Intelligence Committee is that the agents
observed none of the common indicia of lying -- physical
manifestations, changes in tone, changes in pace -- that would
indicate the person I'm interviewing knows they're telling me
stuff that ain't true.

They didn't see that here.

It was a

natural conversation, answered fully their questions, didn't
avoid.

That notwithstanding, they concluded he was lying.

Mr. Gowdy.

Would that be considered Brady material and

hypothetically a subsequent prosecution for false statement?
Mr. Comey.

That's too hypothetical for me.

interesting law school question:

I mean,

Is the absence of

incriminating evidence exculpatory evidence?

But I can't

answer that question.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, you used to be the United States Attorney

for the Southern District of New York.
over that information?

Would you have turned

109

Mr. Comey.
can't.

I can't answer that in the abstract.

I just

It depends upon too many unique circumstances to a case.

Mr. Gowdy.

Who is Christopher Steele?

Mr. Comey.

My understanding is that Christopher Steele is

a former intelligence officer of an allied nation who prepared
a series of reports in the summer of 2016 that have become known
as the Steele dossier.
Mr. Gowdy.

How long did he have a relationship with the

Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

Mr. Gowdy.

Did you ever meet him?

Mr. Comey.

No.

Mr. Gowdy.

Never met him, never talked to him?

Mr. Comey.

Sorry.

FBI?

Okay.

No, I never met him, never spoken to the man.

Mr. Gowdy.

When did you learn he was working for Fusion

Mr. Comey.

I don't know that I ever knew that -- certainly

GPS?

while I worked at the FBI.

I think I've read that in open source,

but I didn't know that while I was FBI.
Mr. Gowdy.

Who did you think he was working for?

Mr. Comey.

I thought he was retained as part of a

Republican-financed effort -- retained by Republicans adverse
to Mr. Trump during the primary season, and then his work was
underwritten after that by Democrats opposed to Mr. Trump during

110

the general election season.
Mr. Gowdy.

When did you learn that his work went from being

financed by what you described as Republicans to what you
described as Democrats?
Mr. Comey.
guess.

Sometime in September, October, is my best

I don't remember for sure, when I was briefed on the

materials that had been provided to the FBI.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, ordinarily, it wouldn't be important

whether it was December or October, but -Mr. Comey.

September or October.

Mr. Gowdy.

Right.

Ordinarily, it wouldn't be important.

Just so happens, in this fact pattern, it might be.
Pardon me?
Mr. Kelley.
Mr. Gowdy.

I thought you said "December or October."
Oh, December -- or September?

Mr. Kelley.
Mr. Gowdy.

You said September first; he said -Ordinarily -- let me correct it then.

Ordinarily, it wouldn't be important whether it was
September or October.

In this fact pattern, it may be.

Do you

have any recollection, did anything else happen in September or
October that may refresh your recollection on when you learned
it?
Mr. Comey.

No.

best recollection.

It was either September/October, is my

If I had to say, which I will, more likely

September than October, but I'm really not certain.

111

Mr. Gowdy.

Do you know whether you learned it before there

were any court filings or pleadings filed in connection with the
Russia investigation?
Mr. Comey.
filings.

Court filings?

I don't remember court

Oh, you're talking about FISA?

Sorry.

Mr. Gowdy.

I was trying to avoid use of the word, but that's

Mr. Comey.

I think it's been used publicly, which is why I

okay.

just used it.
Mr. Gowdy.

I think it has too, but that doesn't mean it

should have been.
Mr. Comey.

Yeah.

I certainly learned of it before the end of October.

And

I think the filing that you're referring to obliquely was at the
end of October sometime.
Mr. Gowdy.

So it was before that.

When did you learn that Fusion GPS was hired

by Perkins Coie?
Mr. Comey.

I never learned that, certainly not while I was

Director.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, when did you learn the DNC had hired

Perkins Coie?
Mr. Comey.
Director.

I never learned that.

Again, while I was

I think I've read it in the media, but, yeah, even

today, I don't know whether it's true.
Mr. Gowdy.

Now, when you say you never learned it but may

112

have read it in the media -Mr. Comey.

After I left as Director.

Mr. Gowdy.

While you were the Director, you never knew that

the DNC hired a law firm that hired an oppo research firm that
hired Christopher Steele?
Mr. Comey.

No, I don't think so.

I don't have any

recollection of being told that or reading that or learning that
while I was Director.
Mr. Gowdy.

Is it relevant to you who was paying Chris

Steele?
Mr. Comey.

Yes, in the sense that I thought it was

important to understand that it was politically motivated
effort, first by Republicans, then by Democrats.
Mr. Gowdy.

Whose obligation in the Bureau would it have

been to bring it to your attention?
Mr. Comey.
"obligation."

I don't know about your use of the word

I'd have to think that through more carefully,

but I do know that I was told about it, I think, by the general
counsel, but I'm not sure.

And I don't know whether that stemmed

from an obligation.
Mr. Gowdy.

All right.

We'll get at that another way.

The

word "obligation" stemmed from the fact that this is a
counterintelligence investigation into a political campaign.
I think you testified -- and I hope you agree -- the source who
was paying for that information would be relevant.

113

Mr. Comey.

First of all, I have to disagree with your

assertion that it was a counterintelligence investigation into
a political campaign.

I've said that earlier, that it wasn't.

It was four counterintelligence files on four Americans.
Mr. Gowdy.

The --

I know you said that, Director Comey, but I

think you -Mr. Kelley.
Mr. Comey.

Let him finish his answer, please.
Who -- who paid and the particulars of who paid

would be important to people working the case, but the level of
specificity that the Director needed to know is, to my mind, a
different question.
Mr. Gowdy.

If the Director were signing a court filing that

had a representation in it, the Director would want to know
whether or not those representations were accurate.
Mr. Comey.

The Director would want to know that the

process -- carefully constructed process of the FBI had been
followed, that the right people had reviewed things, that the
right signoffs had been held, before I would sign the
certification that came with it.

That's probably the most I can

say about the role of the Director in a FISA.
Mr. Gowdy.

Was Christopher Steele also working with or for

the Bureau while he was working for Fusion GPS?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

Mr. Gowdy.

Do you know whether the FBI was paying

Christopher Steele for any of his work in the fall -- summer or

114

fall of 2016?
Mr. Comey.

My recollection is that the FBI was not paying

him, that the FBI had reimbursed him for some travel expenses
and had raised the prospect that if there was fruitful further
work, he could be paid for it.

But my recollection is that he

was not paid.

These are the things I remember learning when I

was Director.

Could be wrong, but I think that's what I was told.

Mr. Gowdy.
then.

I think you have answered the next question

Assuming that you are incorrect and the FBI was paying

him, you don't recall how much the FBI paid him?
Mr. Comey.

Well, as I said, my recollection is that he was

reimbursed for expenses and that he was not paid for his work
in connection with the Russia subject, but that the prospect was
raised.

So, of course, given that I don't recall that he was

paid for his work, the answer would be I don't recall how much
he was paid because he wasn't paid, in my recollection.
Mr. Gowdy.

When the Bureau uses sources or informants, are

there agreements signed?

Are there certain obligations on

behalf of the source or the informant?
Mr. Comey.

Yeah, I'm not expert enough to answer that.

I'm sure that there are, but I don't know the particulars.
Mr. Gowdy.

Is it -- would it be unusual for the FBI to tell

a source or an informant, you can't commit any other crimes while
you're working for the Bureau?
Mr. Comey.

I believe that's the case.

115

Mr. Gowdy.

Would it be unusual for the Bureau to tell a

source or an informant, you can't have media contacts while
you're working for the Bureau?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know whether that's part of the standard

warnings or directions to a source.
Mr. Gowdy.
Mr. Kelley.

And you're not familiar -Excuse me.

One second, please.

Mr. Comey.

Okay, thank you.

I'm sorry.

Go ahead.

Mr. Gowdy.

How did Chris Steele's information reach the

Mr. Comey.

I don't know for sure.

FBI?
I have some

recollection that he passed it to an agent that he knew and that
that agent sent it on to headquarters.

I think that's the way

in which it reached the Counterintelligence Division, but I don't
remember the specifics of that.
Mr. Gowdy.

How did the Bureau investigate whatever

information Steele provided?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know in particular.

I know that the

Counterintelligence Division was investigating various aspects
of the reports he had supplied, and that investigation was
ongoing when I was fired.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you know whether the Bureau endeavored to

either contradict or corroborate factual assertions made in what
has later been described as the Steele dossier?

116

Mr. Comey.

My understanding is that that effort -- that

an effort was under way to try to replicate, either rule in or
rule out, as much of that collection of reports that's commonly
now called the Steele dossier as possible, and that that work
was ongoing when I was fired.
Mr. Gowdy.

When did that work begin?

Mr. Comey.

My recollection is sometime in '16, but I don't

know when.
Mr. Gowdy.

Before or after it was used in a court filing?

Mr. Comey.

I think before that.

I think -- I think when

it was received, there was an effort immediately to try and
evaluate it to understand it, and that continued over the next
6 months.
Mr. Gowdy.

What is the basis of your belief that there was

an immediate attempt to corroborate or contradict the underlying
factual assertions?
Mr. Comey.

I have some recollection, vague, of being told

we're trying to assess this to understand what we can make of
it, what parts we can rely on, what parts we can't.

But I

don't -- I don't remember more than that.
Mr. Gowdy.

Was Steele the original source of the

information, or did he himself have sources and subsources?
Ms. Bessee.

Mr. Chairman, to the extent that it

goes -- your line of questioning goes beyond Christopher Steele
in particular and into other sources that may impact special

117

counsel's investigation, I will have to instruct the witness not
to answer the questions.
Mr. Gowdy.

He can't answer whether Chris Steele was the

original source for all of the information in the Steele dossier?
Ms. Bessee.
Mr. Gowdy.
Ms. Bessee.
Mr. Gowdy.

To the extent it goes into -I didn't mention the phrase "special counsel."
I know you have not, Mr. Chairman.
I'm just asking the former Director of the FBI,

who received information from a source, whether that source had
knowledge of the underlying accuracy of that information or
whether the source was relying on other sources.

I don't know

how that implicates anything Bob Mueller's doing.
Ms. Bessee.

If the source relies on other information,

because this is all part of an ongoing investigation, it may
impact -Mr. Gowdy.
Ms. Bessee.

How?
Why don't we have the witness -- if it impacts

the investigation, because the witness has knowledge as to
whether it would or not, he may not be able to answer the question.
So I will have the witness -Mr. Gowdy.

That's a different answer if he doesn't -- if

he doesn't have recollection.
Do you know whether Chris Steele relied on sources and
subsources to compile the information that ultimately made it
to the FBI?

118

Mr. Comey.

My recollection is he did have a source network

of sources and subsources and that this collection of reports
reflected reporting by those, that source network.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did the FBI make any effort to identify those

sources and subsources that Steele would have relied upon?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Mr. Gowdy.

With success?

Mr. Comey.

I don't remember, and I think I don't remember

because the work was not finished before I left.
Mr. Gowdy.

I'm not asking you for names, but I'm asking

you for a sense of scope.

How many sources and subsources did

Steele rely upon?
Ms. Bessee.

Mr. Chairman, again, the number or the how

many sources or subsources would go to things involved in the
special counsel investigation.

So the witness will not be able

to answer that.
Mr. Gowdy.

For the life of me, I don't understand how that

could possibly be so.

What I do know to be so is I need -- and

think I have a right -- to ask the former Director of the FBI,
given the fact that we've already established Steele had sources
and subsources, whether or not the Bureau made an effort to
contact and corroborate or contradict the information provided
by those sources.

Is it the Bureau's position that I'm

incorrect?
Ms. Bessee.

Could we have a minute to talk to the witness?

119

Mr. Gowdy.

Well, if it's -- yeah, if we can toll the clock.

I mean, I'm already running out of time.
Mr. Comey.

Can I have your question again, Mr. Gowdy?

Mr. Gowdy.

Pardon me?

Mr. Comey.

What's the question again?

Mr. Gowdy.

God, if I remember.

I think it was whether or

not the Bureau made any effort -- oh, I think what I asked is
whether or not you had an idea the scope, the breadth, of the
number of sources or subsources Steele relied upon.
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

I have a recollection that there were

a variety of sources and subsources, but I don't have a sense
of the scope.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you have a sense that the Bureau was able

to identify every source and subsource Steele relied upon?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know one way or another.

Mr. Gowdy.

I'm going to let Mr. Ratcliffe take over from

here, other than I'm going to ask you whether hearsay is
ordinarily admissible in court or not.
Mr. Comey.

Is this a quiz?

Mr. Gowdy.

No.

Well, if I didn't think you could answer

it, I wouldn't have asked you.
Mr. Comey.

I know you know the answer.

It depends upon whether it fits within one of

the exceptions to the hearsay rule.
Mr. Gowdy.

Assuming -- what's the general rule?

get to the exceptions.

We won't

The general rule, is hearsay admissible

120

or not admissible?
Mr. Comey.

Well, the general rule is that hearsay is not

admissible unless it falls within one of the exceptions to the
hearsay rule.
Mr. Gowdy.

Right.

And we're going to assume for the sake

of argument that there's no exception unless you can identify
one.

What is the definition of -- well, is it an out-of-court

statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted?
Mr. Comey.

Yes, that's my recollection.

Mr. Gowdy.

All right.

Mr. Kelley.

You know, Mr. Gowdy, we've agreed to be here

to talk about the questions and decisions made and not made in
connection with the investigation of Russia and Clinton's
emails.
Mr. Gowdy.

Yes.

Mr. Kelley.

And we've been very patient, but why don't we

get to the point instead of asking ridiculous questions about
the definition -Mr. Gowdy.

The fact that you think it's ridiculous is of

no consequence to me whatsoever, Mr. Kelley.
Mr. Kelley.
Mr. Gowdy.

I'm sure it's not.
It's not.

And I've asked almost every other

witness, none of whom had an attorney that didn't understand the
relevance of that question.
Mr. Comey.

So that's between you and

But the reason that I want to ask about hearsay is

121

the ability to rely upon information that cannot be
cross-examined.

That's why I want to ask about it.

And if you

can't see that, then y'all can discuss that on the next break,
but I'm going to go back into it, and for now, it will be
Mr. Ratcliffe's turn.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Mr. Comey, do you recall that you signed

a FISA application on October 21st, 2016, relating to Carter
Page?
Mr. Comey.

I don't recall the date.

I do remember signing

such a FISA in October.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Would you have reviewed the FISA

application before you signed it?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you recall that the FISA application

would have been titled -- or was titled "verified application"?
Mr. Comey.

No, I don't recall that.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Don't all FISA applications state that they

are verified applications?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

I don't -- sitting here today,

I can't remember the word "verified."
Mr. Ratcliffe.

What did the FISA application that you

signed on October 21st of 2016, aver in terms of probable cause
for a warrant on Carter Page?
Ms. Bessee.

Congressman, he can only respond to

information that's not classified or that's been put out there

122

in the public.

If there is something that he can look at,

because, as you know, part of that -- parts of that application
is classified.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

I was told that -- that the Director didn't

want to review any classified information today and that he came
here without any provisional clearances because he didn't want
them, but yet he was prepared to answer any questions that may
pertain to classified information.
Mr. Kelley.

Is that incorrect?

That is incorrect.

We were told in advance

that this would not deal with anything law enforcement sensitive
or classified information.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Kelley.

Who told you that?

House counsel.

Not so much who told me, so

much as a representation made before a United States district
judge.
Mr. Meadows.

So, Mr. Chairman, I would recommend that

there are two different statements that the attorney just made.
One was classified; the other was law enforcement sensitive.

I

can't imagine that House counsel would have inadvertently agreed
to that.

We need to check with Mr. Hungar and make sure that

we're consistent with that.
Chairman Goodlatte.

We'll do that.

The House counsel's

position is very clear, that the Congress does not recognize an
ongoing investigation prohibition on answering questions.

We

do obviously recognize a classified, and we're prepared to create

123

that environment, if necessary, to ask that question in that
environment.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Did the FISA application that you

certified, or verified, allege that there was probable cause to
believe that Carter Page was working for or with the Russian
Government?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember specifically.

My

recollection is it was -- it was submitted to the court as part
of an application where the Department of Justice was alleging
that he was an agent of a foreign power, namely, the Russian
Federation, but I can't remember what it said about probable
cause.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Would it have averred that there was

probable cause to believe that he was in a position to influence
the Trump campaign or Trump campaign officials?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember that.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

But you did review it?

Yes.

I remember reading it for the purpose of

signing the certification that the FBI Director has to sign.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you recall that part of the probable

cause submitted to the court was the -- what you've referred to
as the Steele dossier?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Following up on Mr. Gowdy's question about

Christopher Steele, do you know whether he had any direct

124

knowledge about collusion, coordination, or conspiracy between
anyone associated with the Trump campaign, or was it based on
other sources and subsources?
Mr. Comey.

My recollection is that it was the latter, that

he didn't have personal knowledge of most, maybe all, of the
things that were in the reports, but they were reported to him
by sources and that the, sort of, the core allegation of the
dossier, as I recall, was that there was an effort to coordinate
with the Russian interference campaign, but that was not the
product of Steele's personal knowledge is my -- I could be wrong
about that, but that's my recollection.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

All right, so, if there were other sources

or subsources, would you agree that that information would be
double and triple hearsay?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Could be.

I don't know.

Do you know whether each application -- or

do you know whether the application that you signed states that
the FBI has reviewed this verified application for accuracy?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember that specifically.

It sounds

like the kind of thing that would be in there as a matter of
course, but I don't remember.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

And what would be the purpose of verifying

to the FISA court that the Department of Justice and the FBI have
corroborated the allegations?
Mr. Comey.

Well, you're trying to convince a Federal judge

125

that you have probable cause, and so the better you can present
your evidence and the way it might overlap or interlock, the
better the chance you have of convincing the judge you have
probable cause.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

So I want to relate to you some of the

testimony that we've already received.

FBI Deputy Director Andy

McCabe testified before Congress that the FBI could provide no
points of verification to verify the Steele information other
than the fact that Carter Page had traveled to Russia in July
of 2016.

Were you aware of that when you signed the application

on October 21st of 2016?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember any of that right now.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Bill Priestap who -- what does Bill

Priestap do at the FBI?
Mr. Comey.

I think he's still the Assistant Director in

charge of the Counterintelligence Division.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Okay.

He testified that corroboration of

the Steele dossier was in its, quote/unquote, infancy, at the
time of the application that you signed on October 21st, 2016.
Did you know that?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember hearing that, but that makes

sense to me, if my recollection is correct, that we got it in
September or maybe October.

It would, by definition, be in its

infancy in October.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

All right.

And do you know when

126

Christopher Steele was terminated as a source for the FBI?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

And I don't know for a fact that he

was terminated.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

So have you reviewed any FBI source

validation report on Christopher Steele?
Mr. Comey.

I have not.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

So you don't know whether or not such a

report would reflect that, as of November 1st of 2016,
Christopher Steele's reporting in the Steele dossier was
determined by the FBI to be only, quote, minimally corroborated,
end quote?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know that.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

So those things that I've just related to

you about testimony as I've represented it from Andy McCabe and
Bill Priestap, and the report as I've represented it to you from
the FBI, does that cause you any concern about the fact that you
signed a verified application for a warrant to surveil Carter
Page when the Steele dossier was only minimally corroborated or
in its infancy in its corroboration?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know enough or remember enough 2 years

later to have a reaction.

I don't know their testimony.

I

haven't looked at the thing.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

I'm just asking you to accept what I've

represented as true, and if it is true, does that cause you
concern?

Should the FISA court have been granting warrants

127

where the information submitted and verified, in fact, had only
been minimally corroborated?
Mr. Comey.

Yeah, I can't answer that because I --

look,

I accept what you're saying, but I don't know what else you're
not telling me that was in the FISA application and what was done.
I just don't know enough about what happened to offer a view one
way or the other.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Okay.

Well, do you recall that, on

numerous occasions subsequent to October 21st of 2016, you, in
your capacity as the FBI Director, referred to the Steele dossier
as salacious and unverified?
Mr. Comey.
of it.

Yes.

I don't know that I was referring to all

Maybe I was, but I had in mind some particular portions

of it that were salacious and unverified.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

But, again, your characterization of it was

that it was unverified, even though you had verified it to the
court?
Mr. Comey.

Well, it was coming to us from a reliable source

with a track record, and it's an important thing when you're
seeking a PC warrant.

But what I understand by verified is we

then try to replicate the source information so that it becomes
FBI investigation and our conclusions rather than a reliable
source's.

That's what I understand it, the difference to be.

And that work wasn't completed by the time I left in May of 2017,
to my knowledge.

128

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Well, when you talk about getting a warrant

and the PC and the importance there, isn't it important for the
judge to be able to weigh the reliability and the credibility
of all the sources for the information, particularly those that
saw or heard the relevant information that serves as the
predicate for seeking the warrant?
Mr. Comey.

Not necessarily.

I mean, I can imagine -- I

think I've dealt with warrants where you just identify that your
primary CI, or primary source, has subsources, and so long as
the court is aware of that phenomenon and that you're speaking
to the reliability of the primary source, to my mind, that's a
totally legit warrant application.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.
comment on it.

Who is Sally --

And I don't remember this one well enough to
I'm thinking about other criminal cases I've

worked.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Who is Sally Moyer?

Sally Moyer?

A lawyer in the General Counsel's Office.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you know if she was involved in the

preparation of the FISA application?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

If she testified -- and I'll represent to

you that she testified that the FISA court -- it was 49-51, maybe
50-50, that the FISA court would have approved the warrant
without the Steele dossier.

If I represent that to you, does

129

that cause you concern that the court was relying on a document
that was largely unverified and minimally corroborated?
Mr. Comey.

No.

Because it asked me to assume the truth

of the last part of your question, and I don't know that to be
the case.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Who -- you've already said you're not sure

that Christopher Steele was terminated as a source for the FBI,
correct?
Mr. Comey.

Correct.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

If he was terminated as a source for the

FBI, it would be improper for him to continue to do work for the
FBI.

Would you agree with that, as a source?
Mr. Comey.

I guess I don't know what "work" means.

I would

say in general, but I would imagine there would be circumstances
where someone -- in fact, I know -- sorry, go ahead.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

So let me see if I can break it down.

So

does the FBI -- the FBI has an entire manual, don't they, on
governing the use of confidential human sources?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

All kinds of rules and validations,

correct?
Mr. Comey.

Correct.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

And if Christopher Steele was, in fact,

terminated, it would have been for violating those standards or
rules or validations?

130

Mr. Comey.

I don't know for sure.

It could be for

violating them, but -- I don't know for sure whether it could
be something else too.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

As you've sat here today -- as you sit here

today, have you heard anything about the fact that Christopher
Steele was terminated for leaking information to the press?
Mr. Comey.

As I sit here today, since I left the FBI, I've

read stuff in the media about that.

I don't believe I had ever

heard anything about that while I was still at the FBI.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Okay.

So, if Christopher Steele -- again,

I know you don't know whether he had been terminated, but if he
was and he continued to provide information as a source to the
FBI, who would have authorized that?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

And it's too much of a

hypothetical for me to even begin to answer.

I don't know.

Because I don't know -- I don't know whether any of the -- the
preamble to your question is true.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Are you aware that Christopher Steele had

a relationship -- and by "relationship," I mean a working
relationship -- with Bruce Ohr?
Mr. Comey.
with Bruce Ohr?

Am I aware that he had a working relationship
No.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Are you aware of any communications or

contact between Christopher Steele and Bruce Ohr?
Mr. Comey.

I am not aware.

131

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Who is Bruce Ohr?

He's a lawyer for the Department of Justice,

who I don't know exactly what his job was.
the Southern District of New York.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

I remember him from

But a DOJ lawyer.

Would you expect a DOJ lawyer to be part

of the chain of custody of evidence relating to the Steele dossier
or a FISA application?
Mr. Comey.

I'm not sure I know what that means.

custody with respect to a FISA application.

Chain of

With respect to

the -- I just don't understand that question.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Yeah.

Should a DOJ lawyer be used as a

cutout to transfer evidence in connection with a FISA
application?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Who would have approved that?

I don't know.

I keep trying to imagine

circumstances in which -- I'm not familiar with a circumstance
in which it's happened, but I don't know enough -Mr. Meadows.

Are you aware of any other time where a DOJ

attorney actually acted as a conduit to provide information that
would go into a FISA application?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Meadows.

What do you mean by "conduit"?
Well, with Mr. Ohr, Mr. Steele, it's been

widely reported -- I'm sure you've read the reports, Director
Comey, but in testimony, we would have an interaction between

132

Mr. Steele, Mr. Simpson, and Mr. Ohr, and then that information
was given to two individuals at the FBI,
.

Are you aware of any other time where a DOJ attorney

was used in that manner to give information that ultimately went
into a FISA application?
Mr. Comey.

I can't remember a circumstance like that.

Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Comey.

So the answer is no?

it's possible.

Well, yeah, I -- I'm only hesitating because
I just -- in my personal experience, I've

not -- I don't remember anything like that.
Mr. Meadows.

All right.

I yield back.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Director Comey, does the FBI and the

Department of Justice, is there a duty to present exculpatory
evidence to the FISA court?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know whether there's a legal duty.

We

certainly consider it our obligation, because of our trust
relationship with Federal judges, to present evidence that would
paint a materially different picture of what we're presenting.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

So, if there was -- if the FBI and the

Department of Justice had information that was contradictory to
the predicate for which the warrant is being sought before the
FISA court, you would expect that information to be presented
to the court so that they could weigh the sufficiency of all of
the information?

133

Mr. Comey.

In general, I think that's right.

You want to

present to the judge reviewing your application a complete
picture of the evidence, both its flaws and its strengths.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

What's a defensive briefing?

In the counterintelligence world, it's a

mechanism by which the FBI will alert somebody to a
counterintelligence threat that might tend to defeat the threat.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Are they done for Presidential candidates?

Not routinely.

What's routinely done for

candidates is a general briefing of -- what I meant by "defensive
briefing" is it's specific to you and threats we see at you.

With

candidates, my recollection is we gave a general
counterintelligence briefing about the threat coming from
different nations.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you recall doing that for

Secretary Clinton when she was the nominee?
Mr. Comey.

I don't.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Okay.

But I assume that someone did.
Do you know if one was done for

candidate Trump?
Mr. Comey.

Again, I don't know for sure, but I expect it

was done, just as it was done for Secretary Clinton.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Where would I get that information?

would I ask, since you don't know?
Mr. Comey.

Probably the Director of National

Intelligence's Office.

I have some recollection that they

Who

134

arranged for briefings of the candidates once they were
nominated, and then part of that briefing would include a threat
briefing from the FBI about the counterintelligence threat.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

So you -- you would not have participated

in that, is what it sounds like.
Mr. Comey.

Yeah, I did not.

That's why I don't have any

recollection of it, but -Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

But someone from the FBI would have?

No.

Do you know who that would have been?
And it could have been -- let me just add

this for clarity as you're looking -- there was an FBI senior
executive who was assigned to the Director of National
Intelligence as the National Counterintelligence Executive,
NCIX or something, it may well have been that executive who works
for the DNI doing it, but who that person -- sorry.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

So I'm going to ask the question -- I think

I know the answer based on what you've just said.

But at the

time a defensive briefing was done for candidate Trump, do you
know if the FBI had any evidence that anyone associated with the
Trump campaign had colluded or conspired or coordinated with
Russia in any way?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know the dates, whether -- I don't know

whether it was before late July when we opened the four
counterintelligence files, or not.

And so, if it was after July

135

29th, then the answer would be, yes, we had some reason to suspect
that there were Americans who might have assisted the Russians.
If it was before then, the answer is no.
I can't remember when the conventions were and that sort
of thing.
Mr. Meadows.

So your testimony here today is that, before

July 31st of 2016, you had no indication that there was someone
wanting to intrude into the Trump campaign?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know when I learned anyone wanted to

intrude into the Trump campaign.

I knew as of late July that

the Russians had a massive effort to mess with our democracy
ongoing.

I don't think before the end of July I had any

information that Americans might be assisting that effort.
Mr. Meadows.

And so at what point did George Papadopoulos

come on your radar, Director Comey?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Meadows.
Ms. Bessee.
Mr. Meadows.
question.

Late July, which is what -- oh, sorry.
So, you're saying late July -Congressman?
Well, hold on.

Hear me out.

Hear the

Because we've had other testimony that would

indicate, in a nonclassified setting, that goes right to the
heart of this matter, even from Mr. Papadopoulos himself.

So,

prior to July 31st of 2016, when you opened what is now known
as, I guess, Crossfire Hurricane, or this investigation, was
there no effort on part -- on the part of the FBI or no

136

knowledge -- let me correct that -- no knowledge on the part of
the FBI of anybody, George Papadopoulos or any others, that
potentially could have been involved in this Russian narrative?
Mr. Comey.

This -- Counsel, this I've said publicly, and

it's been cleared, I think, in my book, so I'm going to say it
again.

My recollection is the first information we had,

certainly the first information that came to my attention that
Americans might be working with the Russians as part of their
efforts, came at the end of July -- I think the 31st is too late,
but the last week of July -- when we received information from
an allied nation about the conversations their ambassador had
in England with George Papadopoulos.
That was the beginning of it, which is the first time we
turned to trying to figure out whether any Americans were working
with the Russians.
Mr. Meadows.

So any information that was collected prior

to that would have been done without the FBI's knowledge, without
your direct knowledge?
Mr. Comey.

Is that what you're telling me?

I don't know what you mean by "any information

that was collected."
Mr. Meadows.

So any counterintelligence collection that

was done by the FBI would have been done without your knowledge
prior to the last week of July 2016?
Mr. Comey.

I'm sorry to keep quibbling, but I don't know

what you mean by "any information collected."

The FBI has lots

137

of collection going on all the time.
Mr. Meadows.

As it relates to Russian interference and the

potential use of people within the Trump campaign, was there any
initiation on the part of the FBI to collect information prior
to the last week of July of 2016?

And if so -- well, answer that

question.
Mr. Comey.

So I want to make sure I'm getting it right.

Was there -Mr. Meadows.

I want you to get it right, too, because it's

at conflict with -- what you're saying is at conflict with what
we've had in other testimony.
Mr. Comey.

Okay.

Well, I mean, I can't help that.

I'll

tell you what I -- what I know, that, if you're asking, was there
any information that the FBI had that people associated with the
Trump campaign might be working with the Russians -- if we had
any such information before the end of July?

Is that the

question?
Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Comey.

Well, you can answer that question.

Yeah, I'm not aware of any information before

the end of July on that subject -Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Comey.

Right.

-- and it was our first information at the end

of July that prompted the opening of those four files.
Mr. Meadows.

So, prior to the end of July, did you direct

or did you have knowledge of the FBI trying to collect information

138

about the possible Russian-Trump campaign -- and I won't use the
word "collusion" -- but interactions as it relates to the 2016
Presidential election?
Mr. Comey.

Not that I'm aware of.

I'm sure there was lots

of effort to figure out what the heck was going on with the
Russians because we saw their effort blossom in the middle of
June.

But I'm not aware of any information before that at the

end of July about the possibility that Americans were working
with the Russians.
Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Comey.

So -That's what led to the opening of those --

Mr. Meadows.

So, if Mr. Baker or anyone within the FBI had

actively engaged in that prior to the last week of July of 2016,
that would have been without your knowledge?
Mr. Comey.

See I don't --

Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Comey.

That's what you're testifying --

-- it's possible I knew at the time.

I don't

remember any information before the end of July that bore on that
topic.
Mr. Gowdy.

Director, we only have a couple minutes before

it's the Democrats' turn.

I think during the last time we

talked -- well, the first time we talked, you said you did not
talk to Rod Rosenstein after you received word that you had been
terminated?
Mr. Comey.

That's correct.

139

Mr. Gowdy.

Have you had a conversation with the President

since you were terminated?
Mr. Comey.

No.

Mr. Gowdy.

Have you had a conversation with Jeff Sessions?

Mr. Comey.

No.

Mr. Gowdy.

Did you have a conversation with Bob Mueller

from the time you were terminated until the time he was appointed
special counsel?
Mr. Comey.

No.

Mr. Gowdy.

Did you have a conversation with anyone who is

currently on Special Counsel Mueller's team between the time you
were terminated and the time special counsel was appointed?
Mr. Comey.

No.

Mr. Meadows.

Let me ask one clarifying question, if you

don't mind.
Director Comey, you were saying that you had no knowledge
that Perkins Coie was actually involved with the Democrat
National Committee and involved in this particular investigation
that ultimately was initiated.
Mr. Comey.

Is that correct?

I, when I was FBI Director, don't remember ever

being told anything about Perkins Coie.

I think I've since read

stuff in the media, but not when I was Director.
Mr. Meadows.

So are you saying that James Baker, your

general counsel, who received direct information from Perkins
Coie, did so and conveyed that to your team without your

140

knowledge?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

Mr. Meadows.

What do you mean you don't know?

I mean, did

he tell you or not?
Mr. Comey.

Oh, I -- well --

Mr. Meadows.

James Baker, we have testimony that would

indicate that he received information directly from Perkins
Coie; he had knowledge that they were representing the Democrat
National Committee and, indeed, collected that information and
conveyed it to the investigative team.
received that information from them?

Did he tell you that he
And I can give you a name

if you want to know who he received it from.
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember the name Perkins Coie at all.

Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Comey.

What about Michael Sussmann?

I think I've read that name since then.

I don't

remember learning that name when I was FBI Director.
I was going to ask you a followup, though.

When you say

"that information," what do you mean?
Mr. Meadows.

Well, it was cyber information as it relates

to the investigation.
Mr. Comey.

Yeah, I have some recollection of Baker

interacting with -- you said the DNC, which sparked my
recollection -- with the DNC about our effort to get information
about the Russian hack of them -Mr. Meadows.

Yeah, that's -- that's not -- that's not what

141

I'm referring to.
Mr. Comey.

-- but I don't -- I don't remember anything

beyond that.
Mr. Meadows.

And so I can give you something so that

you -- your counsel can look at it and refresh your memory,
perhaps, as we look at that, but I guess my concern is your earlier
testimony acted like this was news to you that Perkins Coie
represented the Democratic National Committee, and yet your
general counsel not only knew that but received information from
them that was transmitted to other people in the investigative
team.

And I find it interesting that the Director would not know

about that because it is not normal that your general counsel
would be a custodian of evidence.

Is that correct?

Was

it -- was it normal that people sought out your general counsel
to make them aware of potential concerns?
Mr. Comey.

Is that normal?

I kind of think it is not as uncommon as you're

suggesting it is.
Mr. Meadows.

Well, Mr. Baker thought it was uncommon.

He

said he couldn't ever recall it ever happening before.
Mr. Comey.

I don't know what the "it" is.

What I'm

struggling with here is -Mr. Meadows.

Where someone reaches out to the general

counsel to give them evidence to say that they want the FBI to
look into it.

He couldn't recall another time.

saying it's not uncommon.

And you're

142

Mr. Comey.

Used to happen to me all the time.

People would

email me, saying, check this out, check that out, so -Mr. Meadows.

It may happen with the Director, but it didn't

happen with the general counsel.
Mr. Comey.

Okay.

That surprises me a little bit, but in

any event, I don't remember him raising it.

I don't think it's

particularly noteworthy that he wouldn't tell me, but I don't
know enough to react to it.
Mr. Meadows.

So he says a unique situation that had only,

in his mind, happened twice in his history with the Bureau, and
you're saying that it was so unique there that -- yet he did not
tell you about that?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Comey.

Is that your testimony?

No.
That's not your testimony?
No.
Or he didn't tell you?
No.

I -- I didn't -- I heard you

characterizing my testimony as me saying it's so unique.

I don't

remember -Mr. Meadows.

I'm saying he said it was unique; did he tell

you?
Mr. Comey.
testimony.

I'm struggling because I haven't seen his

So maybe you could let me look at it during the break,

and then I can answer on our next round.
Mr. Meadows.

Yeah, it's -- it's just a two -- two

143

sentence, and I'll read it to you:

It was unusual for me to be

the recipient of information directly from the public or a lawyer
or anyone else about an allegation of a crime, close quote.
Mr. Comey.

Okay.

I mean, I accept your reading of it.

It

doesn't change my reaction that it doesn't -- I don't remember
it.

Second, it doesn't strike me as extraordinary that, if that

had happened, he wouldn't give me the particulars.
Mr. Meadows.
[Recess.]

We're out of time.

144

[2:12 p.m.]
Ms. Sachsman Grooms.
record.

It is 2:12.

Okay.

We'll go back on the

I just have a little bit of cleanup from

the last round, and then I'll pass off to the members.
BY MS. SACHSMAN GROOMS:
Q

In the last round, you were talking about the importance

of the FBI and DOJ sharing the complete picture of the evidence
with the FISA court.
A

Yes.

Q

Okay.

Is that accurate?

Does that require every detail of that

information or a general picture?
A

No, it doesn't -- look, I don't think there's a Brady

obligation that applies in the probable cause presentation
requirement context or you have to turn over your entire file.
You have a general duty of candor to the court, so you try to
make them generally aware of the state of the evidence that
they're relying upon.
Q

And I think this might have gotten a little bit garbled

through the questions in the last round.

I think you said that

it was relevant to you to provide to the court the information
regarding who was paying Christopher Steele.
A

Is that accurate?

I don't remember whether I focused on it at the time.

I think it's important that any material issue of bias be
surfaced for a court about one of your sources, and so I think
it made sense for the Department of Justice to alert the court

145

that there was politically motivated financial support for this
effort.
Q

And so in order to do that, you thought it was important

to say the sort of general statement that it had been funded or
politically motivated in the financing by Republicans or
Democrats in general?
A

Right.

And the particulars of which Democrats, which

Republicans, I wouldn't think would be important to the court.
They'd want to be aware of the general bias, and that's my
reaction.
Q

Okay.

And I wanted to be really clear on that because,

in the last round, I think there were a number of questions about
the particulars of whether you knew or the court knew that the
DNC had specifically paid Perkins Coie as a law firm and that
had been the conduit to paying Christopher Steele.
Did you think the particulars of that were important to
either your analysis or to the FISA court?
A

No, I wouldn't think so.

It actually doesn't even seem

important to me now, who cares what particular organizations or
particular people.

The court needed to be aware that there's

a potential for bias because there's a political motivation to
the support for this effort.
Q

Did you then or do you know have any concerns about the

process that occurred around the Carter Page FISA?
A

I do not.

146

Q

In the last round, I think you were asked a number of

questions around the timing of the initiation of the Russia
investigation as it pertains to the connection to U.S. persons.
And I think during that you said that was towards the end of July
that that occurred.

Is that right?

A

That's my recollection, yes.

Q

I think the underlying questions that came up have to

do with some actions that were taken by Peter Strzok and by others
in the time period before the end of July.

They traveled to

London, they did investigatory work on a number of different
things.
If they were doing that work, is it fair to say that that
work would not have been part of investigating U.S. persons
connected to the Russians in that time period prior to the end
of July?
A

I don't know.

If my recollection is correct that we

opened the cases on the U.S. persons at the end of July, then
it's possible there was work being done immediately before that
to flesh out and understand the information that would then
predicate the cases that would be opened at the end of July, but
I don't know that.

I remember the cases being opened at the end

of July, and I don't know the nature and quality of any work that
went on before that.
Q

But Peter Strzok and his team were working on larger

scale Russia things before that, right?

147

A

Right, to try to understand what are the Russians doing,

what's the scope of it, what's its intention.
Q

And without getting into the particulars of what they

were doing, those things could have included traveling to foreign
countries or interviewing witnesses, et cetera?
A

Of course.

I just don't remember it.

Q

And then I just had one more thing.

At the end of the

last round, there was a long discussion about Mr. Baker and his
testimony and how he had testified that there was this unique
instance, and I just wanted to read into the record some of his
testimony from his second day when he came back, because we saw
him twice.
And in that, at the very beginning, he said he wanted to
bring up this thing that he had not recalled from the previous
one, and I'm just going to read from the record.

He said:

So

I recalled after, just actually a few days ago, that another
incident when this time an attorney on behalf of a client came
to me and wanted -- came specifically to me and wanted to make
information available to the FBI in the form of electronic media
that he wanted to get into the -Mr. Jordan asked:
Mr. Baker said:
Mr. Jordan said:
Mr. Baker said:

Different case or same case?

Different case.
Okay.
Well, a completely different case,

different attorney, different client, but insisted on meeting

148

only with me or the Director, and then he did not have the material
with him at the time.

We had to actually dispatch FBI agents

to go to a -- from a field office to go to collect this material.
It was in the -- to the best of my recollection, it was roughly
in the late summer, fall of 2016 timeframe.
So I just wanted to clarify that for the record.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Director Comey, thank you for coming,

and thank you for your service to your country.
In March 2017, you disclosed in public testimony that the
FBI had begun an investigation into, quote:

The Russian

Government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 Presidential
election, including, quote, the nature of any links between
individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian
Government and whether there was any coordination between the
campaign and Russia's efforts, close quote.
When did the FBI first learn of credible evidence that the
Russian Government was trying to interfere in the 2016
Presidential election?
Mr. Comey.

I believe it was with the release in mid June

of the DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0 stolen emails.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.
Mr. Comey.

Mid June 2016?

Correct.

Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Were you, at that time, aware of the

meeting at Trump Tower on June 9th, 2016, between Donald Trump,
Junior, Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, and some Russian

149

nationals?
Mr. Comey.

I think that's a question that I can't answer

because it dives into a nonpublic level of detail about the Russia
investigation.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Okay.

So in mid June 2016, you first

learned about the Russian Government's interference or attempt
to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election.

When did the

FBI first learn of credible evidence that individuals associated
with the Trump campaign may be coordinating with the Russian
Government?
Mr. Comey.

The first I'm aware of that was the end of July

of 2016, which is what led us to open counterintelligence cases
on four different Americans.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Okay.

And what was your reaction to

this?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember a particular reaction, other

than that it was going to be very important that we do this in
a close hold way so that we don't alert the people we're going
to investigate that we're looking at this and so that the
investigation is able to be done in a quality way in the middle
of a political season.

I remember being concerned about that.

And then just open minded about whether there's anything to it
or not.

I couldn't tell at the beginning whether there was.

Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Have you ever been affiliated with any

kind of investigation similar to this where a foreign government

150

may be coordinating or somehow connecting with a political
campaign of the United States?
Mr. Comey.

Not -- I don't remember.

I've been involved

with a lot of cases where foreign governments may be connected
in an illicit way to public figures.
FBI's counterintelligence work.

That's a big part of the

I don't remember a campaign

context.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Got it.

Has the FBI ever

investigated the potential coordination between a Presidential
campaign and a foreign adversary before?
Ms. Bessee.

Congressman, to the extent it goes to

any -- any investigative activity that the FBI may be
investigating, the witness will not be able to answer to either
confirm or deny.

Do you want to ask that question in general?

I don't know how you ask that hypothetically, but -Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

No, this is about past, not the

current Mueller investigation or any current investigation.
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember being involved in any such

investigation prior to 2016.
[Comey Exhibit No. 3
Was marked for identification.]
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Okay.

I would like to introduce the

following document from the Baker transcript, page 72.

This is

the transcript of former FBI general counsel James Baker's
October 18th, 2018, interview with the committees.

151

It begins, question:

And what was the initial

concern/issue raised in the investigation?
Answer:

Well, the initial -- the initial issue was whether

there had been interactions of an unlawful nature or that were
a threat to the national security or both in connection with
the -- at least some people in the now President's campaign with
the Russian Federation, witting or unwitting.
Question:
Answer:

And these were related to George Papadopoulos?
Yes.

Question:

Information that he conveyed, yes.

Can you confirm that the initial allegation that

started the Russia counterintelligence investigation had
nothing to do with the Steele dossier?
And there's an interruption by the counsel to caution him
to answer in an unclassified setting.
And then he answers, answer:

Based on the information that

I have seen in the public domain, I think I can answer it.

And

I think the answer is it did not have to do with the dossier.
Director Comey, do you agree with Mr. Baker that the initial
allegation in the FBI's counterintelligence operation into the
Trump campaign's potential coordination with the Russian
Government, quote/unquote, had nothing to do with the Steele
dossier?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

That's correct.

Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

And do you agree the initial

allegation was actually related to information that George

152

Papadopolous conveyed?
Mr. Comey.

That he conveyed to a diplomat that was then

conveyed to the U.S. several months after he first conveyed it,
yes.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Thank you.

Let me go into another topic.

So earlier in these

proceedings, I had the chance to question Peter Strzok about
leaks from the FBI, and we had this exchange.
This is me asking the question:

Could you explain to me

a little bit about Director Comey's fear of leaks from the New
York field office and how that, in your view, affected the
revelation of the warrant for Weiner's laptop?
Answer from Strzok:

You have to ask Director Comey that.

I think there was discussion I remember and particularly some
of it was in the context of reporting from Mr. Giuliani and others
about connections to New York.
So let me just ask you what I asked him.

How concerned were

you about leaks from the New York field office to Rudy Giuliani
or other media personalities in 2016?
Mr. Comey.

I was concerned that there appeared to be in

the media a number of stories that might have been based on
communications reporters or nonreporters like Rudy Giuliani were
having with people in the New York field office.

In particular,

in I want to say mid October, maybe a little bit later, Mr.
Giuliani was making statements that appeared to be based on his

153

knowledge of workings inside the FBI New York.

And then my

recollection is there were other stories that were in the same
ballpark that gave me a general concern that we may have a leak
problem -- unauthorized disclosure problem out of New York, and
so I asked that it be investigated.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Oh, okay.

So the investigation began

at some point after you asked for the investigation to start?
Mr. Comey.

I think sometime in October, maybe they didn't

get going on it until November, an effort led by our internal
affairs component, as I understand it, began to try and
understand, do we have leaks and what are they?
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

And to your knowledge, has anyone been

held accountable for these purported leaks?
Mr. Comey.

Not to my knowledge.

The investigation

ultimately led to disciplining of FBI Deputy Director McCabe
because the investigation turned up communications that he had
apparently authorized about a pending investigation of the
Clinton Foundation, but I don't know beyond that.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

How about anything related to the New

York field office?
Mr. Comey.

I don't -- I never got a report out on that

before I was fired.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.
Director Comey.

I see.

Okay.

Here's the concern,

If no one's been held accountable, especially

from the New York field office, and if there are leaks from the

154

New York field office to potentially people like Rudy Giuliani,
who's the current lawyer for the President, then they have an
active window into the investigation of them, and that's why I
think a lot of people are concerned about whether that
investigation concluded or not.
Who would we talk to about this particular issue if we wanted
to learn the status of that investigation?
Mr. Comey.

Well, the FBI, whoever you normally talk to

there, would be the place to start.
in a position to comment or not.

I don't know whether they're
I don't know what its status

was when I was fired in May.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.
Okay.

Next topic.

Got it.
The Washington Post reported

previously and The Atlantic confirmed that former acting FBI
Director McCabe opened an obstruction of justice investigation
into the President after your firing.

Prior to that, had an

obstruction of justice investigation been opened into the
President or other senior officials with regard to Michael Flynn?
Mr. Comey.

Not to my knowledge, no.

Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Okay.

I was reading in your book that

on February 14th, 2017, after your conversation with the
President, you then returned to your car and then emailed your
colleagues about this particular conversation with regard to Mr.
Flynn.
What came of that at that point?

Did you hold off on a

155

potential investigation into obstruction of justice or what was
your -- what was your thought process there?

Because I know that

you also said in the book that you didn't know who to go to, you
couldn't go to Sessions and the Deputy Attorney General
was -- I'll let you answer.
Mr. Comey.

I met with the senior leadership team of the

FBI, shared with them a memo that I created about the
February 14th conversation, and we debated what to do.

And

because we didn't feel we could go to Attorney General Sessions
because he was about to be recused, there was no Deputy Attorney
General because Mr. Rosenstein had not been confirmed yet, and
we didn't want to do anything that might chill the investigative
team.

We decided that we would simply hold on to it, keep the

information close hold until the Department of Justice sorted
out how they were going to supervise this and then we could bring
them into it and figure out what should we do to investigate this.
And so that's why I say, to my knowledge, no investigation was
opened on the obstruction of justice at that point.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.
Mr. Comey.

Okay.

We held it, and we actually never got to the

chance -- the Department of Justice didn't get to the point of
figuring out how they were going to supervise the investigation
until after I was fired.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Why -- for a layperson who may not

understand why you even thought about this amounting to potential

156

obstruction of justice, can you walk us through that?

Why is

this something that might cause the concern about an allegation
of obstruction of justice?
Mr. Comey.

Well, the President of the United States asked

me, directed me in my apprehension of it to drop a criminal
investigation, and so that is an extraordinary use of power and
could amount to obstruction of justice.

That is a corrupt

endeavor to impede the administration of justice.

I don't know

what the answer is to the ultimate question, but given that, it
was something that needed to be investigated.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

And is the reason why you say "could"

because you need to get to the intent behind why the investigation
is being asked to be dropped?
Mr. Comey.

Correct.

Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Okay.

You know, we are going to be

in the majority in the House starting in January, and so one of
the questions that folks like myself have is, stepping back for
a second, you know, you were there for quite a while during the
Russia investigation, from end of July 2016 through the time that
you were let go in May 2017.

So almost 1 year.

You learned a

lot probably during that time.
What lessons did you learn during that time that would
inform us as we conduct oversight, not necessarily from the
standpoint of a forensic criminal investigation, but from the
standpoint of protecting our democracy?

157

Mr. Comey.

I don't know that I can give you a thoughtful

enough answer sitting here after 5 hours of questions.

I'd have

to think about that one because it's an important question I would
not want to answer causally.
check on that one.

So I'm going to have to take a rain

Yeah.

Maybe the one thing is, as you exercise incredibly important
oversight power, I said earlier, I think this branch of
government has neglected its authorities and needs to assert its
authorities, but in doing that, to be sensitive about the need
to coordinate with ongoing investigations so nothing happens to
affect or to cast doubt on the credibility of an ongoing
investigation.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

Very good.

Let me just make sure I

don't have a final question here for you.
I think that's it for me.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Deutch.

Thank you.

Thank you.
Mr. Comey, thanks for being here.

Nice to see

you again.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Deutch.

You too.
Just one quick followup to what you just said

that this branch that has neglected its responsibilities
shouldn't act in a way that would cast doubt on any of the
investigations.

You're referring -- are you referring to the

actions of this branch in recent days or years?
Mr. Comey.

Not in the second part of that sentence; in the

158

first part, yes, generally.

But what I meant by the second one

is special counsel's investigation is going to be ongoing, I
would assume, when the majority changes, and I think it's just
very important for whoever is in the majority to be sure to be
sensitive to the need to balance oversight with an ongoing
criminal investigation.
Mr. Deutch.

That's what I meant by that.

I appreciate that.

I wanted to pick up on this last line of questions.

There

were press reports that on May 10th, 2017, the day after the
President fired you, he met with Russia's foreign minister and
the Russian ambassador in the Oval Office, and told them, quote:
I just fired the head of the FBI.

He was crazy, a real nut job.

I face great pressure because of Russia.

That's taken off,

closed quote.
Then the next day, President Trump stated during a
nationally televised interview with Lester Holt that, quote,
"this Russia thing," close quote, was on his mind when he decided
to fire you.
And then during your June 2017 Senate Intelligence
Committee hearing, you were asked why you believe President Trump
fired you, and you responded, and I quote you:
know for sure.

I guess I don't

I believe I take the President at his word that

I was fired because of the Russia investigation.

Something

about the way I was conducting it the President felt created
pressure on him that he wanted to relieve, closed quote.

159

Do you still believe that the President fired you because
of the Russia investigation?
Mr. Comey.

I think on balance that I do.

The only

hesitation I have is I've seen the President since saying other
things that it wasn't because of that, and so I'm in a position
where I can't know for sure.
Mr. Deutch.

When you stated, "I take the President at his

word," were you referring to either his meeting with the Russians
or his interview with Lester Holt?
Mr. Comey.

Both, but more so to the Holt interview because

it was on the record.

I don't know whether the Washington -- I

think it was The Washington Post reporting on that encounter with
the Russian ambassador and foreign minister was accurate, so I
tend to put more weight on his own words speaking to Lester Holt.
[Comey Exhibit No. 4
Was marked for identification.]
Mr. Deutch.

I'd like to introduce exhibit 4.

Baker 10/3/18 transcript, pages 147 to 148.

It's the

That's the

transcript of former FBI general counsel James Baker's
October 3rd interview with the committee.
It reads, question:

Can you explain what the atmosphere

was like at the FBI after the President fired Comey?
Answer:
words.

I'm not sure that I can reduce it to one or two

It was an, I guess, horrible atmosphere.

It was shock,

dismay, confusion at least initially that night and then -- and

160

then a sense of resolve that came pretty quickly as well to
continue the FBI's mission.

And as I was saying earlier to the

Congressman, make sure that we were all adhering to our oaths
to the constitution and executing our responsibilities.
Question:

Was there concern at the FBI that the President

had fired Director Comey because he was trying to obstruct the
FBI's investigation into the Russia matter?
Answer:

Yes.

Question:
Answer:

Yes.

Question:

Was that concern shared by others?

Answer:

I think so, yes.

Question:
Answer:

Was that the concern you had?

Who?

Who else?

The leadership of the FBI, so the acting director.

I can't remember if we appointed an acting deputy director
immediately.

The heads of the national security apparatus, the

national security folks within the FBI, the people that were
aware of the underlying investigation and who had been focused
on it.
And, Director Comey, did you share Mr. Baker's concern that
the President had fired you because he wanted to obstruct or
impede the FBI's investigation into the Russia matter?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Deutch.

I did because of his words.
And does it surprise you to hear that the

leadership, the national security officials at the FBI were

161

concerned that President Trump fired you in an attempt to
obstruct the FBI's investigation into the Russia matter?
Mr. Comey.

No, it doesn't surprise me at all.

Mr. Deutch.

Turning just for a moment before I wrap up to

summer -- earlier summer of 2018, July 29th, in fact, the
President tweeted, and I quote:

There is no collusion.

The

Robert Mueller rigged witch hunt headed now by 17, increased from
13, including an Obama White House lawyer, angry Democrats, was
started by a fraudulent dossier paid for by crooked Hillary and
the DNC.

Therefore, the witch hunt is an illegal scam.

Mr. Comey, was the FBI's investigation into Russian
interference and potential coordination with the Trump campaign
started by a fraudulent dossier?
Mr. Comey.

It was not.

Mr. Deutch.
Mr. Comey.

Can you explain how you know that?
Because I know what the basis was for starting

the investigation.

It was the information we'd received about

a conversation that a Trump foreign -- campaign foreign policy
adviser had with an individual in London about stolen emails that
the Russians had that would be harmful to Hillary Clinton.

It

was weeks or months later that the so-called Steele dossier came
to our attention.
Mr. Deutch.

Was there anything illegal or improper about

the way the FBI started the Trump-Russia investigation?
Mr. Comey.

No.

And, in fact, I would hope that

162

Republicans and Democrats would agree that we would have been
derelict not to investigate.
Mr. Deutch.
again I quote:

On May 20th, 2018, President Trump tweeted,

I hereby demand, and will do so officially

tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or
not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump campaign for
political purposes, and if any such demands or requests were made
by people within the Obama administration.
Director Comey, do you believe the FBI or DOJ ever
investigated the Trump campaign for political purposes?
Mr. Comey.

I not only don't believe it, I know it not to

be true.
Mr. Deutch.
Mr. Comey.

I'm sorry, would you repeat that?
I know it not to be true.

I know that we never

investigated the Trump campaign for political purposes.
Mr. Deutch.

Did President Obama or anyone in his

administration ever make a demand or a request the FBI or DOJ
infiltrate or surveil the Trump campaign?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Deutch.

No, not to my knowledge.
And, Mr. Comey, how would you have reacted if

you had received a request of this nature from any
administration?
Mr. Comey.

Well, they wouldn't -- no one would dare ask

me or anybody else at the FBI that because they know the reaction,
which would be not only no, but hell no.

163

Mr. Deutch.

In the tweet I read, President Trump appears

to be directly demanding that the Department of Justice launch
an investigation into his political opponents.

You've already

stated the answer to a request like that would be hell no.

And

why is that, Mr. Comey?
Mr. Comey.

Because that represents the final corruption

and destruction of our system of justice.

If we start

investigating people by fiat from the leader because of their
political affiliation, what are we anymore, which is why it has
been so dispiriting not to see both sides of the political aisle
react to this with shock and loud voices.
are.

It's just not who we

I don't care who the President is, it's not who we are.
Mr. Deutch.

I appreciate that.

My final question just refers to something you said earlier
today.

You said that there's no crime of collusion as it's used,

I think, in terms of conspiracy or aiding and abetting.

I

haven't heard the term collusion in my years at Justice.
This investigation or I would say just to try to make this
easier for you to answer, given your description of collusion,
collusion would not be the basis for an investigation conducted
by the FBI?
Mr. Comey.

Right, because it's not a thing in the criminal

statutes, that I understand at least.

It would be investigating

where anyone conspired with the Russians or aided and abetted
the Russians.

164

Mr. Deutch.

Thank you, Mr. Comey.

Ms. Plaskett.

Good afternoon.

I appreciate it.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Mr. Comey, before we begin, I wanted to ask a question from
the last round just as a point of clarification.

In the

discussion about why you put -- in late October made an
announcement again about the Hillary Clinton email
investigation, you said it was for consistency.

What precluded

or what made you believe or the FBI not believe that allowing
the public to be aware of the investigation of Russia and possible
interference or aiding and abetting by Trump aides in his
campaign would justify that as well?
Mr. Comey.

Why wouldn't we announce --

Ms. Plaskett.
Mr. Comey.

Why wouldn't you have announced that?

Well, for a number of reasons.

It

would -- there wouldn't be any policy exception that would permit
it; that is, it would jeopardize the ongoing investigation and
it would be brutally unfair because we didn't know whether we
had anything.

We literally just started.

And as I said, by the

time I was fired, we still hadn't come to a conclusion.

And so

we'd be revealing something that was inherently misleading and
jeopardizing our ability to investigate by revealing it.
It's for that reason -- I actually don't remember any
discussion about whether to reveal that we had these classified
counterintelligence files.

Instead, what we debated a lot was

should we tell the American people that the Russians are messing

165

with our election more broadly.
Ms. Plaskett.

But you stated in the last round that when

you made the announcement in October about new emails, you didn't
know what it would conclude either.

So why would you make the

announcement if you had no idea what those second round of emails
might lead you to believe?
Mr. Comey.

I see.

Because we had already, not only told

the world about the Clinton Foundation -- excuse me, the Clinton
investigation at its conclusion, we had then vigorously
defended, in my view, rightly, the result and told people to move
on, this was done well, this was done competently and honestly,
you can trust your FBI.
Now I know that's not true, and so that leaves me with two
choices:

I can either let the American people continue to rely

upon something I know not to be true -Ms. Plaskett.
Mr. Comey.

That the case is done, you can move on.

Ms. Plaskett.
Mr. Comey.

Which part was not true?

Okay.

That the case was done.

-- or I can tell Congress that what I said

repeatedly is no longer true.

Both of those are bad options.

One, in my view, is catastrophic, that concealing from the
American people and Congress that what we told you over and over
and over again in the summer is no longer true would be
devastating to the organizations.

Now, reasonable people can

disagree about that, but those were the two choices.

And so it

166

wasn't we were beginning a new investigation; we were restarting
an investigation that the whole world knew about and was relying
upon what were now false statements about it being completed.
And then obviously critical to that was my troop saying, not only
can we not finish this before the election, the result may change,
because in this huge trove of emails appear to be emails that
were missing from her Blackberry that we never found before.
And so given that constellation of circumstances, I really
didn't feel like I had any choice.

I had to choose speaking over

concealing.
Ms. Plaskett.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you for that

clarification.
Mr. Comey.

Yeah.

Ms. Plaskett.

Good question.

What I wanted to ask a few questions about

the body of evidence you're aware of related to President Trump
and obstruction of justice.
Higher Loyalty:

And I'm referring to your book, A

Truth, Lies in Leadership.

And on page 271,

you write in the first full paragraph, I'm quoting:

I also don't

know whether the special counsel will find criminal wrongdoing
by the President or others who have not been charged as of this
writing.

One of the pivotal questions I presume that Bob

Mueller's team is investigating is whether or not, in urging me
to back the FBI off our investigation of his national security
advisor and firing me, President Trump was attempting to obstruct
justice, which is a Federal crime.

It's certainly possible

167

there is at least circumstantial evidence in that regard, and
there may be more that the Mueller team will assemble, end of
quote.
So I guess my first question was, were you aware of
individuals charged -- that were charged as of that writing?
Mr. Comey.

I don't think I meant -- I can't think of

anybody I was thinking of, if that makes sense.
Ms. Plaskett.
Mr. Comey.

Right.

I wasn't -- I don't -- maybe that's an awkward

sentence construction, but I don't think I was trying to carve
somebody out.
Ms. Plaskett.

But were you, in your mind, thinking of

people who you believe would probably be charged but had not been
charged as yet?
Mr. Comey.

I don't think so.

Ms. Plaskett.

Okay.

And what were the circumstantial

evidence that you were referring to?
Mr. Comey.

That the President of the United States asked

me to drop a pending criminal investigation.
Ms. Plaskett.
Mr. Comey.

And that's --

And did it after clearing the room and removing

my boss and the Vice-President of the United States from the room
in order to speak to me alone.
Ms. Plaskett.

Okay.

And those were the only pieces of

circumstantial evidence that you had?

168

Mr. Comey.

That's all I can think of right now.

Ms. Plaskett.

Okay.

And do you consider President Trump

asking you to back off the FBI -- back the FBI off of investigating
then national security advisor the circumstantial evidence,
right?
Mr. Comey.

Well, a piece of it, yes, and the manner in which

it was done.
Ms. Plaskett.

And the manner in which it was done.

Do you consider President Trump firing you a circumstantial
evidence of attempting to obstruct justice?
Mr. Comey.

Potentially, and that would require a lot of

facts I can't see, so I wouldn't give you as strong an answer
there.

It's potentially circumstantial evidence.

The first

bit, the Oval Office conversation is circumstantial evidence.
Ms. Plaskett.

So we've talked about the Oval Office

incident as well as your firing as potential circumstantial
evidence.

Can you identify anything else outside of those

things that's circumstantial or potentially direct evidence of
President Trump attempting to obstruct justice, including public
information and recent events?
Mr. Comey.
Ms. Bessee.
witness said.

I don't think that's for me to answer.
Okay.

I was going to say the same thing the

To the extent, because he's also a potential

witness for an ongoing investigation, he may be limited to
what -- or he may not be able to answer the question.

169

Ms. Plaskett.

Would he be able to answer the question

related to those things that have occurred after his firing?
Ms. Bessee.

To the extent that he has knowledge of them

based on his -- because he's a potential witness -- it depends
on the question, so maybe if you ask the question we can assess -Ms. Plaskett.

So the question would be, can you identify

any circumstantial or direct evidence that you may have obtained
after being fired which would lead you to believe that the
President has obstructed justice?
Mr. Comey.

I don't think I can answer that for this reason,

that I'm not aware of any evidence that might be responsive to
that question that's not in the public realm.
Ms. Plaskett.
Mr. Comey.

Right.

And so the next part of it would require me to

characterize tweets and statements and things, which I don't
think I can do.
Ms. Plaskett.

You can't characterize tweets?

I

characterize them.
Mr. Comey.

That's what I'm saying.

You're as qualified

to do it as I, and so I don't think I ought to be in a position
of trying to characterize things that are publicly available.
Ms. Plaskett.

Well, I think because of your years of

experience having prosecuted people, you would be able to
identify what a jury would find as circumstantial better than
most of us in this room.

But if not, we can move on.

170

Mr. Comey.

But I'm a potential witness.

Ms. Plaskett.
Mr. Comey.

Got it.

So I just think it's a slippery slope for me

to start characterizing public information.
Ms. Plaskett.

Sure.

You stated that attempting to

obstruct justice, even if it does not work, is still a Federal
crime.

Would you agree?

Mr. Comey.

That's my recollection.

Ms. Plaskett.

And there's been a growing narrative amongst

conservative media that obstruction of justice is a mere process
crime, that even if President Trump did obstruct justice, it
really isn't that big of a deal if Special Counsel Mueller can't
also demonstrate that he committed the ostensible underlying
crime of colluding with or aiding and abetting with Russia to
interfere with the election.
Mr. Comey.

Do you agree with that?

No, and I've been hearing that for 30 years.

Crimes that involve investigation -- that involve attacks on the
criminal justice system, perjury, false statements, obstruction
of justice, jury tampering, are things -- are statutes that
Congress passed to protect the core of this country's rule of
law, and so I never think of them as process crimes.

They're

serious and important Federal crimes.
Ms. Plaskett.

And how important do you think it would be

if the President of the United States attempted to impede a
criminal investigation into his associates or his campaign?

171

Mr. Comey.

I don't think I'm comfortable answering with

respect to the President, but I don't have to because I can answer
generally.

I think it's very serious when anybody endeavors to

obstruct the due administration of justice.
Ms. Plaskett.

Well, if it was -- anybody would be a very

serious thing, but how much more serious would that issue be to
the functioning of our democracy if it was, in fact, the
President?
Mr. Comey.
opinion.

You know, I'm worried about offering that

I think it's very important that all of us in senior

leadership positions in the government uphold our oaths, and
critical to the President's oaths is to ensure that the laws are
faithfully executed.

So if someone who's taken that oath is

obstructing justice, as we learned 45 years ago in Watergate,
it's an incredibly important offense.
Ms. Plaskett.

And does that present a national security

threat?
Mr. Comey.

That's a hard one to answer.

It would depend

upon who it is and the circumstances and whatnot.

I don't think

I can answer that in the abstract.
Ms. Plaskett.
Mr. Comey.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ms. Jackson Lee.

Sheila Jackson Lee.

Mr. Comey, it looks

like we're going to be doing a bionic, I may be talking really
fast and meteoric, and so I may be looking to put things in the

172

record and not really seeking a question.
So let me just do this.

On the overall obstruction of

justice, New York Times article that indicated they had it
however here:

Mr. Comey's firing was more unusual and important

because he was overseeing the Russia investigation, a certain
number of experts said.

Questions about what will happen with

that investigation now that he is gone are the main reason they
said his firing is likely to be highly significant, with
long-term ramifications for policy and government.

These

experts came from the University of Chicago, Denver, Harvard,
Maryland, University of Virginia, Yale University.
Do you, frankly, think that your firing without
determination of why will have long-term policy and governmental
impact?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

It'll depend upon whether the

law is able to work as intended and the special counsel can
complete his work.

I don't know where he'll end up, so it's hard

for me to answer at this point.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Let me answer -- or ask some questions

regarding the inspector general's report.

I think it was around

the 26th that -- September 26 that you received some indication
about the Weiner laptop, 2016.

And it started in New York, and

people started to see emails flourishing, and FBI agents thought
it was crucial -- I'm looking for my materials here -- thought
it was crucial that you -- that they begin to investigate.

And

173

it seems that there was some suggestion in the IG's report of
a question whether there was unnecessary delay.
Mr. Comey.

Yes, I remember that.

Ms. Jackson Lee.

But it seems that he concluded that no

emails, texts, anything, conversations he could find to suggest
that it was purposeful delay, and I think that's important to
be on the record.
Mr. Comey.

Do you agree with that?

I agree.

I've seen -- I didn't realize until

I read the IG's report that chronology, because it wasn't
presented to me for decision until the end of October, but there
was reason to believe it would have been ready for decision
earlier than that.

But I never saw any indication that that was

intentional delay.
Ms. Jackson Lee.
comment.

So let me read this last text or last

As I said, I'm going to go as quickly as I can.

The last paragraph on that particular section regarding
Mr. Weiner's laptop:

Comey, Lynch, and Yates face difficult

choices in October 2016.

However, we found it extraordinary

that Comey assessed that it was best that the FBI Director not
speak directly with the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney
General about how best to navigate this most important decision
and mitigate the resulting harms, and that Comey's decisions
resulted in the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General
concluding that it would be counterproductive to speak directly
with the FBI Director.

We believe that open and candid

174

communications among leaders in the department and its
components is essential for the effective functioning of the
department.
Without you suggesting what their thoughts were, upon
reflection, because this, as I started out, was an election of
the leaders of the free world, one of them was going to be elected.
And I know earlier in his report you had -- it was an assumption
that Secretary Clinton would win, and I don't consider that a
factual basis to not do something, and then the idea that you
didn't want to be in the -- in the position of concealing.
Upon reflection or not reflection, why did you not speak
to or find it important to speak to both the deputy and the
Attorney General so there could have been a collaborative
decision on what to do?
Mr. Comey.

That's a really good question.

My thinking at

the time was, I need to give them the chance to take this decision
from me, but I also need to give them the chance to avoid it,
and so that's what I did.

I told them, I think I -- I had my

staff tell them -- I think I need to tell Congress about this,
but I'd be happy to talk to you.

And they came back saying, we

think it's a bad idea, but we don't want to talk to him.
I read that -- I may be wrong, but I read that as them saying,
over to you Jim.

And this drives my wife crazy that I was willing

to take that hit, but I thought it was important that if they
don't want to be involved in the decision, that I make the

175

decision.

Now, what I maybe should have done was say, no, back

to you Loretta and Sally, but that felt cowardly to me at the
time.

And if I were to live life over again, I might have marched

across the street and said, hey, you folks see it differently
than I and why, instead of the way I approached it.

But I gave

them the chance and they said, don't need to talk to you.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

So we look at good practices, can we leave

it on the point that, yes, march across the street and you sit
down as a group and make the final decision?

Would that have

been, you know, without saying it was cowardly, without saying
they didn't want to do it, but that's sort of DOJ, because you
were having something so much so at a heightened level that that
would have been the better practice?
Mr. Comey.

Maybe, but I actually don't want to -- I really

like those two people.

I don't let them too much off the hook.

They're the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General of
the United States for heaven's sakes.

They know that I think

I have to do this thing, so call me up and talk to me about it,
give me your views of it, you're my boss.

But instead, they

communicate back saying over to you, Jim.
So I'm not sure I want to take all the fault for that.
agree with you.

I

I think the best practice would have been the

three of us to sit down and talk it through.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Okay.

I will -- the point behind that

was that maybe the October 5th did not need to be announced only

176

primarily because you were just in the midst of your October
28 -- just in the midst of the investigation, and I don't think
you would have been considered a concealer if you were just in
the midst of the investigation.
But let me quickly go to this issue here.

Let me raise this

question, and then I have about 1 minute and 50 seconds or
something to ask these questions here.
Director Comey, in your June 8, 2017, written testimony to
the Senate Intelligence Committee, you wrote about a
February 14, 2017, meeting with President Trump in which he
stated, quote, I hope you can see your way clear to letting this
go, to letting Flynn go.

He's a good guy.

I hope you can let

this go.
You then described your reaction, quote, I had understood
that the President to be requesting that we drop any
investigation of Flynn in connection with false statements about
his conversations with the Russian ambassador in December.
Director Comey, is that still your understanding?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.
[Comey Exhibit No. 5
Was marked for identification.]

Ms. Jackson Lee.

And I'd like to introduce the following

document as exhibit 5, which is pages 90 to 91 of the transcript
from former FBI general counsel James Baker's October 18, 2018,
interview with the committee.

177

And just in going to that earlier comment, you obviously
you see now, today, of the final results of Director Flynn in
terms of the Mueller indictment on the very facts that you were
dealing with, and I just want to put that on the record.
I would like to introduce the following exhibit, No. 5, and
which is pages 90 to 91 of the transcript from former FBI general
counsel James Baker's October 18, 2018, interview with the
committee.

It reads:

Did you also have concerns that the

statements by the President were requesting that the FBI drop
the investigation of General Flynn?
Mr. Comey.

I'm sorry, I thought you were reading his

statement.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

The answer is yes.

Forgive me.

And why would it be concerning if the President asked the
FBI to drop the investigation of his national security advisor?
You said:
Mr. Comey.

Well, it's an -Jim Baker said.

Ms. Jackson Lee.

Jim Baker.

It's an investigation, period.

It's the President, I mean,

I guess you would say breaking the norm in that sense, the
President actually intervening -Let me be very clear.

I'm reading Jim Baker's comments.

Thank you very much.
-- intervening while it's going on with respect to a
particular investigation.

178

It also goes back to what we talked about earlier.

It has

to -- it's not just some investigation; it's an investigation
that is also related to the investigation -- or to Russia -- to
the Russia matter that we were investigating, right?

So it was

not a free-standing independent investigation; it was something
related to these other things.

So it was alarming in that regard

too.
Do you share Mr. Baker's concerns about the President asking
the FBI to drop the investigation of his national security
advisor?

Do you agree that the Flynn investigation was related

to the Russia matter?
Mr. Comey.

I do.

Ms. Jackson Lee.

The transcript continues:

Is it

alarming even if the FBI has no intention of dropping the
investigation?
Well, we didn't have any intention of dropping the
investigation, so -- but it's alarming nonetheless, yes, because
we'll know at a minimum the existence of the fact of the -- at
a bare minimum, the fact of this conversation.

Just again, looks

bad if it were ever to -- if it was ever -- would look bad if
it was ever to become public, because it looks like the
President's trying to put his finger on the scale to cause the
investigation to go into a particular way, and that would hurt
the FBI's credibility, reputation for independence.
very alarming.

That was

179

Question:

You said it would look like that to the public.

Did you believe that that's what actually was going on?
The answer:
the scale.

The President was trying to put his finger on

Yes, that's what I thought was going on.

Do you agree with Mr. Baker's assessment that President
Trump was trying to put his finger on the scale by asking you
to drop Flynn's investigation?
Mr. Comey.

Potentially.

As I said earlier, I would want

to understand more about the President's intent before I reached
a conclusion.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

And so you think potentially, not

affirmatively?
Mr. Comey.

Well, it would look like the President was

trying to put his finger on the scale, but I understand the term
"put his finger on the scale" to mean obstructing justice.

And

as I said earlier, I'd want to know more of the facts, which I'm
sure the special counsel's work to understand, about the
President's intent before I reached that conclusion.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

And you don't believe that the statement

on public television "it was a Russia thing" is an affirmative
statement without qualification by the President of the United
States?

It was a Russia thing that I fired Mr. Comey on.

Mr. Comey.

Oh, I do.

And the only thing I added, though,

is since then he has said other things trying to, it seems, walk
that back.

And so again, I rely on his words.

I saw him say

180

that, but I've since seen him try to say other things.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Well, you're a quintessential law

enforcement officer and you know that is probably the tendency
of any witness to walk back.
Mr. Comey.

Is that not true?

No, the tendency of this witness is trying to

be fair and open minded.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

No, I'm projecting it to the President.

Anybody who's being asked about something they said and it gets
a lot of fury, it is a tendency to walk back.
Mr. Comey.

Well, it depends upon the person.

Some people

will try to walk back things, others not.
Ms. Jackson Lee.

Were you also worried that it would hurt

the FBI's credibility and reputation for independence?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Ms. Jackson Lee.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Raskin.

Thank you.

Thank you.
Mr. Comey, I'm Jamie Raskin from Maryland.

I

want to start, Director Comey, with your written testimony of
the Senate Intelligence Committee on June 8th of 2017, when you
wrote about your famous dinner with President Trump at the White
House on January 27th.

And you said that the President was

trying to, quote, create some sort of patronage relationship.
And at one point he said to you, quote, I need loyalty.
loyalty.

Is that your recollection?

Mr. Comey.

Yes.

I expect

181

Mr. Raskin.

Okay.

On pages 237 and 238 of your book, A

Higher Loyalty, you also recount your dinner with President Trump
and your reaction to this request.

At the bottom of page 237

you write, quote, to my mind, the demand was like Sammy the Bull's
Cosa Nostra induction ceremony with Trump in the role of the
family boss asking me if I have what it takes to be a made man.
I did not and would never.
Can you just elaborate on why that was the first thing that
came into your mind, this comparison to a made boss ceremony for
La Cosa Nostra?
Mr. Comey.

It was an impression that kept popping into my

head when I interacted with President Trump, and particularly
it started when I watched him interact as President-elect that
first week of January at Trump Tower, and I kept trying to push
it away because it seemed too dramatic.

But his leadership

style -- I'm not trying to suggest he's out robbing banks -- but
his leadership style reminded me of that of a mafia boss, of a
Cosa Nostra boss, because it's all about me, what you can do for
me, it's all about your loyalty to me.
values or institutional values.

It's not about any higher

It's about how are you feeding

me the boss, how are you taking care of me the boss.
Mr. Raskin.

And that was novel to your experience in terms

of dealing with Presidents of the United States?
Mr. Comey.

Correct.

I dealt closely with three, and this

was the first time I'd had that reaction.

182

Mr. Raskin.

Okay.

And just to be clear, what is your

loyalty to, as the director of the FBI or a law enforcement
official?
Mr. Comey.

To a variety of external values, most

importantly, the Constitution and the laws of the United States,
and then to the regulations that restrict and govern the FBI,
and also to the values that make the FBI such an important part
of American life:

integrity, independence, competence, and

fairness.
Mr. Raskin.

Has anything happened since these events that

have changed your perception of the President's modus operandi
in terms of his dealing with his subordinates and people who work
for the government?
Mr. Comey.

No.

I think people who thought maybe I was

being dramatic have come to believe that maybe I wasn't being
dramatic in that observation.
Mr. Raskin.

Yeah.

How many -- have you ever prosecuted

mafia bosses?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Raskin.
Mr. Comey.

Yes.
How many?
Well, not the -- I've prosecuted capos.

sitting next to an organized crime prosecutor.

I'm

So I've

prosecuted probably five to seven senior leaders.

I've never

prosecuted the boss of an organized crime family.
Mr. Raskin.

Got you.

The President's former personal

183

attorney, Michael Cohen, has been in the headlines recently.
I'm not going to ask you specific questions about his case, but
I wanted to clarify for the record some of the legal and
investigative processes that lend itself to that type of case.
You may recall that when Mr. Cohen's apartment, office, and
hotel room were first raided by the FBI in April of this year,
the President attacked these steps.
attorney-client privilege is dead.
hunt.

He declared that, quote,

It was, quote, a total witch

And he described the investigation as a, quote,

disgraceful situation and an attack on our country.
Now, the raid was conducted by the FBI pursuant to a search
warrant and at the direction of the Office of the U.S. Attorney
for the Southern District, I think.

Can you walk us through the

steps that the FBI and DOJ take before approving a search warrant
on an attorney and seizing documents that might include
potentially privileged materials?
Mr. Comey.

In very shorthand I will.

It's a complicated

process, but it involves a long series of approvals because it's
what we would call a sensitive investigative matter.

It touched

on attorney-client relationships potentially, which are the core
of our Nation, and so it would require approval to a very high
level in the FBI, a very high level in the Department of Justice,
and then have to go to a Federal judge.
Mr. Raskin.

Okay.

Was there anything that took place in

these investigative steps that destroyed the attorney-client

184

privilege such that it would justify the President's statement
that the attorney-client privilege is dead?
Mr. Comey.
know that case.

Well, I can answer in general, because I don't
The entire sensitive investigative matter

process is designed to be respectful of the privileges that might
be touched by a search on a lawyer's office.
Mr. Raskin.

Okay.

President Trump has kept up his drum

beat against his former lawyer.

Most recently, the attacks were

in response Mr. Cohen's plea deal with the special counsel's
office in which he admitted to lying about the Trump Tower Moscow
project in contact with Russian Government officials during the
2016 campaign.
The President responded within hours tweeting, quote:
Michael Cohen asks judge for no prison time.

You mean he can

do all of the terrible unrelated to Trump things having to do
with fraud, big loans, taxes, et cetera, and not serve a long
prison term?

He makes up stories to get a great and already

reduced deal for himself and get his wife and father-in-law who
has the money, question mark, off scot-free.

He lied for this

outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a complete sentence.
I would like to draw on your years of experience as an
organized crime prosecutor and senior DOJ official and head of
the FBI to unpack some of the prosecutorial methods that are under
attack by the President.
First, why do criminal defendants such as Michael Cohen

185

decide to change course and flip?
Mr. Comey.

I can only answer that in general not about the

case in particular.
Mr. Raskin.
Mr. Comey.

In general.
Because they conclude that it's in their

self-interest to try to obtain a reduction in their sentence by
providing substantial assistance to the people of the United
States by helping solve other crimes.
Mr. Raskin.

Yes.

At certain points, I think the President

has meditated the possibility of making it a crime to flip or
saying it should be against the law to flip.

What do you make

of that suggestion, as a prosecutor?
Mr. Comey.

It's a shocking suggestion coming from any

senior official, no less the President.

It's a critical and

legitimate part of the entire justice system in the United
States.
Mr. Raskin.

Does the government routinely grant

defendants who cooperate with the government and render honest
testimony reduced sentences in exchange for their cooperation?
Mr. Comey.

Routinely, the prosecutors ask the judge to

take that substantial assistance into account and reduce their
sentences.
Mr. Raskin.

Okay.

prosecutor --

So it's not directly up to the

Mr. Comey.

Correct.

186

Mr. Raskin.

-- but they will recommend to the court, if

the person follows through -Mr. Comey.

Right, if they tell the truth and provide

substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of
others.
Mr. Raskin.
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

You know --

That's how we make mob cases, terrorism cases,

child abuse cases, drug cases, kidnapping cases.

It's essential

to the workings of our criminal justice system.
Mr. Raskin.

Yes.

It may be difficult to extricate

ourselves from the last couple of years, but if we were to go
back to a more innocent time, would you agree that it's dangerous
or would you disagree that it's dangerous to have a sitting
President commenting on active criminal proceedings and
investigations and trying to interfere in them?
Mr. Comey.

I think we have become numb to lying and attacks

on the rule of law by the President, all of us have to a certain
extent, and it's something we can't ever become numb to.
Mr. Raskin.

Okay.

I will close with that.

Thank you very

much, Director Comey.
Ms. Hariharan.
[Recess.]

It is 3:13, and we'll go off the record.

187

[3:23 p.m.]
Chairman Goodlatte.
Mr. Jordan.

Back on the record.

Mr. Chairman, is it okay?

Okay, thank you.

Director, let me just go back and try to clear up a few things
probably mostly for me.

The last hour I think you were talking

about this with the minority as well.
You have your meeting with the President in February of
2017, where the President talks about can you see your way clear
to go easy on Mike Flynn or whatever, something to that effect.
You then had a meeting with your senior staff and wrote a memo
memorializing what took place in your meeting with the President.
Is that right?
Mr. Comey.

Correct.

I met with the senior leadership team

and prepared and reviewed with them a memo.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.

Say it again.

I'm sorry.

Prepared to what?

I prepared and then reviewed with them my memo.
So they worked on the memo with you?
No.

I wrote the memo.

I gave them a copy of

it to read, and then we sat down and talked.
Mr. Jordan.

You sat down and talked about it, okay.

And

who all was in that meeting, again?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know for sure, but I'm sure Deputy

Director McCabe was there; General Counsel Baker was there; my
chief of staff; Jim Rybicki was there.

I believe the number

three at the FBI at that point, who was the Associate Deputy

188

Director, was there.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.

That individual's name?
At that point, it was David Bowdich.
Bowdich, okay.
And then I believe that -- and this I'm less

certain of -- that the head of the National Security Branch, Carl
Ghattas, was there, and -- or Bill Priestap, the head of
Counterintelligence.

I'm not sure about with the last two guys,

but I think it's a possibility.
Mr. Jordan.

Deputy Director McCabe, Chief Counsel Baker,

Chief of Staff Rybicki, Mr. Bowdich, Mr. Ghattas, Mr. Priestap.
Mr. Comey.

That's the universe of people I think could have

been there.
Mr. Jordan.

You think they were all there.

Was Peter

Strzok there?
Mr. Comey.

I'm sorry.

I didn't say I think they were all

there.

I said that's the universe of people who could have been

there.

I'm certain about McCabe, Rybicki, and Baker.

Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

You're certain of the top three?
Yeah.
The other three that you mentioned could have

been there.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.

Yeah.
What about Mr. Strzok?
I don't remember him being there.

189

Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

And Ms. Page?
I don't remember her being there.
And what did McCabe, Baker, and Rybicki advise

you to do, and then any of the others who -- if you can remember,
what did they advise you to do after you showed them the memo
and then talked about your -- you know, what had happened with
you and the President?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember who said what, but I remember

two points of consensus:

We were all very concerned about it;

and, second, we agreed that we ought to hold it very close, not
brief the investigative team at this point and not go over and
talk to the leadership of the Department of Justice, to hold onto
it until we got a new Deputy Attorney General and they sorted
out how they were going to supervise the Russia investigation.
Mr. Jordan.

Why did you decide not to share it with the

leadership of the Justice Department?
Mr. Comey.

Because we believed that the Attorney General,

Mr. Sessions, was -Mr. Jordan.

Excuse me one second.

I've got to move.

I'm

having trouble seeing you here.
Mr. Comey.

We believed that the Attorney General,

Mr. Sessions, was on the cusp of recusing himself from anything
related to Russia, so it didn't make any sense to brief him on
it, and that there was no Deputy Attorney General at that point.
Mr. Jordan.

Why would you make that assumption?

I mean,

190

just because -- I mean, first of all, if he was on the cusp of
leaving, that's a judgment call.

Maybe he was; maybe -- I can't

recall exactly what was going on in February.
But he's still the Attorney General.
himself.

He had not recused

If this is something important enough for you to

memorialize, talk to your top people, why not then share it with
the top law enforcement official in the government?
Mr. Comey.

Because we believed -- it turns out

correctly -- that he was about to step out of any involvement,
anything related to Russia.
Mr. Jordan.

I understand that.

But just because you

believe he's about to do something doesn't change the fact that
he's the Attorney General and, frankly, as the Attorney General
for our government, should receive that kind of information, I
would think.
Mr. Comey.

It's a judgment call we made that it was prudent

to wait, given our expectation he wouldn't be the Attorney
General in a matter of days with respect to that topic.
Mr. Jordan.

Okay.

So, if you're that concerned about

Mr. Sessions, why didn't you share it with the Deputy Attorney
General?
Mr. Comey.

There was no Deputy Attorney General at that

point in time.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.

Ms. Yates had already stepped down.
Correct.

191

Mr. Jordan.
Department?

Okay.

So who is number three at the Justice

Why not share it with them?

Mr. Comey.

I don't know who was number three at that point.

There was an acting -- there was a U.S. Attorney acting as the
Deputy Attorney General, who we knew would be in the seat only
until Rod Rosenstein was confirmed.

And so it didn't make sense

to brief a matter like that to him, it was our judgment, and so
we would just hold it.
And there was no -- we saw no investigative urgency.

If

there was something we had to do right away, we might have thought
about it differently, but given how we thought about the
investigative state in which it was, it made sense to hold onto
it.
Mr. Jordan.

I just want to be clear.

So you knew at the

time that there was no Deputy Attorney General; Ms. Yates had
stepped down.

You knew at the time that Jeff Sessions was the

Attorney General, but you thought he may be recusing himself at
some point in the near future.

And you also knew at the time

Rod Rosenstein had been nominated to fulfill or to fill the DAG
position.

Is that all right?

Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

Correct.
That was what you knew and assumed at the time.

And so you made a decision we're going to wait until
Mr. Rosenstein has the position and we're going to go talk to
him?

192

Mr. Comey.

I think what we decided was -- I don't think

we were that specific.

We said:

Let's wait until the

Department of Justice gets its leadership team on and figures
out how it wants to staff the -- this case.

Because you'll

recall, during his confirmation hearing, one of the things Rod
Rosenstein had promised the Senate was he would think about
whether to appoint a special prosecutor once he became Deputy
Attorney General.
Mr. Meadows.

So how did you know that he was on the cusp,

according to your words, the cusp of recusal?

How would you know

that?
Mr. Comey.

A couple of reasons.

It seemed like an obvious

case for recusal, given his role in the campaign.

And I

think -- in fact, I know we had been told by that point that the
career officials at the Department of Justice were recommending
that he recuse himself.

I think we knew that at that point.

So

it seemed a foregone conclusion the Attorney General was going
to step out of Russia matters.
Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Comey.

So who told you?
I don't remember.
Why would they have told you?
Well, the person who told me would have been

someone on my senior team.
Mr. Meadows.
communicated?

Yeah, but why would that have been

Before a recusal actually took place, why would

193

they be communicating that to you, Director Comey?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Meadows.

Why would my staff be telling me?
No.

Why would someone at the Department of

Justice tell you that Jeff Sessions is going to recuse himself
that would actually change your actions and what you decided to
do?
Mr. Comey.

First of all, I know I said this before, but

no one told me from the Department of Justice.

If your question

is, why would someone at the Department of Justice tell someone
at the FBI, that I don't know.
Mr. Meadows.

So who told you?

changed your decision.

I mean, obviously, it

So you're saying that you have no

knowledge of who told you that Jeff Sessions was on the cusp of
recusal?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Meadows.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Meadows.

Yeah.

It didn't --

That's your testimony?
It didn't change my decision.

It was --

Well, it obviously did because you didn't

take it to the Attorney General, which is the highest law
enforcement officer.

You didn't take it to him.

So your

testimony just now suggested that it did change your actions.
Mr. Comey.
decision I made.

No.

I'm suggesting it was a factor in a

It was reality, and I stared at that reality

and, based on that reality, I made a decision.

The decision was,

let's hold onto it until they sort out their leadership.

194

Mr. Jordan.

Didn't in your memos you highlight the idea

that if the President has something like what he told you in this
meeting that prompted the memo and prompted this meeting, that
there's a proper chain he's supposed to follow?
President should go to the Attorney General.

In fact, the

They should look

at the information, and then they should bring it to you as the
director of the FBI.
You laid out a chain and a sequence that should happen if
the President wants to get information to you, but it seems to
me here we are now, you have this information that should be,
I think, shared with the Attorney General and wasn't.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

I'm not sure I follow your question,

I don't remember a conversation with the President

in this context about who he should talk to.
Mr. Jordan.

I think you, if I remember your memo -- I have

to go back and look -- but if I remember your memo, one of the
things you talked about is that if the President wants to share
information like he shared with you about General Flynn, he
should do that through the appropriate channels, being through
the Attorney General, then through the Attorney General, Justice
Department, and then it comes to you, as the Director of the FBI.
Mr. Comey.

Yeah.

I'm not recalling that.

sharing information about Mr. Flynn.

He wasn't

He was asking me to drop

an investigation of Flynn.
There are other contexts in which at the end of March or

195

April where I told the President that the way it should work if
he has an inquiry is to have the White House counsel call over
to the leadership of the Department of Justice and do it that
way.
Mr. Jordan.

Okay.

Okay.

I want to move on to -- I want

to go back to Bruce Ohr and Christopher Steele real quick, if
I can.

Do you know Bruce Ohr personally?

Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Not well.

I've met him, and he was a

prosecutor in New York around the time that I was a prosecutor
in New York.
Mr. Jordan.

And did you -- just to recap, I think Mr. Gowdy

was here earlier today.

Did you know that Christopher Steele

was giving information to Mr. Ohr?
Mr. Comey.

I didn't know that, and I don't know that for

a fact.
Mr. Jordan.

So you didn't know that Christopher Steele was

passing information to Mr. Ohr and he was then providing it -- Mr.
Ohr was then providing it to the FBI?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know if that's true, and I didn't know

anything like that when I was Director.
Mr. Jordan.

Did you know if Christopher Steele had any bias

against President Trump?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

No.
Did you -- I'm just curious your thoughts.

Maybe you can't comment on this.

But why did the FBI need Bruce

196

Ohr?

If you were getting information directly from Mr. Steele,

why did you need Bruce Ohr to also get information from Mr. Steele
and then give it to the FBI?
Mr. Comey.

I can't answer that because I don't -- as I said

in response to your earlier questions, I don't know anything
about a Bruce Ohr connection to Mr. Steele.
Mr. Jordan.

Why was Christopher Steele terminated, his

relationship with the FBI terminated, in November of 2016?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

I don't know.
Okay.

Did you know that the FBI continued to

use Mr. Steele's information after he was terminated by the FBI?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

What do you mean by use his information?
The fact that after he's terminated, he

continues to give information to Bruce Ohr, who Bruce Ohr, after
each and every time he communicates with Christopher Steele, then
sits down with the FBI, and there are, my understanding, several
302s, I think more than a dozen 302s that talk about those
interactions that Mr. Ohr had with Mr. Steele.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

I don't know anything about that.
Okay.

Were you aware that Christopher Steele

had met with representatives in the media in September of 2016?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

No.
So didn't know anything about that and didn't

know that he had met with Mr. Isikoff with Yahoo News?
Mr. Comey.

No.

And I don't even know whether that's true,

197

but I didn't know anything about it.
Mr. Jordan.

Okay.

It's been reported that there's a

series of emails that talk about the idea that Christopher
Steele -- not the idea, the fact that Christopher Steele had met
with representatives in the press in September of 2016.

Do you

know anything about that series of emails?
Mr. Comey.
about it.

No.

I don't -- no, I don't remember anything

Don't think I ever got an email about it or saw an

email about it.
Mr. Gowdy.

Director Comey, what element was missing in

July of 2016, when you had the press conference, that might have
been found in October on Anthony Weiner's computer?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know it's an element, but what

was -- the key ingredient that was missing in the Clinton
investigation was any indication that she knew she was doing
something she shouldn't be doing.

And so what the Weiner trove

potentially held was evidence of that intention, especially in
the form of the emails from her BlackBerry during her first 3
months as Secretary of State.
Mr. Gowdy.

Tell me how the existence of that information

may have impacted the element of intent.
Mr. Comey.

Again, I don't know that I'd call -- I don't

know whether I would describe it as an element.

My understanding

is -- and I remember you and I talking about this it seems like
years ago -- the Department of Justice has always required before

198

it will bring that misdemeanor indications of intention or harm
to the United States or obstruction of justice, those kinds of
things.

And that was the ingredient we didn't have in the

Clinton case.
And so the Weiner trove held the prospect that we -- because
it might contain evidence of the beginning of her use of her
unclass system, might hold that evidence.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, I'm sure you can see, because a smart guy

and a good lawyer, the next question is, how can you begin to
even draft a non-pros memo if you haven't interviewed two dozen
witnesses, including the target, but you're already drafting a
non-pros, but the moment you find out that there may be a computer
you have not accessed, you reopen the investigation; whatever
you found on Weiner's computer, could you not have also found
when you were interviewing the two dozen witnesses?
Mr. Comey.

Potentially.

What I was doing in May was 10

months into an investigation, seeing on the current course and
speed where it's going to end, planning.
did too.

Just -- I'm sure you

I drafted plenty of indictments before I finished

investigations because it looked like we were going to get enough
to charge a person.

And so that's what it was about.

And, again -- I know I said this in response to the
Democrats' questions -- the prospect, what made Weiner's
computer a horse of a different color was the size of the trove
and the emails potentially from the first 3 months as Secretary

199

of State a very different kettle of fish.
Mr. Gowdy.

Is it because -- and, again, I know you don't

like answering hypos, and I don't actually like asking
them -- but what in particular the beginning stages of her tenure
would have addressed an element that you thought was missing?
Mr. Comey.

Oh, that's easy to answer.

If there was going

to be evidence that she knew she was communicating in a way she
shouldn't, explicit evidence, common sense tells you it's likely
to be at the beginning when someone encountered her mode or means
of communication and said:
that.

Hey, boss, you know you can't do

You know you can't talk about this kind of thing or that

kind of thing on an unclass system.
It's much more likely to be at the beginning, which we never
found, those 3 months, than much later.
Mr. Gowdy.
beginning.

All right.

Well, let me ask you about the

Bryan Pagliano, when the FBI interviewed him, who

did he say instructed him to set up the server?
Mr. Kelley.

I'm sorry.

Who is the name, please?

Mr. Gowdy.

Bryan Pagliano.

Mr. Comey.

I don't remember.

Mr. Gowdy.

Do you remember Bryan Pagliano?

Mr. Comey.

Yeah, I remember the name.

Mr. Gowdy.

A Department of State employee who, by all

indications, set up the server for Secretary Clinton.

Do you

know whether he was asked what he was told about why this was

200

being done?
Mr. Comey.

I don't today.

Mr. Gowdy.

Could that witness also have provided some

evidence of intent, based on those conversations?
Mr. Comey.

The guy who set up the server?

Mr. Gowdy.

Sure.

Mr. Comey.

Maybe.

Mr. Gowdy.

Do you know where he worked?

Mr. Comey.

No.

Maybe.

I mean, I'm sure I did at some point.

I

don't remember.
Mr. Gowdy.

He worked at the Department of State, or he was

paid by the Department of State.

Did the Bureau pull any hour

sheets or performance evaluations to see whether or not he
actually did work at the Department of State?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

Mr. Gowdy.

Did the Bureau talk to his supervisor?

Mr. Comey.

I don't -- I don't remember certainly today.

I don't know whether I ever knew that.
Mr. Gowdy.

What was he granted immunity for and from?

Mr. Comey.

I don't recall.

I'm sure I knew 2 years ago,

but I don't remember.
Mr. Gowdy.

Who is Paul Combetta?

Mr. Comey.

Another one of the figures somehow in the setup

of the server or something.

I can't -- I remember the name, but

I don't remember what his role was.

201

Mr. Gowdy.

He worked at Platte River.

Does that refresh

your recollection?
Mr. Comey.

Platte River Networks, yeah.

I forget whether

they supplied the server or one of the servers.

They were

involved in the setup or maintenance of the Secretary's private
email server.
Mr. Gowdy.

Were they also involved in any deletions of her

emails?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

It sounds familiar, but I

honestly can't remember.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you recall the product BleachBit?

Mr. Comey.

Oh, yes, I do.

Mr. Gowdy.

Do you know where that came from?

Mr. Comey.

I certainly don't today.

I don't know whether

I ever did.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you recall a conference call between Cheryl

Mills, David Kendall, perhaps Heather Samuelson, and Platte
River about the time the public learned she had this unusual email
arrangement?
Mr. Comey.

Vaguely.

I'm not sure I remember those

participants.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you recall emails being destroyed by Platte

River after the public learned that she had this email
arrangement?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

That rings more of a bell.

I remember

202

something about -- and I don't know whether it was Combetta or
not -- but somebody having failed to do what they asked him to
do and panicking and going back and deleting emails on one of
the old servers maybe.
Mr. Gowdy.

That is definitely one version of how that

conference call went, that he in the past had been told to have
a short retention, and he got on the phone with some of Secretary
Clinton's attorneys and had -- I won't use the word -- but an
oh-something bad moment and realized he had not done it.

There

are other versions that we don't have access to because
privileges were asserted surrounding that conversation.

Do you

recall anything about that?
Mr. Comey.

No.

I remember privilege issues, but not about

that conversation.
Mr. Gowdy.

Who made the decision to allow Cheryl Mills and

Heather Samuelson to sit in on Secretary Clinton's interview?
Mr. Comey.

I think the DOJ did, although I'm trying to

remember whether I knew personally.

FBI people knew about it

and didn't object to it.
Mr. Gowdy.

They did or did not?

Mr. Comey.

Did not, to my recollection.

Mr. Gowdy.

We've interviewed some Bureau employees who

thought it was a very unusual arrangement that they were not
familiar with.

How would you describe allowing multiple fact

witnesses to be present while a fact witness is being

203

interviewed?
Mr. Comey.

Certainly unusual in that you had two people

who had been witnesses, who were the Secretary -- the subject's
lawyers, who after we cleared as to them were allowed to attend
the interview.
Mr. Gowdy.

Unusual.
When you say "unusual," in the time you spent

in the Southern District and at the FBI and the Department of
Justice, can you recall another time where fact witnesses also
served as potential counsel?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

I can't -- and we would have to negotiate

that with -- I'm trying to remember the terms -- a Curcio hearing
and having all kinds of discussions about how to handle it in
a charged case.
I don't know that I can remember -- sitting here, I can't
remember an uncharged, so an investigative stage case, where a
lawyer for the subject emerged as a fact witness.

I can't.

I'm

sure if I have more time to think about it, maybe I will, but
I can't right now.
Mr. Gowdy.

Why does the Bureau typically not interview

multiple fact witnesses at the same time?
Mr. Comey.

Because you'd ideally like people not to know

what others' stories are so they're not able to get their story
together.
Mr. Gowdy.

Some of the same reasons they have a

sequestration rule.

So you don't want witnesses to hear other

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witnesses.
Mr. Comey.

Yeah, ideally.

You want to keep them all in

separate boxes.
Mr. Gowdy.

So why was this interview handled differently?

Mr. Comey.

I don't remember for sure.

I think a key factor

was they were her lawyers, and so our ability to keep them from
talking to each other was slim to none regardless and that they
had been -- we had finished our evaluation of them as potential
subjects.

And so I think the judgment of the team was it's

unusual, but it's really not something that's going to hurt our
investigation.
Mr. Gowdy.

Can you think of another investigation you were

involved with where that happened?
Mr. Comey.

No.

Mr. Gowdy.

Did you interview Patrick Kennedy?

Mr. Comey.

I didn't interview anybody.

Mr. Gowdy.

Did the Bureau interview Patrick Kennedy?

Mr. Comey.

State Department official?

Mr. Gowdy.

State Department official.

Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

It rings some bell, but maybe

I know his name from something else.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did the Bureau gain an understanding of how she

could have kept her emails from the time she separated from
service at the State Department, but yet felt the need to delete
them in March of 2015?

205

Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

Mr. Gowdy.

Destruction of evidence can be considered

evidence of what?
Mr. Comey.

It can either be a separate offense or evidence

of consciousness of guilt.
Mr. Gowdy.

Of the statutes the Bureau had under

investigation -- and what I mean by that is the fact pattern may
have applied to certain statutes -- which statutes do you recall
were at issue or at play in this investigation?
Mr. Comey.
anymore.

I don't know if I remember even the numbers

I think it was 18 U.S.C. 1924, which I think is the

misdemeanor, and 793, which is a variety of sections relating
to espionage, mishandling of classified information, theft of
classified information.
be wrong about that.

I think those were the two.

I could

I've tried to suppress it, but I think those

are the two.
Mr. Gowdy.

So maybe a felony retention, a gross negligence

standard, also a felony, I think, and then a misdemeanor?

Does

that sound right?
Mr. Comey.
793 and 1924.
Mr. Gowdy.

Yes.

Maybe you can help me.

I think 1924 is the misdemeanor.
You are correct.

I think it was
793 --

1924, you are correct.

793,

and there's a section (f), which is gross negligence, and then
there's a section (d), which is a higher level of scienter.
that sound right?

Does

206

Mr. Comey.

It does sound right.

Mr. Gowdy.

In your judgment, what element was missing that

prevented or thwarted a successful -- well, let me ask you this:
Is it your position there was insufficient evidence to charge
or your position that there was insufficient evidence, even if
charged, to secure a conviction?
Mr. Comey.

As I recall, our judgment was that, given the

way the Department of Justice for 50 or 100 years had treated
those statutes, we did not have sufficient evidence of intent
for any -- anybody in the counterespionage section to bring those
charges, that they would never bring a gross negligence
prosecution, and that all the misdemeanor cases involved some
other element of proof that raised it up to the level at which
they would bring that statute to bear.
So I don't -- I don't think we spent a lot of time figuring
out whether we had a beyond a reasonable doubt case, because it
was so obvious we had a case that nobody would prosecute.
Mr. Gowdy.

Had there ever been prosecutions under the

gross negligence statute?
Mr. Comey.

One, as I recall, since 1917.

Mr. Gowdy.

Was the statute ever used in applications for

search warrants?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

I don't know if I ever knew that.

Mr. Gowdy.

So, as we sit here today -- and I know you and

I have had this conversation, and it's been a while -- your best

207

explanation for what was lacking -- I get the fact the statute
wasn't used that often, but no statute is used for the first time
until it is.
So what -- did you view the statute as being
unconstitutional?

Did you view it as being so vague as to not

sustain a conviction, or was there an element of the statute you
think was missing?
Mr. Comey.

See if I get this right.

not crystal clear at this point.

My recollection is

I remember learning that there

were grave reservations for decades in the Department of Justice
about the constitutionality of 793(f), I think it is, and an
understanding -- and I confirmed that understanding by reading
the legislative history myself -- that when Congress passed that
statute and made it a felony in 1917, their intention was for
the definition of gross negligence to approach willfulness, very
similar to the kind of intention that the Department of Justice
would require for a 1924 prosecution.
And we had proof that got us nowhere near willfulness.

And

so our judgment was we got no chance on 793, even if they would
bring the second prosecution in American history in this context,
and we sure got no chance on the intention requirement that
they've imposed on the statute forever.

And so our judgment was,

look, we worked this hard; we're nowhere near where anybody would
bring this.
It turns out I got criticized that my case for having no

208

case was not strong enough.

The inspector general hit me that

I should have told the public they also would never bring a case
where the people communicating all had a clearance and a need
to know the information, and that Director Comey failed to be
accurate with the American people in saying not only was this
no case; it was more of a no case than he realized.
Mr. Gowdy.

All right.

You have smart lawyers at the

Department, smart lawyers at the Bureau.
pretty early on in the investigation.

So you knew all of that
This is one of the first

things you're going to ask is, what is the case law?

Have there

been other prosecutions?
Mr. Comey.

Yeah.

I didn't know it to that level of detail

until the spring, but I knew from just talking to our troops early
on it's going to be a hard case to make, given the way the
Department of Justice has always understood these statutes.
Let's get at it, see what we can find.
Mr. Gowdy.

So what were you looking for?

changed that analysis?

What could have

What specific piece or pieces of

evidence could have changed that?
Mr. Comey.

Significant evidence of knowledge of

lawlessness, the nature of the unlawful conduct, significant
evidence of communication with people without a clearance or a
need to know, significant evidence of obstruction of justice and
false statements by the subject, and probably other things that
are in the other cases, but those are three that pop into my head

209

2 years on.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did you find any evidence of either successful

or attempted foreign intrusions in her server?
Mr. Comey.

My recollection is that we did not find evidence

that foreign actors had intruded into the server, but that our
experts thought we wouldn't see it, given the nature of the server
and the nature of the adversary.
Mr. Gowdy.

That's my best recollection.

So there was no draft of your July 5th statement

that may have included any language about possibly hostile actors
having access to emails?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember for sure, but it wouldn't

surprise me if there were because I was trying to describe what
our folks said, which is:

We don't see the evidence, but given

the nature of the actors, we wouldn't be likely to see the
evidence.

But I don't remember exactly how I phrased it.

Mr. Gowdy.

So you don't recall a draft that may have used

phrases like likelihood, significant likelihood edited down to
a potential?
Mr. Comey.

I don't, sitting here.

It wouldn't surprise

me, though, as part of the editing process.
Mr. Gowdy.

If there had been evidence, in your judgment,

would that have met the allowed access by people without
sufficient security classifications?
Mr. Comey.

Not necessarily, because the kind of evidence

I understand that DOJ looks for is I intentionally shared

210

information with you, who didn't have a clearance.

The

carelessness involved in having a system that a bad guy could
hack into is a different sort, and so that's not what I was talking
about earlier.
Mr. Gowdy.

Did all of Secretary Clinton's attorneys have

the requisite security clearances?
Mr. Comey.

Not to my knowledge.

Not all of them, no.

Mr. Gowdy.

Do you recall which ones did not, and would they

have been any of the ones who actually culled through her emails?
Mr. Comey.

I don't recall as to people.

I have some

recollection that maybe David Kendall from another case had a
clearance or something.

But of the attorneys, surely not all

of them had the requisite clearance to be viewing classified
information.
Mr. Gowdy.

Would that have met the evidentiary burden for

an element if you gave emails to someone who did not have a
security clearance?
Mr. Comey.

No.

DOJ would laugh us across the street if

we came over with that, that someone in the course of legal
representation had their lawyer review something.
Mr. Gowdy.

No chance.

It sounds to me, though, with all due respect,

that you are describing an intent statute, an intent to
disseminate or share classified information with somebody who
is not entitled to it.

So why would Congress come up with a gross

negligence standard if we're going to read it as intent?

211

Mr. Comey.
1917 Congress.

I don't know for sure.

You'd have to ask the

But my recollection of the reading the history

of it is there was a movement to try and have the espionage statute
sweep more broadly than just intentional misconduct.

And there

was a debate in Congress, which is why people who voted it for
it said:

I'll go along with gross negligence, but it better be

up at the willful level, close to intentional misconduct.

But

I don't know beyond that.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you know whether anyone at the Bureau or the

Department shared questions with Ms. Mills' or Samuelson's
attorney before the interview?
Mr. Comey.

No, I don't.

Mr. Gowdy.

Would you be surprised if that happened?

Is

that outside the normal protocol, from your experience?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

It would depend.

I guess I

could imagine it if they were negotiating over privileged spheres
and trying to navigate privilege.

I could imagine an

investigator sharing, "Look, this is what I want to talk about,
this, this and this," to try and avoid a privilege assertion,
but I don't know.
Mr. Gowdy.

What other investigatory tools did you have

other than a voluntary interview?
Mr. Comey.

With respect to?

Mr. Gowdy.

Either Mills, Samuelson, Kendall, Pagliano,

Combetta.

212

Mr. Comey.

Conceivably, you could -- lots of

investigative tools, but the closest to an interview would be
a grand jury subpoena, questioning someone in the grand jury.
Mr. Gowdy.

And tell me why that was not done for any of

the witnesses.
Mr. Comey.

I don't know for sure.

The judgment of the

investigative team surely that it wasn't necessary.

My

recollection, which is not crystal clear, as to Secretary Clinton
is that there were more degrees of freedom in doing an interview
than doing it in a grand jury setting, where, as you know, it's
very restrictive.
Mr. Gowdy.

I do know that.

I also know, unless

something's changed, the attorney's not allowed in a grand jury
when a witness is being interviewed, and there would be no
situation under which multiple witnesses would be interviewed
at the same time by a grand jury.
Mr. Comey.

That's right.

Mr. Gowdy.

Fair?

Mr. Comey.

Fair, although, as you know, because this is

what gums it up, the witness can ask to go outside and consult
with their attorney -Mr. Gowdy.

Absolutely.

Mr. Comey.

-- as frequently as they like during a grand

jury proceeding.
Mr. Gowdy.

Absolutely.

So what I'm trying to get at is,

213

what do you give up by using the grand jury?
Mr. Comey.

What did the --

Mr. Gowdy.

What do you give up?

advantage do you lose?

What investigatory

If you have a choice between a voluntary

interview and a grand jury appearance, what are you risking
losing with the grand jury interview?
Mr. Comey.

A number of things.

If you're going to talk

about TS/SCI information, you have a real problem with the grand
jury.

You'll have to clear a grand jury, which is really tricky,

and both because of the intrusion on their private lives and just
how difficult it is to clear 23 U.S. citizens who have been
summoned for jury duty.
And so you have to figure out what can we discuss in the
grand jury and what can't we discuss in the grand jury.

So what

you're gaining with the informal interview is, in a SCIF, an
agility that you wouldn't have in a grand jury and then the
ability of a group of investigators all to fire at the person
and watch and poke and watch and poke in a way you can't in a
grand jury.
Mr. Gowdy.
Ratcliffe go.

Well, I'm out of time.

I'm going to let

But I do need you to -- if the witnesses don't

have clearances, then how much conversation would there be with
those witnesses about classified information over which they had
no clearance?
Mr. Comey.

I think they gave everybody in that room an

214

interim clearance to discuss TS/SCI information that day.

So

you were able to give interim clearances to a small group of
people.
Mr. Gowdy.

I was more referring to the lawyers that may

have culled through the emails when they were asked to do so,
and do you know whether they had clearances when they went through
her emails?
Mr. Comey.
them didn't.

As I said earlier, I'm sure at least some of

Maybe all of them didn't.

I have some

recollection that maybe David Kendall or somebody had a
clearance, but certainly not all of them.
Mr. Gowdy.

And he would have had a clearance -- well, who

represented David Petraeus?
Mr. Comey.

Maybe it was David Kendall.

Maybe that's why

I'm remembering it.
Mr. Gowdy.

It was.

Mr. Comey.

He's an experienced lawyer who has represented

a lot of people in classified investigations.
Mr. Gowdy.

He is.

Mr. Comey.

Maybe he did.

But others, I'm sure they all

didn't have clearances.
Mr. Gowdy.

And I think Congressman Ratcliffe made

reference to the fact that you -- or at least there are quotes
attributed to you -- are not happy with the decision to let him
plead to a misdemeanor as opposed to a felony.

Is that true?

215

Mr. Comey.

That's true.

Mr. Gowdy.

And part of it was because you assigned a higher

level of knowledge or duty to him, given his role as a general?
Mr. Comey.

And the nature of the offense was just proof

that he knew he was doing something he shouldn't do was
overwhelming, and on top of that, he lied about it to the FBI.
Mr. Gowdy.

Right.

I really am going to let John go now.

He lied to the FBI; that is a crime.
as we've established.

Lying to the public is not,

But is it not evidence of intent and/or

consciousness of guilt?

I mean, Secretary Clinton told the

public that no classified information traversed her server, and
that was false, right?
Mr. Comey.

She maintained that -- as I recall, that she

did not -- she thought she had successfully talked around the
classified subjects.

And the challenge for the prosecutors and

investigators was proving that is false.
Mr. Gowdy.

Well, and it would have been really interesting

had she phrased it to the public:

I did my best to avoid talking

around any documents that may have been classified.
But that is not what she said.

She said:

No classified

information was either sent or received.
Do you recall that?
Mr. Comey.

Generally.

I think that's right.

said, during her interview, she maintained that:

And, as you

I believed we

had successfully talked -- we had not crossed the line.

We had

216

talked around these subjects and were sufficiently vague as to
not implicate the classification requirements.
Mr. Gowdy.

She also said that no records were destroyed,

that they were all retained.
Mr. Comey.

Do you recall her saying that?

I don't remember.

I believe you, but I don't

remember that.
Mr. Gowdy.

Do you recall her saying her attorneys were

overly inclusive in what they considered to be public as opposed
to private?
Mr. Comey.

No, I don't remember that one.

Mr. Gowdy.

You agree false statements sometimes is as much

evidence of intent as you're going to get?
Mr. Comey.

In some cases.

Mr. Gowdy.

Demonstrably false exculpatory statements.

Mr. Comey.

Hard to answer in the abstract, but in some

cases it can be your best evidence.
Mr. Jordan.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Director, I want to have you look at an email, if you would,
please.

I'm more concerned with the second email where the from

line is McCabe, Andrew McCabe.

I'll give you a minute to look

it over and then just want to run through it.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

The one dated Sunday, January 8th?
Yes, 12:08.
Okay, I've read it.
Okay.

So in the first line:

"According to

217

Kortan, CNN is close to going forward with the sensitive story."
What is "the sensitive story"?
Mr. Comey.

I think it is the salacious -- the sexual

details from a portion of the Steele dossier.
Mr. Jordan.

Okay.

What's been commonly called the

salacious and unverified, that part of the dossier?
Mr. Comey.

That's what I call it, yep.

Mr. Jordan.

All right.

Second paragraph:

"CNN states

that they believe the pressure has built and is unavoidable."
Actually, let's go to the:

"Mike relates that he will try

to skirt the most controversial stuff, focus on the question of
possible compromise generally."
What does "possible compromise" refer to?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know what he means.

It means in the

beginning, it sounds like he'll try to avoid the sex stuff, but
I don't know what he means by "focus on the question of possible
compromise generally."
Mr. Jordan.

You read that the way I do.

The most

controversial stuff is what you just told me the sensitive story
is.

But the second clause, the question of possible compromise

generally, you don't know what that means?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

I don't.
Okay.

Yeah, I don't know what he means.

Next sentence:

"The trigger for them

is they know the material was discussed in the brief and presented
in an attachment."

218

I have an idea what I think that sentence means, but you
tell me, if you would.
Mr. Comey.

I take that as a reference to someone has told

them that the President-elect was briefed on this controversial
stuff, and -- yeah, that he was briefed on this controversial
stuff and that their knowledge of that is what is triggering them
to do the reporting.
My recollection is, we understood that CNN had the salacious
and unverified information, which was one of the reasons we told
the President-elect about it.

And in it's kind of a

bootstrapping, they're now saying, we have found out that the
President-elect was briefed on it and so we're going to go with
it.

That's what -- I could be wrong about that, Mr. Jordan, but

that's how I understand that.
Mr. Jordan.

That's exactly how I read it.

Now, just to

be clear, the material that was discussed in the brief, that's
the brief you gave the President-elect?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

Correct.
All right.

And somehow someone told CNN that

you had done just that?
Mr. Comey.

It appears so from this email.

That's how I'm

reading -Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

Any idea who told them that?
Say again, I'm sorry?
Any idea who told them that you had actually

219

briefed the President-elect about this subject?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

No.
No idea?
No idea.
It's been reported that Mr. Clapper may have

been involved in giving that information to CNN.

Any indication

that that's accurate?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

No.

Same answer, I don't know.

Okay.

What's the attachment?

I don't see an attachment.
The trigger for them is they know the material

was discussed in the brief that you gave to the President-elect
on January 6 and presented in an attachment.
Did you give -- was there some attachment?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.

Oh, I see.

I think I know what that means.

What is that?
The way in which -- I just want to be careful

here because I don't want to talk about classified information.
I believe they're discussing the literal format, written format
in which material was presented to the President-elect's team
and to the President-elect, and they're referring to some of the
material being in an attachment and not in the body of the
document.

That's what I understand that to mean.

Mr. Jordan.

So, in other words, you told the President

certain things, but you also left him some kind of attachment,

220

some written, some piece of paper or something as well, and they
knew about that?
Mr. Comey.

Yeah.

And that's a garble, because that -- I

take them to mean an attachment, but the attachment, to my
recollection, didn't contain the salacious and unverified stuff,
and that that was simply conveyed orally from me to the
President-elect.
Mr. Jordan.

I understand.

Any idea how they got -- how

CNN gets ahold of the attachment that you gave the President of
the United States?
Mr. Comey.

I don't understand it to be saying that they

have the attachment.

I read this sentence to say the trigger

for them is they know the material was discussed in the brief
and presented in an attachment.
Mr. Jordan.

Okay.

So they didn't physically have that,

they just knew that that's how it was presented to the President?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

I don't know.
All right.

I'm just reading this.
Next sentence:

"So far it does

not look like they will characterize FBI efforts."
What does that mean?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know for sure, but I have enough of a

reaction I'll offer it to you, that I take this as likely being
that the FBI Director briefed the President-elect about this
material.

I could be wrong about that, but I don't know what

other FBI efforts he could be referring to.

221

Mr. Jordan.

So Andy McCabe is telling you, so far, based

on what he has learned or Mr. Kortan has learned, that CNN is
going to run with this story, but they don't fully know that
you're the individual who briefed the President on this issue?
That's what that sentence is about?
Mr. Comey.

Yeah, that's how I'm reading it.

And I could

be wrong, but I'm reading this as CNN has somehow gotten on to
the idea that the President-elect was told about certain
information, but they actually don't know who did the telling,
which is an indication -- I could be wrong about this too -- that
it didn't come from the FBI.
Mr. Jordan.

In the question section, he says, "a few

questions," and he has two here.

Asking you:

"Do you have any

guidance on who, if any, we should notify?"
Did you notify anyone about this?
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember.

I don't remember notifying

anybody, but it's possible.
Mr. Jordan.
General Yates.

Did you do that?

Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.
partners."

He suggests that you tell Deputy Attorney

I don't remember doing that.
What about, he next says, "the briefing

Did you let them know?

Mr. Comey.

I don't -- it's possible.

I don't remember

doing that, though, and I take that to mean the directors of CIA,
NSA, and National Intelligence, but I don't remember doing that.

222

Mr. Jordan.

That was my next question.

The briefing

partners are who, those individuals?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

That's what I understand this to mean.
And those would be the individuals who

accompanied you to New York for this briefing with the President?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

Correct.
President-elect at the time?
Correct.
Okay.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Okay.

That's all I got.

Thank you.

Director Comey, I want to pick up where we

were talking earlier, and I want to give you back your statement
from your July 5th press conference.
Setting aside the questions about whether or not Secretary
Clinton had the intent to or was just reckless or careless in
mishandling classified information, do you take issue with the
characterization by your former general counsel, Jim Baker, who
told this committee that Secretary Clinton's mishandling of
classified -- that Secretary Clinton mishandled classified
information in a manner that he described as appalling?
Mr. Kelley.

Could we see that portion of the transcript,

please?
Mr. Ratcliffe.

I don't have the portion.

I'll represent

to you -Mr. Kelley.

And which day was that testimony?

Mr. Ratcliffe.

If you want to take the time, it's referred

223

to in the inspector general report, and I'll find where he
represented, not just to this committee, but to the inspector
general and used the word "appalling."
Mr. Kelley.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Kelley.

You want me to do that?

Okay.

If you're going to refer to transcripts, we

ought to take a look at them.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Let me just ask you, Director, whether it's

in the transcript or not, was Hillary Clinton's mishandling of
classified information appalling?
Mr. Comey.

It's not -- I accept your representation.

It's not a term that I have used.

I think of it as really sloppy

and -Mr. Ratcliffe.
conference.

Okay, really sloppy?

Look at your press

I guess by your counting, it looks like Hillary

Clinton mishandled classified information on at least -- and by
mishandled, I mean that classified information went across an
unclassified device or server -- on at least 110 emails and 52
email chains.

Is that right?

Mr. Comey.

I think that's right.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

And that eight of those were top secret.

She mishandled top secret information at least eight times, by
your counting?
Mr. Comey.

That's correct.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

And that she mishandled classified

224

information at a secret level 36 times, by your counting?
Mr. Comey.

That's right.

These are all -- this is what

makes up the 110 or whatever it is.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Exactly.

She mishandled confidential

information at least eight times, by your counting?
Mr. Comey.

Correct.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Doesn't -- your statement doesn't reflect

it, but do you know if any of those were special access program,
SCI, Sensitive Compartmentalized Information?

Do you know if

any of those were releasable only to five allied partners?
Mr. Comey.

I don't -- I don't remember.

I believe some

of the topics that were discussed in the top secret category were
also designated as Sensitive Compartmented Information.
not certain of that, but I believe that to be the case.

I'm

I don't

know with respect to the other restrictions on dissemination.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Okay.

So -- and I found the reference in

the inspector general report where page 166 -Mr. Kelley.

Thank you.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

166?

166, the bottom paragraph:

Baker told the

OIG that he thought the conduct of former Secretary Clinton and
her aides was appalling with respect to how they handled
classified information, and arrogant in terms of their knowledge
and understanding of these matters.
Did I read that correctly?
Mr. Comey.

Yes, sir.

225

Mr. Ratcliffe.
sloppy.

So he says appalling and you say really

Okay.

And as Congressman Gowdy related, Secretary Clinton, about
that mishandling, made a number of statements under oath -- or
made a number of statements in public that were inaccurate, and
I represented to you that at least one occasion she made that
statement under oath when she said, I never sent or received
classified information, correct?
Mr. Comey.

Yes, she did say that.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

I want to let you take a look at -- we were

looking for it before, but Hillary Clinton's 302.

And on the

page that I've referenced, I found the place where the agents
and prosecutors were reviewing with her an email that had been
marked.

Do you find where I'm following?

Mr. Comey.

The bottom paragraph?

Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Take a second and read that.

[Reviewing.]

Mr. Ratcliffe.

All right.

Does that refresh your

recollection about, during the interview, Secretary Clinton
being confronted with emails that had been marked classified?
Mr. Comey.

It looks like at least one.

confusion, though.

Here's the

It had portion markings on the original.

think what they're explaining here is the overall document
marking had been added later.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Okay.

I

226

Mr. Comey.

But it was definitely she was asked about a C,

which those of us who know this business, that was a portion
marking for a confidential classification.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
that.

Okay.

But they had a discussion about

So during at least in the time that she was being

interviewed, she understood that she had either sent or received
information that had been marked classified?
Mr. Comey.

She appears to from this, yep.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you recall that in the course of the

Midyear investigation, that the FBI became aware that personal
aides, Huma Abedin, and Hillary Clinton's lawyer, Cheryl Mills,
also mishandled classified information?
Mr. Comey.

I don't -- I don't remember specifically.

remember there was some -- no, that was after.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

I

I --

And, again, by mishandled, I'm referring

to classified information going across an unclassified device
that they -- personal or work device that they had.
Mr. Comey.

I don't remember that about Ms. Mills.

I

remember a concern about that about Ms. Abedin, but what I was
remembering is from the Weiner stuff from after -- I remember
that being an issue after October 27th or 8th.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
about Paul Combetta.

All right.

Congressman Gowdy asked you

I was surprised that you didn't really

remember the role that he played in this, so let me -- do you
recall that Paul Combetta was an employee at the Platte River

227

Network who intentionally destroyed evidence known to be subject
to a congressional subpoena and a preservation order and then
lied to the FBI about it?
Mr. Comey.
that.

I think so.

I think Mr. Gowdy refreshed me on

And which was the reason, as I recall, that there was an

issue as to whether he would get any kind of immunity in exchange
for his testimony thereafter.
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

But he did receive immunity?

Yeah.

I just couldn't remember, in response

to Mr. Gowdy's questions about him and the other guy, what the
form of immunity was.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

All right.

So I guess as I try and

summarize what I've heard today, Hillary Clinton mishandled
classified information more than a hundred times.
false statements about it.

She made

The FBI was aware that at least one

of her aides also mishandled classified information.

And one

of the folks employed on behalf of Secretary Clinton
intentionally destroyed evidence known to be subject to a
congressional subpoena and preservation order and lied to the
FBI about it.
And on July 5th, 2016, you stood before the American people
and said that neither you nor any reasonable prosecutor would
bring any charges in this fact pattern.
Mr. Comey.

Yep.

Is that accurate?

I believed it then, I believe it now.

And anybody that thinks we were on team Clinton trying to cut

228

her a break is smoking something.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

I'll object to everything after "yep" as

nonresponsive to my question.
But is Jim Baker a reasonable prosecutor?
Mr. Comey.

Yeah, I think he is.

He hasn't done a lot of

criminal prosecution, he's in the intelligence world, but I think
he's a reasonable prosecutor.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Do you recall what Jim Baker's response was

on May the 2nd when you presented him with the non-pros memo or
exoneration memo about whether or not Hillary Clinton should be
charged with mishandling classified information?
Mr. Comey.

You mean my draft of a possible public

statement?
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

I don't remember exactly.

He was a big part

of the editing process.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

Let's see if I can find

what -- Mr. Baker -- well, let me -- do we have the Baker
transcript?
Mr. Jordan.

Director, I'm just curious, where did the

names Midyear Exam and Crossfire Hurricane come from?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know for sure.

What I was long told

is that the names for all of these things came from some random
name generator in the bowels of the Counterintelligence
Division.

I never had any information to the contrary, but

229

occasionally I would see names that seemed like they couldn't
be random.

Those both seem kind of random to me.

Mr. Jordan.

So is it customary for any investigation the

FBI does, it receives some code name or some name?
Mr. Comey.

I think no.

Almost -- maybe all of the

classified counterintelligence investigations are given a code
name that's unclassified so that people who are outside of a
classified space can make reference to it without giving anything
away.
Mr. Jordan.

Is this a random list, you know, that sometimes

we hear some algorithm giving us this -- spitting us out this
information, or are these just people on the investigation coming
up with a name that they choose?
Mr. Comey.

I don't know.

I never found -- I was curious

about the name Midyear Exam, so I used to ask.

Never found any

reason to think it was connected in any way to the case or the
circumstances of it.

But there were -- as I said, there were

other cases where I saw names -- I can't remember right
now -- that seemed like they were tailored.

This one didn't seem

tailored to me.
Mr. Jordan.

Does the same answer apply to Crossfire

Hurricane?
Mr. Comey.
Mr. Jordan.

Yes.
Okay.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Mr. Comey, I want you to have the benefit

230

of the transcript.

I highlighted my exchange with Mr. Baker on

page -Mr. Kelley.
was?

Do you know what the date of this testimony

The second day?

Did he testify about this subject on the

first day?
Mr. Ratcliffe.
Mr. Comey.

Where are we?

Mr. Ratcliffe.
right.

He did not.

Page 152.

I'm sorry, sir.
I asked the question:

All

And I have reason to believe that you originally believed

it was appropriate to charge Hillary Clinton with regard to
violations of the law, various laws, with regard to the
mishandling of classified information.

Is that accurate?

Mr. Baker's answer was yes.
Did you find that?
Mr. Comey.

I'm reading the rest where he explains.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

He does, and I will just -- the

conversation continues, as you'll see, that he explained that
you persuaded him that Hillary Clinton should not be charged
after reviewing a binder of emails.
Mr. Kelley.

Could you point to the spot where it says Mr.

Comey persuaded him?
Mr. Ratcliffe.
there.

No.

I'm not referring to the transcript

I said I was paraphrasing it.

Do you see that?
Mr. Kelley.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood the question.

231

You're paraphrasing what?
Mr. Ratcliffe.
the answer.

So my question -- I read the question and

The question was to Mr. Baker:

I have reason to

believe that you originally believed it was appropriate to charge
Hillary Clinton with regard to violations of the law, various
laws, with regard to the mishandling of classified information.
Is that accurate?
And his response was yes.
Then I was commenting that he went on to explain that he
had -- whether he was persuaded or changed his mind after
reviewing a binder of emails.

I was offering that in fairness

to the witness.
Mr. Kelley.

I just thought -- maybe I misheard you.

thought you said that Mr. Comey had persuaded him.

I

I didn't see

that in the transcript.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

I may have been mistaken.

Do you recall, Director Comey, having a conversation with
Mr. Baker about this issue?
Mr. Comey.
statement.

I don't.

I mean, I remember him editing my

And he also -- he says here, I discussed it

internally and eventually became persuaded that charging her was
not appropriate, and he goes on to explain why.

But I don't know

with -- he says with a number of different folks.

I don't know

who he talked to.
I don't remember him being of the view at any point that

232

she should be prosecuted.

But in any event, by the time we got

to May, he definitely wasn't expressing that view.

He was

helping me understand how we might close this thing in a
transparent way.
Mr. Ratcliffe.

So in your transcript statement, you closed

your remarks by saying -- have you got those?
Mr. Comey.

Yes.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

-- that we, referring to the FBI, we did

the investigation in a professional way.

Only facts matter, and

the FBI found them here in an entirely apolitical and
professional way.
Do you see that?
Mr. Comey.

Yep.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

I got it.
In light of the text messages of Agent

Strzok and Attorney Lisa Page and Agent 1 and all of the folks
that have been referred to today, do you still believe that?
Mr. Comey.

Yes, very much.

Mr. Ratcliffe.

Our time expired?

Chairman Goodlatte.

I'll just put this on the record now.

This does not complete the questions that we have, and I know
there have been some discussions about scheduling a second date
and we would like to get that finalized for everybody's planning
purposes.
Mr. Kelley.

Mr. Somers and I have spoken about that, and

we've agreed to return on Monday, the 17th of December.

But we

233

would like to know in advance how much more, many rounds you need.
I mean, we went through a full day today.
Chairman Goodlatte.
that.

Got it.

We'll do the best we can on

And we will -Mr. Gaetz.

have a question.

Before we go off the record, Mr. Chairman, I
The rules that I don't consider myself bound

by but that were expressed earlier in the committee, do those
carry over to the subsequent questioning of the witness, or is
it the interpretation of the chairs that during the -- that this
is a suspension of the questioning but not a suspension of the
rules package which you believe binds the members?
Mr. Goodlatte.

I was just about to get to that.

I think

that the best way to proceed would be to release the transcript
tomorrow, and it will be available at some point tomorrow, and
that comment by Mr. Comey and anyone else is fair game after the
conclusion of this.

And then we'll impose the same rules when

we get to the second one.
Mr. Kelley.

We agree that's appropriate.

Mr. Goodlatte.

Very good.

Ms. Sachsman Grooms.
follow-up questions.

Back on the record.

Just two quick

234

[4:29 p.m.]
Ms. Sachsman Grooms.

At the end of the last round,

Mr. Ratcliffe went through kind of a summary of what I
interpreted to be his conclusions about the Clinton case.

He

went through Clinton misclassified information, she made false
statements, the FBI knew that her staff had mishandled
unclassified information.
things.

He went through a number of different

At the end, he asked you about your decision not to move

forward to prosecute or recommend prosecution of the case.
I just wanted to clarify, when you were answering that, were
you adopting that set of sort of summary comments by
Mr. Ratcliffe or were you just commenting on that last bit?
Mr. Comey.

I was answering his question, which was, do you

have a different view -- or do you have the same view of the case
today, is what I understood it to be.

And the answer is,

absolutely, I do.
Ms. Sachsman Grooms.

And just to be clear, I didn't hear

you say any time during today that you had uncovered any proof
that Secretary Clinton had made false statements.

Is that

accurate?
Mr. Comey.

That's correct.

Ms. Sachsman Grooms.

Okay.

Thank you.

That's all I had.

We can go off the record.
[Whereupon, at 4:38 p.m., the interview was recessed, to

235

reconvene on Monday, December 17, 2018.]