CNN, Washington :
Washington (CNN)Former FBI Director James Comey slammed Republicans on Monday for not speaking out against President Donald Trump’s attacks on the FBI and strongly defended the agency’s conduct, following his second round of questioning at a closed-door congressional interview.
“Somebody has to stand up and speak for the FBI,” Comey told reporters after his nearly six-hour interview with members of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees. “People who know better, including Republican members of this body, have to have the courage to stand up and speak the truth, not be cowed by mean tweets or fear of their base. There is a truth and they’re not telling it. Their silence is shameful.”
Comey’s comments came after he spent more than five hours behind closed doors on Monday with Republicans and Democrats. He was questioned on the FBI’s handling of both the Hillary Clinton email investigation and the Russia investigation.
Comey issued a fiery and defiant statement as he left Monday, charging Trump and Republicans with damaging the FBI’s reputation and asserting that “damage has nothing to do with me.”
“The FBI’s reputation has taken a big hit because the President of the United States has lied about it constantly,” Comey said. Behind closed doors, Comey defended the FBI, saying he and the bureau made the right call in 2017 when he rebuffed Trump’s requests to announce publicly that the President wasn’t under investigation, a source familiar with the interview told CNN.
Under questioning from Democrats, Comey said that he didn’t want to declare publicly that Trump wasn’t under investigation because of a concern that the situation could change and the FBI would have to make another announcement. And he told lawmakers that he was proven right because it now appears Trump was in fact under investigation, the source said, though Comey said that he was only basing that from public reporting and not any inside knowledge. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders responded to Comey’s comments by tweeting Monday evening: “Republicans should stand up to Comey and his tremendous corruption – from the fake Hillary Clinton investigation, to lying and leaking, to FISA abuse, and a list too long to name. The President did the country a service by firing him and exposing him for the shameless fraud he is.”
Flynn’s FBI interview under scrutiny
Comey also defended the FBI’s interview with former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was later charged with lying in the January 2017 interview, and he slammed Trump’s labeling his former attorney Michael Cohen a “rat.”
“This is the President of the United States calling a witness, who has cooperated with his own Justice Department a rat,” Comey said. “We have to stop being numb to it; whether you’re Republican or Democrat, stand on your feet, overcome your shame and say something.”
Republicans had a different view of Comey’s interview, not to mention his tenure as FBI director, raising questions about his handling of the opposition research dossier on Trump and Russia among other topics, including the January 2017 FBI interview with Flynn.
North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows said going into the Comey interview Monday that he felt there were inconsistencies in the former FBI director’s testimony earlier this month.
“I think that the knowledge of when the FBI and specifically Director Comey became aware of the involvement of the DNC, Perkins Coie, Fusion GPS as it relates to their hiring of Christopher Steele, the whole FISA application. At what point did he become aware of that?” Meadows said.
“He seemed to indicate the other day that he wasn’t aware of that until he read reports long after he was gone,” Meadows added. “I find that very hard to substantiate based on other evidence. So hopefully we’ll give him a chance today to clarify that. I can tell you when you look at his public statements and also his testimony, those don’t seem to reconcile, so we’re going to give him a chance to hopefully reconcile his remarks.”
Republicans spent the first part of Monday’s interview with a lengthy discussion on the FBI’s interview with Flynn, which eventually led to his charges by special counsel Robert Mueller. The Republican questioning over Flynn was going on at the same time Monday that charges were announced by the Justice Department against two of Flynn’s associates, according to the source familiar with the interview.
After the interview, Comey defended the FBI’s interview with Flynn, including his decision not to inform then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates about it ahead of time.
“Oh come on. Think about what’s happening in the Republican Party. They’re up here, attacking the FBI’s investigation of a guy who (pleaded) guilty to lying to the FBI,” Comey said when asked to respond to the criticism. “I’m very proud of the way the FBI conducted itself.”
