Lawmakers release Comey's testimony on Clinton, Trump probes
Lawmakers have released a transcript of former FBI director James Comey's testimony; Catherine Herridge has more details.
Former FBI Director James Comey told House lawmakers on Friday he never saw “any indication at all of bias” between disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok and lawyer Lisa Page, adding he didn’t believe Strzok was “Team Clinton," a lengthy transcript of his testimony revealed.
The House Judicial Committee released the 235-page document on Saturday, just 24 hours after Comey answered questions regarding the bureau's decision-making in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
One topic Comey was extensively grilled on was the actions taken by former agent Strzok, who is thought to have initiated an investigation into Trump associates based on his biases against the now-President Trump.
“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?” Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., asked Comey.
“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,” Comey replied.
He added that Strzok was one of “a handful of people” who was aware of the investigation into four Americans who were in some way connected to Trump’s 2016 campaign and he “didn’t tell a soul.”
Comey affirmed that if Strzok had leaked such information to damage the Trump campaign like some have alleged, he could’ve easily have done it, but he did not.
“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 on October 28th that Secretary Clinton believed hurt her chances of being elected," he added.
“I never saw any indication at all of bias by Mr. Strzok or Ms. Page,"
The former FBI boss could not say whether Strzok initiated the counterintelligence investigation or not or how one would even go about launching an investigation into a campaign.
“Do you recall who drafted the FBI's initiation document for that late July 2016 Russia investigation?” Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., asked.
Comey said he did not and when he was asked directly if he could say if it was Strzok he replied: “I don’t know one way or the other.”
“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?” Gowdy pressed further.
COMEY TRANSCRIPT RELEASED: EX-FBI BOSS CLAIMS NOT TO KNOW, REMEMBER KEY DETAILS IN RUSSIA CASE
“I don't know for a variety of reasons,” Comey said. “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. And so that's my best answer to that question.”
Comey went on to say that after taking everything into consideration, “I never saw any indication of anything but the facts and the law from those people,” referring to Strzok and Page.
Fox News' Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
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