Comey asks the court to cancel House's summons

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Comey previously said that he would be willing to testify publicly, but did not want to do it in camera.

In the case filed on Thursday, his lawyers argue that the judiciary and oversight committees of the House "conducted an investigation going beyond a legitimate legislative objective to the extent that the members of these committees practice to selectively screen the testimony of political narrative witnesses, while subjecting witnesses to a variety of abuses. "

"Mr. Comey is asking the Court to intervene not to avoid testifying, but to prevent the Joint Committee from using the pretext of an in camera interview to peddle a partisan and distorted political narrative. on investigations conducted by Clinton and Russia through selective leaks, "added his lawyers court documents.

The Judiciary Committee of the House summoned Comey to appear in camera on Monday.

The lawsuit of the former controversial FBI director showed that Comey was committed to postpone private demand for Republicans in the House.

Comey said last week that he had been summoned and that he was "happy to sit down and answer all the questions," he said. would resist "interrogation behind closed doors.
He added Monday that he "would respond legally" to the subpoena rather than missing out on it.
Thursday, he tweeted"Today, my legal team has filed court documents in an attempt to obtain transparency from Republicans in the House Let the American people look."

Judiciary President Bob Goodlatte and other House Republicans have been looking into the actions of the Justice Department during the 2016 campaign and in one of the last acts of Goodlatte in power , the outgoing Virginia Republican subpoenaed the testimony of Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch. .

In their testimony Thursday, Comey's lawyers said Republicans would leak excerpts from his testimony "to deceive the public and undermine public confidence in the FBI and the GM at a time when President Trump and his team members administrative and campaign would be under investigation by special advocate Robert Mueller and other law enforcement authorities. "

"Public records show that members of joint committees disclose what is convenient for them and secrecy only in secrecy." Witnesses appearing before joint committees are powerless to counter or contextualize the distortions in their testimony that have been disclosed to the public. press "Comey's lawyers added.

Comey's lawyers cited a Supreme Court decision from Joseph McCarthy Red Scare's hearings in the 1950s and argued that the "abusive conduct" of the House's investigation contravened congressional rules and constituted a means of "harassing and intimidating witnesses".

The report filing contains information detailing in-camera testimony from former FBI officials who appeared before committees, such as Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok, calling them "leaks and related comments from members." of the committee "who" unfairly harmed these witnesses and barely served the supposed purpose of seeking the truth "of the investigation.

The outgoing GOP representative in South Carolina, Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House's oversight committee, said Sunday that he had not agreed with Comey's request for a public hearing and instead suggested filming a private statement, deleting any confidential information and broadcasting the tape. to the public.

"The cure is not to create a professional-type carnival atmosphere, which has become the public hearings of Congress," said Gowdy, adding that it was not his decision.

Katelyn Polantz from CNN contributed to this report.

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