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Former FBI director James Comey and his lawyer, David Kelley (right), address reporters after a a day of testimony before the Judiciary and Control Committees of the House, Capitol Hill, Washington, December 7, 2018. (Associated Press)
An FBI counterintelligence investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election initially targeted "four Americans", but not Republican candidate Donald Trump nor his campaign, according to former FBI director James Comey.
The news was revealed Saturday in a statement. 235-page transcript issued by the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., And the Chair of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee, Trey Gowdy, RS.C, after hours of testimony in camera from Comey on Friday.
Comey "at least some" of the targeted people were affiliated with the Trump campaign in one form or another, but Trump himself was not under investigation to determine whether the four Individuals had spoken with Russia to tip the elections in his favor.
on four Americans to see if there was a connection between these four Americans and the Russian interference effort, "said Comey to Gowdy. "And these four Americans did not include the candidate. At least some of them were there. The FBI and the Department of Justice have not publicly confirmed the names of these people, which is why I do not go into the details. "
Comey told Rep. John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican, that the FBI suspected the four of the people may have helped Russia to interfere in the elections.
" [A] At a time when a defensive briefing was organized for the Trump candidate, do you know if the FBI had any evidence that anyone associated with the Trump campaign had colluded, conspired or asked Ratcliffe.
"I do not know the dates … I do not know if we opened the four counterintelligence cases before the end of July, "said Comey." And so, if it was after July 29, then the answer would be: yes, we had reason to think that there were Americans who could have helped the Russians. "
LAWYERS CESSING TO COME OUT According to the testimony of the l & # 39; former advisor to the Trump campaign, the former Trump campaign assistant, George Papadopoul os, was sued by special advocate Robert Mueller and released from his prison Friday. days. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents.
Other Trump associates, including former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to lying about their interactions with the Russians during the campaign and the presidency. transition period.
During her interrogation, Comey also defended Peter Strzok, the former FBI agent, who had participated in the bureau's investigation. He revealed that Strzok had revised a letter sent to Congress a few days before the election, revealing that an investigation into Hillary Clinton had been reopened.
Clinton and many Democrats blamed the letter for his election defeat at Trump.
Comey stated that he had never Mr. Strzok witnessed a bias after his interrogation by US Representative Steven Cohen, D-Tenn. Strzok was fired after anti-Trump texts that he had sent surfaced. Trump seized the messages as evidence of a plot to dismantle his presidency.
"So it's hard for me to see how he was secretly in the Clinton team at that time," said Comey. "If you want to have a conspiracy theory, you have to explain all the facts. And it's hard to reconcile the fact that he does not disclose that Trump's associates were under investigation and that he had drafted a letter to Congress on October 28 that Clinton believed to jeopardize her chances of getting into trouble. to be elected. "
When asked if former President Barack Obama was obstructing justice he said that Clinton's use of a private mail server was lacking." criminal intent, Comey stated that he did not see it this way, but that it concerned him.
"So, if that does not reach the level of obstruction, how would you say that the head of the executive says that the target of an ongoing investigation has simply made a mistake and that it did not have the criminal intent required? ", asked Gowdy.
"This worries me every time the chief executive comments on a criminal investigation going on, I see a lot today, which is why it worried me when President Obama did, "replied Comey.
TRUMP CLOSES MUELLER TEAM LINGS LOOM'S "CONFLICTS OF INTEREST" ACTIVITIES
Whether the FBI had evidence that someone One of the Trump campaign had conspired to hack the DNC server, Comey referred to Mueller's investigation as to why he could not answer.
We have evidence in July (2016) that anyone in the Trump campaign had conspired to hack the DNC server? He asked rhetorically. "I do not think the FBI and the special advocate want me to answer questions that may be related to their investigation of Russia's interference in 2016. And I'm afraid it does not go beyond that limit. "
He noted that everything related to Mueller's investigation was" prohibited "because it was an ongoing investigation.
When asked if he was confident that Mueller would conduct his investigation thoroughly, Comey replied, "There are not many things I would bet my life on. I would bet that Bob Mueller will do as he wishes, that we all want him, whether we are Republicans or Democrats, as the Americans would like. "
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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