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Former FBI director James Comey said "I do not know" or "I do not remember" in response to dozens of questions regarding key points of the investigation into the Russia, according to a long transcript published Saturday of his diary behind closed doors. interview with congressional legislators.
The Speaker of the Judiciary Committee of the House, Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., And the Speaker of the House and Government Oversight Committee, Trey Gowdy, RS.C, published the 235-page transcript in the framework of an agreement with Comey.
The former bureau chief frustrated GOP lawmakers during Friday's session, largely because his lawyers urged him not to answer many questions. Comey is expected to return later in the month for another round, though Republicans are doing such a pain he calls a "desperate attempt to find anything that can be used to attack the justice institutions that are investigating this president" .
READ THE TRANSCRIPTION COMEY
But while Comey insisted in the interview to assert that "we have never investigated the Trump campaign for political purposes," the Transcript shows that he claimed that ignorance or lapses of memory were related to questions regarding the events and key details in the investigation of Russia, which some GOP lawmakers still claim to have been poorly conducted.
The transcript reveals the legislator's frustration with his lack of precision.
He is asked if he had recalled the author of the FBI's "Initiation Document" for July 2016. Investigating Russia, Comey replied, "I do not have it. have not. "He again stated that he did not know when he had been asked to participate in the initiation of Peter Strzok, whose anti-Trump texts have him by the following removed from the investigation of the special advocate.
When asked if the FBI had any evidence that anyone in the Trump campaign had conspired to hack the server of the DNC, Comey gave a long answer referring to the investigation of the special advocate Robert Mueller on why he could not answer.
"Did we have the evidence in July (2016) that anyone in the Trump campaign had conspired to hack the DNC server? "asked rhetorically." I do not think the FBI and the special advocate would want me to probes questions that may be related to their investigation of Russian interference in 2016. And I'm afraid this exceeds the limit. "
When Gowdy insists more on what" Comey has again stated that responding This question would constitute a "slope" that would require him to reveal what the FBI "knew or did not know about Russia's activity" with regard to the 2016 election.
"You can not tell us , or you will not tell us? "asks Gowdy.
"Probably a combination of both … To the extent that I recall the facts developed in our investigation of the Russian interference and the potential link of the Americans, I think that is a question to which the FBI does not want me to answer, so it's both impossible and not, "said Comey.
The former director of the FBI went on to say that everything related to Mueller's investigation would be according to his understanding, "out of reach" because it is an ongoing process Survey
Comey was also confused about the possible funding by Democracy for research devoted to the controversial and unverified anti-Trump case. 19659003] When he learned that the company behind this file, Fusion GPS, had been engaged under a law firm Perkins Coie – and when he learned that the cabinet had been hired by the Democratic National Committee – Comey has says, "I'm n & # I have never learned that "as director.
Comey also claimed to be unaware of the essential details of the involvement of Christopher Steele, former British spy author of the case.
Asked when Steele was "fired" as an FBI source, Comey said he was unaware of it.
Asked about the subsequent contact between Steele and the head of the Department of Justice, Bruce Ohr, Comey replied: "I don I know nothing about it."
The Comey incident then occurs that Republicans are trying to better analyze the FBI's treatment of the Russia case and the Hillary Clinton email survey, before the Democrats take control of the House in January and probably do not close line Many questions were also asked of Comey about the treatment of the Clinton affair, sometimes recognizing that some aspects of it were "unusual" while defending other actions.
In the beginning Comey challenged the appearance before the committee and instead was in a hurry for a public hearing out of fear, his comments would be screened selectively and out of context. appear, with an arrangement for the transcript to be made public.
Fox News Bill Mears, Jake Gibson, and Chad Pergram contributed to the writing of this report.
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