James Comey, the arrogant, former director of the FBI, whose wife and daughters despise President Trump so much that they took to the streets to march against him, would like Americans to believe he is somehow the victim in the witch hunt against Trump and members of his campaign.
Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC) would like Americans to get to the truth about from Comey about how much he knew about the funding behind Steele dossier that was used to obtain FISA warrants, for the purposes of spying on members of Trump’s campaign.
Today, House Republicans released a transcript of their explosive closed-door session from yesterday, with the disgraced former FBI Director James Comey.
Fox News reports- The 173-page transcript, which documented congressional Republicans’ second hearing with Comey this month, additionally included Comey’s explanation of why he broke normal protocol by sending two FBI agents into the White House to interview Flynn in January 2017, without involving or notifying White House lawyers.
“We had to make very hard decisions in 2016,” Comey said. “I knew we were going to get hurt by it. The question was how do we reduce the damage.”
Where have we heard this before?
Earlier, North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows told reporters Republicans planned to focus their Comey questioning on a new FBI document that was released Friday in response to a Freedom of Information Act and published by Politico.
He told reporters he wanted Comey to clarify when he first became aware of the involvement of the Democratic National Committee, law firm Perkins Coie and the opposition research group Fusion GPS in the production of the dossier.
“I want to give him a chance to clarify all that,” Meadows said.
That heavily redacted document details the information regarding the bureau’s Russia investigation that Comey, serving as FBI director at the time, briefed Trump about shortly after the Republican was elected president. The document, once again, suggests the FBI was vague in the sourcing of the dossier’s origin as being funded by anti-Trump Democrats.
But Meadows also says he believes it could conflict with previous statements from Comey about what he knew of the dossier’s origins at the time.
“I can’t imagine how the director of the FBI did not know the connection between Fusion GPS, Perkins Coie, and the DNC, as it related to the infamous dossier,” Meadows told reporters.
During an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier in April, Comey said he first learned about the existence of the dossier in the fall of 2016 but still didn’t “know…for a fact” that the DNC and Hilary Clinton campaign had funded the work. The dossier was funded by the DNC and Clinton campaign. The FBI document vaguely refers to it as being paid for by “private clients.”
“An FBI source … volunteered highly politically sensitive information … on Russian influence efforts aimed at the US presidential election,” the memo said.
Referring to Steele, who authored the dossier, the memo said, “The source is an executive of a private business intelligence firm and a former employee of a friendly intelligence service who has been compensated for previous reporting over the past three years.” It also said, “The source collected this information on behalf of private clients and was not compensated for it by the FBI.”
Meadows tweeted about his exchange with the arrogant former FBI director only moments ago, along with an interesting transcript of their conversation.
I asked Director Comey about who paid for the dossier. His response:
1) Republicans paid for it — (Republicans did not pay for it)
2) “Who cares?”Yes, this is an FBI Director apparently not caring to know who paid for information used to surveil Americans with a FISA warrant.
I asked Director Comey about who paid for the dossier. His response:
1) Republicans paid for it — (Republicans did not pay for it)
2) "Who cares?"Yes, this is an FBI Director apparently not caring to know who paid for information used to surveil Americans with a FISA warrant. pic.twitter.com/N7KdEqNxYp
— Mark Meadows (@MarkMeadows) December 18, 2018
Here’s a screenshot of the transcript Meadows tweeted:
Here is the full transcript of the portion of the conversation between Congressman Meadows and James Comey where they discuss when Comey knew the Steel dossier the FBI used to obtain the FISA warrants were paid for by the Clinton campaign:
So Mr. Gowdy, on the previous time when you were here, Director Comey, he was asking you questions as it related to Fusion GPS and Perkins Coie and when you knew what. And I guess I want to make sure that we give you an opportunity to clarify your statement, because there may be a difference between learning and being advised of something.Mr. Gowdy said, "When did you learn that Fusion GPS was hired by Perkins Coie?" And your response was, "I never learned that. Certainly not while I was Director." Is that you correct? Mr. Comey. Yeah, that's my recollection. Mr. Meadows. All right. So when were you informed that Fusion GPS was hired by Perkins Coie? Because maybe learning and being informed are two different things. Were you informed prior? Mr. Comey. I was not trying to slice the onion thinly here. I don't remember ever hearing the name "Fusion GPS" or the names "Perkins Coie" or "Coie." I don't even know how to say that word. I don't remember that. I remember being told that Steele's work had been funded first by Republicans opposed to Trump, then by Democrats opposed to Trump. Maybe someone mentioned it, but I don't remember it. I don't remember the specifics -- 115
Mr. Meadows. All right. So -- Mr. Comey. -- being communicated to me in any way. Mr. Meadows. So what you're saying is that, in part of your investigation, you really didn't care who was funding Christopher Steele's work. Is that what you're saying? It didn't matter to you? Mr. Comey. It mattered to me to understand what this material was that my folks were showing to me. And I believe, in the course of showing it to me, they communicated what you would expect them to communicate: that there may be bias associated with this information; it was first funded by political opponents on one side, then on the other side. I don't remember them ever giving me the details beyond that. Mr. Meadows. All right. So, on the FOIA release two-page document that was just released by the FBI, have you read that or at least parts of that? Mr. Comey. Yes. The thing that says "Annex A" at the top? Mr. Meadows. Yeah. And when it talks about that you were going in to inform the President that a private client had paid for the dossier -- I think those are the words, "private client." Mr. Comey. No, those aren't the words. You ought to get it out. Mr. Meadows. Well, we'll be glad to give it to you. Mr. Comey. Yeah, I don't see the word "going in to inform the President" here. 116 Mr. Meadows. Well, you were using -- did you use the two-page as a briefer for the President? Mr. Comey. No. Mr. Meadows. What did you use the two pages for? Mr. Comey. I'm going to answer this -- I have to answer this very carefully, which I will. These are two pages from a much larger classified document, classified at the TS/SCI level. And this was one of the annexes in that large document. Mr. Meadows. Right. Mr. Comey. There are a variety of annexes. This was not any kind of talkers. And it was something written by the intelligence community analysts who produced the larger document. Mr. Meadows. All right. So, when you saw this, who did you think the private client was? Mr. Comey. I don't know that I knew. Mr. Meadows. I didn't say you knew. Who did you think it was? Obviously -- are you saying you're so intellectually not curious that you would not say, "Who's the private client?" Mr. Comey. Show me where the word "client" is. I'm struggling a little. I see. So the sentence reads, "The source collected this information on behalf of private clients and was not compensated for it by the FBI." I don't remember asking -- other than knowing it was 117 political people opposed to Trump, I don't remember asking which firm, which law firm, those kinds of things. And I don't remember being told. Mr. Meadows. So you're trying to share with this committee -- and I want to take you -- and that's why I was asking you to verify this. You expect us to believe that you got notation that a private client is there and that you didn't -- you weren't inquisitive enough to figure out who the private client was? Mr. Comey. Who cares? It was Republicans -- Mr. Meadows. Well -- Mr. Comey. -- opposed to Trump -- Mr. Meadows. -- it makes a big difference. I mean, if you -- Mr. Comey. Let me finish my answer. It was Republicans opposed to Trump, and then it was Democrats opposed to Trump. There was potential bias in this information. That's really important. Whether it was Sally Smith or Joe Jones, Republican, or Sally Smith, Democrat -- Mr. Meadows. Director Comey -- Mr. Comey. -- to me, it didn't matter. Mr. Meadows. -- it does make a difference. If someone is paying for this and you're actually using that information to surveil American citizens with a FISA application, it does matter to me and most Americans. 118 Mr. Kelley. Is that a question or an argument? Because we're out of time now. Mr. Meadows. Counselor, you can quantify it any way that you want. You get paid big bucks to figure it out. So what I'm saying, it does matter, and that's why I'm asking the question. Mr. Kelley. Well, that wasn't a question. It was an argument. Mr. Meadows. My question is the same. At what point did Director Comey -- sir, when did you find out that the DNC, Perkins Coie, Fusion GPS, any of the above, when were you told -- were you ever told prior to you being fired that they had either directly or indirectly financed what is now known as the Steele dossier? Mr. Comey. I don't remember being told anything beyond Democrats and Republicans.
James Comey is losing it. Watch this video of Comey having a temper tantrum while talking to the press after his testimony.
