James Comey in Senate: Russia Undoubtedly Interfered in American Elections; White House Response

James Comey, former FBI director, began his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning, June 8. In response to questions from congressional senators, he said he has no doubt about Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections. However, he said that President Trump did not obstruct the FBI investigations regarding allegations of Russia’s role during the investigation phases.

James Comey, testifying before members of the Senate Intelligence Committee under oath, said that while referring to the Trump cabinet questioning his and the FBI’s credibility, he does not know whether President Trump’s request to stop investigations into General Flynn constituted obstruction of justice.

According to Mr. Comey, President Trump’s statements about him and the FBI were false. Trump, after firing Comey, had called him responsible for incompetence in the FBI investigations, which was denied by Mr. Comey.

Mr. Comey also told the Senate Intelligence Committee that President Trump never asked him to stop investigations into Russia’s interference in American elections. However, Mr. Trump previously described the investigations into Russia as important, saying they were an obstacle to carrying out his presidential duties.

Claims of Lying and White House Response

James Comey said in part of his testimony that after his dismissal, he went home and wanted to be like an ordinary citizen, but the statements of the president and government officials concerned him, and now he has agreed to testify in Congress.

Mr. Comey said it was said that I was incompetent or my colleagues did not trust me. These were lies. The president and the government lied about me.

Following James Comey’s testimony in the public session of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the White House responded, saying that President Trump is “not a liar.”

According to the Washington Post report, after the conclusion of the former FBI director’s testimony in the public session of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the White House spokesman on Thursday, referring to James Comey’s statements in the Senate, said that President Trump “is not a liar.”

What Details Do We Know About the Conversations Between the President and Comey

In the public session on Thursday, James Comey refrained from answering some questions because they contain classified content. The Senate Intelligence Committee session today will be held behind closed doors at 1 p.m. to address questions and answers related to classified documents.

According to Reuters, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, one day before James Comey’s appearance, released a seven-page statement from Mr. Comey. The release of this statement occurred one day before the national intelligence director and other senior U.S. intelligence officials refused to answer questions about Mr. Comey and investigations into Russia in this committee.

Mr. Comey referred in this statement to complete details of five separate conversations he had with President Trump.

According to him, the first conversation took place five months ago, that is, fourteen days before President Trump’s inauguration ceremony, and the last conversation, which was by phone, took place less than two months ago.

The former FBI director will tell the Senate Intelligence Committee of this country that President Trump, in these conversations about investigations into the current and former officials of his administration, should remain truthfully loyal to the presidency.

Mr. Comey in his published statement said he told President Trump three times that he was not the subject of investigations into contacts between his administration officials and Russian officials.

In another part of his statement, Mr. Comey wrote that President Trump in a conversation they had three months ago had asked him to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn, the national security advisor. President Trump had fired Mr. Flynn the day before the conversation. Mr. Comey, quoting President Trump, says Flynn is a good man and hopes the FBI will drop this investigation.

President Trump’s lawyer, after the release of Mr. Comey’s seven-page statement, said that President Trump is pleased that Comey has finally confirmed that the president is not the subject of investigations into Russia.

According to Mr. Comey, President Trump told him that the subject of investigations into Russia has created an atmosphere that makes it difficult to pursue basic programs for the benefit of the American people.

White House Response

While Comey testifies in Congress, the White House believed it could prevent the testimony of the dismissed director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sarah Sanders, the White House spokesman, cited presidential powers, but nonetheless President Trump stated that he would not use these powers to stop Comey.

However, some lawyers in Washington say that the powers the White House refers to are only applicable when the testifier is a federal government employee. This is while Mr. Comey is now an ordinary citizen because President Trump dismissed Comey three weeks ago.

Political Storm in Washington

Comey’s dismissal was an unexpected move for Washington and sparked a political storm.

At the center of the storm was the FBI investigation into the possible collusion between President Trump’s campaign, particularly Michael Flynn, with Russia. Some Democrats accuse their rival of receiving help from Moscow so that Donald Trump, the Republican Party nominee in the presidential election, would defeat his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, and in return the Trump administration would lift the sanctions imposed by President Obama against Russia.

After Comey’s dismissal, the media had controversial headlines every day, including it was revealed that during a dinner in January, President Trump had told Comey that if he wanted to remain FBI director, he had to show absolute loyalty to him.

And more sensational than all this was that President Trump had asked Comey to close the Flynn-Russia case. Of course, the U.S. president denies this allegation.

But analysts say that if the president’s statements are true, he has interfered in the investigation process of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in violation of the law.

The fact that the president wants an ongoing investigation to suddenly stop is concerning for Democratic members of Congress, including Adam Schiff.

Mr. Schiff said that if this matter is true, it is another concerning allegation that the president has interfered and attempted to obstruct the investigation.

After it was revealed that Michael Flynn, then national security advisor to President Trump, had lied to the vice president about contacts with the Russians, President Trump dismissed him.

Now, the investigation into the Flynn-Russia case is in the hands of an independent group led by Robert Mueller, the former and highly respected director of Republicans and Democrats.

Source: Voice of America