Utah members of Congress say nothing new in Comey testimony

Jim Risch asked Comey about a private hearing in February in which Comey told the committee that the report “upset” Comey so much he “surveyed the intelligence community to see whether [he was] missing something in that”, and that Comey sought out Republican and Democratic senators to push back against the report. “We want them to learn about abuse of power on a breathtaking scale”. Watch his speech here. But he said Trump’s request to terminate the FBI’s investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn left him “stunned”, and senior FBI officials considered it to be of “investigative interest”. “It hasn’t recovered from that”.

In the course of his questioning Rubio also asked Comey why he never made a decision to publicly confirm Trump’s statements that he was not being personally investigated.

“Will fmr AG Lynch be charged w/obstruction of justice after Comey revelations of demands she made?” This investigation must be independent and led exclusively by the facts, wherever they may lead.

Multiple senators questioned the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director on why he responded the way he did.

“At one point the attorney general directed me not to call it an “investigation” but instead to call it a ‘matter, ‘ which confused me and concerned me”, Comey said.

Trump’s lawyer Marc Kasowitz continued that line hours later, reading a statement accusing Comey of leaking “privileged information”.

In the early moments Thursday, Comey clearly commanded the hearing room in the Hart Senate Office Building, explaining why he kept highly detailed memos of each of his interactions with Trump from early January until his May 9 firing. “That dinner was arranged”. Whether a sitting president can be prosecuted is an open legal question that has never been decided by the Supreme Court.

Comey said Thursday that it was Trump’s tweeted implicit threat that he had taped their conversations that directly led him to provide the content of the memos to a friend, who disseminated it to the media.

Comey’s reply on Thursday as to the presence of tapes?

Comey’s prepared testimony does not full answer that question, though he does say he asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to help prevent him having any direct communication with the president in the future. Trump, Jr., said in response to the tweet.

Asked who the friend was, he said: “A close friend who is a professor at Columbia law school”.

Whether Trump ordered Comey to drop the investigation into Flynn may carry significant importance as some lawmakers are contemplating whether Trump’s action constitutes obstruction of justice. Comey might not have landed a fatal blow, but he offered a troubling look at one president’s extremely flawed character. But someone else can. “He’s new in government, and so therefore I think he’s learning as he goes”, he told reporters. He is a good guy.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said there’s a reason Robert Mueller, the former FBI director appointed by the Justice Department to oversee the investigation into ties between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials, let Comey appear before the Senate committee.

“What I think it should do is it should move the ball in showing that the investigation is unwarranted and to move on so that we can to deal with the issues important to the country and important to the American people who elected Trump to be president…” said DiMicco, former chief executive of Nucor, America’s largest steel company. “I took it as a very disturbing thing, very concerning, but that’s a conclusion I’m sure the special counsel will work towards to find out the intention and whether that’s an offence”.

That’s not a “no”.