Ex-director of the FBI accused Trump of lying: what else did Komi say in the Senate

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Former FBI director James Komi at a hearing on the intelligence committee of the US Senate accused President Donald Trump of lying and slandering his office, writes Air force.

Opening the meeting, the ex-director of the FBI took the oath, pledging to speak only the truth.

He noted that from the first day after taking office of the new US president, he hoped to continue working as director of the FBI for the next 6 years, completing his 10-year tenure. Therefore, President Trump’s decision came as a surprise to him, as did subsequent statements by administration officials and the president himself about his incompetence.

“I was very confused when I learned on TV news that the president fired me because of the Russia investigation... It didn't make sense to me,” he said.

Comey emphasized that Trump slandered the FBI and himself, claiming that the bureau was not doing its job. “It was a lie, plain and simple,” Comey concluded.

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James Comey also said that the day before he had already presented the text of his statement to the members of the committee, and would not repeat it, asking the senators to move on to questions, writes “Voice of America«.

Responding to a question from Senator Berra, he said that he had no doubt that Russia tried to interfere in the electoral process in the United States and that the operation was authorized by officials in Russia.

He said that none of the officials in the United States had asked him to stop the investigation into Russian interference.

“If media reports are true, then General Flynn entered into illegal negotiations,” said Senator Burr, asking whether he considered the US president’s requests an attempt to “obstruct justice.”

In response, James Comey said that there may be elements of a crime in the actions of General Flynn and other employees of the Trump campaign, and his “negotiations and meetings with Russian representatives” may indicate cooperation with the Kremlin, but so far the investigation has not come to a clear conclusion conclusions.

“Is it normal for a foreign government to seek contact with a candidate's campaign staff?” Senator Burr asked.

James Comey responded that such practices are normal and only in some cases raise suspicions from the FBI. However, he refused to talk about the details of the ongoing investigation, saying that “he does not consider it possible to do this during open hearings.”

According to him, he first learned about Russia’s attempts to organize cyber attacks in the late summer of 2015. James Comey said that the talk then was “about at least hundreds of targets in the United States.”

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He said that at the end of 2015-beginning of 2016, the intelligence services informed American companies and public organizations about the threat of cyber attacks and that they could become a target for Russian hackers in public service. At the same time, the ex-director of the FBI admitted that the secret services did not have direct access to the servers of the National Committee of the Democratic Party and in their investigation relied on data provided by private companies.

Senator Mark Warner asked Komi to comment on the details of his personal meetings with Donald Trump.

In his written statement to the committee, the senator recalled that after the end of these negotiations, James Komi wrote down what the conversation was about.

“What caused this?” asked the senator.

“A combination of reasons. Including the nature of my interlocutor, and the fact that we talked one-on-one,” said James Comey. “I was afraid that he would lie and misrepresent the details of our conversation.”

The former FBI director also said there was "no technical reason" for intelligence agencies to consider President Trump one of the suspects in the Russian meddling case, but he said some FBI officials believed agents might come to a conclusion as the investigation continued. that the “presidential candidate” was also involved in illegal activities.

According to James Comey, Trump's request for "personal loyalty" was due to the fact that the president believed that, having left the FBI director in office, he could now ask him for "reciprocal favor."

“He felt he could count on my gratitude,” James Comey said.

Komi noted that he had never heard such a proposal from the leaders of the country before. He explained that the 10-year term, introduced by law for the Director of the FBI, was created in order to ensure the independence of the heads of special services during the change of administration in the United States.

James Komi also stressed that President Donald Trump never asked him to stop any other investigations, except for investigations into Russian interference, and he never, except in one case, was interested in other matters that the FBI was leading.

In response to a question from the senators, the ex-director once again publicly confirmed that President Trump was not involved in the investigation.

James Comey emphasized that the US President did not actually give him a direct order to stop the investigation into General Flynn, and that, speaking about this, Donald Trump used the phrase “I hope you can do it.”

Nevertheless, the ex-director of the FBI considered it necessary to inform him that he accepted this phrase as an attempt to directly direct his actions and give him orders.

James Komi said he still doesn’t know why he was fired, but after several interviews that President Trump gave, he concluded that the main reason for his dismissal was the ongoing FBI investigation into Russia.

According to the former head of the FBI, he “may not have been strong enough” to directly tell the president that he considered his requests illegal.

“I probably should have done it, and I would have done it if I was stronger and more confident,” he said.

James Komi said that he consulted with the leadership of the FBI, discussing the request of the President of the United States.

“I didn't know what to do,” he said. – I have never encountered such a request. We didn't know how we could tell agents and employees to stop investigating."

He also suggested that the president’s request was concerned only with the investigation regarding General Michael Flynn, and not with the investigation into Russian intervention as a whole.

James Komi found it necessary to clarify that during one of the meetings with the president, he explained to Donald Trump that, according to the accepted procedure, the president cannot directly give any instructions to the FBI director, and can only ask the White House legal adviser, if it considers that some question should be agreed.

Senator Marco Rubio asked whether the President agreed that the "Russia investigation" should continue.

“Yes,” Comey replied. “He said that if anyone close to him had done something illegal, it would be right if they were punished.”

Komi recalled that Sally Yates, the acting attorney general, said that Michael Flynn could have been the object of blackmail by the Kremlin.

The ex-director of the FBI Komi said that during closed briefings with a group of senators, he repeatedly reported that the FBI was conducting an investigation into a group of US citizens, but stressed that the US president is not among the suspects. The same information, he said, he also passed to the resident Trump in response to his repeated requests.

He also explained that he spoke with the head of the Department of Justice and his deputy, and “expressed serious concerns” about the way the US president spoke with the FBI director.

“He asks everyone to leave the room, and when we are alone, he asks me to intervene in the ongoing investigation. This is unacceptable,” James Comey said.

He noted that he has no doubt that it was the Russian leadership that authorized a series of “active intelligence activities” directed against the United States.

“This is not made-up news, it has already happened,” he emphasized.

James Komi also noted that he was discussing the topic of countering Russia's efforts with President Obama, but President Trump never touched on this topic in conversations with him.

"I can't remember any conversations with the president about this other than the security briefing we had in December," he said.

In response to a question from senators, James Comey noted that he “tried to be open and very honest” when talking about his meetings with Donald Trump.

“Why did he ask everyone to leave the Oval Office? - he asked. “Why did he want to be alone with me?” For me, as an operative, this is a very alarming signal.”

He declined to comment on media reports that the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner discussed with the Russian ambassador to the United States the possibility of creating a "secret communication channel" between the White House and the Kremlin, but noted that the very fact of such negotiations "is very dangerous."

James Comey admitted that he considered the recordings made after conversations with the US President as a “private document” and his property, and therefore considered it possible not only to transfer them to the leadership of the Department of Justice and the special prosecutor, but also to show them to “his friend who teaches at Columbia University."

“I didn’t give them to the press because at the time the reporters were literally setting up tents in front of my house, and my wife and I were trying to hide from them,” he said, describing the period after his dismissal as FBI director.

Komi denied President Trump’s statement, which said in an interview that the FBI director had called him and asked for a meeting.

“I never, on my part, initiated any communication with the White House,” he said.

Senator Angus King asked if James Komi knows about the Russian VTB bank and what exactly he thinks about the Russian bank after Washington’s Sergey Kislyak.

“I don’t know anything that I could say in open court,” the former FBI director said. “I know it exists.”

He called Ambassador Kisliak a diplomat, noting that his name was called during closed briefings that were held for the US president before taking office.

James Comey emphasized that in theory, the president, as head of the executive branch, “has the right to terminate” any investigation.

“Although that would be wrong,” added the former FBI director.

According to him, in the media recently there have been many stories about the investigation into the actions of Russia, which were based on secret information.

“Many of these stories misinterpreted the documents, some were simply false,” Comey said.

Responding to a question from Senator Joe Manchin, the former FBI director said he “does not remember any conversations” with the president regarding Russian interference in the US elections.

“This is a huge problem because we have a very large country where no one except us Americans tells us what to do,” Comey said. “It may be bad, but now we are dealing with a foreign state that is trying to force us to do and think things and considers us a threat to them.”

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James Komi admitted that President Trump was recording their private negotiations, but said he welcomed the idea of ​​making these records public.

“I hope there are records there,” he said. “Publish them!”

James Komi did not rule out the possibility that he could be dismissed from his post even if Hillary Clinton won the election.

He also noted that he considers the newspaper’s publication “completely unreliable.” The New York Times about the connections of Donald Trump’s campaign staff with representatives of Russian intelligence, but considers it impossible to “discuss this topic during an open meeting.”

Republican senator John Cornyn asked whether the former director of the FBI believes that the dismissal of the head of the special services is the best way to stop any investigation.

“From my point of view, this is not the most logical thing to do, because the investigation will continue anyway,” Comey responded.

The former head of the FBI said that he had never, in conversations with Donald Trump, refused to comply with his request to stop the investigation regarding Michael Flynn, preferring to use a more streamlined formulation.

“I told him I’ll see what we can do about it,” James Comey said, explaining that he chose the phrase as a “polite form of refusal.”

According to him, commenting on his dismissal, “the Trump administration has decided to dishonor me and the FBI.”

“I was fired to change the course of the Russian interference investigation,” he said. – If it turned out that one of the Americans helped Russia (in organizing interference in the election campaign), then this would be a huge problem. I'm confident that Special Counsel Mueller will figure this out."

Earlier on Thursday, Mark Warner said that, judging by the testimony of ex-FBI director James Komi, President Trump threatened him with dismissal and asked to close the investigation regarding his national security adviser Michael Flynn, which is a violation of clear directives designed to prevent political interference in investigations FBI.

"Mr. Comey's testimony as prepared for today's hearing is troubling," Warner said in his opening statement at the hearing.

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