House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy unleashed on former FBI Director James Comey at a Tuesday morning congressional hearing.
The hearing was a joint session held by the House Oversight and Judiciary panels, featuring testimony from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on his review of the Hillary Clinton email case. (RELATED: Trey Gowdy Slams FBI Following IG Report on Handling of Clinton Investigation).
Gowdy asserted that Comey was less interested in carrying out his duties as head of the FBI by adhering to laws, but more interested in serving as the judge, jury, and executioner.
He kicked off the proceedings by accusing Comey of operating under his own set of rules.
“We see Jim Comey and Jim Comey alone deciding which DOJ policies to follow and which to ignore,” he said.
https://t.co/Z94dHzPoOh ABSOLUTELY MUST WATCH TREY GOWDY OPENING COMMENTS TO IG HOROWITZ
— CECrosby (@CEYooper) June 19, 2018
Gowdy also lambasted Comey for watering down his findings in the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
You may recall Comey’s statement in which he detailed Clinton’s handling of classified information. In it, one phrase was changed from “grossly negligent” to “extremely careless,” a wording change that downgraded her behavior criminal to irresponsible.
He also, at the request of former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, referred to the case as a “matter” rather than an “investigation.”
“He appointed himself FBI director, attorney general, special counsel, lead investigator and the general arbiter of what is good and right in the world according to him,” Comey said in a fiery statement.
At his best https://t.co/d2R0mHQaZQ
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) June 19, 2018
Gowdy also launched bombs at other FBI agents working on the case, countering Horowitz’s conclusion that political bias did not play a role in the Clinton email investigation or the Trump/Russia investigation, by saying they were both prejudged by biased agents.
“These exact same FBI agents and attorney prejudged the outcome of the Russia investigation before it even began,” he said.
“Prejudging the outcome of an investigation before it ends, and prejudging the outcome of an investigation before it begins,” he added, is the “textbook definition of bias.”
At Oversight/Judiciary Cmte hrng on IG rpt, Gowdy says Comey alone watered down findings, made the prosecution decision and did not take steps to call for Special Counsel
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 19, 2018
Last week, the South Carolina Republican issued a statement indicating the “numerous failures by DOJ and FBI in investigating potential Espionage Act violations by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton” left him “alarmed, angered, and deeply disappointed.” (RELATED: Trey Gowdy Slams FBI Following IG Report on Handling of Clinton Investigation).
In testimony earlier this week, Horowitz confirmed to Congress that Comey himself is under investigation for his handling of classified information, including memos detailing his conversations with President Trump.
Comey has repeatedly claimed that he simply leaked the memos to a friend.
“What he says is a leak is what the rest of us call a felony,” Gowdy claimed. “Leaking is disclosing a confidential conversation which is exactly what he did.” (RELATED: Gowdy: What Comey Calls a Leak, the Rest of Us Call a Felony).
When will the former FBI Director be compelled to testify again since these new findings in the IG report demonstrate his handling of the Clinton and Trump cases are rife with glaringly obvious examples of bias?
