Sen. Mike Lee scolded former FBI Director James Comey’s inability to answer several questions during his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
The Utah Republican noted that he voted to confirm Comey as FBI director because of his assurances that he would act in “good faith” when overseeing the agency as it sought court permission to obtain a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to wiretap former Trump campaign associate Carter Page.
“I’m very disappointed to see that those promises now, to me, seem to be very insincere,” Lee said. “Now, Mr. Comey, with all due respect, you don’t seem to know anything about an investigation that you ran.”
The hearing Wednesday was the latest in the judiciary panel’s inquiry into the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation into links between President Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia. Comey oversaw the investigation until he was fired by Trump in May 2017, and it was then wrapped into special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Lee also criticized Comey for claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have undiscovered ties to Trump.
“How can you now as a private citizen and former FBI director show up and then speculate freely regarding any alleged ties between President Putin and President Trump … when you don’t seem to know anything about this investigation that you ran?” Lee asked.
Comey said he can speculate about the ties between Trump and Putin because he has “eyes and ears.”
