Ousted Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz confronted FBI Director James Comey on Friday over his handling of the hacks that led to her resignation before the Democratic convention this summer, sources told the Washington Examiner.
Comey briefed Democrats in a morning meeting. But House Democrats, who were already frustrated with Comey’s public comments about the investigation into the leak of emails from the Democratic National Committee, left a classified briefing with the FBI chief even more angry.
Wasserman Schultz asked Comey why he didn’t notify her or other senior DNC staff about the hacks.
“[Comey] wouldn’t give a direct answer and I think it just escalated from there,” a House Democrat, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the details of a classified briefing, told the Washington Examiner. “The tension was, give her a straight answer.”
Comey replied that the FBI followed standard protocol in notifying the DNC. Wasserman Schultz pressed Comey to concede that those notifications were insufficient.
“It was a legitimate question from her, because, if you guys are aware that our country — knowing one of the major party committees [was hacked], don’t you think it ought to be standard protocol to contact the chair of that committee, who happens to have the ability to get classified information,” the lawmaker said.
