former FBI Director James Comey says: They confessed me with the question," saying i was fired due to decisions made during election".
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., released a statement Thursday afternoon acknowledging that his questioning of former FBI Director James Comey “went over people’s heads” and that he shouldn’t have stayed up late the night before watching a baseball game.
McCain, the final senator to question Comey at a much-anticipated Senate Intelligence Committee hearing,
used his seven minutes to pursue a meandering line of questioning
blaming Comey for having a “double standard” in how he treated Trump and
former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. McCain also rehashed his
investigation into her use of a private email server. McCain appeared to
blame Comey for reaching a conclusion on the closed investigation into
Clinton and not the open Russia investigation.
“You’re
gonna have to help me out here,” the Arizona lawmaker said to Comey. “I
think it’s hard to reconcile, in one case you reach a complete
conclusion, and on the other side you have not. I think that’s a double
standard there, to tell you the truth.”
“I’m a little confused, senator,” Comey said at one point.
McCain’s
focus on Clinton was surprising given he’s one of the most outspoken
Senate Republicans on the need for a full investigation into the Russia
allegations — he’s called for the formation of a special select
committee on the issue and said the scandal has reached the level of Watergate and Iran Contra in scope.
He was mocked on Twitter for sounding confused and incoherent.
In
his statement, McCain admitted he “missed an opportunity” to ask about
the central question of the hearing — whether President Trump improperly
intervened in the FBI’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the
election.
“I
get the sense from Twitter that my line of questioning today went over
people’s heads,” McCain said in a statement. “Maybe going forward I
shouldn’t stay up late watching the Diamondbacks’ night games.”
The
Arizona baseball team was playing against the San Diego Padres until
1:30 a.m. ET last night. The team responded to the senator on Twitter
with a shruggie.
McCain
explained he was trying to get Comey to say whether he believed the
president’s alleged request to “let … go” the investigation into former
national security adviser Michael Flynn amounted to obstruction of
justice by cornering him with evidence that he had expressed his
personal opinion on legal matters in previous investigations.
“In
the case of Secretary Clinton’s emails, Mr. Comey was willing to step
beyond his role as an investigator and state his belief about what ‘no
reasonable prosecutor’ would conclude about the evidence,” McCain said.
“I wanted Mr. Comey to apply the same approach to the key question
surrounding his interactions with President Trump — whether or not the
president’s conduct constitutes obstruction of justice.
“While
I missed an opportunity in today’s hearing, I still believe this
question is important, and I intend to submit it in writing to Mr. Comey
for the record,” he added.
Speaking
to reporters after the open hearing, McCain renewed his call for a
special select committee in Congress to investigate Russia’s
interference in the election and any ties between Russia and the
president’s campaign.
“I
want a complete investigation, then I will make judgments on the
president’s [actions],” he said. He predicted eventually such a
committee would be formed, since “every couple of days another shoe
drops.”
When
asked if he was upset his colleagues don’t agree with his call for a
select committee, he demurred. “If I get mad and frustrated about
everything I want not happening around here, I would be undergoing
psychiatric treatment, which some believe I need anyway,” he joked.
“It’s true.”
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