House Republicans and former FBI Director James Comey cannot agree on what he said to Congress about former national security adviser Michael Flynn until the transcript of his testimony is released, The Washington Examiner reports.
The GOP claims that Comey told Congress in testimony that FBI investigators who interviewed Flynn did not believe he had intentionally lied or misled them in their probe on January 24, 2017. However, Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI in November.
Although the full transcript has not been released, unnamed sources told the Examiner what Comey allegedly said. But recently, while promoting his new book, "A Higher Loyalty," Comey has begun denying that he told Congress that FBI investigators didn’t think Flynn lied.
"In the Washington Examiner, they report that, according to sources familiar with meetings that you had, that you told lawmakers when you were still director of the FBI that FBI agents who interviewed Flynn did not believe that Flynn had lied to them or that any inaccuracies in his answers were intentional. If that's the case, what did he plead guilty to?” "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd asked Comey last Sunday.
"Yes, an example of how you can't believe everything you read in the media," Comey replied, adding that it’s "not true."
He continued: "And I don't know what people heard me say, if they're reporting it accurately, what they heard me say, they misunderstood. But that's not accurate."
Comey said the same thing when asked by Fox News’ Bret Baier days before.
"Did you tell lawmakers that FBI agents didn't believe former national security adviser Michael Flynn was lying intentionally to investigators?" Baier asked.
"No," Comey responded, adding that he "saw that in the media," but that "maybe someone misunderstood something I said. I didn't believe that and didn't say that."
Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said on Fox News Thursday that "Director Comey's recollection is flawed. If he does not remember telling Congress that his agents told him they didn't think Flynn was lying, then he needs to get his lawyers to go back and look at the transcript. We did not mishear. Maybe he misspoke, but that's in the transcript."
That transcript has not been released to the public. Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee claim that Comey’s testimony is contained in their report on Russian election interference, but that it was redacted by the intelligence community.
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