The influential director of the #Federal Bureau of Intelligence, #James Comey, has aggressively defended his reasons for telling Congress about #Hillary Clinton's email use on a private server less than fourteen days before the US election.
On Wednesday Comey told Congress that the poplar views of him – that he had changed the course of America's history by effecting the vote – made him “mildly nauseous.”
A Senate Judiciary Committee reveals some more
His comments came during a workaday #Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing where his startling explanations of the tumultuous events of Election Day, and the proceeding weeks, was broadcast to the country.
He described and explained his actions, and appeared to hope to calm the storm that he has stirred since that fateful day in 2106 when he came under fire.
Comey explicated that he took his views on #Clinton's email use public on October 28 2106 because he believed that the emails themselves may have explained Clinton’s motives for utilizing her own private server during her tenure as the United States Secretary of State; hence he thought that this may effect the outcome of his investigation.
If he hadn't informed congress, Comedy added, it would have been seen as an “act of concealment.” And in his view, concealment would have been catastrophic, and would have also have been disastrous for him personally and professionally.
But what #Comey sees as concealment is what Justice Department specialists see as a simple act of following regulations and rules. For this reason, his explanation troubled some in the political sphere.
Indeed, the #Federal Bureau of Investigation doesn’t usually confirm any of its continuing investigations. In fact, according to the New York Times, Senior Justice Department officials pressed him not to contact Congress to tell them that the FBI was looking at new emails.
His critics say that this proves he was wrong to inform the public of the investigation which had not yet reached a proper conclusion.
On Wednesday, #Twitter and social media was awash with reactions to Comey's claims. Some uses bristled at his suggestions that he was acting from a space of regulatory duty. One Twitter user said that 'Comey, or should I say Comedy, is faithful to the tradition of J.
Edgar Hoover, who was a total slimeball. …' Whilst another user said that Comey seemed to have no problem 'concealing Trump staff's interaction with Russians, which they were aware of …'
Comey's management of the Clinton investigation was in fact proceeded by another equally outlandish event that involved him, this during 2004. This was a standoff at a hospital bed about Bush administration wiretapping. Comey was the acting attorney general during the memorable event, with his ill superior, John Ashcroft, beside him. Comey would not agree to authorize a program for eavesdropping without warrants, even though White house aides urged him to do so.
When, in 2007, Comey retold that event to #Congress in 2007, he seemed unflustered and assured.
But during his testimony on Wednesday he appeared to be a little more animated according to specialists and critics. At times he came across as cautious, perhaps even defensive.
The hearing on Wednesday was meant to be a routine congressional oversight proceeding, unlike the House Intelligence Committee hearing that took place in March during which Comey shocked everyone by asserting that there was in fact carrying out an investigation into Russian meddling in the election taking place. This is something that FBI officials rarely do – and to hear it from Comey unsettled many.
