{"id":111124,"date":"2018-12-16T21:40:13","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T01:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=111124"},"modified":"2018-12-16T21:41:06","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T01:41:06","slug":"house-leader-points-to-fbi-misconduct-in-coercion-of-gen-flynns-guilty-plea-violated-miranda-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=111124","title":{"rendered":"House Leader Points to FBI Misconduct in Coercion of Gen. Flynn&#8217;s Guilty Plea, Deliberately Violated Miranda Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Top Republican predicts Flynn guilty plea will be thrown out, citing FBI &#8216;misconduct&#8217;<\/h1>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/video.foxnews.com\/v\/embed.js?id=5980119751001&#038;w=466&#038;h=263\"><\/script><noscript>Watch the latest video at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\">foxnews.com<\/a><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>By Gregg Re | Fox News<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">A day before fired FBI Director James Comey\u00a0is set to again testify behind closed doors with House Republicans, a party leader is predicting that Special Counsel Robert Mueller&#8217;s case against ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn will soon be thrown out of court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/video.foxnews.com\/v\/5980119751001\/?#sp=show-clips\">told Fox News&#8217; &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221;<\/a>\u00a0that the FBI had &#8220;tricked&#8221; Flynn into not having a lawyer and had improperly &#8220;post-dated&#8221; documents to &#8220;morph&#8221; them into critical evidence against him. He promised Comey would face tough questioning about the episode.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Tomorrow is going to be a very different day for Comey, particularly\u00a0in light of what we&#8217;ve learned &#8212; the misconduct during the Flynn investigation was all about, thanks to a judge that demanded to understand what had happened,&#8221; Issa told host Maria Bartiromo, referring to\u00a0U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan&#8217;s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/flynn-judge-orders-mueller-to-turn-over-fbi-docs-after-bombshell-filing-claiming-he-was-pressured-by-agents\">order last week<\/a>\u00a0that led Mueller to turn over key documents in the case.<\/p>\n<p>He continued: &#8220;I would not be surprised a bit if the conviction of Flynn is overturned, because of the Justice Department and FBI&#8217;s misconduct &#8212; and that in fact, we go potentially all the way to the Supreme Court, with new protections &#8212; when the FBI and the Department of Justice lies to someone and tricks them into making statements, and then charges them with a lie they entrapped them in. &#8230; This kind of conduct we haven&#8217;t seen in a long time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/flynn-says-fbi-advised-him-against-having-lawyer-present-during-questioning-that-led-to-false-statements-charge\">explosive court documents filed last week by Flynn&#8217;s legal team<\/a>, it was revealed that\u00a0FBI agents in his case deliberately did not instruct Flynn that any false statements he made could constitute a crime, and decided not to &#8220;confront&#8221; him directly about anything he said that contradicted their knowledge of his wiretapped communications with former Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related video-ct\">\n<div class=\"m\"><a href=\"http:\/\/video.foxnews.com\/v\/5980014421001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media2.foxnews.com\/BrightCove\/694940094001\/2018\/12\/16\/694940094001_5980014936001_5980014421001-vs.jpg\" alt=\"Alan Dershowitz on the FBI's treatment of Michael Flynn\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<h4 class=\"title\"><a href=\"http:\/\/video.foxnews.com\/v\/5980014421001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alan Dershowitz on the FBI&#8217;s treatment of Michael Flynn<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A memo written by then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stated that he called Flynn and\u00a0\u201cexplained that I thought the quickest way to get this done was to have a conversation between [Flynn] and the agents only. &#8230;\u00a0I further stated that if LTG Flynn wished to include anyone else in the meeting, like the White House Counsel for instance, that I would need to involve the Department of Justice.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The court documents also showed that the FBI&#8217;s interview report documenting Flynn&#8217;s statements &#8212; known as an &#8220;FD-302&#8221; &#8212; was dated\u00a0August 22, 2017, nearly seven\u00a0months after the actual Flynn interview took place in the White House. Addititonally, the 302 that Mueller filed apparently describes\u00a0an interview conducted by federal authorities on July 19, 2017 not with Flynn, but with Peter Strzok, the agent who led the Flynn interview and said he did not feel Flynn was lying at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Strzok was fired from the Russia probe in late July 2017 &#8212; just days after he apparently gave the interview that formed the basis for the 302\u00a0&#8212; for his apparent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/strzok-page-texts-on-media-leak-strategy-fuel-trump-fury-at-doj-nothing-is-being-done\">anti-Trump bias<\/a>. No audio recording or other transcription of Flynn&#8217;s comments to the FBI has been produced, and none appears to exist.<\/p>\n<p>It was not clear from Mueller&#8217;s heavily redacted Friday filing whether a\u00a0written 302 report of Flynn&#8217;s\u00a0interview, which FBI policy dictates should have been written soon after the interview was conducted, ever existed. Mueller was required to turn over all Flynn-related memoranda and documents to the court.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/justice-department-ig-blames-fbi-wide-software-failure-for-missing-strzok-page-messages-says-phones-were-wiped\"><strong>ANTI-TRUMP FBI AGENT&#8217;S PHONE WIPED AFTER MUELLER FIRES HIM FOR BIAS &#8212; RECORDS OFFICER CAN&#8217;T RECALL IF PHONE HAD TEXTS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Additional\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/mueller-releases-key-documents-of-fbi-interview-with-michael-flynn\">documents released by the Mueller team on Friday\u00a0<\/a>in response to Judge Sullivan&#8217;s order\u00a0reveal that the decision to interview Flynn about his contacts with the Russian ambassador was controversial within the Justice Department.\u00a0One FBI document said then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates \u201cwas not happy\u201d when\u00a0Comey informed her\u00a0that the FBI planned to talk\u00a0to Flynn.<\/p>\n<p>The report also said\u00a0several unnamed people back at FBI headquarters \u201clater argued about the FBI\u2019s decision to interview Flynn.\u201d On Jan. 23, 2017 &#8212; just one\u00a0day before the Flynn interview &#8212;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/fbi-reviewed-flynns-calls-with-russian-ambassador-but-found-nothing-illicit\/2017\/01\/23\/aa83879a-e1ae-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html\">The\u00a0Washington Post, citing FBI sources<\/a>, reported that the FBI had wiretapped Flynn&#8217;s conversations with Russian officials and cleared him of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1470\/828\/AP18341800230668.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1862\/1048\/AP18341800230668.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 767px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640\/320\/AP18341800230668.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1\" alt=\"Former FBI Director James Comey, with his attorney, David Kelley, right, speaking to reporters after a day of testimony before the House Judiciary and Oversight committees, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 7.\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>Former FBI Director James Comey, with his attorney, David Kelley, right, speaking to reporters after a day of testimony before the House Judiciary and Oversight committees, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 7.\u00a0<span class=\"copyright\">(AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Comey admitted last week that he personally directed two FBI agents to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/comey-admits-decision-to-send-fbi-agents-to-interview-mike-flynn-was-not-standard\">break normal protocol<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0interviewing Flynn at the White House because he felt the FBI could get &#8220;away with&#8221; it, early on in the Trump administration, which\u00a0he characterized as disorganized.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Sullivan technically has\u00a0the authority to void Flynn&#8217;s guilty plea and dismiss the case against him if he unearths government misconduct, or finds that the plea would constitute a miscarriage of justice that the court should not accept.<\/p>\n<p>Sullivan &#8212; who\u00a0overturned the 2008 conviction\u00a0of former\u00a0U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens after government misconduct came to light &#8212; could take that drastic step if he finds that the FBI withheld exculpatory witness reports from the Flynn team, lacks evidentiary basis for its charge, or improperly coerced Flynn into not bringing a lawyer to his fateful January 2017 interview.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/opinion\/gregg-jarrett-michael-flynn-is-innocent-wrongly-prosecuted-by-mueller-to-hurt-trump\"><strong>GREGG JARRETT: MICHAEL FLYNN IS INNOCENT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Speaking\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/giuliani-on-whether-trump-will-sit-down-with-mueller-good-luck-over-my-dead-body\">to &#8220;Fox News Sunday&#8221; earlier in the day<\/a>, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said Flynn had been &#8220;railroaded&#8221; and &#8220;framed&#8221; &#8212; and even though Giuliani acknowledged Flynn had lied to Vice President Pence about his communications with Russia, he said the FBI&#8217;s conduct was still reprehensible.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What they did to General Flynn should result in discipline,&#8221; Giuliani charged.\u00a0&#8220;They\u2019re the ones who are violating the law.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-media fn-video\">\n<div class=\"video-container\">\n<div class=\"m video-player\" data-widget-type=\"embed\" data-video-id=\"5980108098001\" data-video-domain=\"foxnews\"><a href=\"http:\/\/video.foxnews.com\/v\/5980108098001\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media2.foxnews.com\/BrightCove\/694940094001\/2018\/12\/16\/694940094001_5980104955001_5980108098001-vs.jpg\" alt=\"Rudy Giuliani on Michael Cohen's prison term, Flynn memos\" \/><span class=\"overlay\">Video<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/flynn-says-fbi-advised-him-against-having-lawyer-present-during-questioning-that-led-to-false-statements-charge\"><strong>HOW FLYNN WAS PUSHED NOT TO HAVE A LAWYER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In a tweet Sunday, Comey showed no signs of backing down, forcefully condemning\u00a0President Trump as a &#8220;liar&#8221; for criticizing federal authorities&#8217; raid on\u00a0his former attorney Michael Cohen.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Remember, Michael Cohen only became a &#8216;Rat&#8217;\u00a0after the FBI did something which was absolutely unthinkable &amp; unheard of until the Witch Hunt was illegally started,&#8221; Trump wrote on Twitter early Sunday. &#8220;They BROKE INTO AN ATTORNEY\u2019S OFFICE! Why didn\u2019t they break into the DNC to get the Server, or Crooked\u2019s office?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In April, federal agents raided Cohen&#8217;s home, office and hotel room as part of their investigation into bank fraud and campaign finance charges he later admitted he had committed. At the time, Trump characterized the move as an &#8220;attack on our country&#8221; and remarked that &#8220;attorney-client privilege is dead.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But later Sunday, Comey emphasized that agents had acted pursuant to a lawful search warrant, and that attorneys are not immune from searches &#8212; especially when they are suspected of engaging in\u00a0wrongdoing on behalf of clients.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/fbi-misses-deadline-to-provide-docs-to-judiciary-committee-probing-whistleblower-raid\"><strong>FBI COMPLETELY MISSES JUDICIARY COMMITTEE DEADLINE TO EXPLAIN MYSTERIOUS RAID ON CLINTON WHISTLEBLOWER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is from the President of our country, lying about the lawful execution of a search warrant issued by a federal judge,&#8221; Comey wrote on Twitter.\u00a0&#8220;Shame on Republicans who don\u2019t speak up at this moment \u2014 for the FBI, the rule of law, and the truth.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Any communications with attorneys in\u00a0furtherance of a new crime are not usually protected by any privilege. A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/judge-in-michael-cohen-case-allows-special-master-to-review-seized-files-stormy-enters-fray\">special master was appointed in the case by a federal court<\/a>\u00a0judge to ensure that Trump&#8217;s privileged communications were separated from non-privileged ones.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-media twitter\">\n<div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n<div class=\"SandboxRoot env-bp-350\" data-twitter-event-id=\"0\">\n<div id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"EmbeddedTweet EmbeddedTweet--cta EmbeddedTweet--mediaForward media-forward js-clickToOpenTarget js-tweetIdInfo tweet-InformationCircle-widgetParent\" lang=\"en\" data-click-to-open-target=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Comey\/status\/1074354274010832896\" data-iframe-title=\"Twitter Tweet\" data-scribe=\"page:tweet\" data-tweet-id=\"1074354274010832896\" data-twitter-event-id=\"1\">\n<article class=\"MediaCard MediaCard--mediaForward customisable-border\" dir=\"ltr\" data-scribe=\"component:card\">\n<div class=\"MediaCard-media\" data-scribe=\"element:photo\">\n<p><a class=\"MediaCard-borderOverlay\" tabindex=\"-1\" title=\"View image on Twitter\" role=\"presentation\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Comey\/status\/1074354274010832896\/photo\/1\"><span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">View image on Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"MediaCard-widthConstraint js-cspForcedStyle\" data-style=\"max-width: 861px\">\n<div class=\"MediaCard-mediaContainer js-cspForcedStyle\" data-style=\"padding-bottom: 100.0000%\"><a class=\"MediaCard-mediaAsset NaturalImage\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Comey\/status\/1074354274010832896\/photo\/1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"NaturalImage-image\" title=\"View image on Twitter\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DujfhBuXgAAITbx?format=jpg&amp;name=900x900\" alt=\"View image on Twitter\" width=\"862\" height=\"1200\" data-image=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DujfhBuXgAAITbx\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"EmbeddedTweet-tweetContainer\">\n<div class=\"EmbeddedTweet-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded\" cite=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Comey\/status\/1074354274010832896\" data-tweet-id=\"1074354274010832896\" data-scribe=\"section:subject\">\n<div class=\"Tweet-header\">\n<p><a class=\"TweetAuthor-avatar Identity-avatar u-linkBlend\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Comey\" data-scribe=\"element:user_link\" aria-label=\"James Comey (screen name: Comey)\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/925105891044745216\/qZVnNnWB_normal.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-scribe=\"element:avatar\" data-src-2x=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/925105891044745216\/qZVnNnWB_bigger.jpg\" data-src-1x=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/925105891044745216\/qZVnNnWB_normal.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"TweetAuthor js-inViewportScribingTarget\" data-scribe=\"component:author\">\n<div class=\"TweetAuthor-nameScreenNameContainer\">\n<p><span class=\"TweetAuthor-decoratedName\"><span class=\"TweetAuthor-name Identity-name customisable-highlight\" title=\"James Comey\" data-scribe=\"element:name\">James Comey<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"Icon Icon--verified \" title=\"Verified Account\" role=\"img\" aria-label=\"Verified Account\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"TweetAuthor-decoratedName\"><span class=\"TweetAuthor-verifiedBadge\" data-scribe=\"element:verified_badge\"><b class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">\u2714<\/b><\/span><\/span><span class=\"TweetAuthor-screenName Identity-screenName\" dir=\"ltr\" title=\"@Comey\" data-scribe=\"element:screen_name\">@Comey<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Tweet-brand\">\n<div class=\"Icon Icon--twitter \" title=\"View on Twitter\" role=\"presentation\" aria-label=\"View on Twitter\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Tweet-body e-entry-content\" data-scribe=\"component:tweet\">\n<div class=\"u-hiddenVisually js-inViewportScribingTarget\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"Tweet-text e-entry-title\" dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">This is from the President of our country, lying about the lawful execution of a search warrant issued by a federal judge. Shame on Republicans who don\u2019t speak up at this moment \u2014 for the FBI, the rule of law, and the truth.<\/p>\n<div class=\"TweetInfo\">\n<div class=\"TweetInfo-like\">\n<div data-scribe=\"element:heart\">\n<div class=\"Icon Icon--heart \" title=\"Like\" role=\"img\" aria-label=\"Like\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"TweetInfo-heart\" title=\"Like\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/like?tweet_id=1074354274010832896\" data-scribe=\"component:actions\"><span class=\"TweetInfo-heartStat\" data-scribe=\"element:heart_count\">57.9K<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"TweetInfo-timeGeo\"><a class=\"u-linkBlend u-url customisable-highlight long-permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Comey\/status\/1074354274010832896\" data-datetime=\"2018-12-16T17:23:14+0000\" data-scribe=\"element:full_timestamp\"><time class=\"dt-updated\" title=\"Time posted: December 16, 2018 17:23:14 (UTC)\" datetime=\"2018-12-16T17:23:14+0000\">12:23 PM &#8211; Dec 16, 2018<\/time><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"CallToAction-icon\" data-scribe=\"element:conversation_icon\">\n<div class=\"Icon Icon--replyCTA \" title=\"View conversation on Twitter\" role=\"img\" aria-label=\"View conversation on Twitter\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"CallToAction-text\" data-scribe=\"element:conversation_text\">22.3K people are talking about this<\/div>\n<div class=\"CallToAction-chevron\" data-scribe=\"element:cta_chevron\">\n<div class=\"Icon Icon--chevronRightCTA \" title=\"View on Twitter\" role=\"img\" aria-label=\"View on Twitter\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tweet-InformationCircle--top tweet-InformationCircle\" data-scribe=\"element:notice\"><a class=\"Icon Icon--informationCircleWhite js-inViewportScribingTarget\" title=\"Twitter Ads info and privacy\" href=\"https:\/\/support.twitter.com\/articles\/20175256\"><span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">Twitter Ads info and privacy<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"resize-sensor\">\n<div class=\"resize-sensor-expand\">\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"resize-sensor-shrink\">\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Cohen, who as Trump&#8217;s attorney also had the ability to compromise Trump&#8217;s attorney-client privilege by disclosing their communications himself,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/cohen-slams-trumps-dirty-deeds-ahead-of-sentencing\">was sentenced<\/a>\u00a0this week to 36 months in prison.<\/p>\n<p>The former Trump loyalist\u00a0had earlier claimed in court that he had committed a campaign finance violation &#8220;at the direction&#8221; of Trump &#8212; although\u00a0top legal experts and a\u00a0former\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/those-payments-to-mistresses-were-unseemly-that-doesnt-mean-they-were-illegal\/2018\/08\/22\/634acdf4-a63b-11e8-8fac-12e98c13528d_story.html\">Federal Election Commission chairman<\/a>\u00a0have said that obtaining a criminal conviction for such alleged violations is often extremely difficult.<\/p>\n<p>Comey testified earlier this month behind closed doors with House Republicans probing his oversight of the Hillary Clinton email probes and the early days of the Russia investigation. He is expected back on Monday for more testimony.<\/p>\n<p>After he was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/james-comey-will-return-for-more-hill-testimony-as-trump-rips-ex-fbi-director\">questioned by House Republicans<\/a>\u00a0the first time on Dec. 7, Comey derided the GOP &#8212; which will lose the majority in the House in January, and with it their subpoena power &#8212; as hopeless partisans.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Today wasn\u2019t a search for truth, but a desperate attempt to find anything that can be used to attack the institutions of justice investigating this president,&#8221; Comey\u00a0said. &#8220;They came up empty today, but will try again. In the long run, it&#8217;ll make no difference because facts are stubborn things.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/comey-admits-decision-to-send-fbi-agents-to-interview-mike-flynn-was-not-standard\"><strong>COMEY ADMITS FBI AGENTS BROKE PROTOCOL, GOT &#8216;AWAY WITH&#8217; FLYNN INTERVIEW WITHOUT INVOLVING LAWYERS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A key focus of questioning from lawmakers was Comey&#8217;s decision to draft the 2016 statement recommending against filing criminal charges in the Clinton email probe before the former secretary of state was even interviewed, as well as the alleged\u00a0political bias demonstrated in a slew of text messages and leaks by top FBI officials.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pull-quote\">\n<p class=\"quote-text\">&#8220;What they did to General Flynn should result in discipline.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"quote-author\">\u2014 Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/lawyers-stopping-comey-from-answering-questions-during-hill-testimony-gop-rep-says\">Justice Department lawyer prevented Comey<\/a>\u00a0&#8212; who had briefly sued to avoid testifying behind closed doors, before\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/comey-drops-legal-challenge-to-house-gop-subpoena-will-testify-on-trump-clinton-probes\">dropping that effort<\/a>\u00a0&#8212; from answering all of the Republicans&#8217; questions, according to lawmakers at the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>A 235-page transcript of Comey&#8217;s remarks and the questions posed to him\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/comey-transcript-released-ex-fbi-boss-claims-not-to-know-remember-key-details-in-russia-case\">was later released<\/a>, pursuant to an agreement between Comey and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.<\/p>\n<p>It showed that Comey claimed \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t remember\u201d in response to dozens of questions concerning key details about his time as FBI chief.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if he recalled who drafted the FBI\u2019s \u201cinitiation document\u201d for the July 2016 Russia investigation, Comey said, \u201cI do not.\u201d He again claimed not to know when asked about the involvement in that initiation of Strzok, whose anti-Trump texts later got him removed from the special counsel\u2019s probe.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related video-ct\">\n<div class=\"m\"><a href=\"http:\/\/video.foxnews.com\/v\/5980004612001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media2.foxnews.com\/BrightCove\/694940094001\/2018\/12\/16\/694940094001_5980002111001_5980004612001-vs.jpg\" alt=\"James Comey to return to Capitol Hill for questioning\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<h4 class=\"title\"><a href=\"http:\/\/video.foxnews.com\/v\/5980004612001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">James Comey to return to Capitol Hill for questioning<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>When asked if the FBI had any evidence that anyone in the Trump campaign conspired to hack the DNC server, Comey gave a lengthy answer referring to Special Counsel Robert Mueller\u2019s investigation as to why he couldn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid we have evidence in July of (2016) that anyone in the Trump campaign conspired to hack the DNC server?\u201d Comey asked rhetorically. \u201cI don&#8217;t think that the FBI and special counsel want me answering questions that may relate to their investigation of Russian interference during 2016. And I worry that that would cross that line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When pressed further by Gowdy about what \u201cfactual predicate\u201d the bureau had to launch a counterintelligence investigation, Comey again claimed that answering that question would be a \u201cslope\u201d that would ask him to reveal what the FBI \u201cdid or didn\u2019t know about Russia activity\u201d as it related to the 2016 election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can&#8217;t tell us, or you won&#8217;t tell us?\u201d Gowdy asks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably a combination of both &#8230; To the extent\u00a0I recall facts developed during our investigation of Russian interference and the potential connection of Americans, I think that&#8217;s a question that the FBI doesn&#8217;t want me answering. So it&#8217;s both a can&#8217;t and a won&#8217;t,\u201d Comey replied.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/comey-transcript-released-ex-fbi-boss-claims-not-to-know-remember-key-details-in-russia-case\"><strong>MORE DETAILS: COMEY ROUND-ONE TRANSCRIPT RELEASED<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The former FBI director went on to say that anything related to Mueller\u2019s investigation, to his understanding, would be \u201coff limits&#8221; as it is an ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Comey was also fuzzy on the eventual Democratic funding of the research that went into the controversial and unverified anti-Trump dossier.<\/p>\n<p>Asked when he learned that the firm behind the dossier, Fusion GPS, was hired by law firm Perkins Coie \u2013 and when he learned that law firm was hired by the Democratic National Committee \u2013 Comey said, \u201cI never learned that\u201d while director.<\/p>\n<p>Comey also claimed not to know key details surrounding the involvement of Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored the dossier.<\/p>\n<p>Asked when Steele was \u201cterminated\u201d as an FBI source, Comey said he didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about Steele\u2019s subsequent contact with Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, Comey said, \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Fox Business Network&#8217;s Maria Bartiromo and Fox News&#8217; Judson Berger contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/comey-issues-moral-rebuke-of-trump-for-criticizing-cohen-raid-shame-on-republicans\">https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/comey-issues-moral-rebuke-of-trump-for-criticizing-cohen-raid-shame-on-republicans<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Top Republican predicts Flynn guilty plea will be thrown out, citing FBI &#8216;misconduct&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}