FBI Director James Comey was on Capitol Hill Thursday afternoon, according to several reports.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Intel Vice Chairman Mark Warner just walked down toward room where Comey entered in Senate basement.
— Brendan Bordelon (@BrendanBordelon) March 9, 2017
.@mkraju reports FBI Dir. Comey is now on Capitol Hill meeting with the 4 House members of the Gang of 8 (intel version, not immigration)
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) March 9, 2017
James Comey just left the SCIF after briefing McConnell, Schumer, Burr and Warner.
— Katie Bo Williams (@KatieBoWill) March 9, 2017
FBI Director Comey came to Hill today to update Gang of 8 senators on matters related to Trump Tower and their investigation, per source
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) March 9, 2017
Spokespeople for several members of the congressional “Gang of Eight” – Democratic and Republican leaders from both chambers and of both intelligence committees – declined to confirm to TPM that Comey had met with the group.
BuzzFeed reported Thursday that investigators on the Senate Intelligence Committee had been granted unprecedented access to intelligence information for their investigation of Russian involvement in the 2016 election, including information normally reserved for the Gang of Eight.
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of ordering wiretaps on Trump Tower, an explosive charge that the White House later said it was asking the congressional intelligence committees to investigate. Various members of Congress responded to the request, including the House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who said Tuesday, “We accept this. We will investigate this.”
Multiple committees’ investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election are also ongoing.
Some have expressed frustration with what they describe as Comey’s lack of forthrightness about ongoing, or potentially ongoing, investigations.
Regarding the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of Russian interference in the election, Schiff said last Thursday: “In order for us to do our investigation in a thorough and credible way, we’re going to need the FBI to fully cooperate, to be willing to tell us the length and breadth of any counterintelligence investigations they are conducting. At this point, the director was not willing to do that.”
That same day, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), discussing the possibility that FBI was investigating ties between the Trump campaign or administration and Russia, said “if there is a investigation at the FBI of Trump, Russia campaign activities, I want to know about it. I’m tired of reading about it in the paper.”
Graham is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism. On Wednesday, he and subcommittee Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wrote to the Department of Justice asking for copies of warrants and court orders “related to wiretaps of President Trump, the Trump Campaign, or Trump Tower.”
