FBI Director James Comey has filed a legal challenge in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking to quash a subpoena served to him by House Republicans.
In the filing, Comey argues that he is willing to testify publicly, but that he is being asked to testify behind closed doors where he fears his testimony will be distorted through selective leaking.
Comey is pushing for a public hearing instead of closed-door testimony, as the House subpoena calls for. The former FBI director argues that committee members would leak his testimony for political gain, writing that he “should not be coerced into a participating in an improper and partisan effort to undermine the legitimacy of an institution that he served for the better part of four years.”
To that end, Comey cites a 1957 McCarthy-era Supreme Court case – Watkins v. United States – leaning on a portion of the decision in that case which states that while “[t]he public is of course entitled to be informed concerning the workings of government, [t]hat cannot be inflated into a general power to expose.”
The Watkins case held that congressional investigations don’t have unlimited authority to expose people’s private lives. It came about after a union official was subpoenaed for his knowledge of supposed members of the Communist Party.
From there, Comey goes on to list others who have been subpoenaed for secret testimony before the committee and whose statements – Comey alleges – were later leaked.
Those include former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, former senior FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok, former McCabe attorney Lisa Page, FBI intelligence analyst Jonathan Moffa, DOJ lawyer Bruce Ohr, and former FBI general counsel James Baker.
Comey concludes by referencing Trump’s repeated accusations against him of leaking and reported threat of prosecution.
“On numerous occasions, Mr. Comey has been falsely accused of leaking classified information,” his attorneys write, adding a footnote citing a November New York Times report saying that “President Trump told White House counsel that he wanted to prosecute Mr. Comey, for among other things, leaking classified information.
Read the court filing below:
Well played, sir…
Sunlight is the best disinfectant, particularly for GOP cockroaches…
Clever move. Comey is stalling his testimony. Either the GOP led committee allows public testimony or the subpoena is void after January 2, 2019. He now has leverage and the GOP either lets him testify publicly — where Comey will shred them — or they meekly crawl back under the rock under which they live.
Lemme have 5 bucks on “Meekly Crawl” to win.
Unless I am missing something, even if the Goopers get away with this hearing being closed, I don’t see how the Dems could be prevented from holding a second one in Jan. Perhaps all it needs is Comey to write to the Chair after the change of hands in the House to say, oh, yeah, and there was something else I meant to tell you. Or just that they add a few new questions for him.
I mean, how many times was HRC called back again and again and again?
Yeah, if they let him talk he’ll light them up like Strzok did. Not quite as badass but with plenty of sorrowing old-school patriotism. I’d give a lot to see Gowdy melting out of his chair again.