Former FBI Director James Comey delivered some wry pushback against President Donald Trump as he arrived on Capitol Hill Friday to get grilled in private by the House Judiciary Committee.
Comey was on the Hill after backing down in his effort to fight a subpoena to force him to testify.
As he walked down one of the Capitol corridors, he was asked about Trump's morning Twitter claim that he is 'best friends' with special counsel Robert Mueller – part of Trump's attack that Mueller is 'highly conflicted.'
'Note that I smiled,' was Comey's response.
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SMILE FOR THE CAMERAS! Former FBI Director James Comey, with his attorney, David Kelley, left, arrive to testify under subpoena behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 7, 2018. Asked about President Trump calling him 'best friends' with Robert Mueller, he responded: 'Note that I smiled'
No threat to security: James Comey goes through a metal detector on his way to testify
Former FBI Director James Comey, with his attorney, David Kelley, left, arrive to testify under subpoena behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 7, 2018
President Trump attacked the former FBI director as 'Leakin' Lyin' James Comey,' saying he was 'Best Friends' with Robert Mueller
Then he walked inside a committee room for a grilling that was set to last hours.
Trump began his morning with a Twitter tirade where he attacked Mueller, using his professional relationship with Comey to kick it off.
'Robert Mueller and Leakin’ Lyin’ James Comey are Best Friends, just one of many Mueller Conflicts of Interest,' Trump wrote Friday. 'And bye [sic] the way, wasn’t the woman in charge of prosecuting Jerome Corsi (who I do not know) in charge of “legal” at the corrupt Clinton Foundation? A total Witch Hunt,' the president tweeted at 6:18 a.m.
Comey is appearing for the interview after unsuccessfully fighting a subpoena in court. It is the first time he has answered lawmakers' questions since an explosive June 2016 hearing in which he asserted that President Donald Trump fired him to interfere with his investigation of Russia's ties to the Trump campaign.
CLOSED DOOR: The GOP panel held the hearing in private, despite Comey's demand he get the chance to speak publicly. Trey Gowdy, the GOP congressman, was among those who did get in
Robert Mueller's investigating whether the firing of Comey played into any obstruction of justice
His lawyers had fired a brief seeking to quash the subpoena, demanding 'transparency' and arguing Republicans would selectively leak information if he were to appear behind closed doors. They argued that a closed hearing was 'abusive to witnesses.'
Committee lawyers fought back at Comey's 'grandiose' arguments, saying he wanted to 'dictate the terms of his appearance by demanding a public hearing.'
Comey buckled over the weekend, announcing he would appear following assurances that a full transcript would get released and he could speak about what he had testified.
The interview comes as GOP lawmakers are wrapping up a yearlong investigation into decisions made at the Justice Department during the 2016 presidential election.
Republicans argue that department officials were biased against Trump as they started the investigation into his campaign's ties with Russia and cleared Democrat Hillary Clinton in a separate investigation into her email use.
Comey was in charge of both of those investigations. Trump, in turn, has tried to pick up GOP findings of FBI misconduct to discredit the Mueller probe of Russian election interference in 2016 and any collusion with Trump associates.
Comey was the director of the FBI until Trump dismissed him on May 9, 2017.
Weeks later, Comey arranged for a memo on a private meeting with the president to be leaked to the press, claiming Trump asked him to curtail the FBI investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
Democrats, who will also attend the interview, have said the GOP investigation is merely a way to distract from and undermine Mueller's Russia probe. Mueller took over the department's investigation when he was appointed in May 2017.
They will take over the panel in January, having won control of Congress.
Under a deal struck with the House Judiciary Committee, Comey will be free to speak about the questioning afterward and a transcript will be released. He argued that Republicans would selectively leak details from the interview.
The interview is expected to last much of the day.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2018/12/07/comey-arrives-to-be-questioned-by-congress-mocks-trump-claim-hes-best-friends-with-mueller/
Main photo article Former FBI Director James Comey delivered some wry pushback against President Donald Trump as he arrived on Capitol Hill Friday to get grilled in private by the House Judiciary Committee.
Comey was on the Hill after backing down in his effort to fight a subpoena to force him to testify.
As he...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2018/12/07/17/7146948-6472325-image-a-1_1544205352586.jpg
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