On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Representative Trey Gowdy (R-SC) stated that Congress needs to talk to former FBI Director James Comey about whether he decided not to charge Hillary Clinton before interviewing her, given the fact that Comey’s chronology doesn’t work and “His answers have been all over the map.”
Gowdy said, “We are going to talk to his present and former colleagues. May the 2nd is when these memos, these heavily-redacted memos appear, where they are discussing, internally, whether or not to make a charging decision. It’s a month and a half later before he announces his decision, in early July. So, you’ve got — that’s two months, two months, from May the 2nd until July the 5th. There were two dozen witness interviews in that time period. So, if you’re discussing whether or not to charge someone in early May, and you haven’t interviewed two dozen witnesses, including one named Clinton, [Representative] John Ratcliffe (R-TX) asked exactly the right question [about whether Comey decided to charge before or after Clinton was interviewed by the FBI]. I’m just not sure that Director Comey gave him an accurate answer.”
He later added, “[T]he chronology does not add up. Again, May the 2nd is when they are discussing their charging decision. The meeting on the tarmac was June 22nd — June 26th — June 27th. So, that’s a month and a half later. And then a couple of days later, they interview Secretary Clinton. And then two days later, they decide that they’re not going to charge, and he makes that public pronouncement. So, his ostensible reason for taking that decision away from the Department of Justice was that meeting on the tarmac, but yet a month and a half earlier, he is memorializing a decision he’s already made. So, the chronology does not add up. His answers have been all over the map. … So, we need to talk to him again. But we need to look at these memos before we have that conversation with him.”
Gowdy also stated Comey “made a lot of decisions in 2016 that I think are worth reviewing. … Congress should look at this decision not to charge, and whether or not it was made before you interviewed two dozen witnesses, including the target of the investigation. We need to talk to him again.”
Gowdy also commented on his request for information on the White House’s use of private email. He stated, “[O]n the issue of private email and private travel, we have three categories: fully comply, partially complied, and ain’t really done a good job yet, the third category. We have written those agencies back and said, ‘Okay. You didn’t respond the first time. this is number two. And if you don’t do it number two, the word’s going to start with an S and rhyme with subpoena.'”
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