Former FBI Director James Comey filed a lawsuit in a federal court challenging a subpoena issued by Republican investigators as part of the House Judiciary Committee’s probe into political bias at the FBI.
The fired FBI official revealed over Thanksgiving that he was subpoenaed by lawmakers and demanded he be given the opportunity to testify in public on December 3rd, citing past instances of “leaking and distortion” of testimonies by House Republicans.
“Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans,” Comey wrote on Twitter. “I’m still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a ‘closed door’ thing because I’ve seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion.”
“Mr. Comey asks this Court’s intervention not to avoid giving testimony but to prevent the Joint Committee from using the pretext of a closed interview to peddle a distorted, partisan political narrative about the Clinton and Russia investigations through selective leaks,” lawyers for Comey wrote in a court filing submitted Washington, D.C. courthouse.
Responding to the subpoena, Comey’s attorney David Kelley said in a statement: “Mr. Comey embraces and welcomes a hearing open to the public, but the subpoena issued yesterday represents an abuse of process, a divergence from House rules and its presumption of transparency. Accordingly, Mr. Comey will resist in Court this abuse of process.”
House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) has been preparing to subpoena Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch before House Democrats take power on January 3.
The fired FBI chief refused a request by the House Judiciary Committee in October to testify in a closed-door hearing about alleged political bias at the bureau and Department of Justice.
“Mr. Comey respectfully declines your request for a private interview,” Kelley said at the time. “He would, however, welcome the opportunity to testify at a public hearing.”
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