After attempting to quash a congressional subpoena for his testimony, former FBI Director James Comey has reversed course, standing down and agreeing to testify in private.
“Grateful for a fair hearing from judge,” he tweeted Sunday. “Hard to protect my rights without being in contempt, which I don’t believe in. So will sit in the dark, but Republicans agree I’m free to talk when done and transcript released in 24 hours. This is the closest I can get to public testimony.”
Grateful for a fair hearing from judge. Hard to protect my rights without being in contempt, which I don’t believe in. So will sit in the dark, but Republicans agree I’m free to talk when done and transcript released in 24 hours. This is the closest I can get to public testimony.
— James Comey (@Comey) December 2, 2018
According to CNN, Comey also withdrew his motion to block the subpoena, which had stated that the Joint Committee attempting to use “the pretext of a closed interview to peddle a distorted, partisan political narrative about the Clinton and Russian investigations through selective leaks.”
Behind the effort to prompt Comey’s testimony are Republicans including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, who will be leaving Congress in a matter of weeks, giving him little time to get the former FBI director to talk. Their interest is in gaining further information on probes into Hillary Clinton‘s email use and Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
[Featured image via screengrab]