Democratic lawmakers watch FBI director, facing political pressure amid justice department investigation, as preferable to anyone Donald Trump might choose
The director of the FBI has few friends among Capitol Hill Democrat after his high-profile statements about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 general elections. But some consider James Comey preferable to any FBI director Donald Trump would appoint, particularly in his weakened political state.
Comey is under significant political pressure. The US justice departments internal watchdog has opened an inquiry into his decision to publicly discuss, days before the vote, an FBI investigation of Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, in violation of department regulations.
Democrats were further stunned and raged after Comey refused to confirm any FBI counterintelligence inquiry, either in public hearings or in private briefings, into Trumps associates ties with Russia. Days later, Trump shook Comeys hand in a White House ceremony, which was followed by reports that Trump would retain Comey. The FBI directors tenure operates through 2023, but is at the pleasure of the president.
There is little sign of any thaw between Comey, a Republican and Bush administration veteran whom Barack Obama appointed in 2013, and Democrats, according to multiple Capitol Hill sources.
But some are pivoting to focus on whether and how Comeys FBI examines any Russia connections to Trumps circles, as well as its contributions to congressional inquiries into the same subject one of which announced an expanded remit on Wednesday.
A senior Democrat on the House judiciary committee, which oversees the FBI, pointed to the Russia-focused inquiries as a pragmatic debate for retaining Comey at the bureau.
There may or may not be an investigation going on regarding the possible involvement of the Trump campaign with the Russians. I certainly wouldnt want a new Trump appointee to come in and shut down any possible investigation, said representative Jerrold Nadler.
It would have been proper and right for him to be fired for what he did back in July or September, and for President Obama to appoint somebody else, but at this point, with a possible investigation going on, you wouldnt want that changed by a new Trump appointee.
Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat on both the House intelligence and judiciary committees and a former prosecutor, said it was less important to have a relationship with Comey than to ensure the independence of the FBI, which joined with the CIA and NSA in a public conclusion that Russia interfered in the election for Trumps benefit.
I have confidence he and the workforce will follow the evidence presented, because they did so with the role they played in the public report, Swalwell said.
The intelligence committee on which Swalwell serves on Wednesday announced it would deepen its own investigation into Russian hacking and propaganda in the election. Like its Senate counterpart, the panel will now examine any intelligence regarding links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns, according to a joint statement from the panel chairwoman, Devin Nunes, a California Republican, and Adam Schiff, a California Democrat.
Conspicuously, Nunes and Schiff said they expected to be able to position intelligence documents within secured rooms the committee on conferences maintains for viewing classified information something the CIA refused the Senate intelligence committee during its investigation into torture.
It will not be adequate to review these documents, expected to be in the thousands of pages, at the agencies. They should be delivered to the House intelligence committee to provide members adequate time to examine their content, the two congressmen said.
The CIA refusal to permit Senate intelligence committee investigators to view internal material on Capitol Hill proved to be a fateful decision. Senate investigators learned years into their investigation that CIA officials had surreptitiously contravened digital obstacles established on a shared network the agency maintained for Senate staffers at a Virginia facility, resulting them to remove material from the Senate and read staffers drafts and even emails.
None of that can be allowed to ever happen again, said Daniel Jones, a former FBI official and the leading Senate investigator for the torture report.
The[ House intelligence committee] is absolutely well within their rights to request that all relevant documents are available in the committee procure spaces on Capitol Hill. And all members and the investigative faculty should be provided with the necessary clearances to conduct this investigation and that includes access to sensitive source info. Too often the intelligence committees defer to the executive branch. In this case, the committee on conferences need to stand their ground.
Nadler, the New York Democrat on the judiciary committee, said Comey had never shown any contrition for its participation in the election, which Clinton considers to have cost her the presidency.
Still, with multiple investigations under way into Trump and the Russians that place the FBI in a central position, Nadler said he thought Democrat would come to accept Comey as the best available option.
I suspect if people think about it, itll be widespread, because no one trusts what Trump would do, he said.
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