Former FBI Director James Comey gave a middle finger to House Republicans in a Thanksgiving message responding to their subpoena to force him to testify behind closed doors.
As their time in control of the House ticks down, Republicans are launching a desperate last-ditch effort to control the narrative on the Russia investigation against President Donald Trump with more distortion and lies by demanding Comey and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch testify in a closed-door session that would not be open to the public or the press.
Of course, that means Republicans can lie about what Comey and Lynch said in order to make false claims about the Russia investigation, which the GOP has been trying to undermine.
But Comey refused to let Republicans distort his words, so he wants a public hearing instead.
In a response to Republicans that served as a Thanksgiving greeting, Comey vowed to resist the Republican demand and said he is happy to answer all questions in a public hearing so that Americans can witness his answers themselves instead of being manipulated by Republicans twisting his testify to suit their agenda.
Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans. 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. Let’s have a hearing and invite everyone to see.
— James Comey (@Comey) November 22, 2018
He’s not wrong. And it’s a good idea.
After all, Republicans have dubiously twisted non-public testimony on multiple occasions in failed efforts to undermine the Russia investigation.
For instance, Fusion GPS executives blasted House Republicans at the beginning of this year for selectively releasing pieces of transcripts of their testimony to distort their work putting together the Steele dossier, which reveals a lot of Trump’s involvement with Russia.
The GOP attempt to discredit the Russia investigation using such despicable tactics was blown apart after Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released the full transcript of the testimony despite objections from Republican leaders. You know, because Republicans did not want their scheme to get busted.
And let’s not forget that Republicans released an infamous memo soon after that accusing the FBI of inappropriately obtaining FISA warrants to conduct the investigation, all while leaving out pertinent information that would soon reveal the GOP memo to be a lie once the Democrats released their own memo.
Clearly, the reason why Republicans want Comey to testify in private is so that they can do the same thing. They know that Democrats are set to take over the House and will launch their own investigations, which will likely reveal damning details that damage the Republican Party and puts Trump in legal hell, so they want to get ahead of it by concocting this new scheme to distort testimony for their cause.
If the American people and the media are watching and hearing every word from Comey, it will be impossible for Republicans to get what they want.
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