Comey meets an angry Congress

The FBI director testifies Monday as members of both parties accuse him of being less than forthcoming about Russia-related probes and perhaps - playing political games.
By AUSTIN WRIGHT and MARTIN MATISHAK
03/19/17 05:03 PM EDT


FBI Director James Comey is set to face probing questions Monday about Russia’s involvement in the presidential election. | Getty

He upended the presidential election — twice. Now Democrats are pinning their hopes on the man many of them blame for Hillary Clinton’s loss to deliver a major blow to Donald Trump’s credibility.

FBI Director James Comey is set to face probing questions Monday about Russia’s involvement in the presidential election at a highly anticipated public appearance before the House Intelligence Committee. He's expected to be asked to confirm or deny the existence of criminal investigations into Trump or his campaign aides over ties to Moscow, though several committee members said Comey will likely decline to comment because doing so could undermine active probes.

Key lawmakers in both parties say they will demand that the FBI director clear up, once and for all, Trump’s explosive claim that President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump Tower in the run-up to the election, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen members of the intelligence panel.

Democrats on the committee — still smarting over Comey’s double cameo in the election that even some Trump allies acknowledge gave Trump a big boost — are hoping it will amount to a stinging rebuke for the president from a trusted member of his own executive branch.

No matter what he says, the controversy-prone FBI director is guaranteed to anger one side or the other.

If he goes mum, he would open himself to charges of hypocrisy from congressional Democrats, after Comey's pre-election announcement that the FBI had discovered new Clinton-related emails and was reviewing them. The emails ultimately did not change the FBI’s recommendation not to pursue criminal charges.