Senate

Grassley: Comey must say if FBI investigated Sessions

by Jordain Carney - 06/22/17 5:22 PM ET

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) blasted former FBI Director James Comey on Thursday, calling on him to say publicly if the FBI investigated Attorney General Jeff Sessions and blaming him for “conspiracy theories” about President Trump.

“We ought to say enough is enough. There’s no reason Mr. Comey couldn’t have told the public the whole truth. …He should also tell the public whether the FBI ever had an open investigation on Attorney General Sessions,” said Grassley, who chairs the Judiciary Committee.

He added that Comey should also publicly say if the FBI “checked out” Sessions’s meeting with top Russian officials or if the then-Alabama senator had a third meeting at the Mayflower Hotel.

“He should not be telling senators one thing behind closed doors and then making public insinuations that are different. …Enough of this nonsense,” Grassley said.

{mosads}It wasn’t immediately clear what meeting between lawmakers and Comey the Iowa Republican was referring to. He briefed Grassley and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) earlier this year regarding the FBI’s probe of Russian election interference.

Grassley also implied that he thought Comey’s public testimony was helping spread rumors about Sessions, and that the former FBI director helped feed “media hysteria” for refusing to publicly say Trump wasn’t under investigation.

“Because Mr. Comey refused to tell the public that the FBI was not investigating the president, conspiracy theories and, of course, wild speculation have run rampant about the election, about the president and about Russia,” Grassley said.

Grassley said Comey told him and other lawmakers privately that Trump wasn’t under investigation, and urged him to publicly clarify his remarks about Sessions.

“Once again, Mr. Comey is not being as transparent about senior government officials and the Russia investigation as he could be. Now the speculation is running rampant again, this time about the attorney general,” Grassley said.

Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the FBI expected Sessions would rescue himself from the Russia investigation, adding: “We also were aware of facts that I can’t discuss in an open setting that would have made his continued engagement … problematic.”

Grassley’s committee is currently investigating Russia’s election interference, Comey’s firing and any political interference in FBI probes.

Tags Chuck Grassley Dianne Feinstein Jeff Sessions