Comey criticizes House Intel report finding no collusion between Trump, Russia

Former FBI Director James Comey is criticizing the House Intelligence Committee’s report that found no evidence of collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.

“To say there was no evidence just wasn’t the case,” Comey said of the GOP-authored report in an interview with PBS NewsHour released Monday.

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Comey told PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff that the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency and director of national intelligence all read the initial facts of the case “very differently” than the panel.

“We reached a joint high-confidence conclusion that one of the goals … was to help elect Donald Trump,” Comey said of Russia’s actions in the election.  

There is a “clear difference” between the House Intelligence Committee findings and those of the U.S. intelligence community, Comey said.

The report written by Republicans on the panel was issued on Friday.

“While the Committee found no evidence that the Trump campaign colluded, coordinated, or conspired with the Russian government, the investigation did find poor judgment and ill-considered actions by the Trump and Clinton campaigns,” it said.

The report specifically faulted the Trump campaign for meeting with a Russia lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and for its “periodic praise for and communications with Wikileaks.”