James Comey: Higher-ups never asked for halt to FBI investigations

OPINION:

James Comey, just-fired FBI director, said in a Senate hearing earlier this month that he’s never been asked by higher-ups to back off an investigation for political reasons — and that doing so would’ve been an eyebrow-raising “big deal.”

The Q&A with Democrat Sen. Mazie Hirono didn’t name President Donald Trump’s name. But given the recent Comey memo, in which he asserted Trump tried to stop the FBI investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, the under-oath testimony is an interesting consideration.

Here’s what was said, as noted by the Washington bureau chief for The Rebel media, Jack Posobiec, in a Twitter post.

First, Hirono asked Comey: “So if the attorney general or senior officials at the Department of Justice opposes a specific investigation, can they halt that FBI investigation?

And Comey’s response: “In theory, yes.”

Hirono: “Has it happened?”

Comey: “Not in my experience. Because it would be a big deal to tell the FBI to stop doing something that — without an appropriate purpose. I mean where oftentimes they give us opinions that we don’t see a case there, and so you ought to stop investing resources in it. But I’m talking about a situation where we were told to stop something for a political reason, that would be a very big deal. It’s not happened in my experience.”

And how did Posobiec characterize that testimony?

He headlined his tweet this way: “Comey said under oath that Trump did not ask him to halt any investigation — 5/8/17 #ComeyMemo.”