Dailycaller reports:
President Trump criticized James Comey on Tuesday night, just hours before the FBI director testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Trump accused Comey of giving Hillary Clinton a “free pass” in the investigation into whether she mishandled classified information on her private email server.
It is unclear what exactly prompted Trump’s outburst, though it was likely a response to an interview Clinton gave earlier in the day in which she blamed several factors, including Russia, misogyny and Comey, for her November election loss to Trump.
Dailycaller reports:
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley Tuesday called on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to start more closely supervising and reviewing the agency’s handling of high-profile and politically charged investigations, particularly one involving FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
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“The FBI and Department of Justice cannot expect to maintain the public’s trust when there are so many outstanding questions and apparent conflicts of interest in consequential investigations. The American people need and deserve a better accounting of how investigations are conducted and whether politics have affected an inquiry. The FBI has yet to adequately explain the steps taken to fix these issues since I first raised concerns over six months ago. It’s time they were addressed,” Grassley said in his letter.
He went on to say, “Public reports of his meeting with a longtime Clinton and Democrat party fundraiser, Governor Terry McAuliffe, and his wife’s subsequent campaign for public office being substantially funded by McAuliffe’s organization raise serious questions about his ability to appear impartial. The FBI provided unsatisfactory answers to those questions.”
Washingtonexaminer reports:
President Trump responded to Hillary Clinton’s complaints Tuesday that FBI Director James Comey lost the election for her with a proposition that he was the best thing to have happened to her.
“FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony … Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?” Trump tweeted after 11 p.m. local time Tuesday.
FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017
Dailycaller reports:
Ahead of a highly anticipated Senate hearing later this week, FBI Director James Comey is being accused of making inconsistent statements about the bureau’s relationship with Christopher Steele, the ex-British spy behind the Trump dossier.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the allegation in a letter sent to Comey on Friday.
“There appear to be material inconsistencies between the description of the FBI’s relationship with Mr. Steele that you did provide in your briefing and information contained in Justice Department documents made available to the Committee only after the briefing,” Grassley wrote to Comey. (RELATED: FBI Director Pressed On Agreement With Trump Dossier Author)
Grassley will have a chance to quiz Comey on the issue on Wednesday, when the FBI chief testifies before the Judiciary Committee in a routine oversight hearing.
…Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017
h/t Daniel Higdon