Republicans call Comey for congressional quizzing '˜one last time'

House Republicans interviewed James Comey behind closed doors yesterday, hauling the former FBI director to Capitol Hill one final time before they cede power to Democrats in January.

Former FBI Director James Comey (2nd L) arrives on Capitol Hill. Photo by Alex Edelman / AFP)ALEX EDELMAN/AFP/Getty Images

Mr Comey was appearing for the interview after unsuccessfully fighting a subpoena in court.

It is the first time he has answered politicians’ questions since an explosive June 2016 hearing in which he asserted that President Donald Trump fired him to interfere with his investigation of Russia’s ties to the Trump campaign.

The interview comes as GOP lawmakers are wrapping up a yearlong investigation into decisions made at the Justice Department during the 2016 presidential election.

Republicans argue department officials were biased against Trump as they started the investigation into his campaign’s ties with Russia and cleared Democrat Hillary Clinton in a separate investigation into her email use. Mr Comey was in charge of both of those investigations. Democrats, who will also attend the interview, have said the GOP investigation is merely a way to distract from and undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. Mr Mueller took over the department’s investigation when he was appointed in May 2017.

Under a deal struck with the House Judiciary Committee, Mr Comey will be free to speak about the questioning afterward and a transcript will be released. He argued Republicans would selectively leak details from the interview. The interview was expected to last much of the day. Walking into the meeting, Mr Comey said he might answer questions afterward. He also gave a wry answer when asked if he is “best friends” with Mr Mueller, as Trump has tweeted. “Note that I smiled,” Mr Comey said.

Over the last year, Republicans on the Judiciary and House Oversight and Government Reform panels have brought in a series of officials and said after the closed-door meetings there is evidence of bias. The investigation’s most public moment was a ten-hour hearing in which former FBI special agent Peter Strzok defended anti-Trump texts he sent to a colleague as he helped lead both investigations. Mr Strzok defiantly fought with angry Republican politicians in a riveting hearing that featured him reading aloud from his sometimes-lewd texts, and Democrats and Republicans openly yelling at each other. New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel, said as he walked into the Comey interview that he will end the investigation when he is expected to take over the panel in January.

“This is a waste of time to start with,” Mr Nadler said. “The entire purpose of this investigation is to cast aspersions on the real investigation ... there is no evidence whatsoever of bias at the FBI or any of this other nonsense.”

Mr Comey, who has testified publicly on Capitol Hill about both the Clinton and Russia investigations, balked at the subpoena because he said committees were prone to selectively reveal information for political purposes.