Washington, D.C. – Emails obtained by government watchdog group Judicial Watch indicate that senior FBI officials advised former FBI Director James Comey to seek the advice of Special Counsel Robert Mueller prior to giving testimony to “any congressional committee” regarding alleged collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia.
The emails appear to be the first evidence of reported coordination between Comey and Mueller, and reveal that Comey was advised by the FBI to consult with Mueller regarding the circumstances surrounding his firing prior to giving congressional testimony.
According to Judicial Watch in a Facebook post:
Judicial Watch released new emails from the Department of Justice showing that former FBI Director James Comey was advised by FBI officials in May 2017 to consult with Special Counsel Robert Mueller prior to testifying before any congressional committees regarding Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and his firing as FBI director.
According to numerous news reports, Comey met directly with Mueller previous to his June 8, 2017, testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Sources said that Comey’s opening statement and subsequent testimony were coordinated with Mueller. At the hearing, Comey revealed that he had intentionally leaked material from a memo allegedly documenting a meeting with President Trump in order to help assure the appointment of a special counsel.
These documents show that James Comey, who was fired by the president, nevertheless had easy, friendly access to the FBI as he prepped his infamous anti-Trump testimony to the Senate. This collusion led to Comey’s attacking President Trump and misusing FBI records as part of a vendetta against the president.
The Department of Justice emails obtained by Judicial Watch appear to bolster previous reports that some of Comey’s testimony given to the Senate Intelligence Committee, including his opening statement, may have been coordinated at least partially with Mueller.
Appearing on Fox Business, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said that “it’s further confirmation that both the FBI and Mueller had coordinated on Mr. Comey’s anti-Trump, Russia testimony from last year.”
Comey admitted during his June 8, 2017 testimony that he had leaked information from memos about his meetings with President Trump while director of the FBI. Comey provided the memos, some of which reportedly contained classified information, to his associate Daniel Richman, who then leaked them to the New York Times. Comey admitted that he leaked the memos with the assumption that they would be strategically leaked to the news organization to spark a special counsel investigation of President Trump.
“I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter. Didn’t do it myself, for a variety of reasons,” Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee. “But I asked him to because I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel.”
Fitton said the fact that Comey was allowed to even discuss his conversations with President Trump was anomalous.
“Typically, former government officials or current government officials aren’t allowed to testify about communications they had with the president directly,” Fitton said on “Lou Dobbs Tonight.”
The Judicial Watch president directly questioned whether the emails revealed improper collusion between former FBI Director Comey and Special Counsel Mueller.
“You have to wonder why the FBI and Mueller allowed Comey to come out there and attack the president,” he said.