Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today issued the following statement on former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence:
“It was stunning to hear the former FBI Director testify under oath today that President Trump ‘defamed’ him and the Bureau and told lies about them, and that Director Comey began writing contemporaneous memos after their first meeting because he was concerned the President may lie about the interaction. Even more shocking was his testimony that President Trump didn’t have any conversations with him about how a foreign government interfered in our election at a time when Russia ‘is coming after America’.
“Director Comey’s testimony makes clear that he expects Special Prosecutor Mueller will investigate obstruction of justice by the President. Director Comey’s testimony that he took the President’s comments regarding the Flynn investigation ‘as a direction’ is alarming. We must get to the bottom of this issue because nobody, including the President, is above the law.
“Today’s hearing also raises serious questions concerning the actions of the Attorney General. The American people need to know what the underlying facts are that led Director Comey to believe Attorney General Sessions’s engagement in the Russia-related investigation was ‘problematic’.”