Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) said former FBI Director James Comey “owes the country an apology” following the release of an inspector general report that confirmed Comey leaked sensitive FBI materials to the media.
The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released its report on Comey last week and confirmed that the former FBI director leaked memos from his meetings with President Donald Trump to the media in an effort to “achieve a personally desired outcome.”
That “outcome,” as Comey said during a 2017 testimony before Congress, was the “appointment of a special counsel.”
“Look, our country had to live through this two-and-a-half year saga because of one guy, Jim Comey. Jim Comey’s the guy who opens the investigation in July of 2016. Jim Comey’s the guy who puts Peter Strzok in charge of it,” Jordan said during a recent interview on Fox News. “Jim Comey’s the guy who allows the dossier to be used to get a warrant to spy on a fellow American citizen. And Jim Comey’s the guy who leaks sensitive information, broke the rules of the FBI, to The New York Times through his friend Daniel Richman for what reason? To get a special counsel who put the country through this entire saga that was based on a false accusation.”
"James Comey owes the country an apology, Rep. Jim Jordan says after IG report"https://t.co/fMfgxiTe2O
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) August 30, 2019
“So I’m not going to apologize. Jim Comey owes the country an apology because he put us through this,” Jordan continued. “This is as bad as it gets, and Jim Comey’s responsible for the whole darn two-and-a-half year thing.”
Jordan and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC-11) sent a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD-07) requesting a hearing with Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
“Because Comey’s compilation and dissemination of sensitive FBI information led directly to two-plus years of political turmoil and vitriolic partisan attacks on the president, the OIG’s reports demands congressional action,” the two state in their letter.
#BREAKING: @Jim_Jordan & @RepMarkMeadows request @RepCummings schedule hearing on Inspector General’s report regarding James Comey
📃Read: https://t.co/mru4Mw8vX4 pic.twitter.com/i7AC6cQN1X
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) August 30, 2019
Following the release of the report, Jordan said in a statement that it was a “disappointing reminder that the former FBI director put partisanship and personal ambition over patriotism and his legal obligations to the American people.”
“By leaking his confidential communications with the President in an attempt to save face in the wake of his firing, Mr. Comey believed he was above the rules of the DOJ,” Jordan added. “His actions were disgraceful and part of a wider effort within the Obama Justice Department to undermine President Trump.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
