Louie Gohmert Grills Mueller on Comey Friendship, Strzok - 'You Perpetuated Injustice' Against Trump
Rep. Louie Gohmert faced off Wednesday against Robert Mueller, pressing the former special counsel on his relationship with former FBI Director James Comey.
The Texas Republican eventually concluded that Mueller “perpetuated injustice” against President Donald Trump.
The exchange came during Mueller’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
Mueller was testifying about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which found no evidence that Trump or his campaign knowingly colluded with Russia.
“A 2013 puff piece in the Washingtonian about Comey said basically when Comey called, you’d drop everything you were doing. It gave examples. You were having dinner with your wife and daughter, Comey calls, you drop everything and go,” Gohmert said.
“The article quoted Comey as saying if a train were coming down the track and ‘At least Bob Mueller will be standing on the tracks with me.’ You and James Comey have been good friends and were good friends for many years, correct?”
Mueller responded: “We were business associates. We both started off in the Justice Department about the same time.”
“You were good friends. You can work together and not be friends, but you and Comey were friends,” Gohmert interjected.
Mueller then conceded the point.
“We were friends,” the former special counsel said.
“That’s my question. Thank you for getting to the answer. Now before you were appointed as special counsel, had you talked to James Comey in the preceding six months?” Gohmert asked.
Mueller responded, “No.”
“When you were appointed as special counsel, was President Trump’s firing of Comey something you anticipated investigating, potentially obstruction of justice?”
Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert grills Robert Mueller about his relationship and communications with former FBI Director James Comey ahead of his appointment as special counsel: “You and James Comey have been good friends or were good friends for many years” https://t.co/jFAp2RJoaI pic.twitter.com/jom0xUVoVW
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 24, 2019
Mueller declined to provide an answer, citing “internal deliberations in the Justice Department.”
Gohmert then asked Mueller about a meeting he had with Trump before being appointed special counsel. While Trump has said Mueller was being interviewed for the vacant FBI director position, Mueller denied that was the case.
Gohmert also asked about former FBI agent Peter Strzok, who was on Mueller’s team before his anti-Trump text messages came to light.
“When I did find out I acted swiftly to have him reassigned elsewhere in the FBI,” Mueller said, according to The Hill.
The Texas Republican ended by blasting Mueller for what he saw as an unfair investigation.
“If somebody knows they did not conspire with anybody from Russia to affect the election, and they see the big Justice Department with people that hate that person coming after them, and then a special counsel appointed who hires dozen or more people that hate that person, and he knows he’s innocent … what he’s doing is not obstructing justice, he is pursuing justice,” Gohmert said, his voice rising as he spoke.
‘What he’s doing is not obstructing justice; he is pursuing justice, and the fact that you ran it out two years means you perpetuated injustice’: Rep. Gohmert questions Mueller. Follow our live coverage: https://t.co/oSfUEpmLBr pic.twitter.com/n0arfbg4TY
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) July 24, 2019
And then the kicker: “And the fact that you ran it out two years means you perpetuated injustice,” Gohmert told Mueller.
And Mueller didn’t even have a response.
“I take your question,” he said.
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