House oversight committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said Wednesday he had a “one-on-one” conversation with ousted FBI Director James Comey earlier this week, in which they discussed Comey’s looming public testimony.
“Mr. Comey did not want to come testify publicly because of the presence of a special counsel,” Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, told Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room.”
The interview comes two days after Chaffetz announced he postponed his panel’s hearing related to the FBI’s independence scheduled for Wednesday.
“Spoke with Comey. He wants to speak with Special Counsel prior to public testimony. Hearing Wed postponed. @GOPoversight,” Chaffetz tweeted.
The lawmaker, who announced last week that he will leave Congress on June 30, said he and Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, both spoke with Comey. The former FBI director was fired by President Donald Trump amid the FBI’s investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 election.
Many congressional committees have sought out Comey’s testimony after news broke last week that he had written a memo stating that Trump had asked him to drop his investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
“(Comey) didn’t cut it off saying he would never come, he just said he wanted to speak with Mr. Mueller before committing to any sort of public testimony,” Chaffetz said. “That seemed to make sense to me.”
Comey is expected to testify before the Senate intelligence committee after Memorial Day.
