Chris Wallace Grills Comey Over IG Report: You Weren’t a ‘Bystander,’ You Were the Head of the FBI!
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace sat down with FBI Director James Comey today and grilled him over the findings of last week’s big IG report, particularly on the FISA issues and the infamous Steele dossier.
Last week, DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz‘s report was released, finding that there was sufficient basis for opening the FBI Russia probe and that there was no evidence of political bias, but also finding serious, egregious errors by the FBI in the Carter Page FISA application process, including the omission of relevant information in the renewals.
Comey acknowledged those errors in an op-ed last week but also said it’s clear the report debunks many of the attacks on the FBI from President Donald Trump and others.
On Fox News Sunday today, Comey admitted to being “overconfident” in the FISA process and conceded there was “sloppiness.”
Wallace said, “But you make it sound like you’re a bystander, an eyewitness. You were the director of the FBI while a lot of this was going on, sir.”
Comey again acknowledged he was wrong and Horowitz was right, saying he would be getting to the bottom of this if he was still in charge.
Wallace also grilled Comey on the role of the Steele dossier in the investigation, again contrasting “your version” with what Horowitz found about the essential role it played.
“It wasn’t part of a broader mosaic, that’s what you said, sir,” Wallace said.
Comey argued that he and Horowitz aren’t “saying different things.” Wallace countered that “you are” because it being the “tipping point” makes it “the centerpiece of the whole FISA application.”
“He says what he says, words mean something,” Wallace said.
He also questioned Comey on the reliability of the dossier, given what Horowitz found about statements from Steele’s sub-source, and asked him about the FBI getting Comey took issue with his characterization, but Wallace got into it with him and said he’s the one mischaracterizing the findings, asking him just how much of this information he knew at the time.
You can watch above, via Fox News Sunday.
