BYRON YORK: What Grassley and Feinstein said about Trump, the FBI, and Russia.
Blumenthal did not succeed in squeezing Comey for information about the possibility the FBI is targeting Trump. But he did put the subject on the table. And Comey’s answers — non-committal, non-revealing — did not confirm or knock down Blumenthal’s speculation. To that extent, Blumenthal managed to throw out the suggestion that the FBI was targeting Trump himself.
Blumenthal’s tactics were so concerning that on Thursday, at a business meeting of the Judiciary Committee not devoted to any aspect of the Russia affair, Republican Chairman Charles Grassley and Democratic Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein both addressed the subject.
In a carefully-written statement, Grassley said that he and Feinstein were indeed briefed by Comey on the particular individuals targeted in the current FBI investigation. And Grassley strongly implied — in fact, did everything but come out and say directly — that the president is not one of those individuals. . . .
Trump, of course, said in his letter firing Comey that Comey had told Trump, on three separate occasions, that Trump was “not under investigation.”
Finishing his statement, Grassley called on the FBI to “confirm to the public whether it is or is not investigating the president. Because it has failed to make this clear, speculation has run rampant.” In what appeared a clear nod toward Blumenthal, Grassley called on the FBI to brief all members of the Judiciary Committee “on what is actually going on.”
“Hopefully, that will help temper some of the unsubstantiated statements that have been made,” Grassley said.
Feinstein had a prepared statement of her own to make concerning the Comey firing, much of it criticizing the White House’s changing rationales for taking action, plus calling for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate. But before she began her prepared remarks, Feinstein said a few words addressing what Grassley had just said about Trump and targets of the investigation.
“Thanks very much, Mr. Chairman,” Feinstein said. “I very much appreciate what you’ve said, and it’s very accurate, and we were briefed. And the nature of the briefing was a counter-intelligence and criminal investigation that the FBI was carrying out, and more than that I will not say, either.”
Can we have an investigation into Blumenthal’s lies about serving in Vietnam?