NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

'Stand up and speak the truth': Comey lambastes GOP over Trump's continued attacks on FBI

By Karoun Demirjian
Washington Post·
17 Dec, 2018 09:46 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Former FBI Director James Comey speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill, Washington. Photo / AP

Former FBI Director James Comey speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill, Washington. Photo / AP

Former FBI Director James Comey today accused US President Donald Trump of trying "to burn down the entire FBI" and charged that congressional Republicans were willing accomplices for failing to challenge him.

"The FBI's reputation has taken a big hit because the President with his acolytes has lied about it constantly," Comey told reporters.

His comments followed his second closed-door interview this month with House lawmakers running a politically divisive investigation into how federal law enforcement officials handled probes of the Trump campaign's alleged Russia ties and Hillary Clinton's emails.

But Comey directed his vitriol not just at the GOP members of the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees, but at all Republicans - including retiring GOP lawmakers, such as senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake, who have openly criticised Trump but aren't seeking re-election.

"At some point someone as to stand up and face the fear of Fox News, fear of their base, fear of mean tweets, stand up for the values of this country and not slink away into retirement but stand up and speak the truth," Comey said, without naming names.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Comey testified for nearly six hours, in addition to the six-hour closed-door discussion he had with panel members earlier this month.

During that session, he defended his decisions as FBI Director - such as superseding then Attorney-General Loretta Lynch to declare the Clinton probe closed and then informing congressional leaders days before the 2016 election that it had been reopened.

Comey reiterated that defence even more strongly today, flatly refusing to take any personal responsibility for the reputation of the FBI having suffered under his stewardship. He instead blamed Trump for "lying about the FBI, attacking the FBI and attacking the rule of law in this country," and the "silence from people in this building" - meaning Capitol Hill - for allowing him to do it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Republicans used to understand that the actions of a president matter, the words of a president matter, the rule of law matter and the truth matters. Where are those Republicans today?"

Asked if he has caused damage to the FBI's credibility, James Comey says no. He says it has taken a hit because President Trump "has lied about it constantly" and calls it "a tragedy" that people believe it. "That damage has nothing to do with me," Comey says.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) December 17, 2018

Republicans on the panel have been in open conflict with Comey about whether he was appropriately forthcoming with his answers, and whether his testimony contradicted former statements he has made.

According to a transcript of the first round of proceedings, Comey declined to answer several questions pertaining to the FBI's probe of Trump, arguing that the details he was being asked to provide were too closely tied to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of the Trump campaign's suspected ties to Russia.

Comey also declined to say whether Trump, in firing him last year, had attempted to obstruct justice, although an FBI lawyer present at the interview appeared to confirm that the Special Counsel was looking into such matters.

Discover more

World

May delays Brexit vote until mid-January

17 Dec 06:17 PM
World

Lamb: May's risky Brexit game

17 Dec 06:35 PM
World

Outrage at Paradise fire 'jokes'

17 Dec 07:49 PM
Business

Why Instagram is more dangerous than Facebook

17 Dec 08:48 PM

Republicans emerged from the first meeting frustrated by Comey's inability or refusal to answer certain questions, and today, intimated that Comey was steering clear of topics in similar fashion.

"He's been a consistent witness in the way that he answers questions," Congressman Mark Meadows, R, said outside the meeting room.

COMEY blasts House Republicans following his testimony: "Someone has to stand up to the fear of Fox News, fear of their base, fear of mean tweets, stand up for the values of this country & not slink away to retirement. Stand up and speak the truth." pic.twitter.com/Ngqdgmoqdj

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 17, 2018

Meadows said there were inconsistencies between Comey's testimony behind closed doors and his previous public statements.

Democrats emerging from the session, and Comey himself, disputed this assessment. A transcript of the first session suggested that Comey's first closed-door testimony mirrored much of what he has said in public settings.

In between the two interviews with House panels, Comey said at an event in New York that if Trump were not president, he would be "in serious jeopardy of being charged" by New York prosecutors in a case concerning payments made to silence women who alleged affairs with him years ago.

Trump's longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced last week to three years in prison for those and other matters that US District Judge William Pauley called a "veritable smorgasbord of criminal conduct".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

CNN’s @mkraju: “Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker — do you have confidence in him?”

Former FBI Director James Comey: “No comment.” https://t.co/sE3OPjVlVc pic.twitter.com/XYsPK0B0AI

— CNN (@CNN) December 17, 2018

Comey is one of the last people the joint House panel is expected to question in the probe, which is expected to end - or drastically change in character - once Democrats take over the House majority next year. Democrats have accused the GOP of using the investigation to try to discredit the FBI and Justice Department, as a means of undermining Mueller's probe.

"They seem to be wanting to play defence counsel for the president," said Congressman Elijah Cummings, D, who is currently ranking member of the Oversight committee and is expected to serve as its chairman next year.

Oversight committee member Congressman William Lacy Clay, D, said the interview was "the last gasp of the Republican majority in this House, to paint this narrative to protect the Trump Administration and the Trump campaign."

"And they really don't have a leg to stand on," Clay added.

The joint panel is also expected to interview Lynch behind closed doors on Thursday. No other interviews have been announced.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Musk's SpaceX Starship explodes in Texas test

19 Jun 08:39 AM
World

Missile strikes Israeli hospital; Israel attacks Nanatz nuclear site again, Arak heavy water reactor

19 Jun 06:39 AM
World

What to know about Thailand's political crisis

19 Jun 04:25 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Musk's SpaceX Starship explodes in Texas test

Musk's SpaceX Starship explodes in Texas test

19 Jun 08:39 AM

Starship, at 123m tall, is key to the billionaire's Mars colonisation plans.

Missile strikes Israeli hospital; Israel attacks Nanatz nuclear site again, Arak heavy water reactor

Missile strikes Israeli hospital; Israel attacks Nanatz nuclear site again, Arak heavy water reactor

19 Jun 06:39 AM
What to know about Thailand's political crisis

What to know about Thailand's political crisis

19 Jun 04:25 AM
Karen Read found not guilty of police officer boyfriend's murder

Karen Read found not guilty of police officer boyfriend's murder

19 Jun 03:26 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP