You talkin’ to ME?
It appears that James Comey is planning to plead non compos mentis if he is ever actually put in a witness box regarding his testimony in the closed door hearing Thursday.
Reading his testimony in the transcript it almost appeared that the former FBI director was suffering from selective early onset dementia, considering how many times he either said he didn’t remember or didn’t know the answers to the questions and inquiries. Even being spared having to watch his testimony doesn’t rid it of its faintly reptilian feel.
Still, this IS James Comey. We kind of know what we’re getting with him.
One thing that was interesting was his access to a DOJ attorney throughout the hearing.
Mr. Comey is a private citizen. Yes, he was a highly placed DOJ official and is privy to many of the secrets and motives of that department, and this wasn’t a court of law.
Nevertheless, in a setting other than a hastily put together impotent hearing, Comey would not have been able to use the cover of an “ongoing investigation” to avoid answering questions, and he would certainly not have a government lawyer assisting him in doing that.
That brings up an interesting question. Could a private citizen or an organization bring civil or criminal charges against him for tampering with an election, since it is obvious no one in Congress or the Mueller investigation is going to do so?
That’s unclear, but certainly to an outsider, it appears that the real “collusion” to tamper with the election originated with Comey and his cohorts.