Grassley skeptical Trump obstructed justice

CEDAR RAPIDS - Sen. Chuck Grassley expressed confidence in the FBI, but characterized former Director James Comey's Senate testimony Thursday regarding allegations President Donald Trump tried to shut down an investigation into his administration as 'a he said, she said sort of thing.”

Grassley, a Republican, was unable to listen to Comey's testimony because of other responsibilities. However, he read Comey's written opening statement that was released a day before he testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Based on that statement and what he had heard of the Senate testimony from colleagues, Grassley seemed skeptical that Comey had made the case Trump obstructed justice.

Asked about Comey's characterizing the president's comments as pressuring him to drop the investigation of Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Grassley said that's one person's interpretation of the conversations.

'Then you kind of get into a he said, she said sort of thing,” Grassley said on Iowa Public Radio's River to River.

'Quite frankly, if there was pressure brought to bear then you would expect it would be reported as a crime and action taken,” he said. 'Obviously, I think the answer to your question is that Comey didn't do anything about that.”

Grassley went on to say that the president wishing Comey would drop the Flynn investigation didn't seem to constitute a crime.

'I think it's clear that nobody has ever been prosecuted or that it's a crime just for hoping something,” Grassley said.

Responding to Comey's charges that the president lied about the FBI being in disarray and that agents lost confidence in the organization's leadership, Grassley said the president and Comey were expressing their opinions.

'When you characterize an agency, how you think it's being run, you could be perfectly honest in your assessment of that and somebody else could consider that a lie,” Grassley said.

'I have all sorts of confidence in the FBI,” he said later, adding that it would be 'naive” for the president to think that firing Comey would end the investigation.

'I know the FBI well enough that they are going to do their job regardless of whether there is an acting head or a new head or no head at all,” Grassley said 'The FBI agents are going to get to the bottom of everything until somebody tells them not to or until they complete their investigation.”

Despite that confidence, Grassley has previously expressed his frustration with Comey's lack of response to questions about protecting whistleblowers and oversight issues.

Grassley, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, also noted that when he asked Comey in May whether he had leaked material relevant to the investigation of the Trump administration, the director said he had not.

Thursday, Comey said he shared his memo with a friend so it could be leaked to the New York Times in hopes of a special prosecutor being appointed.

Sen. Joni Ernst was giving senators an opportunity to question him under oath.

'It's important that we know all of the facts before formulating any conclusions on this matter,” she said in a statement. 'We must let the special counsel and bipartisan congressional investigations continue in earnest and follow the facts where they lead.”

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