The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday evening accused former FBI director James Comey of providing false testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. According to DOJ spokesman Ian Prior, who made the accusations against Comey via an official DOJ press release, Comey did not answer truthfully when Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Cali.) asked him about the process by which Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any federal investigations of Russian interference with the 2016 elections.
Harris specifically asked Comey about his understanding of the process by which Sessions recused himself, and the specific rules regarding his involvement in the investigations post-recusal. Comey claimed that everything he knew about the topic came entirely from public statements by Sessions and that he was not aware of any DOJ memoranda “outlining the parameters of [Sessions’] recusal.”
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However, according to DOJ, Comey was repeatedly made aware of the parameters of Sessions’ recusal, including via a March 2 e-mail to Comey from the DOJ chief of staff which specifically instructed federal officials that they were prohibited from discussing details of the relevant investigations with Sessions.
“[O]n March 2, 2017, the Attorney General’s Chief of Staff sent the attached email specifically informing Mr. Comey and other relevant Department officials of the recusal and its parameters, and advising that each of them instruct their staff ‘not to brief the Attorney General about, or otherwise involve the Attorney General in, any such matters described,” the DOJ press release claims.