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GOP congressman: Comey may break his silence as early as next week

Posted at 9:03 PM, May 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-18 21:03:20-04

A Republican congressman said Thursday night that Congress and the nation may be just days away from James Comey breaking his silence after being fired as FBI director by President Donald Trump.

Rep. Will Hurd of Texas sits on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which invited Comey to testify next week. Asked on CNN’s “Outfront” if he believed Comey is still going to testify, Hurd told Erin Burnett, “I’m pretty confident he is. And that hearing may be as soon as the 24th of May.”

A senior GOP source previously told CNN it was unlikely Comey would testify publicly now that former FBI Director Robert Mueller has been named special counsel for the investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

Hurd also disagreed with the President’s comments on Thursday that the appointment of a special counsel “hurts our country.”

“The special counsel is a move that’s going to make sure that the American people can be satisfied with however this ends,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure that this is done the right way, that we don’t react, that we show restraint, that we get to all the facts so that we can be proud of what happens in this investigation.”

Hurd added that Mueller is someone who is respected by both sides of the aisle in Congress and, “He has the right law enforcement and legal background to understand the gravity of this situation and to do it in a thorough way.”