On Wednesday, Congressional Republicans demanded FBI Director James Comey to appear before the House Oversight Committee to answer questions about his recommendation to not prosecute Hillary Clinton. The hearing was set to held the following Thursday, but Bloomberg’s John Heilemann thought Republicans are too incompetent to hold the hearing. “They have, as you know, bundled -- bungled these kinds of inquiries before, over and over and over again. But, most recently, with the Benghazi matter,” he argued on With All Due Respect.
His co-host Mark Halperin disagreed with him stating, “Look, in cases like this it is complicated, but you have to do what is right.” He pointed out that there is a serious public interest in the case since both Clinton and Comey acted in a highly controversial manner. “They have to figure out a way to make the public and, if they’re lucky, some Democrats join in the questioning of, “was this done in the public interest,”” he continued.
“A hearing by the House Oversight Committee with James Comey could be a useful exercise, in theory,” Heilemann emphasized, still not convinced. He shot at Republican saying, that even if they had the time and money to do a deep investigation they couldn’t pull it off:
Given how well they’ve done on those kinds of inquires in the past, the idea that they’re going to conduct a useful hearing, either politically or in the public interest on this short notice, strikes me as highly implausible.
Halperin noted that Democrats were strangely quiet about what they think of Comey’s report. He also called out the media for not doing their jobs, saying Republicans were, “Going to have to find a way to get reporters to ask Democrats -- which we should be doing anyway – “what is it about what Hillary Clinton did, that troubles you in the wake of what Comey said?””
Transcript below:
Bloomberg
With All Due Respect
July 6, 2016
5:02:52 PM EasternJOHN HEILEMANN: Mark, we will talk about Donald Trump momentarily. But first, let's look at Republican leaders. They have, as you know, bundled -- bungled these kinds of inquiries before, over and over and over again. But, most recently, with the Benghazi matter. So politically speaking, in your view, what would it take for Republicans to succeed in prosecuting this case?
MARK HALPERIN: If they want to make this politically effective, they’re going to have to perform significantly better than they did on Benghazi, and in most other hearings that have had a public policy and political motives.
Look, in cases like this it is complicated, but you have to do what is right. Is there a public interest here? There is. What James Comey did was controversial, what Hillary did was controversial. They need to find an area where there is a public interest. They need to do a fast investigation. Comey’s got little time to prepare, they have little time to prepare. And they have to figure out a way to make the public and, if they’re lucky, some Democrats join in the questioning of, was this done in the public interest?
HEILEMANN: I will tell you, that I think that on every level, theoretically speaking, a hearing by the House Oversight Committee with James Comey could be a useful exercise, in theory. But a snap hearing called one day for the next day, given the way House Republicans have generally handled these matters when they had months to prepare millions of dollars to spend. Given how well they’ve done on those kinds of inquires in the past, the idea that they’re going to conduct a useful hearing, either politically or in the public interest on this short notice, strikes me as highly implausible.
HALPERIN: John Heilemann, you are right to be skeptical. I agree with you. And it’s an interesting decision on their part to do it so quickly. But, there are, as I said, a lot of questions. You know, Bernie Sanders is critical of Hillary Clinton's e-mails. He was today. I have not heard a single other Democrat raise any questions.
And Republicans, again, if they need to be politically successful in undermining Comey's decision, in piggybacking off of Comey’s statement in terms of his verbal indictment, they’re going to have to find a way to get reporters to ask Democrats -- which we should be doing anyway -- what is it about what Hillary Clinton did that troubles you in the wake of what Comey said?
