“I believe the deputy director volunteered to him that you are welcome to have somebody present from the White House Counsel’s Office,” former FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo Legal Comey: FBI told Flynn he could have lawyer in interview

Former FBI Director James Comey says Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, was told he could have an attorney present during a meeting with bureau officials last year, but Comey also says officials told Flynn the interview would be faster without one.

“I believe the deputy director volunteered to him that you are welcome to have somebody present from the White House Counsel’s Office,” Comey told lawmakers on Monday, according to a transcript released Tuesday. “And I think he said, in substance, there’d be no need for that.”


In a court file last week, Flynn’s attorneys accused the FBI deputy director at the time, Andrew McCabe, of pushing their client into not having counsel present during his interview with bureau officials.

The court on Tuesday postponed sentencing Flynn, who was set to be sentenced after pleading guilty to lying about the subject of conversations he had with a high-ranking Russian official during the 2016 transition. President Donald Trump fired Flynn in February 2017 after reports of Flynn’s communications with the Russian ambassador and Flynn's misleading Vice President Mike Pence about them.

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Comey made his remarks during a second closed-door meeting with House lawmakers arranged by Republicans on the Oversight and Judiciary committees who are conducting a joint investigation into FBI conduct in 2016 and 2017. Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch is scheduled to be interviewed on Wednesday.

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, grilled Comey on Monday about why Flynn did not have an attorney, claiming that McCabe said: “You can have someone, but it will slow up the process.”

Comey, however, said McCabe had “offered it to him and did not add that bit about slowing the process, but said, ‘If you wish to, you can have somebody there from the White House Counsel’s Office.’”

Gowdy later pointed to a memo by McCabe in which the former FBI deputy director wrote: “I explained that I thought the quickest way to get this done was to have a conversation between him and the agents only.”

Comey went on to say that although he took exception to the congressman’s characterization of McCabe’s statement as discouraging, he believed that it was written accurately. He said he had meant that it would be quicker to just speak privately with the agents.

“So I would read it as encouraging him to meet with the agents without White House Counsel present,” Comey said.

However, he also went on to read the next line of McCabe’s memo, which said McCabe “stated that if Lieutenant General Flynn wished to include anyone else in the meeting, like the White House Counsel, for instance, that I would need to involve the Department of Justice. He stated this would not be necessary.”

In the court filing by Flynn’s attorneys last week, they claimed their client was not told he could not lie — which Comey on Monday said was true.

Comey said that warning someone that lying could have consequences could adversely affect getting the truth. He said he was not present for discussions about deciding not to tell Flynn that false statements could be punishable.

“Totally reasonable, consistent with the FBI’s practice in thousands of interviews,” Comey said about the practice.

Flynn acknowledged in court on Tuesday that he had not been tricked by the FBI by not being told he could not lie, and that he knew lying to FBI agents was a federal crime.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article gave an incorrect day for former Attorney General Loretta Lynch‘s appearance before lawmakers.