FBI Director James Comey pauses while making a statement at FBI Headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, July 5, 2016. Comey said the FBI will not recommend criminal charges in its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

According to New York Representative Elise Stefanik, former FBI Director James Comey was required to inform Congress of the counterintelligence probe into the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, something he failed to do.

In an exchange with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) Tuesday, Stefanik pushed back at the chairman when he said she was wrong about when Comey informed Congress about the probe.

The New York representative questioned Andrew McCarthy during a committee hearing yesterday about notifying congressional leadership when an investigation is opened into a political campaign. She specifically referred to the FBI opening its investigation into the Trump campaign in July 2016, a counter-intelligence investigation codenamed “Crossfire Hurricane.” Former FBI Director James Comey testified in March of 2017 that congressional leadership was not notified until that month about the investigation due to its sensitive nature. “We know now that the FBI opened its counter-intelligence investigation into the Trump campaign in July 2016, but they did not brief the Gang of Eight until March 2017 just days before former director Comey publicly announced the investigation during a March 20th, 2017 open hearing before this committee,” Stefanik said yesterday.

Schiff countered saying that Stefanik was mistaken in her timeline, at which point she more forcefully asserted that Comey had “circumvented” the process. Comey, in previous testimony included in Stefanik’s tweet below, said he had failed to brief Congress months after the investigation commenced due to the “sensitivity of the matter.”

.@RepAdamSchiff didn’t believe me today when I told him Comey circumvented Congress by opening an investigation into the Trump campaign. Maybe he’ll change his mind once he hears it straight from Comey’s mouth? WATCH ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xHtmGZTERe — Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) June 12, 2019