FBI Director James Comey wouldn’t say Tuesday whether the agency is investigating potential contact between the Trump campaign and the Russian government in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election.

Appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a hearing outlining the intelligence agencies’ findings on Russian election interference, Comey was asked whether the FBI had found any evidence that the Trump campaign was in touch with Russian officials before Election Day -- and whether it is an issue the FBI is actively investigating.

Comey declined to give an answer, saying he couldn’t comment publicly.

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“I would never comment on investigations, whether we have one or not, in an open forum like this,” Comey said. “So I really can’t answer it one way or another.”

Democrats and others responded to Comey’s answer with sarcasm, given his announcement in the final days of the 2016 campaign that he was re-opening the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. That announcement, Democrats allege, gave Mr. Trump’s campaign added momentum heading toward Election Day.

“The irony of your making that statement here, I cannot avoid, but I’ll move on,” said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine).

Tuesday was Comey’s first public appearance since he announced he was planning to re-open the Clinton email investigation in October. He also told the Senate committee that the FBI requested access multiple times to the hacked DNC server for its investigation, but that the request was not met.