Ohio congressmen, senators weigh in on Comey hearing

RELATED: WASHINGTON | Comey blasts ‘lies,’ says he was fired over Russia probe

Staff report

James Comey, former FBI director, said President Donald Trump had told “lies, plain and simple” about dismissing him from the FBI due to low morale during a hearing Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The president declined to answer reporters’ questions after the Comey hearing, but Ohio’s congressmen and senators issued statements voicing their opinions.

U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th, criticized the media in comments about Comey’s testimony.

“Comey clearly testified that President Trump is not under investigation by the FBI,” he said. “I’m glad that was said publicly because it shows that a lot of the reporting about this subject has been flat-out wrong.

“I hope some of the news media that have been blurring the line between partisan advocacy and journalism will rely less on anonymous sources with axes to grind and more on official reports and on-the-record information like the Comey testimony.”

Johnson added, “I continue to support the two ongoing, bipartisan investigations being conducted by the House and Senate on Russian hacking and their attempts to influence our election process. And, I’m hopeful the independent counsel will also find those who have leaked sensitive or classified information to the media and bring them to justice.”

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, saw it differently, however.

“As the nation was transfixed by Director Comey’s testimony, I could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of sadness for the state of affairs that our current president has put us in,” he said. “We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Russia interfered in our election and that former and current senior officials in the president’s own administration are under investigation. Now, thanks to the testimony of James Comey, we’ve seen the lengths that President Trump went to interfere in that ongoing investigation.

“While many shocking and unnerving details came to light during this hearing, the fundamental truth remains: President Trump and his team have put extraordinary effort into downplaying, ignoring and flat-out derailing an investigation into an attack from a hostile foreign adversary against our very democracy.”

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, said, “What we didn’t hear in Director Comey’s testimony were any conversations with the president about how to protect America from Russian interference in the next election. My priority is getting to the bottom of what happened so our democratic process is upheld and we can move forward with the business of creating jobs, renegotiating failed trade deals and combating the opioid crisis.”

Emily Benavides, spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from the Cincinnati area, said, “Rob supported requests for the former FBI director to testify publicly. Many of the matters he discussed, including the issue of Russian meddling in our presidential election, are being reviewed by the special counsel, and he looks forward to seeing the results of this investigation.”