Press Releases

Congressman Garret Graves (R-South Louisiana) released the following statement about reports of a memo written by former F.B.I. Director James Comey alleging the president asked him to end the federal investigation into the president's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn:

Any situation that gives the appearance of a president putting political pressure, or any pressure, on the Department of Justice to do something or not do something to influence the outcome of a legitimate investigation is very unsettling – which is the exact reason why we raised concerns over the private tarmac meeting between President Clinton and then-Attorney General Lynch while Mrs. Clinton was under federal investigation in 2016. I believe now – as I did then – that learning more about the various claims in circulation is something we certainly need to do.

Substantial efforts are currently underway to gather facts and determine the merit of the Flynn, Comey, Russia and other allegations out there – the Senate Intelligence Committee is conducting a bi-partisan investigation, the House Intelligence Committee is conducting a bi-partisan investigation and now the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform is conducting a third congressional investigation in addition to the FBI's separate investigation – so there is an appropriate level of attention being put to this. It's critical to ensure the integrity of these efforts and to limit speculation; a thorough understanding of the facts and findings of these investigations should inform next steps.

In the meantime, we have work to do. We still have fundamental problems within the federal government, we still have flood issues in Louisiana to respond to, we still have a coast to restore, we still have roads we need to build, we still have fundamental problems in healthcare, and we still have jobless Louisianans who want to get back to work and who deserve better employment opportunities. We can walk and chew gum and allow for the investigators on these committees and at the FBI do their work while continuing to make progress on the true priorities and challenges in our country, delivering the transformational change in Washington that the American people asked for last November.

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