Sen. Risch says Comey's opening statement "answered a lot of questions"
In an interview with "CBS This Morning" before fired FBI Director James Comey's Senate Intelligence Committee testimony, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said that Comey's opening statement "answered a lot of questions" and expressed interest "in him confirming what he said" during Thursday's hearing.
Risch is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and will hear Comey's testimony before Congress. Prior to the testimony, the Senate Intelligence Committee released Comey's opening statement per his own request.
The document outlines nine meetings, both in person and over the phone, between the president and the former FBI director. Comey described these meetings as an attempt to "create some sort of patronage relationship."
"It doesn't raise the questions as much as it confirms the answers to questions that I've had," Risch said of Comey's statement. "I want to drill down a little bit on some of those to make sure that I'm understanding right of exactly what he's saying."
Regarding the content of Comey's document, Risch said that while President Trump's behavior seems unusual, he is "reluctant to either criticize or defend" the president without more information.
"First of all, this is an unorthodox presidency, so when things like this happen, I guess it's the way that the president does business," Risch said.
