Chaffetz postpones Oversight hearing with Comey

Former FBI Director James Comey won’t be appearing before any congressional committees this week.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) had invited Comey to testify at a hearing on Wednesday about a memo reported by the New York Times last week alleging President Trump had pressured him to stop investigating ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn.

But Chaffetz announced Monday that Comey wants to speak with Robert Mueller, the former FBI director now serving as a special counsel overseeing the agency’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia during the 2016 campaign, before testifying publicly.

Spoke with Comey. He wants to speak with Special Counsel prior to public testimony. Hearing Wed postponed. @GOPoversight

— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) May 22, 2017

{mosads}Comey is expected to appear in public in the coming weeks to share his side of the story. Senate Intelligence Committee leaders announced late Friday that Comey has agreed to testify sometime after Memorial Day.

Chaffetz will only be handling the Oversight Committee’s role in probing how and why Trump fired Comey as FBI director for about another month. He plans to step down from Congress at the end of June, having announced his retirement.

The news comes the same day that Flynn announced he would be exercising his Fifth Amendment rights and refusing to comply with a Senate subpoena, setting up a potential showdown between Congress and the executive branch.