Mr. Comey. I can't answer that in the abstract. I just can't. It depends upon too many unique circumstances to a case.
Mr. Gowdy. Who is Christopher Steele?
Mr. Comey. My understanding is that Christopher Steele is a former intelligence officer of an allied nation who prepared a series of reports in the summer of 2016 that have become known as the Steele dossier.
Mr. Gowdy. How long did he have a relationship with the FBI?
Mr. Comey. I don't know.
Mr. Gowdy. Did you ever meet him?
Mr. Comey. No.
Mr. Gowdy. Never met him, never talked to him?
Mr. Comey. Sorry.
Okay. No, I never met him, never spoken to the man.
Mr. Gowdy. When did you learn he was working for Fusion GPS?
Mr. Comey. I don't know that I ever knew that -- certainly while I worked at the FBI. I think I've read that in open source, but I didn't know that while I was FBI.
Mr. Gowdy. Who did you think he was working for?
Mr. Comey. I thought he was retained as part of a Republican-financed effort -- retained by Republicans adverse to Mr. Trump during the primary season, and then his work was underwritten after that by Democrats opposed to Mr. Trump during
