Mr. Comey. My recollection is he did have a source network of sources and subsources and that this collection of reports reflected reporting by those, that source network.
Mr. Gowdy. Did the FBI make any effort to identify those sources and subsources that Steele would have relied upon?
Mr. Comey. Yes.
Mr. Gowdy. With success?
Mr. Comey. I don't remember, and I think I don't remember because the work was not finished before I left.
Mr. Gowdy. I'm not asking you for names, but I'm asking you for a sense of scope. How many sources and subsources did Steele rely upon?
Ms. Bessee. Mr. Chairman, again, the number or the how many sources or subsources would go to things involved in the special counsel investigation. So the witness will not be able to answer that.
Mr. Gowdy. For the life of me, I don't understand how that could possibly be so. What I do know to be so is I need -- and think I have a right -- to ask the former Director of the FBI, given the fact that we've already established Steele had sources and subsources, whether or not the Bureau made an effort to contact and corroborate or contradict the information provided by those sources. Is it the Bureau's position that I'm incorrect?
Ms. Bessee. Could we have a minute to talk to the witness?
