obstruction of justice, can you walk us through that? Why is this something that might cause the concern about an allegation of obstruction of justice?
Mr. Comey. Well, the President of the United States asked me, directed me in my apprehension of it to drop a criminal investigation, and so that is an extraordinary use of power and could amount to obstruction of justice. That is a corrupt endeavor to impede the administration of justice. I don't know what the answer is to the ultimate question, but given that, it was something that needed to be investigated.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi. And is the reason why you say "could" because you need to get to the intent behind why the investigation is being asked to be dropped?
Mr. Comey. Correct.
Mr. Krishnamoorthi. Okay. You know, we are going to be in the majority in the House starting in January, and so one of the questions that folks like myself have is, stepping back for a second, you know, you were there for quite a while during the Russia investigation, from end of July 2016 through the time that you were let go in May 2017. So almost 1 year. You learned a lot probably during that time.
What lessons did you learn during that time that would inform us as we conduct oversight, not necessarily from the standpoint of a forensic criminal investigation, but from the standpoint of protecting our democracy?
