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Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Former FBI Director James Comey is set to testify Friday, in private, before the House Judiciary Committee regarding the bureau's Hillary Clinton email investigation and the ongoing Russia inquiry. Comey agreed Sunday to testify after reaching a deal with Republicans to ensure a transcript of the full testimony would be made available to the public after the hearing.
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The former bureau chief is expected to be asked about his decision in July 2016 not to recommend charges for Clinton after an investigation into her use of a private email server while was secretary of state.
"Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case," he said at the time. "In looking back at our investigations into the mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts."
In June, Inspector General Michael Horowitz said Comey broke from usual procedures in his handling of the Clinton investigation, and he should have sought approval from senior Justice Department officials before.
Comey will also likely face questioning for his handling of the FBI investigation into potential Russian collusion in Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The Justice Department's probe is still going, led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Trump fired Comey in May 2017, initially stating the decision was a result of his conduct in the FBI investigation into Clinton's emails. Later, he said it was due to the Russia inquiry.
Comey later testified that he wrote detailed memos after every discussion he had with Trump and that Trump had asked Comey to stop investigating him shortly after former national security adviser Michael Flynn was fired. Comey said he didn't interpret that to mean that Trump wanted the entire Russian investigation dropped.
David Kelley, Comey's attorney, said the full transcript of Thursday's testimony will be released within 24 hours, or "as soon as is reasonably practicable," and that Comey will then be free to share any questions as well as his testimony.
"Grateful for a fair hearing from judge. Hard to protect my rights without being in contempt, which I don't believe in. So will sit in the dark, but Republicans agree I'm free to talk when done and transcript released in 24 hours. This is the closest I can get to public testimony," Comey tweeted Sunday.
His testimony was originally delayed after Comey filed a legal challenge, stating he worried Republicans would selectively leak only parts of the deposition.
In the brief, Kelley said a closed hearing could result in a shadow on the witness but bright lights if committee members seeks partisan advantage by peddling a misleading account of the witness's testimony."
