--- title: Comey Testimony: FBI Chief Declines Comment on Roger Stone description: Rep. Adam Schiff pressed the FBI Director about Roger Stone, who has admitted to contact with Guccifer 2.0. canonical: https://time.com/4706985/comey-hearing-roger-stone/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-20T18:28:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:56:01.860Z article:section: Politics og:title: FBI Director James Comey Declines to Answer Questions About Roger Stone og:description: But he said people shouldn't read too much into that. og:url: https://time.com/4706985/comey-hearing-roger-stone/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3dea13ed1c6ade83/6988bf1b196cf4e67d03f4d0/comey-testimony-congress-stone.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: FBI Director Comey Testifies At Hearing On Alleged Russian Election Meddling og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: FBI Director James Comey Declines to Answer Questions About Roger Stone twitter:description: But he said people shouldn't read too much into that. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3dea13ed1c6ade83/6988bf1b196cf4e67d03f4d0/comey-testimony-congress-stone.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # FBI Director James Comey Declines to Answer Questions About Roger Stone  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Mar 20, 2017 6:28 PM CUT  FBI Director James Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), listens to opening statements from the chairman during a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing about possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. FBI Director James Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), listens to opening statements from the chairman during a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing about possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.Drew Angerer—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Mar 20, 2017 6:28 PM CUT FBI Director James Comey [refused to answer questions](http://time.com/4706720/james-comey-donald-trump-barack-obama-wiretap/ "undefined") from Congress about a longtime [President Trump](http://time.com/4706832/donald-trump-louisville-kentucky-rally-livestream/ "undefined") associate Monday, but he argued that people shouldn’t “draw any conclusions” from that. Speaking at a hearing of a House intelligence committee, Comey said that because it is an [ongoing investigation](http://time.com/4706646/fbi-russia-james-comey-testimony/ "undefined") on a counterintelligence matter, there were certain topics he simply could not address. “Please don’t draw any conclusions from the fact that I may not be able to comment on certain topics,” he said. “I know speculating is part of human nature, but it really isn’t fair to draw conclusions simply because I say that I can’t comment.” Still, Comey’s refusal to answer questions about [Trump associate Roger Stone](http://time.com/4664986/roger-stone-9-questions-trump/ "undefined"), who informally advised Trump during the campaign and has been a longtime confidant, drew attention online. Stone [told the Washington _Times_ ](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/10/roger-stone-trump-confidant-acknowledges-innocuous/ "undefined")earlier this month that he had a “completely innocuous” private Twitter exchange with “Guccifer 2.0,” the hacker tied to the email leaks. Pressed by ranking Democratic member Rep. Adam Schiff about Stone, Comey repeatedly said “That’s not something I can comment on.” “Mr. Schiff, I’m worried we’re going to a place I don’t want to go, which is commenting on any particular person,” he said. “And so I don’t think I should comment. I’m aware of public accounts but I don’t want to talk more than that.” While the hearing was still going on, Stone tweeted that he should be allowed to respond. > [](https://twitter.com/RogerJStoneJr/status/843847938828881923) Watch the full exchange above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4706985/comey-hearing-roger-stone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4706985/comey-hearing-roger-stone/"},"headline":"FBI Director James Comey Declines to Answer Questions About Roger Stone","datePublished":"2017-03-20T18:28:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:56:01.860Z","description":"But he said people shouldn't read too much into that","url":"https://time.com/4706985/comey-hearing-roger-stone/","keywords":["Congress","russia","FBI","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3dea13ed1c6ade83/6988bf1b196cf4e67d03f4d0/comey-testimony-congress-stone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3dea13ed1c6ade83/6988bf1b196cf4e67d03f4d0/comey-testimony-congress-stone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FBI Director Comey Testifies At Hearing On Alleged Russian Election Meddling","caption":"FBI Director Comey Testifies At Hearing On Alleged Russian Election Meddling","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4706985/comey-hearing-roger-stone/","name":"FBI Director James Comey Declines to Answer Questions About Roger Stone"}}]}] ```