--- description: A congressional committee has subpoenaed James Comey for an interview, but he only wants to do it if the event is public. title: James Comey Resists Closed-Door Congress Interview After Being Subpoenaed by House Republicans image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta969616337e7e7e4/69893fc7e76ad27bb4633952/gettyimages-978816002.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # James Comey Resists Closed-Door Congress Interview After Being Subpoenaed by House Republicans by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 22, 2018 8:09 PM CUT  Former FBI Director James Comey talks backstage before a panel discussion about his book "A Higher Loyalty" on June 19, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. Former FBI Director James Comey talks backstage before a panel discussion about his book "A Higher Loyalty" on June 19, 2018 in Berlin, Germany.Carsten Koall—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 22, 2018 8:09 PM CUT WASHINGTON — A congressional committee has subpoenaed former FBI chief James Comey to make himself available for an interview, but he only wants to do it if the event is public. Comey says he’ll resist appearing behind closed doors Dec. 3\. He says of House Republicans: “I’ve seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Let’s have a hearing and invite everyone to see.” The House Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, subpoenaed Comey as part of an investigation into what some Republicans consider FBI bias against Donald Trump during the 2016 election. Comey tweets: “I’m still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions.” But not privately. House Republicans are in their final weeks of controlling the chamber before Democrats take over in January. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5462085/comey-congress-interview-subpoena-house-republicans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5462085/comey-congress-interview-subpoena-house-republicans/"},"headline":"James Comey Resists Closed-Door Congress Interview After Being Subpoenaed by House Republicans","datePublished":"2018-11-22T20:09:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:06:59.343Z","description":"\"Let's have a hearing and invite everyone to see\"","url":"https://time.com/5462085/comey-congress-interview-subpoena-house-republicans/","keywords":["Congress","FBI","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta969616337e7e7e4/69893fc7e76ad27bb4633952/gettyimages-978816002.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta969616337e7e7e4/69893fc7e76ad27bb4633952/gettyimages-978816002.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Former FBI Director Comey Speaks In Berlin","caption":"Former FBI Director Comey Speaks In Berlin","creditText":"Carsten Koall—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/5462085/comey-congress-interview-subpoena-house-republicans/","name":"James Comey Resists Closed-Door Congress Interview After Being Subpoenaed by House Republicans"}}]}] ```