When the questioning was handed off to Arizona Sen. John McCain during former FBI Director James Comey’s hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, things got a little confusing. McCain’s hard-to-follow line of questions focused on the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email use as secretary of state.
“She was clearly involved in this whole situation… fake news… as you described it, ‘big deal,’ took place. You’re going to have to help me out here. In other words, we’re complete, the investigation of anything that former Secretary Clinton had to do with a campaign is over, and we don’t have to worry about it anymore?”
Comey was — understandably — confused.
“I think the American people have a whole lot of questions,” McCain followed up.
Well, turns out the American people did have a whole lot of questions, just not the ones he was likely referring to. Mainly they were about what the heck the 80-year-old Republican senator was talking about.
And they came mainly in the form of memes via Twitter.
Watching #McCain like…#ComeyDay pic.twitter.com/XwHDTTecG7
— Mackenzie Maxwell (@mackmaxhaney) June 8, 2017
We go LIVE to America watching the #Comey #McCain exchange pic.twitter.com/AR1PLMYnr9
— Tommy McFLY (@TommyMcFLY) June 8, 2017
A look at #McCain addressing the tough issues at the #ComeyHearing pic.twitter.com/AVkjCZQFq6
— Francis Maxwell (@francismmaxwell) June 8, 2017
McCain (or his staff) noticed the brouhaha going down, and he put out a statement to try to clarify his point. “I get the sense from Twitter that my line of questioning today went over people’s heads. Maybe going forward I shouldn’t stay up late watching the Diamondbacks night games,” McCain said.
To which the Arizona Diamondbacks responded:
¯_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/oJSCTxsmE8
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 8, 2017
The Diamondbacks won, and the game ended around 1:30 a.m.
FINAL: #Dbacks 7, Padres 4 pic.twitter.com/LAyJStKkf0
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 8, 2017
McCain said he “missed an opportunity” to ask a pointed question in today’s hearing but would clarify his question and submit it to Comey in writing.
“What I was trying to get at was whether Mr. Comey believes that any of his interactions with the president rise to the level of obstruction of justice. In the case of Secretary Clinton’s emails, Mr. Comey was willing to step beyond his role as an investigator and state his belief about what ‘no reasonable prosecutor’ would conclude about the evidence. I wanted Mr. Comey to apply the same approach to the key question surrounding his interactions with President Trump — whether or not the president’s conduct constitutes obstruction of justice,” McCain said in the statement.
