Former FBI chief Comey agrees to testify for second day before House panel

WASHINGTON: Former FBI Director James Comey testified behind closed doors on Friday before the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and said afterward he had agreed to testify again on Dec. 17 and believed the session could have been conducted in public.

"When you read the transcript you'll see that we're talking again about Hillary Clinton's emails for heaven's sake, so I'm not sure we need to do this at all," Comey told reporters. "But I'm trying to respect the institution and to answer questions in a respectful way. You'll see I did that in the transcript."

The former FBI director dropped his opposition to a closed-door hearing on Dec. 2 after members of the House panel agreed to provide a full transcript within 24 hours and agreed he would be permitted to make it public.