SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, D-R.I.: Thank you, Chairman.

Welcome back, Director Comey. What is the policy of the Department and the Bureau regarding the release of derogatory investigative information about an uncharged subject?

COMEY: The general practices we don't talk about, completed investigations that didn't result in charges, as a general matter.

WHITEHOUSE: And what is the policy regarding a release of derogatory information about charged subjects beyond the derogatory investigative information disclosed either in the charging document or in further court proceedings?

COMEY: Well, I think you summarized it. The gist of the policy is you don't want to do anything outside the charging documents of the public record that might prejudice the trial proceeding.

WHITEHOUSE: And one of the reasons you do that is if you had a police chief say, we have investigated the contract between the mayor and the contractor and we've decided there were no misdeeds. But we found out that the mayor was sleeping with her driver, just wanted to let you know that.

That would be kind of a blow to the integrity the prosecutor function and would probably tend to diminish the support for the prosecutor function if were played by those rules, correct?

COMEY: I think that's fair, that's why the policy exists.

WHITEHOUSE: Yes. With respect to oversight questions, let's hypothesize that an investigation exists and the public knows about it, which could happen for a great number of legitimate reasons. What questions are appropriate for senators to ask about that investigation in their oversight capacity?

COMEY: They can ask anything they want...

WHITEHOUSE: But what -- what questions are appropriate for you to answer?

COMEY: Very few while a matter is pending and... WHITEHOUSE: While we know it's pending, is it appropriate for you to tell us whether it's adequately resourced and to ask questions about for instance, are there actually agents assigned to this or has this been put in somebody's bottom drawer?

COMEY: Sure, potentially, right...

WHITEHOUSE: And...

COMEY: ... how's it being supervised, who's working on it, that sort of thing.

WHITEHOUSE: And are there benchmarks in certain types of cases where departmental approvals are required or the involvement of certain department officials is required to see whether those steps have actually been taken?

COMEY: I'm not sure I'm following the question, I'm sorry.

WHITEHOUSE: Let's say you've got a hypothetically, a RICO investigation and it has to go through procedures within the department necessary to allow a RICO investigation proceed if none of those have ever been invoked or implicated that would send a signal that maybe not much effort has been dedicated to it.

Would that be a legitimate question to ask? Have these -- again, you'd have to know that it was a RICO investigation. But assuming that we knew that that was the case with those staging elements as an investigation moves forward and the internal department approvals be appropriate for us to ask about and you to answer about?

COMEY: Yes, that's a harder question. I'm not sure it would be appropriate to answer it because it would give away what we were looking at potentially.

WHITEHOUSE: Would it be appropriate to ask if -- whether any -- any witnesses have been interviewed or whether any documents have been obtained pursuant to the investigation?

COMEY: That's -- that's also a harder one. I'd be reluctant to answer questions like that because it's a slippery slope to giving away information about exactly what you're doing.

WHITEHOUSE: But if we're concerned that investigation gets put on the shelf and not taken seriously, the fact that no witnesses have been called and no documents have been sought would be pretty relevant and wouldn't reveal anything other than a lack of attention by the bureau, correct?

COMEY: It could, but we're very careful about revealing how we might use a grand jury, for example. And so, if we start answering...

WHITEHOUSE: Well, you've got 6E (ph), I understand that.

COMEY: Yes.

WHITEHOUSE: This is a separate thing.

COMEY: Yes, so that's a harder call.

WHITEHOUSE: Well, we'll pursue it. What is the department's or the bureau's policy regarding witnesses who are cooperating in investigation who have some form of ongoing compliance problem?

Let's say they haven't paid their taxes for the last year. Is it the policy of the department or the bureau that they should get those cooperating witnesses to clean up their act so that their noncompliance does not become an issue later on in the case?

COMEY: Yes, I don't know whether it's a written -- I know I should know this. I can't remember sitting here whether there's a written policy. It's certainly a long standing...

WHITEHOUSE: Certainly practice isn't it?

COMEY: ... practice.

WHITEHOUSE: Long standing practice, exactly. When are tax returns useful in investigating a criminal offense?

COMEY: Well, they're useful in showing unreported income, motive -- If someone hides something that's -- should otherwise be a tax return indicates they might know it was criminal activity.

WHITEHOUSE: It's not uncommon to seek and use tax returns in a criminal investigation?

COMEY: Not uncommon, it's -- it's a very difficult process, as it should be. But especially in complex financial cases, it's a relatively common tool.

WHITEHOUSE: The hearing that Senator Graham and I held with respect to Russia's infiltration and influence in the last election raised the issue of Russia intervening with business leaders in a country, engaging them in bribery or other highly favorable business deals with a view to either recruiting them as somebody who has been bribed or being able to threaten them by disclosing the illicit relationship. They're perfectly happy to blow up their own cut out, but it also blows up the individual.

Have you seen any indication that those are Russian strategies in their election influence toolbox?

COMEY: In general?

WHITEHOUSE: In general.

COMEY: My -- my understanding is those are tools that the Russians have used over many decades.

WHITEHOUSE: And lastly, the European Union is moving towards requiring transparency of incorporations so that shell corporations are harder to create. That risks leaving the United States as the last big haven for shell corporations. Is it true that shell corporations are often used as a device for criminal money laundering?

COMEY: Yes.

WHITEHOUSE: Is it true that shell corporations are often used as a device for the concealment of criminally garnered funds?

COMEY: Yes.

WHITEHOUSE: And to avoid legitimate taxation?

COMEY: Yes.

WHITEHOUSE: What do you think the hazards are for the United States with respect to election interference of continuing to maintain a system in which shell corporations -- that you never know who's really behind them are common place?

COMEY: I suppose one risk is it makes it easier for illicit money to make its way into a political environment.

WHITEHOUSE: And that's not a good thing.

COMEY: I don't think it is.

WHITEHOUSE: Yeah, me neither. OK. Thank you very much.