James Comey was annoyed, and he made no effort to hide it. "Hillary Clinton's e-mails, for God's sake," said the former FBI chief on Friday night. He had just completed six hours in front of the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives. Much of the time was once again about former Secretary of State Clinton's e-mail affair, which played a key role in her defeat in the 2016 presidential election against Donald Trump. He wondered, Comey, whether the congressional investigations are still necessary.

In fact, the survey revealed nothing new about the affair or role of the FBI. But that should not have been a priority at Comeys hearing anyway. The Republicans have lost their majority in the House of Representatives in the Midterms, but the new composition will not take effect until January. The Democrats have already announced that they will end the long-running parliamentary investigation into the email affair. And so from the point of view of the Republicans, the purpose of the hearing was more likely to score one last time with a critical survey of Comey fired in May 2017 by Trump.

235 pages - and hardly any new content

In advance, the former FBI chief had pounded on a public hearing, the Republicans insisted on a non-public meeting. The compromise: Just one day later, Parliament published a transcript of the hearing - more precisely, the first part. Because for December 17 Comey is again invited to the committee, then the hearing should be completed.

Content is in the 235 pages of the first date little new. Nonetheless, they contain remarkable passages, especially when Comey comments on allegations calling into question the FBI investigation and Special Investigative Robert Mueller's investigation into the Russia affair - an affair increasingly dangerous for President Trump.

From Trump's point of view, it is allegedly a conspiracy of senior officials from the FBI and the Ministry of Justice against him. The alleged evidence is, inter alia, a dossier of the former British agent Christopher Steele, who in turn was indirectly connected with Clinton's campaign team. This dossier, as Trump and the Republicans claim, served the FBI in 2016 as an occasion to investigate an employee of Trump's campaign team.

Comey contradicted this presentation clearly and again. The FBI had previously become aware of possible connections with Russian middlemen in London through a meeting of another Trump employee, George Papadopoulos. That triggered the investigation. "Only weeks or months later we became aware of the so-called Steele dossier," said Comey.

Originally, according to Comey, the FBI investigation focused on four Americans connected to Trump, and whether they had anything to do with Russian interference in the US election campaign. Donald Trump himself did not count, Comey said, without revealing the identity of the four people.

"To the relief of my wife"

Representatives confronted Comey with yet another accusation from Trump: The former FBI chief and his predecessor in office, special investigator Robert Mueller, are personally exceptionally close, claims the US president. A conservative US website told Trump in September that Mueller was Comey's best friend, and Trump knew "a hundred photos where he and Comey hugged and kissed each other."

Confronted by this, Comey became clear before the Judiciary Committee: he admires Mueller - who was his predecessor as FBI chief - beyond measure. "But I do not have his phone number, I never visited him at home, I do not know the names of his children." In addition, he "never hugged or kissed Mueller," Comey said dryly adding, "To the relief of my wife."

The former FBI chief used the hearing not only for defense, but also for sharp criticism of the president. Referring to his constant attacks on US courts and interrogators, Comey said, "We have become deaf to the President's lies and his attacks on the rule of law." Comey explicitly cited Trump's call for people like his former lawyer Michael Cohen or his former campaign chief Paul Manafort to be punished with the investigators as crimes.

"This is a shocking proposal from a senior public official - and certainly not less than the president," said Comey.