James Comey, the former FBI Director who oversaw the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails and controversially re-opened the case just weeks before the 2016 presidential election, is warning that a second Donald Trump term “is a danger for all Americans” because the presumptive GOP nominee “is coming for” the Justice Department and the FBI.
Comey said of Trump: “He knows their power and I think he has regrets that he didn’t work hard enough to corrupt them last time, so he’s coming for them and that’s a danger for all Americans.” Comey added that Americans cannot sit on the sidelines this election and suggested “no matter how you feel” about Joe Biden, “you must vote for him because the consequences on the other side are too severe.”
Former FBI Director James Comey tells @alexwagner a second Trump term “is a danger for all Americans” because Trump “is coming for” the Justice Department and the FBI. pic.twitter.com/8LrFAcEHDf
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 22, 2024
Note: Trump fired Comey in May 2017, amid speculation that his removal would ease the pressure Trump was under due to the Russia investigation. After his dismissal, a memo Comey wrote that February was leaked including details about Trump asking Comey to end the FBI investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. The memo became part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election.
Below is Comey testifying in 2016 in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which looked at possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Trump told NBC News of Comey’s dismissal: “When I decided to just do it [fire Comey], I said to myself, I said ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.’” In the same interview Trump called Comey “a showboat” and “grandstander.”