Former FBI Director James Comey claimed Wednesday that the FBI was not a “leftist cabal” that was “out to get Republicans.”
Comey’s comments came a day after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday during an appearance on “Fox and Friends” that a contempt of Congress charge could be an option if FBI Director Christopher Wray refused to turn over a subpoenaed document. The document reportedly details an alleged criminal scheme involving a foreign national and then-Vice President Joe Biden.
“I think it’s largely because Donald Trump and those around him have seen the FBI as a threat, so they have taken a blowtorch to try to tear down that threat,” Comey claimed during an interview with CNN host Poppy Harlow on “CNN This Morning.” “It’s really unfortunate that the notion that the FBI is some sort of leftist cabal out to get the Republicans. It’s so crazy. It just shows you how crazy our times are.”
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The FBI faces accusations that the agency has become politicized in cases involving pro-life advocates and parents protesting at school board meetings and was involved in censorship following reports based on documents released to journalist Matt Taibbi by Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter.
In addition, Special Counsel John Durham released a report on the origins of the FBI investigation of allegations that former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia, and found that the FBI “did not and could not corroborate” the claims from the now-discredited Steele Dossier.
“It will change. The FBI will be fine in the long run,” Comey told Harlow. “This fever around Donald Trump and the MAGA world will eventually break, but it’s become somehow a nutty article of faith that the FBI is out to get Republicans.”
The FBI fired agent Peter Strzok, who played a significant role in the investigation Trump on Aug, 13, 2018 over texts to FBI attorney Lisa Page, who Strzok had an affair with, in which Strzok disparaged then-presidential candidate Donald Trump while investigating alleged collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
“In my 23 years in the FBI, I have not seen a more impactful series of missteps which called into question the entire organization and more thoroughly damaged the reputation of the entire organization,” then-FBI deputy director David Bowditch wrote in a draft of the termination letter, according to the Washington Examiner.