James Comey CNN town hall

James Comey initially said he would give Attorney General William Barr the benefit of the doubt when it came to the Mueller report, and tonight, praised him for leaving most of the report unredacted.

Comey believes Barr acted “less than honorable,” however, in the way he previewed the report with his summary, press conference, and still “continues to talk as if he is the President’s lawyer.”

Asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “You think he’s behaving less than honorably?” Comey replied, “I do.”

“He’s an accomplished and very smart person who had nothing to lose in taking this job but his reputation, but I really – it doesn’t make me happy to say this, but I think he has lost most of his reputation with the way he has conducted himself,” Comey said.

Asked why Barr was doing what he was doing, Comey said he didn’t know.

“I can speculate, but I don’t know. People are complicated, but it is deeply concerning,” he said.

Former FBI Director James Comey said special counsel Robert Mueller should testify before Congress so he can “explain his thinking.”

He then went on to explain what he thought was behind Mueller’s decision not to indict President Trump for obstruction of justice.

“I think his judgment was, look, we can’t indict him anymore,” Comey said. 

Asked if he thought Mueller made a mistake by not speaking out and allowing Attorney General William Barr to define the report, Comey said he thinks it’s possible Mueller would have done things differently.

“I don’t know whether it’s a mistake by Bob Mueller, because I don’t know whether he anticipated the way in which the attorney general would act and the things he would say.”

“In hindsight, maybe Bob Mueller would have approached it differently,” Comey said.

Former FBI Director James Comey told CNN’s Anderson Cooper “it’s possible” that the Russians continue to have leverage over President Trump.

Here’s the exchange:

Cooper: “You think the Russians have leverage over President Trump?”

Comey: “I don’t know the answer to that.”

Cooper: “Think it’s possible?”

Comey: “Yes.”

Former FBI Director James Comey said President Obama “faced a very difficult choice” when it came to notifying the American public that the Russians were meddling in the 2016 election, because it would have helped them meet one of their goals – destabilizing American democracy.

“The No. one goal for the Russians is to damage our democracy and undermine faith in our electoral process,” Comey explained.

“If [Obama] makes an announcement that the Russians are coming for the election, has he just accomplished their goal for them? And is he giving Donald Trump an excuse to say Obama fixed the election?”

“I get why he struggled with it,” Comey said, adding that Obama did a “very sensible thing” by trying to get the bipartisan leaders of Congress to jointly tell the American people it was happening.

McConnell didn’t see it that way: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed concerns in March 2018 from Obama’s former chief of staff that he didn’t respond properly to suspected Russian interference in the 2016 election, saying, “I’m perfectly comfortable with the steps that were taken back then.”

Former FBI Director James Comey should consider President Trump’s character when their voting for the country’s next president.

“To my mind, this question at the top level is so obviously answered, you cannot have a president who’s a chronic liar. I don’t care what your passions around tax cuts or regulation or immigration. I respect difference there,” he said.

Comey continued:

Asked if he thinks President Trump should be charged based on evidence in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, former FBI Director James Comey said the Department of Justice should “take a serious look at that.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper went on to ask if he through there was enough evidence to prosecute Trump.

Comey said: “Sure looks like it’s there with respect to at least a couple of those episodes of obstruction.”

Former FBI Director James Comey says he believes there is a chargeable case for obstruction and witness tampering against President Trump, based on what he saw in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

Asked if Trump showed “corrupt intent,” Comey said he thought so.

“It sure looks like he did in connection with a couple of episodes,” the former FBI director said, citing Trump directing Former White House Counsel Don McGahn to get rid of Mueller. He called that a “flaming example.”

He added that, without a doubt, he agreed with the 800 former federal prosecutors who  signed a statement saying that Mueller’s findings would have produced obstruction charges against President Trump – if he weren’t president.

“No doubt,” Comey said.

Asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper if James Comey accepts President Trump’s assertions that special counsel Robert Mueller’s report found no collusion. “Is that something you accept?” Cooper asked.

Comey responded, “Well, that’s actually not what the report says.”

“He found there was not sufficient evidence to charge a conspiracy between Americans and the Russian effort. That strikes me as a reasonable conclusion, and I accept it,” he said.

James Comey said nothing in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report surprised him.

Comey added that he believes Mueller got everything about him right.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper, citing President Trump, asked if James Comey believed special counsel Robert Mueller was “in love” with him.

Anderson Cooper: “Is Mueller in love with you?”

James Comey: “I respect him. I don’t think we have that kind of relationship.”

Cooper: “You just want to be friends with him.”

Comey: “He’s certainly not obsessed with me in the way some others seem to be.”