Fired FBI director Comey calls Trump ‘morally unfit to be president’
UNITED States (U.S.) Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey says President Donald Trump is “morally unfit” to be president and that there is “some evidence” Trump obstructed justice.
“There’s something more important that should unite all of us, and that is our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of this country,” Comey said. “The most important being truth. This president is not able to do that.” Comey’s comments came in an interview with ABC News released late Sunday ahead of the publication of a book Comey wrote that in part recounts his role in investigations into both Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and Democrat Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, as well as Comey’s private discussions with Trump before the president fired him last year.
In one of those meetings, which Comey described in public congressional testimony, Comey said Trump brought up the investigation of his one-time National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and asked the FBI director could “let it go.”
“It’s certainly some evidence of obstruction of justice. It would depend and I’m just a witness in this case, not the investigator or prosecutor it would depend upon other things that reflected on his intent,” Comey said.
Trump has denied he asked Comey to stop investigating Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador to the United States. He has also used Twitter to call Comey a liar.
Comey recounted in the interview another meeting where he said Trump asked for his loyalty.
Trump’s move to fire Comey led to the appointment of former FBI chief Robert Mueller as special counsel investigating Russia’s election interference and whether Trump obstructed justice. Mueller has so far charged 19 people in the probe, including Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and campaign aides Rick Gates and George Papadopoulos.
Comey said if allowed to continue his work, he is con- fident Mueller “will find the truth.”
The U.S. intelligence community assessed that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign meant to undermine confidence in the election, hurt Clinton’s chances of winning and boost the likelihood of Trump being elected president.
Comey also said he cannot rule out the possibility that Russia has compromising information about Trump.
Comey told ABC he made what he thought was the appropriate decision and that a belief Clinton would win the vote was a factor. Trump expressed his dissatisfaction with those comments on Twitter.