Former FBI Director James Comey said Monday that he won’t stop criticizing President Trump ahead of a criminal trial against him over charges of threatening the president.
“I’m not going to be quiet. I’m going to continue to speak about what I believe,” Comey told MS NOW’s Nicolle Wallace. ” … Donald Trump has a bottomless desire to gain revenge against those who criticized him.”
The longtime Trump rival is facing two charges before a North Carolina district court over allegations that a photo of seashells Comey shared last May that displayed the message “86 47” amounted to a threat on Trump’s life.
To “86” something in American restaurant slang means to get rid of or clean up something; Trump is the 47th president.
Comey on Monday doubled down on his opinions of Trump, saying the case is targeted toward him specifically for political retribution. He has also denied wrongdoing and previous charges against him have been dismissed.
“I think Donald Trump wakes up at 3:00 in the morning thinking about me, I do not, the vice — reverse does not happen,” Comey said. “But I’m sure that if this case falls apart, they’ll come up with something else. I’m going to have to deal with this, as I’ve told my family, they’re going to have to deal with this as long as Donald Trump is in the White House thinking about me in the middle of the night.”
In the interview, the former FBI director went on to slam the president’s second-term cabinet and West Wing staff as worse than the first-term group.
“There doesn’t appear to be anybody left who is willing to stand for institutional imperatives, norms, things like the rule of law in the face of a desire by the president,” Comey said. “There were those people in the first term. Trump spotted it and wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again. Apparently, it happened a little bit, at least with Pam Bondi. So, she’s gone. What it tells me is that he has found the crew that he was looking for.”
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s rocky tenure was marred by criticism surrounding the release of files belonging to convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Comey refused to discuss specific details of the case or what he would say in court, telling Wallace that he wants to respect the judiciary and follow the law.
“I hate to stiff-arm you, but I’m going to do the same thing,” Comey said, referring to a previous question he also declined to answer. “It’s very important that we respect and obey the rules of the federal court in North Carolina and everywhere, even if others don’t. And so, I’m not going to talk about that except to say, as I said earlier, I am not only not guilty, I am innocent, and we will pursue this fully.”
Comey is set to appear in court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the area where the beach photo was taken, on June 30 for his arraignment, where he is expected to formally enter his not guilty plea ahead of a July 15 court date.
U. S. District Court Judge Louise Flanagan is an appointee of former President George W. Bush and serves on the federal bench in New Bern, N. C.
Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee contributed.
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