James Comey is like Hillary Clinton – he will not go away. The former FBI director is determined to maintain his time in the spotlight until MSNBC or CNN gives him a show of his own. During Politicon 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee this weekend, MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace did her part to keep Comey’s hope alive.
Nicolle Wallace, the host of “Deadline: White House”, interviewed Comey. During some talk about the impeachment inquiries, an opportunity arose to get Comey’s opinion about the potential that President Trump will be re-elected, Comey mentioned that might cause him to move to New Zealand.
Regardless of the outcome of an impeachment inquiry, Comey said he’s “optimistic” that “the American people are going to pass judgment on what kind of country we want to be.”
“Our leaders must reflect the glue that holds us together. They can’t be people who lie all the time,” he said. “And I want people to see that’s true, whether they’re Republicans or Democrats.”
But when asked if he would feel differently if Trump won reelection, Comey joked, “I will be, from my new home in New Zealand, I still would believe in America.”
Former FBI Director James Comey says he's moving to New Zealand if President Donald Trump wins re-election pic.twitter.com/fBMPaJHEPI
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) October 26, 2019
James Comey isn’t some emotionally fragile Hollywood celebrity that threatens to move to France or Canada if a Republican is elected as president, this is the former top guy at the FBI. President Trump has so broken James Comey that he doesn’t even realize how weak and insecure a “joke” like that makes him look.
If anything, we know that Comey is likely be a part of the report soon to be issued by Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Perhaps Comey will be held accountable for his role in nefarious actions taken by swamp creatures prior to the 2016 election – those who were determined to stop Trump’s election. Now that DOJ is opening a criminal investigation into the Russia investigation, Comey is likely to be answering a whole new set of questions himself. It has already been determined that Comey leaked FBI information to bring about the Mueller investigation into the 2016 election. So, it is ironic when he bloviated about transparency and against leaks.
Comey said transparency would help protect the integrity of the Justice Department.
“The way to protect that is [to] show the folks the facts; lay it out,” he said. “Don’t drip it out, don’t leak it out. Give it out. And I’m confident that when the American people see the picture of why we did what we did, their confidence in the institution will be maintained, restored and protected.”
Comey kissed up to U.S. Attorney John Durham while delivering a swat at Attorney General Barr. He has to be nervous that Durham, appointed by Barr, has the power now to subpoena witnesses, impanel a grand jury and bring criminal charges.
He also said Durham should try to be as transparent as possible to protect his reputation.
“John Durham is someone who has a strong professional reputation, someone I’ve for years thought was an excellent prosecutor,” Comey said. “I can’t tell what’s going on with the attorney general. I would hope that Mr. Durham will do everything possible to protect his reputation from being damaged by those in leadership, and the most important way he can do that is [to] give us transparency.”
.@Comey being interviewed by @NicolleDWallace at @Politicon: “I never planned to be an unemployed, B-List celebrity.” Crowd laughs and Comey says that he hopes this phase in his life will pass soon. pic.twitter.com/sOBTh2bQ4x
— Cassie Semyon (@casssemyon) October 26, 2019
Though Comey was initially cautious in calling for impeachment inquiries, after the July 25 telephone call became headlines in the news, Comey called for them to proceed. He says it is the obligation of Congress to hold the inquiries.
Comey speculated, however, that Mueller thought his report would result in an impeachment inquiry — something Comey said was a congressional duty after details surfaced on Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine.
He said he didn’t understand how members of Congress could avoid the impeachment inquiry and still think they were fulfilling their oath of office.
When President Trump wins re-election, I doubt there will be a shortage of people willing to chip in for a one-way airline ticket to New Zealand for James Comey. He may think he is a B-List celebrity now but his inflated ego is sure to take a beating soon enough.
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