During an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt aired Wednesday night, Comey turned the scenario around, suggesting that if the president had been Barack Obama and the interfering foreign power had been Iran, there would be no question that a thorough investigation would be necessary.

“Close your eyes. Again, change the names. Let me make one up for you,” said Comey, whom Trump fired in 2017. “The Iranians — this is totally made up — the Iranians interfere in the election to help elect Barack Obama because they think they’ll get a better nuclear deal from him. And during that election an Obama aide meets with the Iranians and talks about the dirt they have that will help Obama get elected. And the FBI finds out about that. We should not investigate that?”