Former FBI Director James B. Comey says he has nothing to hide, but worries that President Trump’s call to investigate him and others who started the Russia probe would be a “dangerous step.”
“I don’t fear it personally. I fear it as a citizen,” Mr. Comey said on CNN Tuesday night. “Investigate what? Investigate that investigations were conducted? What would be the crime you’d be investigating? So it’s a terrible cycle to start. It will just be more of that dangerous step.”
The president called again Tuesday for an investigation into the beginnings of the FBI’s counterterrorism probe into the Trump presidential campaign in 2016, saying the people who led it might have committed treasonous acts.
The probe led to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which found there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
“I hope they now go and take a look at the origins of the investigation, the beginnings of the investigation,” the president told reporters at the White House. “You look at the origin of the investigation, where it started, how it started, who started it. Whether it’s [former FBI Deputy Director Andrew] McCabe or Comey or a lot of them, where does it go? How high up in the White House did it go?”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said he’ll look into the issue and intends to call witnesses including the former FBI director.
Mr. Comey said he hopes “the Republicans would finally stand up” to the president on the matter. He criticized the president for “calling for the locking up of his political opponents, including people like me.”
But he said he has nothing to fear from such an investigation and is willing to answer questions.
“Me, personally, ask me questions,” Mr. Comey said. “Go ahead. I would like to answer them in the daylight, if I could.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.