James Comey slammed Republicans on Wednesday for criticizing their party’s incoming freshman senator from Utah over his op-ed attacking the president.
The fired FBI director’s defense of Sen.-elect Mitt Romney comes after the failed 2012 GOP presidential nominee published an op-ed in the Washington Post on Tuesday, saying President Trump “has not risen to the mantle of the office.”
Mr. Comey, who has been calling for Republicans to stand up to the president, took to Twitter to say their party has no room for honesty.
“Looks like the Republican tent is too small to fit integrity. Today, Republicans attacked a Senator for truthfully calling out the President for his lack of character, while staying mute as he proved it by lying about Jim Mattis and approving the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,” Mr. Comey tweeted, while not mentioning Mr. Romney by name.
Mr. Romney, who will start his first day on the job Thursday, faced backlash from fellow senators and his own niece, Ronna McDaniel, who chairs the Republican National Committee. They said Mr. Romney was not being productive or a team player.
Mr. Comey’s tweet also comes after he bashed GOP lawmakers last month for calling him in for a closed-door hearing about his time overseeing the investigations into Hillary Clinton’s misuse of government email and alleged Russian collusion with Mr. Trump’s campaign.
The lawmakers claimed Mr. Comey’s agency treated the two candidates differently during the 2016 election — but Mr. Comey stood by his leadership at the FBI.
After his closed-door testimony, Mr. Comey told reporters Republicans must stand up to the president, who he says is dishonest.
“Republicans used to understand the actions of a president matter, the words of a president matter, the rule of law matters and the truth matters. Where are those Republicans today?” Mr. Comey said at the time.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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