Politics

Former FBI director speaks one-on-one with Channel 2 about new book

ATLANTA — Former FBI Director James Comey shrugged off recent criticism from the White House concerning his controversial new book A Higher Loyalty, in which he is highly critical of President Donald Trump.

"I expected it," Comey told Channel 2 political reporter Richard Elliot. Elliot was the only Atlanta reporter to speak one-on-one with Comey on Tuesday.

“I don’t think anyone’s read the book over there (in the White House). I would think even if they read the book, they’d be surprised it’s not really about Donald Trump,” Comey said.

In the book, Comey is critical of the president, comparing him to a mob boss. In interviews, he's said the president is morally unfit for office.

Trump responded to that criticism with a tweet, saying: "Slippery James Comey, a man who always ends up badly and out of whack (he is not smart!), will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!"

Comey told Elliot on Tuesday that he didn’t write the book simply to criticize the president. He said he wanted to start a conversation about leadership in America.

“I would very much hope that the book succeeds in driving a conversation about, what do we expect our leaders to be like, and what do we expect them to focus on,” Comey said.

When asked if he felt he shared any of the responsibility for the current political climate in America, he said no.


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“I’ve asked myself that question a bunch of times,” Comey told Elliot. “We were stuck in the middle of a bad situation that we would much rather not be any part of. I’d rather Hillary Clinton had never had a private email server. But in the middle of that terrible situation, we made the best judgments that we could. We weren’t on anybody’s team. We managed to anger everybody.”

Comey’s replacement as FBI director, former Atlanta resident Christopher Wray, has come under recent fire after senators demanded he turn over a two-page document justifying the Russia probe or face a contempt of Congress charge and possible impeachment.

Comey offered some advice for his successor.

“My advice to him would be just be you, just stay the course, do the right thing,” Comey told Elliot. “In the long sweep of things, the people calling you names and all this nonsense, they will be swept away.”