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Chris Wallace Shreds Disgraced Former FBI Director James Comey In ‘Devastating’ Interview

   DailyWire.com
Chris Wallace James Comey
Getty Images: Alex Wong / AFP/Paul J. Richards

Fox News host Chris Wallace aggressively questioned disgraced former FBI Director James Comey on Sunday over Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz’s report on the FBI’s misconduct in surveilling the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, which happened under Comey’s leadership.

Before the interview, Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel noted Comey’s past, writing that he was “fired for cause; found guilty of ‘insubordinate’ acts (IG on Clinton case); found guilty of ‘dangerous’ behavior (IG on memo leak); in charge of an FBI that deceived the FISA court.”

Wallace grilled Comey for numerous prior claims that he made to the media which turned out to be false, including that the report vindicated him, that the FISA process was followed, that the entire case was handled in a responsible manner, and his suggestion that the anti-Trump dossier was a small part of what was used to obtain a FISA warrant on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

“You make it sound like you’re a bystander, an eyewitness,” Wallace pressed. “You were the director of the FBI while a lot of this was going on, sir.”

Comey repeatedly tried to wiggle himself out of tough questions, to which Wallace responded by asking, “Everything that we’re talking about here. Did you know that, in fact, the Steele report was the key for probable cause? Did you know that the FBI had talked to the Russian contact and he said what Steele said – he had told him was not true? Did you know this? You’re the FBI director.”

WATCH:

 

Perhaps the most shocking part about the interview was when Comey said that he would not resign as FBI Director over the IG report because there was worse misconduct happening under his leadership:

“If you were still there and all of this came out, and it turned out it happened on your watch, would you resign?” Wallace asked.

“No. I don’t think so,” Comey responded. “There are mistakes I consider more consequential than this during my tenure.”

WATCH:

Wallace continued by skewering Comey over the way the FBI concealed exculpatory evidence showing that Page was a CIA asset, which was hidden from the court during the FISA application process.

Here is the exchange between Wallace and Comey:

WALLACE: All right. And then there is – best for last – the worst misconduct. In August of 2016, just two weeks into the investigation, the CIA tells the FBI that it actually has a relationship with Carter Page – that when he has these meetings with the Russians, he actually goes back and he tells the CIA about it. But you never tell the FISA court that. And in fact, in 2017, an FBI lawyer doctors a document. The CIA said, “Oh, Carter Page, he’s a source.” And he puts in the application he’s not a source.

COMEY: Yeah, I’ve got to take issue with one of the – I’ll answer the question – but one of the predications of your question. The Inspector General did not find misconduct by any FBI people. He found mistakes and negligence in oversight –

WALLACE:  No, no, no. It is not true –

COMEY: He did not –

WALLACE: In the case of Kevin Clinesmith, he has referred it for criminal investigation.

WALLACE: Would you agree that the FISA court was also given false information by the FBI?

COMEY: I think that’s fair. The FBI should have included – or at least pushed to the lawyers, so they could make a decision – information that you just said, things like that, that another agency – not a source relationship, but some kind of contact relationship –

Wallace pressed Comey on whether Attorney General William Barr had a point when Barr said the following during an interview with NBC News: “These irregularities, these misstatements, these omissions, were not satisfactorily explained, and I think that leaves open the possibility to infer bad faith.”

Comey, who has decried Trump’s attacks on America’s institutions, responded by doing just that, saying, “No. He does not have a factual basis as the Attorney General of the United States to be speculating that agents acted in bad faith. The facts just aren’t there. Full stop. That doesn’t make it any less consequential, any less important, but that’s an irresponsible statement.”

After being thoroughly picked apart by Wallace, Comey concluded by saying that he has had members of his family, after listening to what happened under his watch, become convinced that he is going to prison.

WATCH:

Here’s how notable figures reacted to Comey’s interview:

Bloomberg columnist Eli Lake: “This Chris Wallace interview on @FoxNewsSunday is devastating for Jim Comey. He comes out looking slippery, like he’s shading the truth.”

Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel: “Congrats to Chris Wallace for a very tough interview with @comey. These questions were overdue. And the former FBI director–responsible for this mess–was left with nothing but spin.”

Conservative commentator Jesse Kelly: “James Comey should be prosecuted under RICO laws for operating an ongoing criminal enterprise. Law enforcement abusing their power is one of the most horrible crimes on earth.”

Democrat and former CIA officer Bryan Dean Wright: “Prince Andrew’s interview went better than Comey’s.”

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