Former FBI Director James Comey said he believes President Trump firing him had the potential to be an “obstruction of justice.”
Comey told NBC News’ Lester Holt in an interview set to air Wednesday that he’s skeptical of anyone believing Trump is truly exonerated from obstructing justice as the president and his allies have claimed.
“I thought that’s potentially obstruction of justice, and I hope somebody is gonna look at that. Again, the president appears to be saying, I don’t know what’s in his head — which is why I can’t reach the conclusion, what he appears to be saying is, I got rid of this guy to shut down an investigation that threatened me,” Comey said in the interview.
Former FBI Director James Comey on his firing: “I thought that’s potentially obstruction of justice”
Watch his exclusive interview with @LesterHoltNBC tonight on @NBCNightlyNews at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT. pic.twitter.com/Mp67d0UZyA
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) March 27, 2019
Comey was fired by Trump in May 2017 while he oversaw the opening stages of the Russia investigation, after which special counsel Robert Mueller opened an obstruction probe.
Comey told a crowd in North Carolina Tuesday that he has not seen the Mueller report. He said the Mueller report summary written by Attorney General William Barr on Sunday is questionable and “really confusing,” in particular where the attorney general says there is insufficient evidence to pursue charges of obstructing justice against Trump or his campaign.
The letter, which is four pages long, said Mueller found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Mueller also declined to determine whether Trump obstructed justice, and Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded there was insufficient evidence to show the president committed a crime.
“The notion that obstruction cases are somehow undermined by the absence of proof of an underlying crime, that is not my experience in 40 years of doing this nor is it the Department of Justice’s tradition. Obstruction crimes matter without regard to what you prove about the underlying crime,” Comey said to the crowd.
