In his first interview since Attorney General William Barr announced that President Trump did not collude with Russia, former FBI Director James Comey said he is pleased with the findings.
In an NBC interview, Comey said he was glad that the special counsel’s report cleared President Trump of conspiring with the Russians. He also said he was glad it finished work establishing Russia interfered in the elections.
“I think it’s good that he was able to finish the work and establish both that the Russia thing wasn’t a hoax, that the Russians interfered in the election in a huge way, and that’s really important,” Comey said. “And another piece of good news, the evidence didn’t establish that any Americans conspired as part of that effort. That should be good news no matter what party you’re associated with.”
Comey said he wants the whole report to be released to show that the FBI is not corrupt and that the investigation itself was justified.
“The FBI is not corrupt, not a nest of vipers and spies, but an honest group of people trying to find out what is true. And that’s what you see here. And that’s why it will be important to read the entire report,” Comey said.
The comment comes as questions continue to surround text messages from former FBI agent Peter Strzok to former FBI lawyer Lisa Page that show a clear bias against Trump. Strzok served as a lead investigator on the FBI’s Russia investigation until the texts were discovered.
Comey said he hopes the release of the full report will shed light on the investigation in its entirety.
“I don’t know what the special counsel found. And I’m prepared, I hope everybody is, to wait and get the transparency that we need,” he said.
