Former FBI Director James Comey said Thursday that President Trump has good reason to be concerned about text messages sent between FBI employees who worked on an investigation of possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia.
“I get why he would be very concerned about that. It’s the reason why Bob Mueller removed Peter Strzok, who is an excellent agent, removed him from the investigation,” Comey said during an interview with CNN journalist Jake Tapper.
Strzok was reassigned to the FBI’s human resources department last year after the discovery of text messages he shared with FBI lawyer Lisa Page that expressed support for Hillary Clinton and opposition to Trump.
Strzok also reportedly played a key role in an investigation of Clinton’s private email server during her time as secretary of state that resulted in no criminal charges.
“It’s poor judgment and it shouldn’t happen,” Comey said about Strzok’s communications with Page, with whom he alleged was having an affair.
“It does say something about my leadership,” Comey said. “I’m responsible for the senior members of my team. And I’ve asked myself the same question. I tried to model a certain way of acting which did not include that kind of behavior.
“I ask myself, should I have given them all a speech?” he continued. “But these are grownups, these are senior people in the counter-intelligence division, I don’t want to be too tough on myself, but yeah, I’m responsible. I’m responsible for their actions and their poor judgment.”
