Former FBI Director James Comey took a swipe at former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for not having “strong character.”
“I think people like that, like Rod Rosenstein, who are people of accomplishment but not real sterling character, strong character, find themselves trapped. And then they start telling themselves a story to justify their being trapped which is, ‘Yeah, he’s awful but the country needs me,’” Comey, who was fired by Trump from the FBI in May 2017, said in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper Thursday evening.
“Republicans are doing this in Congress. ‘Yeah, it’s awful, but if I speak I’ll get defeated and this nation needs me here right now.’ So they start to make little compromises to stay on the team. Talk about collusion, saying that’s what I need to do to survive and in the process, he has eaten their soul, they’re lost. So that’s what happens to so many people,” Comey said.
The remarks were made in response to Cooper questioning Comey about an op-ed he wrote this month titled “How Trump Co-Opts Leaders Like Bill Barr,” a reference to Attorney General William Barr. In the op-ed, he argued that “Trump eats your soul in small bites.”
He claimed that those “lacking inner strength” succumb to Trump and make “compromises.” In contrast, he praised the character of former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, who resigned on principle in December in part due to a disagreement over the Trump administration’s announcement that all troops would be withdrawn from Syria.
Earlier Thursday, a farewell ceremony was held for Rosenstein at the Justice Department. Rosenstein oversaw special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation while he was at the Justice Department after former Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself.
His oversight continued until November 2018, when Matthew Whitaker was named acting attorney general.
[Read more: Comey friend alarmed by Rosenstein’s ‘private conversations’ with Trump]
