Former FBI Director James Comey said that he’s confused by special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on the Russia investigation.
“The part that’s confusing is, I can’t quite understand what’s going on with the obstruction stuff,” Comey told an audience at Belk Theatre in Charlotte, N.C., on Tuesday, according to NBC News. “And I have great faith in Bob Mueller, but I just can’t tell from the letter why didn’t he decide these questions when the entire rationale for a special counsel is to make sure the politicals aren’t making the key charging decisions?”
Comey told the 2,000-person audience in an event sponsored by Queens University that he was confused as to why Mueller decided neither to charge nor exonerate President Trump.
Over the weekend, Attorney General William Barr said Mueller’s report does not show any evidence the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. The report, however, said that it was still unclear on whether Trump obstructed justice during the Russia probe.
Comey said that he felt Mueller not pursuing obstruction charges was “really confusing.”
“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,” Comey said. “Obstruction crimes matter without regard to what you prove about the underlying crime.”
Comey oversaw the start of the Russia investigation before he was fired in May 2017. He has not seen the Mueller report.
