James Comey doesn’t think he’s going to face prosecution.
The fired FBI director, who faced scrutiny during the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act investigation by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, joined Josh Campbell, his former special assistant at the FBI and now a CNN legal analyst, to discuss Campbell’s new book Crossfire Hurricane at George Washington University on Monday.
“I keep seeing that I’m going to be indicted, which they said over and over again for the last two years. I’m highly confident that’s not true. So then they’ll just move on, making other stuff up after that peters out,” he said.
Horowitz reviewed the FISA surveillance warrants targeting former Trump campaign associate Carter Page, and the watchdog likely scrutinized every aspect of the FISA approval process, including the FBI’s extensive use of an unverified dossier compiled by British ex-spy Christopher Steele. The head of the FBI plays an integral role in the FISA process — Comey signed and approved three of the four FISA warrant applications and renewals. Some Republicans have speculated he will be charged for misleading the court’s judges.
Comey said his only involvement in the investigation is being interviewed and downplayed the chances of Horowitz uncovering serious wrongdoing.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a finding of significant misconduct,” Comey said. “But let’s just see the facts. Because my strong sense is, as with so many things that have happened over the last two years, there’s been a whole lot of lying going on by the president and those around him, including people in Congress.”
Comey defended the FBI’s use of the Steele dossier earlier this year but admitted the dossier wasn’t verified when it was used in the three FISA filings he signed off on, saying “that work was ongoing when I was fired.”
Steele put his salacious allegations together in 2016 at the behest of the opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which had been hired by the Clinton campaign through its law firm, Perkins Coie. The FBI knew Steele was desperate for Trump to lose, his dossier was flawed, and he was receiving funding from Clinton, but these facts weren’t revealed to the FISA court.
Horowitz has harshly criticized Comey in two prior high-profile investigations, so the watchdog’s impending report on FISA abuse could spell trouble for the former FBI director.
When Horowitz’s 568-page report on the Clinton investigation was released in June 2018, it concluded Comey’s actions were “extraordinary and insubordinate” when he announced Clinton wouldn’t be charged in a July 5, 2016, speech which was criticized by both Republicans and Democrats. And when Trump fired Comey in May 2017, he cited a letter written by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein which referenced Horowitz’s critiques.
Horowitz’s 83-page report in August of this year harshly criticized Comey’s decision to remove his memos from the FBI after he was fired and to provide contents from the memos to a friend to leak to the media. Comey testified in 2017 that he hoped leaking this information “might prompt the appointment of a special counsel.” Horowitz made it clear it was unacceptable for Comey to use official FBI documents to advance his own goals.
“What was not permitted was the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive investigative information, obtained during the course of FBI employment, in order to achieve a personally desired outcome,” Horowitz wrote.
Comey said he didn’t agree with some of Horowitz’s conclusions.
“The inspector general — I don’t always agree with their analysis, and that’s fine,” Comey said. “I believe they are honorable, honest people who are really good at gathering the facts. Let’s gather them, and let’s share as much of them as we can with the American people, and let them make a judgment.”
“Show us the facts, and let’s talk about it,” Comey said.
Horowitz sent a criminal referral to DOJ over Comey’s memos, but DOJ declined to prosecute. Attorney General William Barr is reviewing his report, which is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
