Trump Comments on Justice Department Charges Against Comey

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump expressed his hopes that others who have “weaponized the Justice Department” will face charges, in response to inquiries about the recent federal accusations against former FBI director James Comey. This was stated during an interaction with reporters at the White House before his departure for the Ryder Cup event in New York, where he was accompanied by his granddaughter, Kai Trump.

In answering questions, Trump mentioned, “It’s not a list, but I think there are others. I mean, they’re corrupt. These were corrupt, radical Democrats, because Comey is essentially… he’s worse than Democrats.” He continued, “But there will be others. Look… that’s just my opinion. They weaponized the Justice Department; what they did is unprecedented. Frankly, I hope there are others because we can’t let this happen to the country.”

On Thursday afternoon, Comey was charged with making false statements and obstruction of justice.

The charges derive from Comey’s testimony during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on September 30, 2020. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas had questioned him about his claims from 2017, where he asserted he had not leaked information regarding the FBI investigations involving then-President Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. However, a 2018 Department of Justice report stated that Comey’s representative, Andrew McCabe, indicated that Comey had indeed permitted information to be leaked to the press. The same report also noted that McCabe had made multiple false or misleading statements.

Trump accused Comey on Friday of lying. “He didn’t say, ‘Well, in my opinion.’ He probably didn’t do a lot of things he should have, but he lied, so I don’t think he can get away with it,” Trump commented. “I didn’t think he would be caught.”