James Comey, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, defended the bureau’s behavior during the Crossfire Hurricane investigation of former President Trump.
This came as a response to Special Counsel John Durham’s final report. Comey made an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on May 30, 2023 and discussed the Durham report’s findings with host Willie Geist.
James Comey Runs Cover for the FBI
The MSNBC host asked Comey if there were several mistakes made throughout the investigation.
The former FBI director admitted mistakes were made and they were discovered four years ago by the inspector general. Comey believes nothing new was discovered in the Durham report.
Former FBI Director James Comey has written a very bad crime novel, our critic says https://t.co/ScrOxUrIqd
— Bloomberg (@business) May 29, 2023
Geist then pressed Comey about the specific mistakes made in the investigation. Comey responded by noting the FBI did not clearly highlight the status of several sources.
On top of that, the FBI didn’t review certain pieces of information before using them to submit a court application for a foreign intelligence wiretap.
However, Comey stressed the FBI behaved in a proper fashion throughout the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
What the Inspector General’s Report Revealed
Comey was making a reference to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report, published in December 2019 and dealing with the Crossfire Hurricane probe.
'Disgusting': James Comey calls DeSantis' threat to pardon Jan. 6 rioters an 'attack on' rule of law https://t.co/MhRDBELX5p
— Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) May 31, 2023
Horowitz’s report discovered evidence of FBI officials exercising political bias and abusing the FISA process.
Additionally, the report showed how the controversial Steele Dossier played a significant role in how the FBI submitted applications for FISA warrants.
On top of that, Horowitz’s report demonstrated how the FBI turned to inaccurate information for its FISA applications to snoop on Trump advisers like Carter Page.
Comey acknowledged the FBI’s behavior towards Page was unjustified and admitted he was wrong about Page, following the release of Horowitz’s report.
Durham’s report found the FBI used intelligence of dubious merit when kicking off its investigation of Trump and asserted the FBI failed to abide by its mission throughout the process.
The Durham report was released on May 15.
The FBI fessed up to the mistakes Durham highlighted throughout the report. Comey was the FBI Director from 2013 until 2017, when then-President Trump fired him in the middle of the Crossfire Investigation.
This article appeared in TheDailyBeat and has been published here with permission.
